The Tuareg and Islam in the Sahel

Due to this blog's current obsession with Kanem-Borno, we have been reading studies of other parts of the Sahel and "Sudanic" Africa. Looking at Kanem-Borno in its larger regional context can shed light on our area of interest, and lead to other sources and ideas. Nonetheless, we were disappointed by Norris's The Tuaregs. While it definitely could have used better editing, the main problem is the paucity of sources for earlier eras, such as Tadamakkat, and the author's reliance on significantly later oral traditions or excerpts from Tuareg intellectuals and writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Norris has done a favor for the rest of us by translating excerpts from several of these lesser known works by local authors, but the overall narrative on Islam among the Tuareg of the Sahel is disjointed and perhaps weakened by so much speculation. To his credit, he translated some of the same material from Agadez used by Yves Urvoy, so Anglophone readers do not have to rely solely on Urvoy's French translation of the Agadez Chronicles. One also gains deeper insights on the relationship between Tuareg Ineslemen and their counterparts among other groups, such as the Arabic-speaking Moors, the Kunta, and, perhaps, Hausa and Fulani Muslim reformers like Muhammad Bello. 

Unfortunately, one cannot help but think a book of this nature could benefit from a rewrite that incorporates data from archaeological excavations at sites like Tadamakkat and the epigraphic sources studied by Moraes de Farias. Some of these more recently uncovered or analyzed types of data could shed light on the nature of Tuareg and Sahelian Berber Muslim communities in the late first millennium, as well as their relationship with kingdoms and cities to the south (Gao, for instance). The younger scholarship seems to adopt a more critical stance with regard to chronicles like those of Agadez, too. 

Gronniosaw and Borno?

We here at the blog finally read the brief autobiography of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw. Said to be from Borno, we thought it mandatory to examine his autobiography as another potential source on the history of Kanem-Borno. Unfortunately, upon closer examination, the fascinating character which emerges in this autobiography could not have been from Borno. Too many inconsistencies and errors suggest that James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw was probably from another part of West Africa, perhaps a region closer to the Gold Coast than his narrative suggests.

While Borno certainly did have trading links to the Gold Coast in the 18th century, which may have involved ivory, it is remarkable that Gronniosaw's autobiography creates a portrait of a Borno which couldn't have been in the 18th century. Claiming to be the grandson of the king of Borno, one would expect Gronniosaw to have been a Muslim, or at least familiar with Islam. Unless his mother married a non-Muslim, he would have definitely been raised in the faith and possibly received at least a basic Koranic education. Instead, Gronniosaw fails to mention Islam, but mentions the worship of the Moon, Sun, and stars. Further, Gronniosaw was astonished when he first saw a man (the Dutchman who purchased him on the Slave Coast) read a book. If he was indeed from Borno's capital, and of royal blood, one would expect him to have familiarity with literacy and books. 

Furthermore, when describing their congregations of worship, he only mentions worshipping under trees in the city. Supposedly their day of Sabbath was on Saturday, not the expected Friday of Muslims. How could he not have been familiar with the mosques of Birni Gazargamo or the rituals of Islamic worship? Was his Islamic background erased by the Christian writer who recorded his narrative? Or, as we think more likely, was he from another part of West Africa? That might elucidate the autobiography's allusion to palm wine consumption in Gronniosaw's homeland. It would also explain the use of bark to produce cloth. After all, in our experience with the sources on textiles in Borno, most was produced with cotton.

Despite these flaws and questions of its accuracy for the origin of Gronniosaw, one should still read it. As an autobiography, filtered through the Christian propaganda and symbolism of his interlocutor, it provides some insights into the experiences of West Africans in the "Atlantic World" in the 18th century. Gronniosaw visited Martinique, Barbados, and Havana and lived in New York, Holland, London, and other parts of Britain. He experienced the life of a privateer in the Caribbean, as well as a difficult life of poverty in Britain. Indeed, his white wife, Betty, a weaver, experienced hardship due to labor unrest in her field. Thus, one can see elements of 3 forces that defined the increasingly closer "Atlantic World" of Africa, Europe and the Americas through the lens of race, class, and colonialism in the life of Gronniosaw.

Autobiography of Nicholas Said

Said, via Wikipedia

Nicholas Said's relatively short autobiography is one of the most interesting textual sources produced by a native of Borno. The author of this slave narrative was kidnapped by Tuaregs and sold into slavery in North Africa. From Tripoli, Said accompanied a Turkish master who ran a tobacco shop, on the pilgrimage to Mecca. Along the way, Said traveled to Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, today's Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Muscat. One almost wishes he told us more about the Ethiopian traders he met in Khartoum, or about the African pilgrims en route to Mecca in Sudan and Ethiopia. Alas, that was not his focus, but it would have been interesting if he met others from Borno in Sudan and Ethiopia. After his master's shop is burned down (with half of Tripoli's Turkish bazaar), our protagonist is sent to Izmir, where he is sold to a politically connected Turk who then takes him to Constantinople. After brushing shoulders with the cosmopolitan elites of Constantinople, he is acquired by a Russian diplomat and aristocrat who takes him to the Russian Empire. 

Via travels with a Russian employer, he traverses Europe, experiencing all the aesthetic, technological, and cultural advances of mid-19th century West. Eventually, when in London and planning a return to Borno, a Dutch client offers him employment for an extended trip to North America and the Caribbean. Visiting US cities, the Bahamas, Haiti, and Jamaica, Said and his employer return to the US and Canada, where Said is abandoned after loaning his boss funds. Stranded in Canada, he is encouraged to go to Buffalo, New York, where there are more "colored" people. Thus began Said's experiences in the US on a permanent basis. Perhaps due to the delicate post-Civil War conditions in the US South, Said does not disclose his service in the Union Army. One is also struck by the number of elite or royal people Said claims to have met or served, including receiving a gift from the Czar Nicholas I. One almost senses in this a Kanuri cultural practice of dependents seeking wealthy or powerful men as patrons, and perhaps Said's namedropping was a reflection of that. Or perhaps it served as a counter to US racism, as a "black" man, though in a servile position, was valued and respected by cosmopolitan European elites and experienced little to no racial prejudice. One can sense some tensions, perhaps tied to his race, with European domestics in Russia, and we can be sure there was a lot more that happened to Said in Europe or Turkey than he's willing to admit. Alternatively, Said may have looked to the famous "Negro" of Peter the Great as a model for refashioning his life in the Russian Empire.

So, what does Nicholas Said's biography tell us about Borno and the experience of Borno's peoples in the modern world? First, Said himself represents Borno as a political project encompassing a variety of ethnic groups, including the Kanuri, Shuwa, Kanembu, and, in the case of Said, "Mandra" (Mandara) and Molgoy. Molgoy were a people whose ruling chief accepted a tributary relationship with Borno under Mai Barnoma. Said's mother, Dalla, was the daughter of a Mandra chief. Yet despite these non-Kanuri origins, Said seems to identify wholeheartedly with Borno and refers to the Borno or Kanuri language as his vernacular. Perhaps this a reflection of his father's military service under Shehu al-Kanemi, which meant Said grew up in Kukawa, the capital, and socialized with a son of Shehu Omar. Either way, this is an interesting example of how multiethnic the empire of Borno was, and to what extent people from "pagan" tributary or vassal states in the region could ascend the ranks of the military and social status. 

After all, Mohammad Ali ben Said was the son of Barca Gana, a famous general who defended Borno against the Fulani, Bagirmi, Wadai, and other enemies or raiders. Indeed, it was presumably through his father's prominence and connections with al-Kanemi and his successor that Said was sent for schooling to Malam Katory, a reputed scholar described as being well-versed in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. Presumably having such a respectable teacher in Arabic was expected for people of elite origins in Borno. Moreover, it was open to people who were not of Kanuri, Kanembu, or Shuwa origins, though Said clearly thought the Kanuri were the ruling class or caste and not above oppressing Shuwa, Kanembu, or other groups.

