African Kingdoms

Kanem Empire (Kanem-Bornu Empire) (Africa)
c.AD 900 - 1389

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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, with Kanem emerging first on the southern edge of the medieval kingdom of Duguwa, to the north-east of Lake Chad, and then Bornu succeeding it in the late fourteenth century.

The Kanem empire originated at an unknown point in time, although approximate dating for its list of kings places a start date in the late eighth century AD. It seems to have started as a form of subject city state, focused on the Zaghawa town of Kanem and dominated by the Zaghawa kingdom of Duguwa. The Zaghawa people themselves were only recent arrivals into a land which was loosely dominated by the Sao civilisation.

The empire was known to the Arabian geographers as Kanem-Bornu from the ninth century AD onwards and it lasted, in one form or another, until 1890. At its height it encompassed an area which covered not only much of Chad, but also parts of modern southern Libya beyond the Libyan Desert, and eastern Niger. As with the rulers of Duguwa with whom it shared many connection points, its rulers were known as mais (singular mai).

The Lake Chad area around which the kingdom was centralised was, by virtue of its central location, a natural connecting point in the vast network of Saharan and Sudanic trade routes. The prosperity which the empire managed to gain through its control of these trade routes provided the basis for its growth and strength.

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. There is the suggestion of a pre-Islamic origin of Kanem in connection with the Phoenician expansion into Africa, although this is unconfirmed.

(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), and from External Links: The Story of Africa (BBC World Service), and The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: from c.1050 to c.1600, Roland Oliver (Cambridge University Press Collection, 1977, and available via the Internet Archive), and The Early Magistrates and Kings of Kanem as Descendants of Assyrian State Builders, Dierk Lange (Anthropos No 104,and available via JSTOR).)

fl c.785

Sayfawa dynasty mais govern the small Kanem state.

c.780s

Although Dugu is claimed as a ruler in his own right, and seemingly of the Zaghawa-dominated town of Kanem from the start, his territory appears to remain secondary to the Zaghawa state of Duguwa which includes Kanem within its domains. Given that a Duganj is given as the mai of Duguwa around this time, they may even be one and the same person.

The people of the Sao civilisation were workers of bronze, copper, and iron, as well as sculptors and builders, their demise only coming through Islamic assimilation under the Bornu empire

fl c.835

Legendary Mesopotamian figure or Duguwa mai?

? - c.850

Duguwa's dominance of Kanem appears to be fading around this time, perhaps either due to Fune or Aritso, although dating for either ruler of Kanem is vague and uncertain. Fune may even be the same person as Duguwa's Mune, a more-than-likely possibility given the high similarity in dating.

fl c.893

Legendary Mesopotamian figure or Duguwa mai?

fl c.942

Legendary Mesopotamian figure or Duguwa mai?

fl c.961

Harder to prove as legendary. Possibly Yiyoma of Duguwa.

fl c.1019

Legendary Mesopotamian figure or tribal ruler?

fl c.1035

Legendary Mesopotamian figure or tribal ruler?

fl c.1077

Perhaps an Arabic invention to complete the list.

? - c.1085

Possibly the same as 'Abd ul Jalil of Duguwa.

c.1081

Given the level of apparent crossover between the Duguwa rulers and Kanem's rulers, it does seem likely that there are two kingships in operation which are frequently held in tandem by one person, not an unlikely theory given that Kanem is an important town within the Duguwa kingdom. That soon changes, however, one Hummay gains Kanem's throne.

The Hoggar Mountains today sit in southern Algeria, but they cover an area of the Sahara and provided a western border to the northern reaches of the Kanem empire

1085 - 1097

Gained dominance over Duguwa. Created Kanem empire.

1085 - 1086

The Kanem state converts to Islam under the influence of the Zaghawa. A year after acceding to the throne, Hummay, a member of the Sayfawa establishment but perhaps a usurper or representing a change in family policy, discards the last Duguwa king (or the Duguwa kingship in its entirety) and establishes his own dynasty as the dominant regional power.

The Zaghawa seemingly remain heavily influential upon Hummay's subsequent empire which fills southern Zaghawa regions and intrudes northwards fully into Zaghawa territory, especially at the town of Kanem, still heavily populated by Zaghawa people.

