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Kanem-Bornu Expansion

Type Event Region Africa Time 1485

Around 1485, the Kanem-Bornu Empire in Central Africa under Mai Ali Gazi (Ali ibn Dunama) continued expanding east and west, integrating tribes aroun…

Timeline

  1. 1485Bornu heartland · NigeriaMai Ali Gazi assembled cavalry and infantry, advancing westward from the Bornu heartland, conquering tribes around the Kano plain and extending imperial influence to the edge of Hausa lands, expanding the scope of taxation and tribute.
  2. 1485–1486Southern section of trans-Saharan trade route · ChadAfter conquest, Mai Ali established administrative representatives in new territories, promoted Islam, and levied trade taxes, bringing profits from the Lake Chad basin to Fezzan trade routes into imperial finances and consolidating Bornu's political and economic hegemony in the Sahel.

Sources