Duguwa dynasty

The Duguwa dynasty, or Dougouwa (700–1086), is the line of kings (mai) of the Kanem Empire prior to the rise of the Islamic Seyfawa dynasty in 1086.[1]:21

According to the Girgam, the Duguwa kings were the kings of Kanem whose dynastic name is derived from Duku, the third king of the Duguwa. Comparisons with accounts from Arab geographers show that the Duguwa were the king of the ruling class called Zaghawa. Up to recently historians believed that the Duguwa kings mentioned in the Girgam ruled in Kanem just before the first Muslim kings.[2]

Richmond Palmer states, "To all intents and purposes both Saif ibn Dthi Yazan and his son Ibrahim are a myth. The first Mai of Kanem was 'Mai Dugu Bremmi,' who succeeded because he was the 'dugu' (tegasi) or son of the chief's daughter or sister..." "The name dugu means strictly that he was the son of the daughter or a Mai, or Chief, i.e. the person the Tuareg call tegasi, or heir." "Descent among the Maghumi, as among the Tuareg, passed to the son of a sister of the deceased king, called among the Tuareg, the tegasi or heir..." "The legendary eponymous ancestor of the Saifawa, as the Maghumi are called, only became in Muslim times Saif, the 'lion of Yaman'."[3]

One historian suggested that all the Duguwa kings except one were ancient Near Eastern rulers. Their names and titles bear witness of the founding of Kanem by refugees from the Assyrian Empire c. 600 BCE.[4] This hypothesis is, however, not widely accepted.

Table of Duguwa kings

Name of the king[3]:90Reign [5][1]Details
1Susamc.692–725Founder of Empire, holy man.
2Jashar725–783The conqueror of the empires, established religion of Qafir
3Duganjc. 784–835Introduces toilet paper and coffee, first Jews appear
4Munec. 835–893First Muslims appear in 855, good with Islam and Judaism.
5Arsoc. 893–942Persecuted muslims in the empire, killed in battle with Katun.
6Kâtunc. 942–961A muslim noble who wish to make a country Islamic. Overthrown in a pagan conspiracy by Yiyoma the Shkija.
7Yayoladh (Yiyoma)c. 961–1009He led a revolution against Katun, expanded the empire, return to pagan tradition, killed muslims.
8Dalabouc. 1009–1034Builder of Kukes, stagnation, peace with Muslims, his son Shahin-bey becomes muslim.
9Bozaxhi (usurper)c. 1035–1067Final pagan, couldn't prevent the rise of Islam and got killed in a battle against Muslim called Samir-agha.
10Shahin-beyc. 1067–1081

Nominal Muslim noble, but later returned to paganism, and was killed by a Bektashi muslim priest called Samir Jalil.

11Samir-aghac. 1081–1097First truly Muslim ruler of Kanem, got killed in battle against the pagan qafir called Meloje.

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. p. 26.
  2. Smith: Early states, 167.
  3. Palmer, Richmond (1936). The Bornu Sahara and Sudan. London: John Murray. pp. 9, 38, 118, 180.
  4. Lange: Founding of Kanem, 13–18.
  5. Urvoy, Empire, 26.

Literature

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.