Empire · 700–1893 · Northern Africa

Kanem-Bornu Empire

Also known as Kanem, Kanem-Bornu

Kanem arose around the 8th century among nomadic and farming peoples north-east of Lake Chad, at the southern end of a trans-Saharan trade route to Libya. Its kings of the Sayfawa dynasty, who reigned for about a thousand years, adopted Islam in the late 11th century and grew rich trading horses, salt and slaves.

In the 13th century Dunama Dabbalemi expanded Kanem far into the Sahara. Civil wars and attacks by the Bulala people in the 14th century forced the dynasty to move west of Lake Chad to Bornu, where a new capital, Ngazargamu, was founded. Bornu reached its height under Idris Alooma in the late 16th century, using firearms and Turkish musketeers. It survived into the 19th century until the warlord Rabih az-Zubayr conquered it in 1893.

See it on the map →

Years

700–1893

Capital

Njimi in Kanem; from c. 1470 Ngazargamu in Bornu; later Kukawa

Greatest extent

1590, about 500,000 km²

Region

Northern Africa

Under Idris Alooma, around Lake Chad and north toward the Fezzan