Kanembu people

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The Kanembu are an ethnic group of Chad, generally considered the modern descendants of the Kanem-Borno Empire. ^[1] The Kanembu number an estimated 655,000 people,^[2] located primarily in Chad's Lac Prefecture but also in Chari-Baguirmi and Kanem prefectures. ^[3] They speak the Kanembu language, a type of Kanuri, with many speaking Arabic as a second language. ^[4]

[edit] History

At the end of the twelfth century, the Kanembu moved into what is today Kanem Prefecture. They gradually became sedentary and established a capital at Njimi; at the same time, they continued to expand militarily establishing the Kanem Empire. The peak of this early kingdom came with the rule of Mai (King) Dunama Dabbalemi of the Sayfawa dynasty, who reigned from 1221 to 1259. He was the first of the Kanembu to convert to Islam and he declared jihad against the surrounding tribes and initiated an extended period of conquest. After consolidating their territory around Lake Chad they struck north at the Fezzan and west at the Hausa lands.

By the end of the fourteenth century, however, internal division had severely weakened the Kanem empire, forcing the Sayfawa dynasty to relocate to Borno on the western shore of Lake Chad. The intermarriage of the Kanem with the local people of this area created a new ethnic group, the Kanuri; the Kanembu retain close family ties with the Kanuri to this day. ^[5]