Sayfawa dynasty

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).

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The farthest extent of the medieval Kanem–Bornu state.

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

The 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) Hume1086–10971086–10971085–1097
(17) Dunama Dibbalemi1221–1259/601221–12591210–1224
(47) Ali Gajideni1472–15041476–15031473–1507
(48) Idris Katakarmabe1505–15261503–15261507–1529
(53) Idris Alauma1572–16031570-1602/31580–1617

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

References
  1. 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.
  2. US Country Studies: Chad
  3. Palmer, Richmond (1936). The Bornu Sahara and Sudan. London: John Murray. pp. 90–95.
  4. Barth, Travels, II, 15-25, 581-602.
  5. Barth, Henry (1890). Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa. London: Ward, Lock, and Co. p. 361. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  6. Palmer, Bornu, 112-268.
  7. Urvoy "Chronologie", 27-31.
  8. Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers. London: McFarland. p. 146. ISBN 0-89950-390-X.
  9. Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers. London: McFarland. pp. 34–35. ISBN 0-89950-390-X.

Bibliography
  • 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.
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