African Kingdoms

Bornu Empire (Kanem-Bornu Empire) (Africa)
AD 1389 - 1890

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The pre-history of Africa contains a far longer period of human habitation than any other area on Earth, thanks to it being the cradle of humankind's evolution. Detail about human occupation remains fragmented, however. Central Africa around the area of today's Central African Republic (or CAR) was not even well-defined as a region until the creation of colonial-era territories in the eighteenth century.

To its north, though, in what is now Chad, there existed the longstanding Kanem-Bornu empire which came in two main phases. Kanem emerged first on the southern edge of the medieval kingdom of Duguwa, to the north-east of Lake Chad and in the midst of ancient Sao groups, and then Bornu succeeded it in the late fourteenth century.

By that time the once strong Sayfawa dynasty was weak and was being pummelled by semi-nomadic tribesmen, especially the Bulala. It was forced out of Kanem and back into the nomadic lifestyle its rulers had abandoned nearly six hundred years before, aided by a stronghold at the city of Njimi which had become somewhat prosperous during the more stable thirteenth century.

Around 1396 the Kanembu finally overcame attacks from their neighbours (Arabs and Berbers, and the Hausa of modern Nigeria), to found a new (or refreshed) 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 what is now 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, now the safest part of the reduced empire (today within Nigeria). Over time, the intermarriage of the Kanembu, Bornu, and Sao peoples created a new people and language, the Kanuri, which became part of an incredibly dynamic tribal mix in nineteenth century Central Africa.

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. The chronology in more than one version of the chronicle is contradictory as dates are not provided, only lengths of reign. In the end, weakening again, the empire was conquered by the head of the Zobeir dynasty, one of a new wave of warlords from the east.

Principal author(s): Page created: Page last updated:

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from the John De Cleene Archive, from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from The New Atlas of African History, G S P Freeman-Grenville (Israel, 1991), from The Times Atlas of World History, Geoffrey Barraclough (Ed, Hammond Inc, 1979), from Hammond's Historical Atlas (C S Hammond & Co, 1963), from Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa, Heinrich Barth (Vol II, New York, 1857), from The Bornu Sahara and Sudan, Herbert R Palmer (London, 1936, an English translation of the Dīwān, royal chronicle of the Kanem-Bornu empire), from History of West Africa, J F Ade Ajayi & Michael Crowder (Longman, 1985), from Ba Karim: An Account of Rabeh's Wars, Michael Horowitz (African Historical Studies 3, 1970), from La vie du sultan Rabah, Gaston Dujarric (Paris, 1902), and from External Links: The Story of Africa (BBC World Service), and The kingdoms and peoples of Chad, Dierk Lange (Africa and the Ancient World, Unesco, and available to download as a PDF), and Encyclopaedia Britannica, and The Early Magistrates and Kings of Kanem as Descendants of Assyrian State Builders, Dierk Lange (Anthropos No 104,and available via JSTOR).)

1389

Kade Alunu is the final mai of the Kanem-based Sayfawa dynasty rulers of the empire. While the empire is still locked in ongoing civil war, Biri II is the first ruler of a still-weak and somewhat nomadic reborn state which is based further to the south, centred around Bornu and not always including Kanem.

Kanem-Bornu's warriors are shown here in a late-empire print by an artist of one of the colonial intruders into the region, probably French

1389 - 1421

The first mai to be fully centred on Bornu (during civil war).

1421 - 1422

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1422 - 1424

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1424 - 1432

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1432 - 1440

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1440 - 1446

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1446 - 1450

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1450 - 1451

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1451 - 1453

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1453 - 1458

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1458 - 1463

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1463 - 1473

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1473 - 1474

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1474 - 1479

A civil war mai. Possibly not in control of Kanem.

1479 - 1507

Son of Dunama V. Rejuvenated the empire.

c.1480

Lands to the east have already witnessed the gradual penetration of small Arabic groups moving southwards from Egypt with their families. The more likely outcome is that such Arab infiltration merely weakens the Alodians, causing them to fracture into nine states and making them ripe for takeover in 1504 by a new force from the south which is aided by the Arabs.

