Talk:Kanem-Bornu Empire
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[edit] Summary of Kanem Bornu
Kanem Bornu was an ancient civilization centered on lake Chad. It's genesis is a classical nomad-sedentary event. In the seventh century nomadic warriors subjugated stable farming communities and set themselves up as rulers. This initial consolidation of towns and villages grew increasingly cohesive with time. Taxes were levied, international relations were established and urban centers grew in importance. Eventually, the ruling dynasty relinquished it's nomadic traditions and established a permanent capital, Njimi. By the thirteenth century, the kingdom of Kanem was effectively an empire. It stretched from the Fezzan in modern day Libya all the way to Bornu in the south of lake Chad (Nigeria). The economy was diverse and although many people mistakenly assert that it was based on slave trading, it was actually based on agriculture. Rice, millet, salt, fish-products and much more was constantly circulating in large volumes into, out of and within this vast empire. In addition, the state exported perfume, wax, garments, cotton, kola nuts, ivory and ostrich feathers. The trading partners were the Hausa city states, North Africans, and adjacent kingdoms. Natron was mined in the Air region and tariffs on imports and exports was an extremely important source of income for the state. Administratively, the empire was divided into twelve provinces, each with its provincial capital. Kanem Bornu's foreign policy was significantly shaped by a need to control the important trading routes and thus tax the movement of goods. The state religion was Islam but the monarchy still practiced a very typically African divine kingship.
In the fourteenth century, the Bilala province rebelled. This rebellion gained in momentum when it was joined by nomadic Arab warriors. In the meantime, the Kanem monarchy was experiencing a crisis of legitimacy. Countless princes were constantly competing for the throne, plotting and dethroning one another. This seriously weakened the empire and the Bilala troupes overwhelmed a capital already in chaos. This precipitated the great exodus of Kanem history. Huge masses of people from the metropolitan province of Kanem fled to the outlying province of Bornu. Bornu was more fertile then Kanem, further from the belligerent Bilala and closer to important markets of Western Africa. Thus began the second kingdom, Kanem became Kanem-Bornu.
In Kanem Bornu an impressive capital was built, Ngazargamu. A time of reconsolidation occurred as the monarchy was put back in order. More wars ensued, this time against the indigenous Sao who lived in walled city states. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Kanem Bornu experienced its second apex. The empire became the most powerful in Africa. It stretched from the Hausa city states in the West to the Nile valley in the East. A part of the Nile valley, however was only held for a short amount of time, but Darfur (in Sudan) was solidly secured as a vassal state. In the person of Idris Alaoma, the empire found a gem of a leader. Emperor Alaoma reformed the economy of the empire, established a common currency and regularized the commercial weighing scales. He modernized the national fleets to make rivers common and efficient modes of transportation of commodities. He criticized ancient Sudanic traditions that contradicted Islam such as divine kingship and imposed Islamic sharia in the court systems. He was also a tireless warrior who expanded the reigns of the empire to the extreme. Kanem Bornu rivaled Timbuktu's famed universities as it became a center of scholarship which attracted students from all directions.
The seventeenth century was the second, and last, era of apogee in the history of Kanem Bornu. It was followed, in the eighteenth century, by a drought that lasted for over thirty years. This practically broke the backbone of the economy and the military. This was coupled by constant Touareg raids on the important Northern fringes of the empire. This mining territory was eventually lost to these desert nomads. Rebellions ensued in the Eastern provinces who had opened up new routes to North Africa and thus gravitated Kanem's trade caravans into their realm. Moreover, the Ottoman empire had imposed a policy upon its Arab provinces in which trade with the Sudan was discouraged in an effort to promote Turkish products. Kanem Bornu thus found itself economically suffocated from the North, drained from the East, maimed by the Tuaregs in the mining North, exhausted by a 37 year drought and militarily challenged from within and without. The most shattering blow however, came from the West. In 1804, Usman Dan Fodio, a Sufi mystic, intellectual and religious leader, had started a revolution. He had launched a social revolt which culminated in the invasion of Hausa land to eventually form the most powerful empire of 19th century Africa. Altogether, the Sokoto empire (as it was known) contained well over fifteen city states and approximately ten million inhabitants. Kanem Bornu wasn't spared from Sokoto's expansionism. Unlike all of the Hausa city states that swiftly succumbed to Dan Fodio, Kanem Bornu led a strong resistance, but despite its best efforts, half of the empire was conquered, and the capital sacked. The emperor regained most of his land with the help of a cleric-warrior, but the glory that was Kanem Bornu was no more.
Eventually, this cleric-warrior gained more power and dethroned the rightful king thus ending approximately one thousand years of rule from the Saifuwa dynasty. His descendents ruled what remained of Kanem and suffered many military setbacks from Wadai and Baguirmi. A Sudanese military leader by the name of Rabih invaded Kanem Bornu which was by then, just a weak remnant of a far more glorious and ancient self. The last flame was extinguished by the French when they conquered Kanem-Bornu in the beginning of the twentieth century.
The end.
The nomadic hypothesis is now outdated. It has been been suggested by authors like Palmer, Urvoy, and A. Smith. In the German version you can find a summary of my views. Here I only corrected the first paragraph (origin). At present I have unfortunatelly no time to do any more. Dierk Lange, 18/11/06.
The preceding text was placed here by an anonymous editor on 13 November 2005. I checked a few phrases from it in Google, and if it's copyvio, it's not from the internet. Does anyone recognize it? It's unsourced, so I'm reluctant to merge into the real article. Any other opinions? --BrianSmithson 15:03, 13 November 2005 (UTC)
Hello Mr. Smithson, I'm the one who put the text up. I'm swamped with work now and I'll have exams pretty soon. I will however do my best to have the sources up within a month. They're a mixture of books and internet. Good day
The current article is certainly better than the one pasted above, but is inaccurate with regard to the 19th c. Bornu was not in fact conquered by the Sokoto Caliphate nor was it incorportated into Wadai. While severely weakened by wars with Sokoto Bornu remained independent until conquered by Rabih in 1891. - John
