History of Central Africa




BORNU



By the 11th century, there were kingdoms established around Lake Chad, controlling trade routes in the area. One such Kingdom, under HUMMAY, the founder of the SEFUWA DYNASTY of KANEM, adopted Islam as state religion.
Pressure of the Bulala, a rival dynasty from further east, caused the Sefuwa court to abandon Kanem proper and move to BORNU between 1382 and 1387. In 1484 the Sefuwa ruler of Bornu gained the right to wear the title CALIPH. In the 16th century old Kanem, now under Bulala rule,was annexed; for the next 300 years, Bornu (also called Kanem-Bornu) controlled the entire Lake Chad basin. In the late 16th century, Bornu established diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire.
In 1871 visited by German explorer GUSTAV NACHTIGAL.
The 19th century saw the decline of Bornu, loss of territory to the Sultanate of SOKOTO (the Haussa), it's capital destroyed in a raid in 1808. In 1893, the power in Bornu was seized by RABEH, who died fighting the French in 1900. The country then was split up between the colonial powers. Shares of Bornu are now part of (formerly British) Nigeria, of (formerly French) Niger, of (formerly French) Chad and of (formerly German/French) Cameroun.



EXTERNAL
FILES 		Kanem-Bornu, from Kingdoms of the Medieval Sudan
A Short History of the Kanem-Bornu Empire, by Detlef Gronenborn
Spread of Islam in West Africa, by A. Rahman I. Doi, scroll down to Islam in Kanem-Bornu Empire
DOCUMENTS Leo Africanus, The Kingdom of Borno (833), from African History Sourcebook
Combat pres du Lac Tchad (1901), from Modern History Sourcebook, in French
Flag of Bornu 1806, from Historical Flags : Nigeria Old and Modern Native States merely the green standard of Islam, the same as given for the Sultanate of Adamawa
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on November 6th 2004

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