Bornu expanded territorially and commercially, with a sometimes-formidable fighting force at its disposal, but increasing threats from other rival states, plus drought, trade problems, and rebellious Fulani groups, all served to erode state control

The Bornu empire enters into a second period of expansion under Ali Gaji, a direct descendant of Ibrahim I Nikale of Kanem. He takes lands to the west, possibly thanks to the very instability in the east which is destroying established states there.

Ali Gaji's efforts culminate in the conquest of the Hausa state of Kano. He also expands northwards to cement Bornu's control of the northern trade routes to the Fezzan, mimicking earlier Kanem advances.

1507 - 1529

Son. Continued rebuilding work.

c.1510s

Ali Gaji's legacy of expansion is continued by Katakarmabe (or Katarkamabi), who secures the recently recaptured Njimi. He retains the new town of Ngazargamu as his capital, however, as its lands are more agriculturally productive and better-suited to the raising of cattle.

Excavations at the fired-brick ruins of the site of Njimi (Tié), important during the twelfth to fourteenth centuries in the Kanem-Bornu empire and now located within the borders of Chad

1529 - 1544

Related?

1544 - 1548

Related?

1548 - 1566

A relative.

1566 - 1573

Left a lack of male relatives to succeed.

1573 - 1589

Dau of 'Ali I. Queen regnant. Ignored by Arab writers.

1580 - 1617

Brother. The empire peaked at this time. Killed.

1580

Idris Aluma has as his main adversaries the Hausa to the west, the Tuareg and Toubou to the north, and the Bulala to the east. Aluma counts three hundred and thirty 'wars' and more than a thousand battles during his reign, indicating a disturbed period which may be closer to the norm than is a picture of a settled, urbanised empire.

However, Aluma does introduce into his warfare the use of walled fortifications and military camps, permanent siege tactics, scorched-earth tactics, and the effective use of cavalry. He hires or recruits Berber camelry and Kotoko boatman as part of his forces and fosters diplomatic relations with various distant but powerful neighbours.

The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa and Central Africa, and the largest ethnic group, chiefly being located in the Sahelian areas of northern Nigeria and south-eastern Niger, but also with significant numbers also living in parts of Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Chad, and Sudan

1617- 1632

Son? Now fully in control of Kanem.

1632 - 1639

Related?

1639 - 1657

Related?

mid-1600s

Having so far been sustained by the recent reforms of Idris III (who had reigned until 1617), the empire now begins to fade. Outer territories are quickly lost, with the only notable survivor being the westwards imperial extension into Hausa lands.

1657 - 1694

Son.

1694 - 1711

Related?

1711 - 1726

Related?

1726 - 1738

Related?

1738 - 1751

Related?

1751 - 1753

Related?

1753 - 1793

Related?

late 1700s

Bornu's outer territories have all been lost by now, with the empire's rule most definitely only extending westwards, into the land of the Hausa of modern Nigeria. The Fulani people are making major inroads elsewhere.

The plaque shown here originates on the Guinea Coast area of modern Nigeria, formerly part of the Edo empire and dated to the seventeenth or mid-sixteenth century

1793 - 1808

Son. Lost Ngazargamu. Abdicated.

1808

Fulani warriors conquer Ngazargamu, marking the nadir of Bornu decline. Usman dan Fodio, the Fulani leader, has proclaimed a holy war against irreligious Muslims in the region. With his campaign now affecting Kanem-Bornu, it inspires a trend toward Islamic orthodoxy.

1808 - 1811

Son. Forced to abdicate. Rival mai from 1814.

1811 - 1814

Uncle. Lost power to semi-nomadic Kanemi alliance.

1814 - 1846

When the semi-nomadic alliance of Muslim tribesmen take over the empire under Mohammed el Amin I al-Kanemi, the ousted Sayfawas return to the old capital of Kanem under Dunama IX to remain titular monarchs until their final fall in 1846.

1814 - 1835

Non-Sayfawa dynasty ruler.