After establishing how internally diverse and dynamic Borno society was in the 19th century, it's important to consider Said as a native of Borno in the volatile 19th century world, experiencing steamships, railroads, European architecture and science. There is a long-running, underlying current of racial uplift in Said's autobiography, perhaps acquired from his experience in the US with African-Americans and whites. In his own manner, he attacks the argument of African inferiority, while implicitly casting Africans as primitive and the "race" as one in need of elevation through education and uplift. This is the basis for sensing some ambivalence in Said's experience of 'modernity' and tradition, one in which he can praise aspects of Borno and the Ottoman Turks while cursing African Islam as retrograde. Indeed, in Said's retelling of Borno's past and the history of African achievements in technology and handicrafts, he seems to think the palace ruins at Gambaru and Ngazargamu were the achievements of pre-Islamic Borno. Consequently, one can sense an ambivalence in Said's autobiography in terms of religion and race in a changing world. Thus, he can praise the example of the Haitian Revolution as an achievement for our race while wishing Haiti remained colony.

Experiencing the trans-Saharan slave trade first-hand, and 2 distinct but connected routes that carried him from Tripoli to Mecca and back), it is fascinating to see how someone who was reared Muslim and received an Islamic education for at least 2 years struggled with Islam. After baptism in Riga, at the pressure of his Russian aristocratic employer, Said appears to have gradually adopted more severe and dismissive attitudes to Islam. The religion of his homeland, indeed, is blamed for bringing destruction, fanaticism, and slave raiding. Since his audience for the autobiography consisted of Christian Americans in the 19h century, perhaps one can see Said embellishing or exaggerating his religious sentiments or identity. Yet he could have been sincere in those beliefs, and struggled to make sense of the "contest" between Christianity and Islam, the former better for Africa (and the "race"). In this light, it is interesting to compare Said with Edward Blyden. Unlike Blyden, who was not a product of an Islamic West African society, Said presented himself as a Christian who rejects Islam's influence in the continent. Blyden, on the other hand, saw Islam as preparing Africa for eventual Christianization, and in the meantime, promoting education and moderation for moral uplift. Like Said, Blyden did not truck with "fetishism" but both claimed to be for the race. Both also saw in the "mulatto" an implacable obstacle to countries like Haiti. How is it that two men with extensive traveling and education, both in favor of improving the "race," develop ambivalent attitudes toward Africa in the modern world while stressing the benefits of opposing religions? And what does this suggest for the role of Borno in the larger theme of Islam and modern Africa?

A History of Islam in West Africa

Trimingham's A History of Islam in West Africa is quite dated. For instance, it relies on problematic older assumptions typical of the scholarship of its era. For example, the Almoravids are assumed without question to have sacked or defeated ancient Ghana. In addition, the author relies on problematic assumptions of "Hamitic" races and "Negro" (while also considering all Berbers "white") while also describing colonialism as largely beneficial. Indeed, based on the rise of theocratic Islamic states in the 19th century and the endless wars and slave-raiding created by these theocratic states and the military adventurers like al-Hajj Umar, Trimingham appears to see in European colonialism as saving West Africa from endless wars.

Nontheless, Trimingham's work provides an excellent synthesis of the historical knowledge of its era. One sees exactly what the dominant trends were based on oral history and internal and external textual sources to reconstruct the origins of trans-Saharan trade, the spread of Islam, and the various polities and kingdoms of the "Sudanese" style that developed in the western and central Sudan, from Senegal to Chad. Despise the author's misgivings about the reliability of the oral sources for earlier moments in the development of states like Takrur, Ghana, and Songhay/Kawkaw, they add a wide array of new details to the cultural and historical development of the various peoples of the region. 

Surprisingly, we learn less about Islam in this region than the history of kingdoms, traders, and trading centers like Jenne or Timbuktu, but Trimingham rightly sees Islam in pre-19th century West Africa as mainly limited to towns, traders, and kings who professed it but did not impose it on their subjects (although this is contradicted by states like Takrur, whose first king, War Jabi, did compel his subjects to Islam). Overall, Trimingham's study is more about political and social history with appropriate emphasis on Islam for certain key moments, developments, or changes in religious practice, such as the rise of Sufism, jihadist 19th century movements, and colonialism aiding Islam's expansion amongst "pagan" peoples. Sometimes one thinks Trimingham sees in West African "traditional" religion something anti-universalist (unlike Islam) and closed off to the wider world, so perhaps more recent scholarship has approached the delicate question of Islam and "traditional" religion more convincingly.

Ali Eisami of Borno

For our long-term project on the history of Kanem-Borno, we assigned ourselves Koelle's  African Native Literature, or Proverbs, Tales, Fables, & Historical Fragments in the Kanuri or Bornu language. Written in Sierra Leone with the aid of Borno native Ali Eisami, the work consists of several fables, stories, historical narratives, and a glossary of Kanuri words. Eisami, the son of an Islamic scholar, was from a town or village near the old capital, Birni Gazargamo. He received at least a Quranic schooling, and experienced the upheaval of the fall of Gazargamo to the Fulani jihadist forces in 1808. By 1810s, he was captured by a group of Fulani, sold into slavery, and was relatively well-treated by a Yoruba master before Spaniards purchased him for the horrific trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Fortunately for him, a British ship used to suppress the slave trade intercepted the Spanish vessel and shipped the recaptives to Sierra Leone,. 

Although Eisami had arrived in Sierra Leone in 1818 and was thus away from Borno for over 30 years by the time Koelle's book was published in 1854, Eisami's dictated stories are an invaluable source for anyone interested in oral traditions and the history of the region and what we are calling the "Late Sayfawa Period." And while the presence of other Kanuris in Sierra Leone after 1818 provided updated information on events in Borno after Eisami's capture, it is clear that the major value of his experience is the plethora of oral traditions or folktales and his perspective on the early impact of the Fulani jihadist attacks which ushered in several political, economic, and social changes across the region before he became "lost" in captivity. 

Thus, the various short stories, fables, and historical fragments of the text shed light on a Borno that was lost with the fading Sayfawa dynasty and the declining political and economic fortunes of Borno across the turbulent 19th century. In a sense, Ali Eisami is an important final witness to to Borno as a civilization prior to the rise of al-Kanemi. His short stories and fables, which often reflect misogynistic views, also surprise. Some of the proverbs explicitly recognize slaves as untrustworthy. One tale, of a Muslim scholar and his heathen friend, exemplifies the ways in which oral traditions might reflect general social attitudes about religion and social obligation, challenging Islamic holymen on their character and not their adherence to tenets of the faith. His first tale, on the friendship between a rich man and a poor man, seems to reflect the importance of patron-client relations between superiors and inferiors, which could lead to long-lasting and surprising obligations. 

Eisami's tales and historical narratives likewise shed light on family and marriage relations, diet, the relationship between Islamic scholars and elites, and crises that struck Borno on the eve of the 1808 jihadist attack. For instance, we learn of Mai Ahmad's struggles with the vassal state or town of "Deia" which illustrates what might have been the incompetence of some kaygamas in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Or, to take another case, a famine and pestilence which struck Borno before 1808 and must have surely contributed to the weakness of Ahmad to defeat the invasion. Mai Ahmad, perhaps too old himself to have led the Twelve Regiments in person, abdicated and gave the crown to his son, Dunoma. However, according to Eisami, Dunoma was only able to retake Gazargamo thanks to the prayers, ability and "charm-water" of Sheikh al-Kanemi, the Kanembu mallam who would eventually seize effective political power in Borno. Much of this was witnessed by Eisami, or at least he was close enough to have heard the details before he left Borno. Unfortunately, his sources of information on events after his capture are sometimes conflicting, and in some cases, incorrect (the final end of the Sayfawa, for instance).

We shall revisit Eisami later on in a long-term project at the blog. We hope to explore in detail the oral traditions, proverbs, and stories he shared with Koelle. A related project is a comparative approach to Eisami, Nicholas Said, and James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw as authors of slave narratives written by men from Borno. To what extent were all three authors modified or misunderstood by their interlocutors or, in the case of Said, publisher? How did they come to represent Borno and Islam? To what extent were racialization and Western racial concepts shaping their narratives? These and other questions will be addressed in our future project. 

Borno and Brazil

Although we here at the blog have been interested in the history of Kanem-Borno and exploring the existence of links between Haiti and that ancient African civilization, it would be foolish to omit the Borno diaspora elsewhere in the Americas. In the case of Brazil, we can thank Francis Comte de Castelnau for his recording of interviews with various West Africans in mid-19th century Bahia. While many were Hausa and other West Africans, a number of his informants on the interior of  Africa were from Borno. Their names were Karo, Damoutourou, Aba-Hama, Suleman, Ali, Mammarou, and Ibrahim. A sketch of one, presumably Mammarou of Mounao (in Borno), appears in the image above, as Figure 1. While the Borno informants had arrived in Brazil at different times and in at least one case was in Brazil for over 30 years, their testimonies provides some context on Borno's turbulent 19th century. The wars with the Fulani, slave raids, tensions with Bagirmi, and their own brutal path to Bahia show the ways in which Borno was integrated into the larger world. 

In the case of Damoutourou, who had been in Brazil over 30 years, and could speak Hausa, Kanuri, "Begharmi" and "Wadei," it's possible he did not know of the fall of the Sayfawa dynasty. Karo, from Angoumati, another "Bernou" in Bahia, provides information of a fantastic sort on the so-called Niam-Niam cannibals. Mammarou, of Mounao, on the other hand, was a soldier who had traveled around Borno and its environs. Last, but certainly not least, Ibrahim of Borno claimed to have traveled to the east on the Mecca Route. He also claimed to have seen people who were cannibals in the lands south of Darfur....which probably goes to show how some Bornoans exaggerated and promoted tales of cannibals or humans with tails to gullible outsiders. Son of a Borno father and Hausa mother, Ibrahim's life is an additional example of the various ways in which the peoples of Borno were tied to their neighbors and beyond, from West Africa to the Red Sea. 

The other Africans interviewed by de Castelnau were not from Borno, but provide a number of details about it. Aboubakar of Bagirmi, for example, saw his homeland as a tributary of Borno. Born in Massenya, the capital, he knew of the eastern routes through Waday, Darfur, and "Zambulma." As one of the central lands on east-west "Sudanic" route that went from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea, people from Baghirmi were well-situated to know of and encounter various African peoples, especially people from Borno who passed through en route to Sudan, Egypt, and Mecca. Oddly, Aboubakar did not recognize words like Kordofan, Abyssinia, or Nubia, perhaps reflecting unfamiliarity with terms not used in Baghirmi for eastern lands.

So, Brazil is definitely on the list of places with connections to Borno. While we have a lot of work to do before one can attempt an analysis of the experiences of "Borno" Africans in Bahia or other parts of the Latin American nation, they were clearly not alone among Muslims living in the region. Perhaps more were in Bahia and the Northeast than any in Rio de Janeiro, and they presumably participated in the cultural and religious community of African Muslims. We suspect that they may have joined hands with Hausa and Muslim Yoruba in the 1835 uprising, and perhaps in acts of marronage. If events in Saint Domingue were analogous, there may have been group activities tied to marronage and slave resistance that united the "Borno" Africans with their Hausa, Fulani, and Bagirmi "foes" and friends in Brazil.

Timeline for Kanem-Borno Civilization

Bodyguard of Shaykh al-Kanemi as depicted in Narrative of travels and discoveries in Northern and Central Africa: in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824

What follows below is our preliminary timeline for the history of Kanem-Borno. While by no means exhaustive, we hope to include dates and key events that impacted Kanem, Borno, Chad, and the Lake Chad Basin over the last several thousands of years. Some of the events included here may have no direct connection to the civilization we are interested in, but we include it for possible links, influences, and African historical contexts. We hope to update and correct any errors, as well as include more events that pertain to Borno's relationship with its neighbors and beyond. As for sources, we relied mostly on what has been cited in this previous post as well as the works of Jean-Claude Zeltner, Levtzion & Hopkins, Graham Connah, B.G. Martin, Heinrich Barth, H.R Palmer, Hamidu Bobboyi, Paul Lovejoy and Louis Brenner.

-2345 BCE – 2181 BCE: 6th Dynasty Old Kingdom Egypt contacts and trade with the polity of Yam, which was possibly located in Chad (southwest of Gebel Uweinat); Yam described in Autobiographical inscriptions of Harkhuf. Possible linguistic evidence of ancient Egyptian influence on Teda language as well as Teda words in ancient Egyptian (very speculative at this stage)

-c.1800-1200 BCE: Early Gajiganna Culture

-1000-500 BCE: Ancient Garamantian Phase (Mattingly)

-c.600-400 BCE: Gajiganna culture in Lake Chad Basin develop larger settlements, including fortified sites like Zilum

-500 BCE-500 CE: spread of iron, walled sites in Lake Chad Region

-500 BCE to 1 CE: Proto-Urban Garamantian Phase 

-c.400 BCE: Establishment of Jarma as Garamantian capital

-c.2000 BP: Daima site shows evidence of iron, sorghum, goats, glass, beads

-1 to 400: Zawila established as Garamantian center; Classic Garamantia Phase

-c.90: Traveler Julius Maternus said to have reached Agisymba with Garamantes, possibly Kanem or another region around Lake Chad

-400-700: Late Garamantian Phase

-450 CE: Traces of mud wall at Daima site

-mid-400s: Arnobius the Younger wrote that the Garamantes of the Fezzan spoke Punic

-500s: Possible foundation of Kanem, according to Lange's chronology

-533-534: Pudentius revolts against Vandals in Tripolitania, Vandalic Wars

-c.550: Cosmas Indicopleustes authored Christian Topography, claiming Christian churches existed in land of the Garamantes

-569: King of Garamantes sent envoy to Byzantium; allegedly Christians 

-600s-700s: Islamization of Fezzan region

-600s: Humid phase in Sahel favored growth of kingdoms, trans-Saharan trade

-642: Raid on Zawila by Uqba b. Nafi from Barqa

-663-664: Uqba ibn Nafi in Kawar (land of the blacks); Jawan as citadel in Kawar

-670-857: Dates for the central mosque of Zawila

-before c.728/729 or 732/733: Wahb b. Munabbih mentions the Nubians, Zanj, Qazan (Fazzan?), Zaghawa, Habasha, Qibt (Copt), and Barbar (Berber) as the races of the “Sudan” (if authentic, this is earliest known reference to “Zaghawa” peoples among the Sudan)

-700s: Reign of Fune b. Duku seems to have taken place in 8th century, said to have died at M.lan (Manan?)

-by c.700-1050: figurative art, mud-brick architecture, iron, weaving industry attested in firki plains south of Lake Chad

-c.757: foundation of Sijilmasa (or city rebuilt), major trading town for trans-Saharan commerce through western Sahara

-759: Al-Mansur (caliph) sends expedition to Fezzan against Berber Ibadites

-761-762: Foundation of Tahart by Abd al-Rahman b. Rustam, trade to the “Land of the Blacks”

-762: Abbasid troops killed Ibadite chief at Zawila

-By 800s, evidence of bronze/brass, cooper, beads found south of Lake Chad; reign of Mai Katuri seemed to have been in 9th century

-800-850: Governor of Djabal Nafusa, Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Hamid knew language of Kanem

-c.833: al-Khwarizmi mentions Ghana, Kawkaw (Gao), and “Zaghawa” in the relative positions of Ghana, Kawkaw/Gao and Kanem

-c.850-1172: Zuwayla as capital of Ibadi Berber Banu Khattub bin Izliten dynasty in Fezzan

-c.868-884: Oases route through Sahara to “Sudan” and “Maghrib” discontinued; route through oases west of Nile once prosperous, with “Rum” (Greeks) and Egyptians and Nubians traveling to the west/Northwest and another route to the Fazzan

-872-3: al-Yaqubi wrote of Kanem, describing it as a Zaghawa kingdom whose inhabitants live in huts made of reeds, their king is called KAKRH, and another Zaghawa group is called al-HWDN but Kanem is opposed by another kingdom called Malal (ruled by MYWSY)

-889-890: al-Ya’qubi writes of Zawila, the slave trade: Zawila inhabited by Ibadiyya Muslims (some from Basra, Khurasan, al-Kufa) who go on pilgrimage to Mecca, and export black slaves from the Miriyyun, Zaghawiyyun, Marwiyyun and other “Sudan” peoples; also mention of Kawar (town in series of oases simply called Kawar), inhabited by Muslims from mostly Berber tribes, who bring “Sudan” slaves; between Zawila and the town of Kawar live the Lamta people, who resemble Berbers

-900-1020: Date range for the walls of Zawila

-903: Ibn al-Faqih mentions route used by traders to travel from Egypt to Ghana, which passed through the Wahat Misr (Oases of Egypt) to Marawa, Maranda, Kawkaw (Gao), and Ghana)

-918: Berber Banu Khatta take Zawila, establish a dynasty that rules about 250 years

-947 or 956: Al-Mas’udi’s Muruj al-dhahab wa-ma’adin al-jawhar mentions Kanem and the Zaghawa, distinguishing between the two

-Late 900s: al-Muhallabi wrote of Kanem and the “Zaghawa”: Zaghawa have 2 towns (Manan and Tarazki), Zaghawa live in reed huts, worship king, king wears silk/wool, king’s wealth consisted in cattle, sheep, camels, horses, worship of king believed to bring life, death, sickness, health

-Late 900s-early 1000s: Akhbar al-zaman mentions the kingdom of Zaghawa as vast, large and at war with Nubia

-987-1007: Reign of Ayuma b. Katar of Kanem (according to Lange’s chronology)

-c.988: final version of Ibn Hawqal’s Kitab Surat al-ard, which mentions past trade route used by Nubians and Egyptians to reach Fezzan, Barqa, and the “Sudan” (Land of the Blacks) through the Oases west of the Egyptian Nile (route discontinued sometime 868-884)

-c.990: al-Muqaddasi wrote that the “Qaramatiyyun” (Garamantes?) transact with salt, Nubians and Habasha (Abyssinians) with cloth

-992: Zirid Sultan Mansur (984-996) received a gift from Bilad al-Sudan as did Ibn Khattab, governor of Zawila

-1007-1023: Reign of Bulu b. Ayuma of Kanem

-1013/14: Earliest known epitaph from Tadmakka

-1023/24: Zawila issued its own dinars

-c.1023-1067: Reign of Arku in Kanem, said to have established slave colonies in the Kawar region (300 slaves in D.r.ka, mosque of Sik.d.m, and Zaylan)

-1031: Zirid sultan Mu'izz (1016-1062) received a gift of slaves from a Sudan king (perhaps Kanem? Arku?)

-1040/41: Death of Warjabi, Muslim ruler of Takrur

-1042: Earliest Islamic epitaph at Kawkaw

-1063: Beginning of Tunka Menin's reign in Ghana (Wagadu)

-c.1067-1071: Reign of Hawa b. Arku of Kanem, to a Tomaghera mother T.f.su, daughter of Ar.kay.waw.n

-c.1068: al-Bakri writes of Kanem, calling them pagan, scarcely anyone reaches them, reports story of Ummayads in Kanem who fled there due to Abbasid persecution

-1071-1075: Reign of Abd al-Galil b. Ladsu (Hawa?)

-1075-1086: Alternative dates for reign of Mai Hume (Hume Jilmi) of Kanem

-1076-1086: Reign of Hummay b. Abd al-Galil, to a Kay mother and said to have died in Egypt

-1086-1140: Reign of Dunama b. Hummay of Kanem to a Tubu mother; died after performing the Hajj 3 times

-c.1100: Beginning of Sayfawa dynasty of Kanem (although it appears to be the same as the earlier “Duguwa” dynasty of pre-Islamic Kanem) with Mai Hume (Humme)

-c.1106-1107: Conversion of Kanem to Islam in period, according to Kitab al-Istibsar

-1108: Death of queen S.wa at Gao Saney

-1110: Death of Abu Abdullah Muhammad b. Abdu Llah b. Zaghi at Gao Saney, with a stela in Almerian style; death of king Abu Bakr ibn Abu Quhafa at Gao Saney -1116/17: Ghana's royal palace constructed (al-Idrisi) -1117: Death of Aisha, daughter of King Kuri, probably the same Korey or K.r.y in the Zuwa dynasty lists (Gao) -1119: Death of Queen M.s.r (Gao Saney) -1120: Death of King Yama b. K.ma b. Zaghi, or Umar b. al-Khatta, a king who waged holy war

-1126: Death of Fatima, daughter of King Mama (or Yama or Nama) (Gao Saney) -1127: Death of Za (Zu'a) b. Queen Hakkiya (Saney inscriptions) -1140: Death of Bariqa, daughter of Kuri (Gao Saney inscriptions)

-c.1140-1166: Reign of Sultan Biri b. Dunama of Kanem, said to have been punished by his mother F.sama of the Kay for misapplying sharia law in the execution of a thief. Remembered by Ahmad b. Furtu as a learned and God-fearing sultan.

-c.1154: al-Idrisi’s Book of Roger written, contains numerous details on Kanem, Kawar, Central “Sudan” and “Zaghawa” 

-c.1155/56: Birth of poet Ibrahim al-Kanemi in Bilma

-1166-1182: Reign of Abdallah Bakuru of Kanem; Borno mahrams collected by Palmer mention his mahram granted to the Beni Mukhtar Tura in the Kawar (Dirku), and mention of conflict between Air (Ahir) and Dirku Tura

-1172/3: Fall of Banu Khattab dynasty of Zawila

-c.1182-1210: Reign of Sultan Salma b. Hawa of Dabir (sedentary Kanembu origins), said to be the first black mai

-1198: Arrival in Marrakesh of the poet, Ibrahim al-Kanimi

-1200s-1300s: Fezzan region dominated by Kanem

1203: Death of King Fanda, son of 'Aru Bani (Aru-Baani/Arbaani/Aru Bine/Arbine), son of Zaghi (or Zaghay) of Gao -1210: Funerary stelae of a Songhay woman, Buwy or Waybiya, at Gorongobo

-c.1210-1248: Muhammad ibn Jil (Dunama Dibale/Dibbalemi) king of Kanem, son of Dabali of the M.gh.r.ma (Magomi?); apogee of medieval Kanem (opening of mune, war against Ghayu b. L.f.r.d, rise of factions, war with Tubu)

-c.1212: Death of Kanem poet Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kanemi, a poet and grammarian from Kanem (Bilma, in Kawar). Father was from the Dhakwan branch of the Banu Sulaym Arabs, and may have been educated in Ghana before moving to Marrakech. He eventually moved to Spain, where he seems to have died.

-1212: Death of Qaraqush in Waddan. His son later died there in the 1250s after rebelling.

-1242: Madrasat in Cairo built by Kanem for pilgrims

-1248-1277: Reign of Mai Kade (Kaday) in Kanem, assassinated by a dignitary of his court in 1277

-1250s: Borno under Kanem rule (to at least some extent, implied by Ibn Khaldun)

-1252/1253: Kanem raid on the Mabna people, according to al-Maqrizi

-1253: Death of Ai'isha, daughter of king Zuwa Kayna (Gao Saney)

-1257: Kanem sent ambassador to Tunis, and a gift for Hafsid sultan Mustansir

-1258: Kanem’s king killed Qaraqush’s son, who had rebelled against al-Mustansir in Tunis and had seized Waddan in the Fezzan

-1260: Henry of Castile found refuge in Tunis

-1260-1277: Mansa Wali reigned in Mali, who made the hajj to Mecca during the reign of the Mamluk sultan Baybars

-1264-65: Death of Yama Kuri (Yama Korey), son of king R.w.a (Zuwa)

-1277-1296: Bir, brother of Mai Kade, reigned as mai of Kanem; 2 Fellata shaykhs from Mali arrived in Kanem during his reign

-1296-1315: Reign of Ibrahim b. Bir of Kanem

-before 1286: Ibn Sa’id al-Maghribi’s Book of Geography, borrowing from lost work, describes Kanem in great detail: King Muhammad, capital of Njimi, old capital was Manan, Kanem ruled over Fezzan, Tajuwa, Kawar, “Zaghawa” east of Manan

-1296-1315: Ibrahim Nikale king of Kanem (also known as Ibrahim b. Bir); his yerima Muhammad b. Ghadi threw his corpse into a river

-c.1300: Reigning king was al-Hajj Ibrahim, then al-Hajj Idris, then Daud b. Ibrahim, then Umar, then Uthman b. Idris (according to al-Maqrizi’s chronology)

1315-1335: Reign of Abdallah b. Kaday of Kanem, war with Ghayu b. D.r.gh.z.na (King of Bagirmi???)

-1335-1339: Reign of Salma b. Abdallah of Kanem, died in war with Sao

-1339-1340: Reign of Kuri le jeune in Kanem, died in war with Sao

-1340-1341: Reign of Kuri le aine (the elder) of Kanem, died in war with Sao

-1341-1342: Reign of Muhammad b. Abdallah of Kanem, died in war with Sao

-1342-1366: Reign of Idris b. Ibrahim of Kanem, made the Hajj

-by 1349: al-Umari writes about Kanem, mentions the ascetic shaykh Uthman al-Kanemi, related to the Kings of Kanem

-1363-1377: Reign of Rasulid sultan al-Malik al-Afdal, who wrote Nuzhat al-'uyun. This text contains information on Takrur and Borno referring to Borno's gigantic city of brick, Jimi as largest city, and Borno holding Kran, Waddan, Fran, Zawila and Kanem. The text also mentioned other cities in Borno like Kaka, Naniqm, Abkam, Aflikm, and Kmtuluwa. There were 20 cities in the country mainly of reed huts, with a market for each town. Only the king of Borno lived in a solid construction. In addition, the people wore sewn clothes and turbans.

-1366-1376: Reign of Dawud b. Ibrahim in Kanem, war with sons and war with Bulala (killed by Abd al-Jalil)

-1376-1379: Reign of Uthman b. Dawud in Kanem

-1379-1381: Uthman b. Idris as ruler of Kanem

-1381-1382: Reign of Abu Bakr Liyatu b. Dawud ruled Kanem

-c.1382-1387, Mai Umar b. Idris reigned, relocated to Kagha (Kaka?) in Borno, leaving Kanem; Umar was killed by Judham Arabs (according to Zeltner)

-1387-1388: Reign of Sa’id in Borno, a usurper

-1388-1389: Reign of Kaday Afnu b. Idris in Borno

-c.1389-1421: Reign of Mai Biri b. Idris; civil war with kaygama Muhammad b. Dalatu and said to have died in Bagirmi

-1391-1392: Letter of Sultan Uthman (Bir) b. Idris of Kanem-Borno to Mamluk Sultan Barquq, complaining of depredations of Judham Arabs and asking the Mamluk ruler to free any Kanem-Borno Muslims sold into slavery in Egypt, Syria. Judham Arabs are said to have killed the previous Borno king, Amr the Martyr b. Idris, son of al-Hajj Idris, son of al-Hajj Ibrahim

-c.1421-1438: Dagachi, Borno prince, came from South Borno with men and mallams to 

Kano

-1421-1422: Mai Uthman ibn Dawud reigned (Uthman K.l.n.ma), deposed by kaygama Nikali b. Ibrahim and yerima Kaday Ka'aku; died at Afnu Kunu (Kano)

-1422-1424: Reign of Dunama b. Umar in Borno

-c.1424-1431: Mai Abdallah b. Umar fought with Kaygama Abd Allah, who defeated him; he was later restored to the throne after the death of Mai Ibrahim b. Uthman, who was installed by the Kaygama

-1431-1439: Reign of Ibrahim b. Uthman in Borno, killed by Kaday

-c.1438-1452: Borno attacked Asben/Air during this period, but couldn’t find water, ended by receiving tribute from lands west of Borno; Kano gave tsare to Borno

-1439-1440: Reign of Kaday b. Uthman in Borno, fought war with Dunama b. Bir

-1440-1444: Dunama (Ahmad) reigned in Borno (also known as Dunama b. Bir)

-January 1440: Letter found at Zaglou in Touat from Borno urging them to renew trade with Borno (possibly sent by Kaday b. Uthman)

-1444: Brief reign of Muhammad b. Matala

-1444-1445: Reign of Amr b. A’isa in Borno

-1445-1449: Reign of Muhammad b. Kaday in Borno

-1449-1454: Reign of Ghadji b. Imata in Borno; killed by Kanem/Bulala leader Muhammad b. Abd Allah

-c.1450: Fra Mauro world map depicts some locations/place names in Lake Chad Region, including Bagirmi (Bargemin), Marghi, Mandera (Mandara), Bolala (Bulala)

-1452-1463: Fulani go to Borno, according to Kano Chronicle while Gwanja merchants arrived in Katsina, Kanuri came in larger numbers, and Asbenawa came to Gobir

-1454-1459: Reign of Uthman b. Kaday in Borno; war with Sultan Ali b. Dunama

-1459-1460: Reign of Umar b. Abdallah in Borno, not installed by princes

-c.1460: Agadez built, according to Marmol

-1460-1465: Reign of Muhammad b. Muhammad

-1465-1497: Reign of Ali b. Dunama in Borno; war with Uthman b. Kaday, ended wars among Banu Sayf, died at Gazargamo

-c.1472: establishment of Birni Gazargamo as capital of Borno by Mai Ali ibn. Dunama (r.1465-1497)

-1477/78: al-Suyuti reports that some of his books were brought to the land of "Takrur" and used by students (E.M. Sartain)

-1479-1516: 20% of the 600 black slaves sold in Barcelona arrived via Barqa and the Central Sudan (Armenteros-Martinez)

-1484: al-Suyuti writes of a "Takrur" sultan returning from Mecca, in Cairo who was invested by the nominal Abbasid caliph, possibly Ali b. Dunama (Ali Ghaji) of Borno

-July-August 1493: al-Suyuti of Egypt received a letter of questions from Muhammad al-Lamtuni (possibly of Agadez) of Takrur on bribery, legal studies, matrilineal descent, magic, spirit possession, music, talismans, unveiled women

-1491/92: Death of Sonni Ali of Songhay (mentioned by al-Suyuti)

-c.1497: Tripoli liberated itself from the Hafsids

-1497-1519: Reign of Idris Katagarmabe (Idris b. Ali) of Borno, whose reconquest of Kanem was chronicled by Shaykh Umar b. Uthman Masbarma, whose grandfather was from Waddan (Fezzan). Defeated Bulala sultan Dunama ibn Salma at Garni Kiyala.

-1499-1509: Reign of Abdulahi in Kano; Borno attacked Kano and Abdulahi and his mallams met with Borno's mai to humble themselves

-early 1500s: Awlad Muhammad Dynasty established in Fezzan by this time

-c.1501-1502: Borno attacks Logone for the latter's refusal to pay tribute. Borno wins the Battle of Logone.

-1509-1565: Sarki Kisoki in Kano; failed Borno attack on Kano; arrival of Shehu Karaski, Magumi, and Kabi from Borno to Kano

-1510: Spanish conquest of Tripoli

-1514-1515: Askia Muhammad of Songhay conquers/annexes Air region 

-1517: Ottoman conquest of Egypt

-1519-1538: Reign of Muhammad b. Idris in Borno, war with Kaday b. L.fiya

-1522-1536, first mbang (king) of Bagirmi in place, Birni Besse (Nachtigal's chronology)

-1530: Charles V gives Malta and Tripoli to the Chevaliers de Saint-Jean

-1536-1548: Reign in Bagirmi of Lubatko, who continued expansion of Bagirmi (Nachtigal)

-1538-1539: Reign of Ali b. Idris in Borno

-1539-1557: Dunama b. Muhammad reigns in Borno; war with Sultan Abd al-Djalil son of ghumsa, then famine struck, built fortifications of Gazargamo (according to Barth)

-1548-1568: Reign in Bagirmi of Malo, who surrounded Massenya with a wall. Also defeated the Bulala

-1551: Turghut takes Tripoli

-1553: Ottomans seized Algiers

-1555: Borno embassy to Dragut in Tripoli

-1557-1564: Reign of Abdallah b. Dunama in Borno; famine that lasted for 7 years. Barth alludes to Fulbe settlements in Borno during his reign

-c.1561: Borno-Kebbi War, Borno said to have fielded an army of 100,000 against Kebbi after Kebbi attacks on Air region, but Kebbi defeated Borno

-c.1564-1596: Reign of Idris Alooma of Borno, chronicles of his reign produced by Ahmad b. Furtu and his mother Aisha Kili Ngirmaramma was a regent (according to tradition)

-1564/1565: Pilgrimage of Idris b. Ali (Idris Alooma) with Bulala ruler

-1565: Census enumerated 117 enslaved people from Borno in Sicily

-1568-1608: Reign of mbang Abdallah of Bagirmi (Nachtigal's chronology). Promoted Islam in the Bagirmi state, defeated Bulala and imposed tribute on Middogo

-1569-74: Ottomans conquer Tunis

-1571: Seizure of Amsaka by Idris Alooma

-1574: Idris Alooma of Borno sents ambassador to Constantinople (al-Hajj Yusuf) after Ottomans conquer Fezzan

-1574-1576: Kanem campaigns of Idris Alooma against Bulala sultan Abd al-Jalil, success 

achieved by 1576 as Bulala sultan appointed by Idris Alooma recognizes suzerainty of Borno

-1576: Ahmad b. Furtu writes his chronicle of Idris b. Ali's Borno campaigns

-1577/78: Idris Alooma’s ambassador al-Hajj Yusuf sent to Constantinople again, returns in 1578 with an Ottoman representative and a message of Ottoman refusal to cede the Fezzan

-1579: Letter in Ottoman archives to the beglerbeg of Egypt on a request from Idris b. Ali of Borno that pilgrims from Borno who die, have their property given to their sons or heirs

-1581: Publication of Orlanndo di Lasso's Libro de villanelle, moresche et altre canzoni, which includes a song with Kanuri words

-1581-1583: Borno ambassador al-Hajj Yusuf sent to Morocco, bearing gifts (over 200 young slaves) and requesting troops, mustkets, and cannons for holy war

-1582-1585: Ottoman garrison in Fezzan is massacred, return of Fezzan sultanate (Awlad Muhammad)

-1585/1586: Embassy to Tripoli sent by Idris Alooma of Borno

-1591: Battle of Tondibi leads to Moroccoan victory over Songhai; "Anonymous Spaniard" reports the ruler of Borno had 500 musketeers in his army (Hunwick)

-c.1593-1608: Ahmad Baba of Timbuktu in exile in Morocco, writes a response to questions from al-Isi which mention Idris Alooma's reconquest of the Bulala (Kanem); Ahmad Baba's answer also touches upon the unjust enslavement of Muslims by Idris Alooma (described as "unenlightened) as well the enslavement of Shuwa Arabs (descendants of the Judham) in Kano and Timbuktu (Hunwick)

-c.1595: Birth of Abu Abdallah b. Masani b. Muhammad al-Barnawi al-Kashinawi in Katsina, to Borno parents

-c.1596: Death of Idris Alooma from wounds received in a Bagirmi campaign (Zeltner)

-1596-1612: Reign of Muhammad b. Idris in Borno, said to be patient and of excellent character. This mai was buried at Dagana Daniski in Kanem, "slain in Holy War" (Bornu Sahara and Sudan)

-c.1601: Ibn al-Mubarak fled to Kazway in Borno during civil war with his cousin Yusuf, ruler of Agadez (date from H.R. Palmer)

-1607: Deposed Abd al-Qadir II of Sennar fled to Ethiopia, performed obeisance to Susenyos

-1608-1625: Reign of Omar in Bagirmi, said to have been pious

-c.1611: Wadai state founded by Abd al-Karim

-1612-1619: Reign of Ibrahim b. Idris, whose mother was ghumsa of the Maghrama tribe (Magumi?). Ibrahim b. Idris was assassinated in 1619, according to Bobboyi. This mai was also said to have only become pious later in life after being criticized by an old woman for watching plays, dancing, and racing (Bornu Sahara and Sudan). A famine of one year also said to have happened in his time.

-c.1616-1617: birth of Abd Allah b. Abd al-Aziz b. Umar (or Abd Allah al-Barnawi) in Borno, a scion of the Sayfawa dynasty and leader of Kulumbardo

-1618-1619: Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos campaigned against Sennar

-c1619-1639: Reign of al-hajj Umar b. Idris of Borno; Waldede-Jirmi Affair during his reign, in which Shaykh Jirmi was killed by Sultan Umar and Waldede fled to Bagirmi. Shaykh Umar Waldede was said to have traveled to Agadez and Timbuktu for study, was part of the Fulani diaspora. A Mandara prince fleeing his homeland is installed in Muniyo by Umar b. Idris.

-1622-23: Sultan Tahir of Fezzan fled to Borno due to Ottomans in Tripoli invading, but Mai Umar al-Maqdisi had him killed for blinding 2 of his own nephews

-1625-1635: Reign in Bagirmi of Dalai, who raided the Musgo (Nachtigal)

-1626-1658: Reign of Muhammad ben Jehim as Sultan of Fezzan

-c.1630: First galadima established at Nguru (Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno). First galadima was named Mai Makintami, son of Umar b. Idris and a slave woman. Said to have captured Marmar after defeating Fulani rebels (Palmer). Makintami said to have ruled for 30 years

-1630s: Tunjur arrival in Kanem (according to Zeltner's estimate)

-1632-1667: Reign of Fasiladas in Ethiopia

-1635-1665: King Burkomanda I of Bagirmi reigns. Said to have raided Kanem, Kotoko, Borku, Kawar and other lands. Fought a war with Mandara. His fetcha was said to have defeated Wadai when their forces attacked the Bulala, whose ruler was married to a sister of Burkomanda. Also said to have surrounded the royal palace with a brick wall.

-1636: Pasha of Tripoli sent European renegades or slaves to Borno

-1639-1677: Reign of Mai Ali b. Umar of Borno who killed 4 of his brothers when he ascended to the throne, recalled as great thinker and courageous but famine Dala Dama occurred during his reign. Shayk Abd Allah al-Barnawi accused of sedition by 'alim Abu Bakr al-Zakkaki in Gazargamo, had to defend himself against charges to Ali b. Umar.

-by 1642: Borno rulers established the Dala Afuno for Kanem at Mao (Zeltner, though Nur Alkali suggests 1650s)

-1642: first pilgrimage of Ali b. Umar (according to Girard)

-1644/5-1681: Reign of Badi II of Sennar (Funj Sultanate)

-1648: second pilgrimage of Ali b. Umar (Girard)

-1649-1672: Reign of Pasha Osman in Tripoli, who knew the Kanuri language and enjoyed cordial relations with Borno

-by 1650-1675, Bagirmi under rule of Borno

-1652: Fezzani source mentions first coming of Ali b. Umar through Fazzan (unclear if referring to 1642 pilgrimage or 1648 hajj)

-1654-1687: Muhammad al-Mubarak's reign in Agadez

-before 1655: Ali b. Umar defeats the Kwararafa led by Lewafaru (Katsina poet Dan Marina died in 1655 so the battle must have occurred by or before this year).

-1655: Pasha of Tripoli sent European slaves to Borno

-c.1657: Tuareg-Borno war; birth of Abu Bakar b. Al-Tahir Tashi, a Tuareg of Agadez and faqih

-1657: Agadez began exporting senna to Fezzan (Girard)

-1657-1658: third pilgrimage of Ali b. Umar, said to have been accompanied by widespread death among the Sudan on the pilgrimage. Ali b. Umar also said to wage jihad.

-1658-1681: Reign of Jehim in Fezzan

-c.1660-1680: Reign of Sulayman in Darfur

-1662: Imam Kona of Zaria traces his descent from Sheikh Jibrilu of Kulumbardo who left the site in this year

-1665-1674: Abd al-Raḥman reigns in Bagirmi. Said to have been pious.

-Late 1660s: Shaykh Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Yamani, from the Nile Valley, visited Kulumbardo

-1667: Borno-Tuareg war; Borno prince Medicon sold into slavery after Agadez attacked Borno, but Mai Ali b. Umar was able to have the Pasha of Tripoli find and liberate Medicon; also, the year Ali b. Umar went on pilgrimage (Girard)

-1668-1675: Chirurgien esclave, French captive in Tripoli

-1669: Borno-Tuareg War

-1672: Plan to send Catholic mission to Nubia through the Fezzan aborted due to fall of Pasha Osman in Tripoli

-1674: Sultanate of Agadez conquers Ader/Adar; Borno sent a giraffe to North Africa for Regeb Bey but the animal died in North Africa before being sent to the Duke of Tuscany

-1674-1680: Reign in Bagirmi of Dalobirni, killed in a conflict with Waday

-1675: Prince al-Hajj Aknafaya of Agadez went on 2nd pilgrimage to Mecca

-1677: Death of Shaykh Abd Allah al-Barnawi, founder of Kulumbardo religious center

-1677-1696: Reign of Idris b. Ali in Borno, died at Taraghen (Fezzan)

-1679: Muhammad al-Mubarak, Sultan of Agadez, invades Borno, troops led by Muhammad b. al-Hajj Ibrahim, surnamed Amma Fatim, with Kel Away Tuaregs

-1680-1707: Reign of Abd al-Qadir Woli in Bagirmi. Said to have been pious so he abdicated to focus on religion.

