Sayfawa dynasty, Sefouwa, Sefawa, or Sefuwa dynasty is the name of the Muslim kings (or mai, as they called themselves) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire,[1] centered first in Kanem in western Chad, and then, after 1380, in Borno (today north-eastern Nigeria).
Sayfawa dynasty | |
---|---|
Country | Kanem-Bornu Empire |
Founded | 700 AC |
Founder | Saif |
Final ruler | Ali Delatumi |
Historic seat |
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Titles |
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Dissolution | 1846 |
The dynasty was rooted in the Tubu expansion by the Kanembu.[2]
"The legendary eponymous ancestor of the Saifawa, as the Maghumi are called, only became in Muslim times Saif, the 'lion of Yaman.'[3]: 9 The pre-Muslim dynasty is known as the Duguwa dynasty.[1]: 26
Sayfawa-Humewa kings in Kanem
editThe chronology of the Sefuwa concerns the rule of the Sayfawa dynasty first over Kanem, then over the Kanem–Bornu and finally, since c. 1380, over Bornu alone. The chronology of kings has been ascertained from dynastic records of the Sefuwa on the basis of lengths of reign for the successive kings (mai), found in the Girgam. African historians presently use several conflicting chronologies for the history of Kanem–Bornu. Below a list of the main kings of the Empire with the conflicting chronologies is provided.
Name of the king (mai) | Barth 1857[4][5] | Palmer 1936[6][3] | Urvoy 1941[7][1] |
---|---|---|---|
(12) Hume | 1086–1097 | 1086–1097 | 1085–1097 |
(17) Dunama Dibbalemi | 1221–1259/60 | 1221–1259 | 1210–1224 |
(47) Ali Gajideni | 1472–1504 | 1476–1503 | 1473–1507 |
(48) Idris Katakarmabe | 1505–1526 | 1503–1526 | 1507–1529 |
(53) Idris Alauma | 1572–1603 | 1570-1602/3 | 1580–1617 |
List of rulers of the Sayfawa dynasty according to John Stewart's African States and Rulers (1989).[8][9]
# | Name | Reign Start | Reign End |
---|---|---|---|
Kanem (1085 – 1256) (Succeeded the Duguwa dynasty which had ruled since 784) | |||
1 | Hume | 1085 | 1097 |
2 | Dunama I | 1097 | 1150 |
3 | Biri I | 1150 | 1176 |
4 | Bikorom (or Dala, or Abdallah I) | 1176 | 1194 |
5 | Abdul Jalil (or Jilim) | 1194 | 1221 |
6 | Dunama Dibbalemi | 1221 | 1256 |
Kanem-Bornu (c. 1256 – c. 1400) | |||
- | Dunama Dibbalemi | 1256 | 1259 |
7 | Kade | 1259 | 1260 |
8 | Kashim Biri (or Abdul Kadim) | 1260 | 1288 |
9 | Biri II Ibrahim | 1288 | 1307 |
10 | Ibrahim I | 1307 | 1326 |
11 | Abdullah II | 1326 | 1346 |
12 | Selma | 1346 | 1350 |
13 | Kure Gana es-Saghir | 1350 | 1351 |
14 | Kure Kura al-Kabir | 1351 | 1352 |
15 | Muhammad I | 1352 | 1353 |
16 | Idris I Nigalemi | 1353 | 1377 |
17 | Daud Nigalemi | 1377 | 1386 |
18 | Uthman I | 1386 | 1391 |
19 | Uthman II | 1391 | 1392 |
20 | Abu Bakr Liyatu | 1392 | 1394 |
21 | Umar ibn Idris | 1394 | 1398 |
22 | Sa'id | 1398 | 1399 |
23 | Kade Afunu | 1399 | 1400 |
Bornu Empire (c. 1400 – 1846) | |||
24 | Biri III | 1400 | 1432 |
25 | Uthman III Kaliwama | 1432 | 1433 |
26 | Dunama III | 1433 | 1435 |
27 | Abdullah III Dakumuni | 1435 | 1442 |
28 | Ibrahim II | 1442 | 1450 |
29 | Kadai | 1450 | 1451 |
30 | Ahmad Dunama IV | 1451 | 1455 |
31 | Muhammad II | 1455 | 1456 |
32 | Amr | 1456 | |
33 | Muhammad III | 1456 | |
34 | Ghaji | 1456 | 1461 |
35 | Uthman IV | 1461 | 1466 |
36 | Umar II | 1466 | 1467 |
37 | Muhammad IV | 1467 | 1472 |
38 | Ali Gajideni | 1472 | 1504 |
