African Kingdoms

Chad

The modern country of Chad is directly south of Libya, taking in large swathes of the Sahara Desert in its northern territories. Sudan is to the east and Niger to the west, while the Central African Republic is to the south. Small tribal kingdoms began to coalesce into large states from around AD 900 onwards, and it was the Bornu empire which formed the basis for modern Chad.

Zaghawa / Duguwa Kingdom
c.AD 900 - c.1400

Zaghawa was a medieval kingdom in northern Chad (on Sudan's western border and Libya's southern border), in the Tibesti Highlands beyond the Bodele Depression, which was established by Berber nomads and was especially influential from circa 1000 to circa 1350. There exists almost no data about the region, although the Zaghawa exist to this day as an identifiable Berber ethnic group. Zaghawa was important in the Islamicisation of Kanem, to the south, in 1085.

? - c.850

Kanem is part of the Zaghawa kingdom.

Chad's northern territories include portions of the Sahara, in which these sandstone pinnacles which were eroded by rain prove that the region was much wetter in prehistory

c.900 - c.1080

Unknown rulers

Names and the number of rulers not recorded.

? - 1086

Selma

Last Duguwa king of the Sayfawa dynasty.

1086

Hummay, a member of the Sayfawa establishment who is already a Muslim, discards the last Duguwa king and establishes the new Sayfuwa dynasty.

c.1086 - c.1400

Unknown rulers

Names and the number of rulers not recorded.

c.1400

Zaghawa power is broken by the rise of the Bornu empire, and the Sayfawa are reduced to controlling desert regions to the east.

Kanem Empire
c.AD 900 - 1389

The Kanem empire was situated in modern Chad and Libya. Originating at an unknown period in the north-east of Lake Chad, it was known to the Arabian geographers as the Kanem-Bornu empire from the ninth century AD onwards and it lasted, in one form or another, until 1893. At its height it encompassed an area covering not only much of Chad, but also parts of modern southern Libya and eastern Niger. The rulers were known as mais.

The extremely sketchy history of the empire from the thirteenth century onwards is mainly known from the Royal Chronicle, or Girgam, which was discovered in 1851 by the German traveller Heinrich Barth. There is the suggestion of a pre-Christian origin of Kanem in connection with the Phoenician expansion into Africa, although this is unconfirmed.

? - c.850

Part of the Zaghawa kingdom.

fl c.785

Dugu

Sayfawa dynasty rulers govern the empire.

fl c.835

Fune

fl c.893

Aritso

fl c.942

Katuri

fl c.961

Ayomafl

fl c.1019

Bulu

fl c.1035

Arki

fl c.1077

Shu

fl c.1081

Abd al-Djelfl

1085

The kingdom converts to Islam under the influence of Zaghawa.

1085 - 1097

Hume

1098 - 1150

Dunama I

1150 - 1176

Biri I

1176 - 1193

Bikoru

1193 - 1210

Abd al-Djel Selma

1210 - 1224

Dunama II Dabbalemi

1224 - 1242

Kade

1242 - 1262

Kachim Biri

1262

Djil

1262 - 1281

Dari

1281 - 1301

Ibrahim I Nikale

1301 - 1320

Abdullah I

1314

Increased aggression from Egypt and internal discord leads to the collapse of the neighbouring kingdom of Dongola in Nubia.

1320 - 1323

Selma

1323 - 1325

Kure Gana

1326 - 1327

Kure Kura

1327 - 1329

Mohammed I

1329 - 1353

Idris I

1353 - 1356

Daoud

1356 - 1369

Othman I

1370 - 1389

Internal struggles and external attacks tear Kanem apart. Six mais reign in this period, but Bulala invaders (from the area around Lake Fitri to the east) kill five of them. This proliferation of mais results in numerous claimants to the throne and leads to a series of internecine wars.

1369 - 1371

Othman II

1371 - 1372

Abu Bakr Lagatu

1372 - 1380

Idris Dunama III / Umar Idrismi

Moved the capital to Bornu.

c.1380

The Bulala force Mai Umar Idrismi to abandon Njimi and move the Kanembu people to Bornu on the western edge of Lake Chad.

1380 - 1388

Omar I

1388

Sa'id

1388 - 1389

Kade Alunu

Bornu Empire
AD 1389 - 1890

The once strong Sayfawa dynasty was forced out of Kanem and back into the nomadic lifestyle they had abandoned nearly 600 years ago. In circa 1396, the Kanembu finally overcame attacks from their neighbours (Arabs and Berbers, and the Hausa of modern Nigeria), to found a new state in Bornu. After a shaky start which saw a total of fifteen mais on the throne during the course of the fifteenth century, they succeeded in re-establishing domination over their former territory in Chad, eastern Niger and southern Libya, as well as north-eastern Nigeria and northern Cameroon.

The capital was located on the western edge of Lake Chad. Over time, the intermarriage of the Kanembu and Bornu peoples created a new people and language, the Kanuri.

1389 - 1421

Biri II

1421 - 1422

Othman Kalinuama

1422 - 1424

Dunama IV

1424 - 1432

Abdullah II

1432 - 1440

Ibrahim II

1440 - 1446

Kadai

1446 - 1450

Dunama V

1450 - 1451

Mohammed II

1451 - 1453

Amarma

1453 - 1458

Mohammed III

1458 - 1463

Ghazi

1463 - 1473

Othman III

1473 - 1474

Omar II

1474 - 1479

Mohammed IV

1479 - 1507

'Ali Gazi

1507 - 1529

Idris II Katakarmabe

1529 - 1544

Mohammed V

1544 - 1548

'Ali I

1548 - 1566

Dunama VI

1566 - 1573

Abdullah III

1573 - 1589

Aissa Kili N'guirmamaramama

Queen.

1580 - 1617

Idris III Alaoma / Idris Aluma

The empire peaked at this time.

1617- 1632

Mohammed VI Bukalmarami

1632 - 1639

Ibrahim III

1639 - 1657

Hadj Omar

mid-1600s

Sustained by the reforms of Idris III (1580-1617), the empire now begins to fade.

1657 - 1694

'Ali II

1694 - 1711

Idris IV

1711 - 1726

Dunama VII

1726 - 1738

Hadj Hamdan

1738 - 1751

Mohammed VII

1751 - 1753

Dunama VIII Gana

1753 - 1793

'Ali III

late 1700s

Bornu's rule now extends only westwards, into the land of the Hausa of modern Nigeria.

1793 - 1808

Ahmad

1808 - 1811

Dunama IX Lefiami

1811 - 1814

Mohammed VIII

1814 - 1846

When the semi-nomadic alliance of Muslim tribesmen take over the empire under Mohammed, the Sayfawas return to the old capital of Kanem under Dunama IX to remain titular monarchs.

1814 - 1835

Mohammed el Amin I

Non-Sayfawa dynasty ruler.

1814 - 1817

Dunama IX Lefiami

Sayfawa ruler restored at Kanem.

1817 - 1846

Ibrahim IV

Sayfawa ruler at Kanem.

1835 - 1853

Omar / Umar

Son of Mohammed.

1846

'Ali IV Dalatumi

Sayfawa ruler at Kanem. The last of the Sayfawas.

1846

Ali V takes part in a civil war in league with Ouaddai tribesmen. He is defeated by Omar and one of the longest ruling dynasties is ended. The title of mai is dropped for a more modest one.

1853 - 1854

Abdul Rahman

1854 - 1880

Omar

Restored.

1880 - 1884

Bukara Kura

1884 - 1885

Ibrahim

1885 - 1893

Hashimi

1890 - 1893

The empire is conquered by Great Britain.

1893

Muhammad el Amin II

1893

Sanda Limananbe Wuduroma

1893

The Bornu empire is conquered following an invasion from eastern Sudan by a warlord.

Zobeir Dynasty
AD 1893 - 1901

A short-lived dynasty which saw an invasion of the empire from eastern Sudan conquer the ruling house. In the end, Rabah's forces were overwhelmed by the colonial French.

1893 - 1900

Rabah the Conqueror / Rabih az-Zubayr

Sudanese warlord.

1901

Fad el Allah

Son. Defeated and killed by the French.

1900 - 1960

Chad is conquered by France. Borno goes to Great Britain. French control of Chad is fully secured by 1920 and remains in place until 11 August 1960, when Chad gains independence and a republic is formed.

Modern Chad
AD 1960 - Present Day

The modern Republic of Chad is a landlocked country in central sub-Saharan Africa. It is bordered to the north by Libya, to the east by Sudan, to the south by Central African Republic, to the south-west by Cameroon, and to the west by Nigeria and Niger. The capital is at N'Djamena.

The republic was created in 1960, when independence was gained from France. A president was elected, but this quickly turned into a dictatorship and civil war in what was always a poor country followed.

1962

Tombalbaye, the first president of the republic, introduces dictatorial rule with the banishment of the multiparty system. In 1965, Muslims in the country begin a civil war against him, but it takes a decade to overthrow and kill him.

1962 - 1975

François Tombalbaye

Dictatorial president. Killed.

1975 - 1987

The war continues, despite Tombalbaye's death. The capital is conquered in 1979 and the country's infrastructure collapses completely. Libya becomes involved, hoping to take control now that France has lost any influence, but this ends when the Chadians force them out in 1987. France supports a new president, Habré, but his term of office quickly turns into another dictatorship.

1982 - 1990

Hissène Habré

Dictatorial president. Deposed by his own general.

1990 - 1996

The general responsible for overthrowing Habré, Idriss Déby, introduces a multiparty political system and in 1996 wins free and fair elections.

2006 - 2009

Internal dissent springing from recent oil drilling delivers renewed conflict, and Déby removes the two-term limit on his presidency. Civil war results, but no side is able to gain decisive control. By 2009, the rebel attacks are little more than minor firefights.

The rebels were based in Sudan, but by 2009 they were militarily weak

2006 - Present

Idriss Déby

'President' for an unlimited period.