Nigeria has a rich Islamic manuscript heritage in danger of being lost due to lack of in-country preservation and conservation efforts. Of interest to scholars worldwide, these manuscripts in Arabic script are dispersed throughout Nigerian institutional and private collections. Since 2007 there has been a sustained effort to increase local awareness and Northern Nigerian regional capacity for care, conservation and maintenance of these collections.

This study is concerned with what specific materials are used in fabricating the inks used in the surviving, largely undated Northern Nigerian manuscripts written in Arabic script. These manuscripts belong to the West African tradition of Islamic culture and scholarship, of which Timbuktu, Mali, was a key center. The manuscripts themselves, and 4500 km of road travel throughout Northern Nigeria, suggest a local tradition of dye, ink and pigment fabrication rather than one derived from the Mediterranean and the Islamic heartlands. Technical materials analysis, recipes from ethno-cultural studies, and replicative experiments revealed a reliance on local plants and materials. Botanical research uncovered a possible linkage between inks and medical treatments through the creation of charms in which ink was washed from the paper and drunk, or used as a body wash. They reflect a sustainable, durable and flexible tradition that overcame challenges of execution, using indigenous materials, astute observation, trial and error—a tradition documenting that people traveled as well as goods and ideas.

This paper is focused on results of a survey and study in Northern Nigeria of the inks used in Islamic manuscripts and on related information on the extant traditional technologies of ink production. Knowledge of the specific inks used in the surviving, largely undated Northern Nigerian manuscripts written in Arabic script, often referred to as Islamic manuscripts, informs us about the society that created them and embeds their production within a specific cultural context. In a place such as Africa, where the historical record and archaeological heritage are so vulnerable, we look to all vestiges of material culture in order to expand out understanding of its people, its history and their culture. These manuscripts belong to the West African tradition of Islamic culture and scholarship, of which Timbuktu was a key center. Whilst another goal of the study was to establish a watermark chronology to provide information as to the papers‘ source, when particular papers were made, when manuscripts might have been copied, and their creators‘ paper preferences, the focus of this paper is on identifying and field-testing the inks used in these manuscripts. This study of over twelve thousand folios at fourteen manuscript Northern Nigerian repositories involved 4500 km of road travel and suggested a local, interrelated tradition of dye, ink and pigment fabrication. Preliminary data led to the hypothesis that the local technology provided the basis of the indigenous manuscript production, rather than one derived from the Mediterranean and the Islamic heartlands. Finally, the diversity of these manuscripts in Arabic script reflects a culture in which not everyone was Muslim but in which Islam played a dominant role.