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Overview
Manzo Baba is the Great Messenger, described as either a son or a nephew of Mariyamu. His performance places a hand over the mouth and calls out an alarm. When he appears with Baraje and Kulita, the group throws calabashes and pots to the ground, falls upon them and pounds the fragments with elbows. His announcement presents him as a wizard who consumes other wizards, a stated claim of power rather than a separate observed eating episode.
The song first urges patience on a journey that cannot be completed in one day. A later sequence gives a more particular dispute: Arzikki spreads false reports, Manzo believes them and repeats them to his wife Lilla, who takes up a stick and demands retaliation against Arzikki. The episode distinguishes messenger, informant and wife instead of assigning every action to Manzo. His precise kinship to Mariyamu remains unresolved between the printed alternatives.
Origins & earliest records
A. J. N. Tremearne combines interviews and descriptions of bori performances with comparative interpretation. These selected notices do not consistently name individual speakers; printed attributes are distinguished from his conjectures.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected notice in chapter XXV, printed pp. 358–359; full chapter read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Ban of the Bori: Demons and Demon-Dancing in West and North Africa
Chapter XXV, printed pp. 358–359; complete spirit notice, song and attributed relationships.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Digitized historical ethnographic accountTremearne — Manzo BabaResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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