1098 - 1150

Son.

1150 - 1176

Son. Known through the location of his burial.

1171 - 1272

The eastern kingdom of Dongola enters a sharp decline, due in part to increased Bedouin attacks after these tribespeople have been pushed south by the Ayyubids. Cities have to be defended by new walls, buildings are made stronger, and some settlements are moved to more defendable locations.

In a rare defeat during the seventh century, the invading Arab army found itself unsuccessful when it tried to take the fortress of Old Dongola during its second attempt to capture the kingdom

1176 - 1193

Son.

1193 - 1210

Related? Direct descendant of Hume.

1210 - 1224

Son? Potentially the last of this line of rulers.

c.1210s/1220s

Kanem's expansion peaks during the energetic reign of Dunama Dabbalemi (alternative but more approximate dates are sometimes given to cover 1221-1259 and claim a long reign). He initiates diplomatic exchanges with sultans in North Africa and apparently arranges for the establishment of a special hostel in Cairo to facilitate pilgrimages to Mecca.

He also declares a jihad against surrounding tribes and initiates an extended period of conquest, reaching as far north as the Fezzan during his campaigns. With this, Kanem controls the northern trade routes and gains more access to wealth.

The empire's influence also extends westwards to Kano (in today's Nigeria), eastwards to Ouaddai (now in Central African Republic), and southwards to the Adamawa grasslands (in today's Cameroon). That influence, however, is not direct control, especially at the outer reaches of the empire.

The Tibesti Mountains are formed from a range of inactive volcanoes which are located in northern Chad's arid Borkou and Tibesti regions, abutting Libya's south-eastern border

Local governors start out as rewarded military commanders, but they soon become hereditary fiefs which serve to weaken the empire and, in time, generate conflict and dissention. Tribute sooner or later stops flowing and Kanem is weakened.

1224 - 1242

Possibly a resurgent Zaghawa ruler.

1242 - 1262

Relationship confused.

1262

Relationship confused.

1262 - 1281

Relationship confused.

1270

By this time the Zaghawa town of Manan may already have been adopted by the rulers of the Kanem empire as their new capital. The former capital at Kanem remains heavily populated by Zaghawa people who also provide a large part of Kanem's population.

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

1281 - 1301

Relationship confused. Violently killed.

1301 - 1320

Son of Kade? Fought the Sao people.

1314 - 1324

In the east the kingdom of Dongola collapses, most especially due to internal discord and increased aggression from Egypt. It is possible, given the apparent overlaps with Dotawo's kings, that Makuria's rulers flee south to that city which becomes their final bolt-hole.

1320 - 1323

Son. Killed by the pagan Sao of the south.

1323 - 1325

Brother. Killed by the Sao.

1326 - 1327

Brother. Killed by the Sao.

1327 - 1329

Brother. Killed by the Sao.

1329 - 1353

Son of Ibrahim I Nikale?

1353

All four of the sons of Abdullah I have been killed in fighting against the Sao groups of the south. Their continuous inability to defeat them leave the succession in doubt. When Idris and then his half-brother succeed, it lays the grounds for a succession conflict between Daoud and the sons of Idris which further weakens the empire.

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

1353 - 1356

Half-brother. Fought a war of succession against Idris' sons.

1356 - 1369

Son.

1369 - 1371

Related? Rule is brief. Killed by Bulala raiders.

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 manage to kill five of them.

This proliferation of mais results in numerous claimants to the throne, leading to a series of internecine wars and the probable abandonment of Manan as the capital in favour of Njimi. Alternatively, Njimi has already become the new capital, having witnessed a marked population growth in the more prosperous thirteenth century.

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

1371 - 1372

Related? Killed by Bulala raiders.

1372 - 1380

Moved the capital to Bornu. Killed by Bulala raiders.

c.1380

The Bulala invaders now force the latest mai, Umar Idrismi, to abandon Njimi and move the Kanembu people to Bornu on the western edge of Lake Chad. The move signals the rapid end of the Kanem stage of this empire.

1380 - 1388

In Bornu. Killed by Bulala raiders.

1388

In Bornu. Killed by Bulala raiders.

1388 - 1389

In Bornu. Last of the Kanem mais.

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.

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