The Kanema Who Killed a Mai

Another thing we have also been thinking about whilst revisiting the Diwan is the kanema Muhammad b. Abd Allah. According to Lange's chronology, this kanema killed a Sayfawa mai named Ghadji in c. 1454. Although Lange, in a footnote, referenced Barth raising the possibility of the kanema here being a reference to a Bulala sultan in Kanem, that seems less likely. Even Palmer, in Bornu Sahara and Sudan, believed the Kanem-ma was the Bulala sultan. After all, the author(s) of the Diwan had already recognized a Bulala ruler as king in the entry on Dawud b. Ibrahim. Later sections for references to the Bulala sultans of the 1500s sometimes name them as such. Consequently, we wonder if kanema was actually an old Sayfawa court title which disappeared by the time the dynasty ended. 

Fortunately, a possible clue, though weak, can be found in Hagenbucher's article on the Bulala in Fitri. According to Hagenbucher, one of the titles given to the son of a sister of a sultan (the equivalent of the tata mairambe in Borno) was kanama. Indeed, one kanama was tied to the lineage of the Bulala sultan (the Lafiawa) whilst another kanama was the head of the Wadawa and also the son of a sultan's sister. Given the strong influence of the Sayfawa court on what the Bulala sultans organized in Kanem and Fitri, we wonder if the kanema who killed Ghadji with his sword was actually a dignitary of the Sayfawa court. Perhaps he was the son of a sister of Ghadji or one of his predecessors. 

Indeed, the kanema being a Sayfawa dignitary participating in the conflicts between the descendants of Dawud and Idris in this period fits with the context of this era until Ali b. Dunama's rise to the throne. We just need to find out more about the kanama among the Bulala and the chances of it being yet another Sayfawa-derived office the Bulala sultans added to their own courts. 

Kaday b. Lafia and Assakélé

Whilst perusing Dierk Lange's study of the Diwan and taking another look at H.R. Palmer's Sudanese Memoirs, we wanted to revisit the Bulala sultans in the first half of the 16th century. Since we believe Aisa Kili of Borno traditions may also be remembered in Kanem under a slightly different name, we previously proposed identifying Aisa Kili with the daughter of Kalo, a Bulala sultan remembered for resisting the Sayfawa in the 16th century. Unfortunately, Carbou's allusions to Kanembu songs of a historical nature that remember the Bulala sultans are not fully quoted. However, Carbou was confident about Kalo being the son of a woman named Lafia. We suspect Aisa Kili, or Assakélé, may have been the daughter of Kaday b. Lafia. Identified in the Diwan as Kaday b. L.fiya (Lange's translation), he was defeated by Muhammad b. Idris of Borno at Lada. If Ahmad b. Furtu's chronicle is reliable, this war took place early in the reign of Muhammad b. Idris (c. 1519-1538, using Lange's chronology). 

The other theory is that Aisa Kili was the daughter of Dunama b. Salma. A brother of Kaday b. Lafia, Dunama b. Salma was noted in Bornoan sources as the sultan defeated by Idris b. Ali, who reigned from c. 1497 to 1519 (Lange's chronology). Around that time, a brother of Dunama b. Salma also took the throne in Kanem, Adam b. Salma (thus, a brother of Kaday, too). Kalo, the name used for Assakélé's royal Bulala father, is likely a Kanembu alternative name for Kaday or his brother. After all, Dunama b. Salma, Adam b. Salma and Kaday b. Lafia were both identified by Ahmad b. Furtu as sons of Abd al-Jalil (Lange has speculated that Salma was interchangeable with the name Abd al-Jalil). If the two brothers shared the same mother, either one could be the Kalo remembered in Kanembu song. Alternatively, a later Bulala sultan, Abd al-Jalil b. Abd al-Jalil, could potentially also match with Kalo, although the timing makes it less likely.

As for the name Kalo, somewhat similar names appear in Bulala girgams or traditions included in Palmer's second volume of Sudanese Memoirs. For instance, a K'ala appears on the list of Bulala maiwa of Kanem. The information is difficult to use given the contradictions and problematic nature of it, but part of the list in the second volume includes the names Lefia, Dala, Umr, Chiroma, Medu, Kademi and Kâlah or Kâle. In Palmer's confusing reading, these Bulala sultans never ruled in Kanem after Lefia and Dala were made into tributaries of Ali Gaji Zeinami. Elsewhere in the second volume of this book, Palmer suggests the name Kade is a local form of Abd al-Karim. Perhaps Kalo is related to Kale, which may be another local variant for Dalla or Dalil, or even the name Nigale (Nikale)? Assuming that Assakélé and Aisi Kili are indeed the same person, Kalo was mostly one of the 3 siblings who reigned in the first half of the 1500s in Kanem.