1814

The Fulani advance has already generated an equal but opposite defence from within the Kanem-Bornu empire. It is not led by the Sayfawa mais however. With them now sidelined and virtually powerless in Kanem one of the empire's warlords has taken control. This is Muhammad al-Kanemi.

Shehu (Sheik) Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi was an Islamic scholar, teacher, religious, and political leader who advised and eventually supplanted the Kanem-Bornu's Sayfawa ruling dynasty to create a dynasty which, although it no longer holds secular power, remains influential to this day

He has pieced together an alliance of Shuwa Arabs, Kanembu, and other semi-nomadic peoples. As a base for the resistance he straight away builds a capital at Kukawa (now in Nigeria, in Bornu's safer western territories).

1814 - 1817

Rival Sayfawa ruler restored at Kanem. Killed in 1820.

1817 - 1846

Son. Rival Sayfawa ruler at Kanem. Killed.

1835 - 1853

Son of Mohammed el Armin al-Kanemi. Deposed by brother.

1846

Rival Sayfawa ruler at Kanem. 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 by his execution. The title of mai is dropped for the more modest one of shehu (sheikh).

Sheik Umar, however, is unable to match his father's vitality and political prowess. He allows the empire to be ruled by advisers with a reliance which leads to increasing political disorganisation. This is a major contributor to the empire's gradual fading and collapse.

The siege of Khartoum to the east of Kanem-Bornu began in 1884 when the Mahdist forces surrounded the city, shortly after the arrival of General Gordon as shown here - but the Mahdi's victory would be short-lived

1853 - 1854

Brother of Omar. Usurper. Defeated.

1854 - 1880

Restored.

1880 - 1884

Son.

1881

The Sudanese revolt is led by Muhammad Ahmad ibn Abd Allah, the mahdi (the 'Guided One'), against Turco-Egyptian administration. It quickly gains popularity amongst the disaffected and fractured Sudanese people.

1884 - 1885

Brother. Gained throne through bribery.

1885 - 1893

Brother. Fled Ouaddai-Chari and assassinated.

1890 - 1893

Having set himself up in the minor territory of Ouaddai-Chari, Rabih az-Zubayr leads attacks on a number of local regions, including Dar Runga, Kreich, and Goula, and then Banda Ngao. With the colonial French showing an interest in the region, an expedition of theirs is attacked in 1891.

Rabih az-Zubayr, perhaps a typical South Sudanese warlord of any period right down to the modern age, captured an empire but couldn't keep it in the face of French superiority - instead he ended up on the end of the spear of a French native soldier

The expedition's French leader is killed and the weapons are collected to rearm Rabih's own forces. The Bagirmi sultanate to the south-east of Lake Chad is attacked in 1892. The capital is besieged asnd in 1893 is completely destroyed. By this time Rabih already has what he assumes is a puppet sultan in Dar al-Kuti.

1893

Rabih az-Zubayr and his Ouaddai-Chari territory now turn their attentions towards the fading Bornu empire. Rabih makes short work of capturing the minor sultanate of Karnak Logone on the empire's eastern border, which catches the attention of the Bornu emperor, Hashimi.

He sends fifteen thousand men to confront Rabih but they are routed not once but twice. Hashimi, instantly broken, flees to the north of the empire where he is assassinated under the orders of his nephew, Kyari.

1893 - 1894

Nephew. Captured and executed.

1894

Having now to face Rabih az-Zubayr of Ouaddai-Chari, Kyari himself is defeated and Rabih quickly has the diminished empire for himself. Kyari's official successor, Sanda Limananbe, is also captured and executed, this time by one of Rabih's henchmen.

Central Africa in 1897 was a land of uncertain, shifting borders, with small states expanding to incorporate previously stateless tribal societies (click or tap on map to view full sized)

1894

Brother. Captured and executed. No successor until 1902.

1894

The Bornu succession remains vacant until 1902 when the shehus are re-established, although now they hold little real power and their empire is a thing of history. By then their territory is largely part of French Chad and then 'French Equatorial Africa', while between these two dates it is Rabih's Zobeir dynasty which controls the region.