39 | Idris Katakarmabe | 1504 | 1526 |
40 | Muhammad V Aminami | 1526 | 1545 |
41 | Ali II Zainami | 1545 | 1546 |
42 | Dunama V Ngumaramma | 1546 | 1563 |
43 | Dala (or Abdullah) | 1563 | 1570 |
44 | Aissa Koli | 1570 | 1580 |
45 | Idris Alooma | 1580 | 1603 |
46 | Muhammad Bukalmarami | 1603 | 1617 |
47 | Ibrahim III | 1617 | 1625 |
48 | Umar III | 1625 | 1645 |
49 | Ali III | 1645 | 1685 |
50 | Idris IV | 1685 | 1704 |
51 | Dunama VI | 1704 | 1723 |
52 | Hamdan | 1723 | 1737 |
53 | Muhammad VII Erghamma | 1737 | 1752 |
54 | Dunama VII Ghana | 1752 | 1755 |
55 | Ali IV ibn Haj Hamdun | 1755 | 1793 |
56 | Ahmad ibn Ali | 1793 | March 1808 |
57 | Dunama IX Lefiami | 1808 | 1810 |
58 | Muhammad VIII | 1810 | 1814 |
- | Dunama Lefiami (Restored) | 1814 | 1817 |
59 | Ibrahim | 1817 | 1846 |
60 | Ali Delatumi | 1846 |
The Sayfawa dynasty ended in 1846 and was succeeded by a series of Sheikhs who ruled the Bornu empire until 1893.[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Urvoy, Y. (1949). Historie De L'Empire Du Bronu (Memoires De L'Institut Francais D'Afrique Noire, No. 7 ed.). Paris: Librairie Larose. pp. 26, 35, 52, 56–57, 73, 75.
- ^ US Country Studies: Chad
- ^ a b Palmer, Richmond (1936). The Bornu Sahara and Sudan. London: John Murray. pp. 90–95.
- ^ Barth, Travels, II, 15-25, 581-602.
- ^ Barth, Henry (1890). Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa. London: Ward, Lock, and Co. p. 361. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ Palmer, Bornu, 112-268.
- ^ Urvoy "Chronologie", 27-31.
- ^ Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers. London: McFarland. p. 146. ISBN 0-89950-390-X.
- ^ a b Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers. London: McFarland. pp. 34–35. ISBN 0-89950-390-X.
Bibliography
edit- Barkindo, Bawuro (1985). "The early states of the Central Sudan", in: J. Ajayi and M. Crowder (eds.), The History of West Africa, vol. I, 3rd ed. Harlow, 225-254.
- Barth, Heinrich (1858). "Chronological table, containing a list of the Sefuwa", in: Travel and Discoveries in North and Central Africa. Vol. II, New York, 581-602.
- Lavers, John (1993). "Adventures in the chronology of the states of the Chad Basin". In: D. Barreteau and C. v. Graffenried (eds.), Datations et chronologies dans le Bassin du Lac Chad, Paris, 255-267.
- Levtzion, Nehemia (1978):"The Saharan and the Sudan from the Arab conquest of the Maghrib to the rise of the Almoravids", in: J. D. Fage (ed.), The Cambridge History of Africa, vol. II, Cambridge 1978, pp. 637–684.
- Nehemia Levtzion and John Hopkins (1981): Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, Cambridge.
- Palmer, Herbert Richmond (1936). Bornu Sahara and Sudan. London.
- Smith, Abdullahi (1971). The early states of the Central Sudan, in: J. Ajayi and M. Crowder (Hg.), History of West Africa. Vol. I, 1. Ausg., London, 158-183.
- Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers: An encyclopedia of Native, Colonial and Independent States and Rulers Past and Present. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 395 Pages. ISBN 0-89950-390-X.
- Urvoy, Yves (1941). "Chronologie du Bornou", Journal de la Société des Africanistes, 11, 21-31.
External links
edit- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). 1911.; see also Encyclopædia Britannica, 4th ed., Chicago 1980, vol. 4, 572-582. .
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .