Edited By David A. Granger
The Kanem-Bornu Empire existed in areas which now form part of the present-day states of Chad and Nigeria and Libya.
Kanem (c. 700–1380), located on the eastern shores of Lake Chad, with its heartland in the centre of the African continent, was formed by a confederation of nomadic peoples and then ruled by the Saifawa dynasty. The Empire prospered owing to its favourable position as the hub of trade connections with central African peoples, the Nile Valley, and North African states.
The Kanem Empire is estimated to have originated around 800 CE to the northeast of Lake Chad. It was located at the southern end of the trans-Saharan trade route between Tripoli and the region of Lake Chad, the control over which played a significant role in Kanem’s development.
Kanem, from c. 1075 CE, was ruled by the Saifawa (known also as Sefawa) dynasty over a population which became dominated by the Kanuri people. The ruler had the title of Mai. One of the greatest rulers was Mai Dunama Dibbalemi (c. 1221-1259) who expanded the Kingdom further north and northeast into the desert, owing largely to the use of cavalry.
The Bornu Empire (known also as the Kanem-Bornu Empire or Borno Empire, 1380s–1893) was a state in what is present-day northeastern Nigeria. It eventually became larger than Kanem, and incorporated parts of present-day Chad, Niger, Sudan and Cameroon.
The Bornu Empire was founded by Uma b. Idris, an exiled ruler of Kanem, who had been forced to flee following the takeover of that Kingdom by the Bulala between 1390 and 1400 CE. The ruling dynasty of Kanem, in effect, became the rulers of Bornu, imposimg themselves on the indigenous So people who inhabited the western shores of Lake Chad. The So people eventually assimilated the Kanuri language and culture.
Bornu had its capital at Ngazargamu and expanded to control both sides of Lake Chad from the 16th century CE by eventually taking over the old Kanem territory. Bornu reached the limits of its greatest territorial expansion, gaining control over Hausaland and the people of Ahir and Tuareg during the reign of Mai Idris Alooma (c. 1564–1596).
The Empire’s economy was based on trade. The prosperity gained through the control of these trade routes was the basis for the growth and strength of this thousand-year Empire.
It was the terminus of a camel caravan route that crossed the Sahara Desert carrying trade goods between Tripolitania (in present-day Libya) and Cairo in North Africa down to Central Africa from c. 900 CE. Camels, copper (used, also, as currency), cotton, gold, hides, ivory, kola nuts, natron (sodium carbonate), ostrich feathers, perfume, salt, tin, wax and enslaved captives passed through the Empire.
Mai Aluma is credited with having the roads cleared, designing better boats for Lake Chad, introducing standard units of measure for grain, and moving farmers into new lands.
Mai Dunama Dabbalemi initiated diplomatic exchanges with sultans of North Africa. He declared jihad against the surrounding tribes and initiated an extended period of conquest. His wars of expansion reached as far north as the Fezzan, allowing Kanem the control of the northern trade routes. The Empire’s influence also extended westward to Kano (in present-day Nigeria), eastward to Ouaddaï.
The Empire endured until it was seized by the French Empire which sought strategically to extend a horizontal geographical and geometrical line of colonies across Africa the late 19th century.
