← Explore on the interactive map

Kanem-Bornu

Type Object Region Africa Time c. 700–1893

Kanem-Bornu was a long-lived empire centered on the Lake Chad basin; the Sayfawa dynasty ruled Kanem from about the ninth century, expanding and adva…

Timeline

  1. c. 900–1090Northeast of Lake Chad · ChadThe Sayfawa dynasty established a political order centered on Njimi around Lake Chad, controlling regional trade and pastoral resources, and gradually introducing Islam and the tradition of Arabic chancery records.
  2. c. 1097–1150Court at Njimi · KanemMai Dunama I (Dunama Dibalemi) greatly expanded the realm, reformed the cavalry organization, and by the 1140s the empire's power reached the Hausa frontier to the west and controlled the Bornu corridor to the east, becoming one of the strongest polities in the eastern Sahel.
  3. c. 1145–1200Kanem–Fezzan trade route · SahelThe empire gained wealth by controlling the salt, slave, and livestock trades; the court invited Muslim scholars, Arabic became the language of administrative and diplomatic documents, and contacts were maintained with Fezzan, Egypt, and elsewhere.

Sources