-1681: al-Hajj Aknafay of Agadez made 3rd pilgrimage to Mecca

-1683: Muhammad al-Mubarak of Agadez brought about peace between Kel-Oui and Itissines at In-Teboraq

-1684: Borno-Tuareg War

-1685: Agadez war with Zanfara

-1686: Claude Lemaire, French consul in Tripoli, reported on trans-Saharan trade through the Fezzan. Reported 500-600 black slaves exported through Borno annually. The ruler of Borno said to have 300,000 soldiers.

-1687: Muhammad al-Mubarak of Agadez died during epidemic

-1688: Borno-Tuareg War

-1689: Successful counterattack of Muhammad Agabba (Agadez Sultanate) against Gobir

-early 1690s: Borno-Tuareg War

-1680s: Destruction of Kulumbardo religious center by Tuareg raiders. Some of its residents are said to have migrated to Nupeland, possibly being early settlers at Kutigi.

-1686: French consul Claude Lemaire wrote that 500-600 slaves passed through the Fezzan to Tripoli annually

-1696: King of Borno Mai “Dris fils de Mai Ali”, died in Fezzan en route to Mecca; fighting between Kel Ewey and Itisen Tuareg in Air

-1696-1715: Reign of Mai Dunama b. Ali of Borno, who was said to have offered lukewarm support to the ulama, which was perceived as a cause of famine (that lasted 7 years) and lack of success in his administration. Active Borno scholars during his reign included Shaykh Muhammad b. al-Hajj 'Abd al-Rahman (Shaykh Hajrami), who was imam of one of the Gazargamo Friday mosques which hosted a study circle including Shaykh Tahir, Umar Mama, Shaykh al-Yamani.

-1698: Consul Delalande in Tripoli reported on trans-Saharan trade through the Fezzan. Black Muslim traders said to bring captives from the land of Prester John (Kwararafa?).

-1698-1700: Voyage of Charles Jacques Poncet to the Court of Iyasu I in Gondar, failed effort to establish embassy to France. But passage through Sennar to reach Gondar in Ethiopia

-1700s: Bade became semi-autonomous, a development later followed by other territories

-1700-1702: Theodor Krump traveling from Sennar to Egypt with people from Borno and the Fezzan, reports caravans from Darfur, Borno, Fezzan reach Sennar

-1703: Fra Damiano da Rivoli tried to reach Borno from Sennar but didn’t pursue caravan route; a Borno caravan leader in Sennar told him the journey would take 60 days

-1705: Claude Lemaire, French consul in Tripoli, said he would ask the ruler of the Fezzan to write to his cousin, the king of Borno. Lemaire also reported on trans-Saharan trade via the Fezzan,

-1706: Father Carlo Maria di Genova met 2 Borno princes in Cairo. Their grandfather who made the pilgrimage died on the hajj and a dome was built over his grave. This same grandfather (Ali b. Umar?) was said to have founded and funded hostels for Borno pilgrims in Egypt, Mecca, and Medina.

-1707-1722: Reign in Bagirmi of Bar, who fought with his brother, Kindana, for the throne. After defeating his brother, ruled without intelligence or justice until forces rallied behind his uncle, Wanya, to overthrow Bar.

-c.1707:Writing of poem Shurb al-Zullal by poet Muhammad b. al-Hajj Abd al-Rahman al-Barnawi

-1710-1766: Reign of Ahmad al-Nasir in the Fazzan

-October 1710: Fra Carlo Maria de Genoa met an Agadez prince at Taraghen in the Fezzan

-August 1711: Death of Prefect of Borno Carlo Maria di Genova near Katsina. Never reached Borno or the allegedly Christian Kwararafa

-1714: Death of first Muslim king of Dagomba, Ya Na Muhammad Zangina, 17th king

-c. 1714, the Pasha of Tripoli defeated Fezzani sultan, demanded tribute

-1715-1729: Reign of al-Hajj Hamdun b. Dunama in Borno, his wazir was Nasr b. Maidalla

-1721: Muhammad Agabba of Agadez dethroned by brother al-Amin, fled to Adar and ruled among the Itisen from Birni-n-Ader until 1738

-1722-1736: Reign of Wanya in Bagirmi. Wanya defeated his brother, Abdal Qadir Woli, who tried to retake power with the aid of Karka Islanders and Arabs of Waday and Bagirmi. Unable to take Massenya, Wanya's brother was defeated and Wanya ruled unjustly until killed by smallpox.

-1727-28: Pilgrimage of Muhammad b. al-Hajj Hamdun, who traveled through Bagirmi, Wadai and Darfur to reach Egypt before crossing the Red Sea. According to a document describing the Rihla in the collection of Sheik El-Miskin of Borno, the Borno mai settled slaves in Wadai and Bagirmi.

-1729-1744: Reign of Muhammad b. al-Hajj Hamdun in Borno, considered a scholar and said to have studied at al-Azhar in Cairo before taking the throne (but famine for 2 years)

-1731-1743: Reign of Mohamma Kumbari in Kano; Borno launched campaign against Kano but battle averted (may have occurred during reign of Mai Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama)

-1732-1790: Life of Shaykh Muhammad al-Kanemi, the father of the first Shehu of Borno (Bobboyi)

-1736-1741: Reign of Burkomanda in Bagirmi, also known as Tad Lele. Reigned with justice and mildness while the land was said to have been very fertile.

-c.1738: Birth of Francisque dit Omore, Borno native from the capital (Birni Gazargamo)

-1738-1753: Great Drought in Borno. According to Nur Alkali, many nomadic peoples move south, including Tubu, Fulani, Koyam and Jotko during these years. Tubu later control trans-Saharan commerce with little input or say from the Sayfawa

-c.1740: Kel-Oui Tuareg as dominant group in Air region

-1741: Death of Muhammad al-Katsinawi, who studied in Borno

-1741-1751: Reign in Bagirmi of Loel or Loen, who invested in good horses for the Bagirmi military. Civil war caused by a trivial cause. Return of Haji, another son of Abdal Qadir Woli, from Sennar (?) led to fall of Loel

-1744: Ethiopia-Funj Sultanate War during reign of Badi IV

-1744-1747: Reign of Dunama Gana; great famine

-1747-1792: Reign of Mai Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama of Borno, considered a scholar by Borno sources and said to have memorized the Koran, studied Quranic exegesis; also said by Heinrich Barth to have attempted to defeat Tuareg. Ali was married to Amina Talbamaran (daughter of the Talba) . Tsougourtis of Kanem said to have migrated to Borno during his reign due to constant raids from the Awlad Sulayman

-mid-1700s: spread of Sufism in the state (Nur Alkali)

-2nd half of 1700s: sangaya of Goni Musa Ngalbiyama in Birni Gazargamo said to have had over 500 students (fugurawa and Ma'ajirwa) and some from as far away as Hausaland and Mandara (according to Hamsatu Zanna Laminu)

-1751-1785: Reign in Bagirmi of Muhammad al-Amin, also known as Haji. Led many military expeditions, including against Bulala, Waday. One raiding campaign said to have hit Kanem and Kawar. Also attacked Logon and the Arabs in the south of Borno. Haji also said to have started the practice of blinding princes and preparing eunuch slaves, sending some to Mecca.

-c.1752/3-1785/6: Sultan Muhammad Tayrab ruled Darfur; Borno faqih Tahir Jamus from Manawashi married his daughter, Fetessa, and advised Sultan Abd al-Rahman

-1754: Arrival in Malta of Francisque dit Omore of Borno. Unclear if he arrived as a slave via Tripoli or in other conditions. He ended up in the employ of Pons-François de Rosset de Fleury, who brought him to France via Naples.

-1754/1755: Birth of Goni Musa Burmama, scholar who married a daughter of Mai Ahmad b. Ali

-Nov 1755: Death of Shaykh Muhammad b. Abd al-Rahman Hajrami, who was imam of one of the Friday mosques in Gazargamo and led a study circle attended by Shaykh Tahir, Umar Mama, and Shaykh al-Yamani

-1757: Arrival in France of Francisque dit Omore of Borno. He remained in the service of the same employer until 1774.

