← Explore on the interactive map
Kanem-Bornu Kingdom
The Kanem-Bornu Kingdom was a long-lived state centered on Kanem (later moving its capital to Bornu) in the Chad Basin, inheriting Sao civilization t…
Timeline
- 301–1100South of Lake Chad · Chad BasinThe Sao people established ironworking city-states known for clay human figurines and earthen fortifications, providing the agricultural, metallurgical, and settlement-organization foundations for the later Kanem kingdom.
- 1241–1300Kanem · ChadIn the 1240s, Sefuwa rulers such as Dunama Dabbalemi consolidated control over the tribes of the Lake Chad basin, adopted Islam as the court religion, and established contacts with Maghrebi scholars; the kingdom's salt trade and slave trade were its fiscal mainstays.
- 1380–1601Bornu · NigeriaAfter the kingdom moved its capital to Bornu, its control extended to northeastern Nigeria and northern Cameroon, standing alongside the Songhai Empire as one of the Sahel's two great powers, with Islamic scholarship and administrative institutions further institutionalized.
Sources
- The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: c.1050—c.1600 — Roland Oliver (1977)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Kanem-Bornu https://www.britannica.com/place/Kanem-Bornu