-c. 1759: Bilma War between Tuareg of Air and Borno, resulting in Tuareg of Agadez confederation becoming the dominant player in the movement of Kawar salt to Hausaland

-1765: Kanuri massacred Kel Ewey Tuareg, leading to retaliation by Sultan Muhammad of Agadez who attacked Borno, marching to the gates of the capital

-c.1776: Death of Fulani scholar al-Tahir ibn Ibrahim al-Fallati, a scholar who had criticized the Sayfawa (Nur Alkali reference)

-1777: Francisque dit Omore of Borno living in Paris, working as a domestic servant of the marquise de Solard. He was married to a white washerwoman and sired 4 sons, all deceased except for the youngest.

-c.1778: birth of Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi (according to Zeltner)

-1781: Borno defeated by Mandara. Girgam of Mandara suggests Mali Ali started the conflict and was defeated outside Dulu, the capital of Mandara.

-1785-1806: Reign in Bagirmi of Abd er-Rahman Gauranga, who infamous married his sister, Tamar. Sabun of Waday's invasion sacked Massenya.

-c.1787-1792: Koyam defeated at Gaskeru, many massacred by Tuareg

-1789-1797: Reign of Agonglo in Dahomey. Arrival of Muhammad Gatari, Kambarin Barebari in Abomey with students near the end of Agonglo's reign

-1789: Miss Tully met a “black prince” of Borno in Tripoli; "Bernon" (Borno) natives Christophe and Scipio listed in runaway slave ad in Saint-Domingue (Haiti)

-c.1790: Dunama founded Kanuri settlement at Lafia Berri-Berri in Nassarawa. Palmer speculates that he was a Sayfawa prince, son of Ali b. Hajj Dunama.

-1791: Darfur Sultanate sends an embassy to the Ottoman Sultan Selim III

-c.1792 famine in Borno (Kana nguraram according to Ali Eisami)

-1792-1808: Reign of Ahmad b. Ali of Borno, said to have been a scholar who supported scholarship, supported the poor

-1795: Joda, ruler of Wadai, raids Mao and Mondo in Kanem (Zeltner)

-1795-1832: Yusuf Qaramanli pasha of Tripoli

-1798-1799: Hornemann possibly reached Borno; Vivant Denon in Egypt, where he met a Darfur prince who reported Darfur and Borno were allies

-c.1799: Writing of anti-Fulani poem comparing settlements of Fellata to dogs.

-1799-1800: death of Shaykh Abu Hafs Umar Mama, renowned in Arabic specialization and fiqh (Bobboyi)

-1805-1815: Abd al-Karim Saboun of Wadai in power; invades and takes capital of Bagirmi after the mbang allegedly married his own sister. Also invades Kanem after a deposed alifa of Mao invites him (alifa Mele Koura)

-1806-1812: Fulani jihadists attack Borno capital, western provinces

-1808: Destruction of Birni Gazargamo (Goni Mokhtar), capital of Borno, by Fulani jihadists, city permanently abandoned in 1809; decline of Borno textile industry as workers migrate to Hausaland

-1808-1816: Reign of Dunama b. Ahmad of Sayfawa in Borno

-1811: Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi defeats another attack of Fulani jihadists led by Ibrahim Zaki; al-Mukni becomes "bey" of the Fezzan after taking Murzuq

-1810s: Burckhardt's travels in Nubia, met Borno native Hadji Aly el Bornawy, who had traveled as a slave trader in Turkey, Constantinople, and Syria and was now based in Kordofan as a trader

-c.1813: Shaykh al-Kanemi able to depose mai Ngileramua and restore Dunama to throne (Brenner)

-1815-1818: Sharif Ibrahim al-Barnawi in Kumase (Asante), and according to Lovejoy, was highly critical of local Muslims for attending Asante executions and ceremonies

-c.1816: al-Mukni raids Kanem from Fezzan

-c.1816-1820: Reign of Mai Muhammad Ngilerumma of Borno (also known as Muhammad b. Ali)

-1816-1824: Conflicts between Borno and Bagirmi

-1818: Ali Eisami arrived in Sierra Leone after the British intercepted Spanish slave ship carrying him

-1819: Pasha Yusuf of Tripoli secretly plans for invasion of Borno which doesn't happen

-1820-1830: About 200 “Bornu” people lived in Sierra Leone, according to Koelle

-1820-1846: Reign of figurehead Sayfawa sultan Ibrahim b. Ahmad in Borno

-1821-1825: Denham, Clapperton, and Oudney on Borno Mission sent by Great Britain

-1824: Pro-Sayfawa Manga rebellion against al-Kanemi (strongman with effective power/rule of Borno), led by Muslim cleric Fanaamy. Rebellion defeated by al-Kanemi and Fanaamy pardoned

-1826: al-Kanemi unsuccessfully campaigns against eastern emirates of Sokoto Caliphate

-1830: Shaykh Muhammad al-Kanemi campaigned against galadima of Borno in the west

-1835: End of Qaramanli Pashas in Tripoli

-1836: “Routes in North Africa” published, drawing on autobiography of Abu Bakr al-Saddik, which mentions his father (18th century) who traveled from Jenne and Timbuktu to Katsina, Birni Borno; Pablo Peratta, Borno native and slave on a Spanish ship, used British law to claim his freedom in Freetown (Sierra Leone); birth of Nicholas Said of Borno

-1842: Borno embassy in Istanbul, which included the son and uncle of the Borno ruler

-1845-1846: Manga rebellion against Shehus/government of Borno; by 1845, Borno's rule of Kanem over

-1845: Conflict between Buduma and Kotoks, when Kotokos attacked the Maibouloas of the island of Ngala Soua (Landeroin)

-1846: Wadai invaded Kanem, marched on Kukawa but were defeated at Kusseri; also, final attempt by Sayfawa dynasty to retake power in Borno, but defeated by Shehu Umar (death of Ibrahim b. Ahmad and Ali b. Ibrahim, last of Sayfawa sultans)

-1850: Catholic priest Filippo da Segni visits Kukawa (capital of Borno), meets with a resident Maltese family but doesn't engage in any proselytizing

-1850-1855: Heinrich Barth’s travels in Borno and other parts of West Africa, Sahel, savanna

-1850-1851: James Richardson’s travels to Air region, reports Borno “fighis” traveling and teaching in Air/Ahir

-1851: Relative of the ruler of Borno died in Malta

-1853: Abba Abdurahman overthrew Shehu Umar because of favored status of vizier Hajj Bashir

-1855: Campaign against Ngizims by Borno, for their refusal to pay tribute

-1854-1869: Ottomans named Sharif Barkan as Ottoman resident in Kukawa, capital of Borno

-1861-1865: Successive campaigns against the Musgus by Borno for their refusal to pay tribute

-1866: Campaign against Adamawa that pillaged the rich village of Balbaya

-1869: Expedition against the Bades (Badi) for refusing to pay tribute

-1870-1871: Gustav Nachtigal in Borno

-1873-c.1893: Giuseppe Valpreda, an Italian half-slave cook of Borno's Shehu, lived in Kukawa

-Borno forces sacked the village of Ngourkoum of Kousseri

-1883: Kumoreji excessive taxation in Borno under Shehu Bukar

-1890: Royal Niger Company's MacIntosh mission to Kukawa in 1890, failure to establish trade/relations with Borno

-1892: Bornoan Adem Mahanna interrogated in Tunis by the French for information on Borno

-by 1893, Borno was divided into 504 fiefs held by 104 chima kura

-1893-1900: Sudanese warlord Rabih conquers Borno (but faced Mallam Abu Gantar's failed resistance movement that relied on messianic appeal and the peasantry) and rules until defeated by French forces; Rabih maintained chima system

-c.1896: Koyam of Nganzai rebelled due to tax burden (Kyari Mohammad)

-1898: Ruler of Zinder kills French officer Cazemajou plus 20 Frenchmen

-1905: British colonial officials end absentee landlords (except for 3 members of the court).

-1913: famine in Borno after failure of harvest

-1920s: Shaykh Al-Faki Ahmad Umar, of Borno, became prominent among Muslim Oromos in Ethiopia