Abdullah IV Dunamami

Abdullah IV Dunamami
Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire
Reign16th century (6–8 years)
c. 1555–1563[a]
PredecessorDunama VI Muhammad
SuccessorAissa Koli
RegentAli Fannami (?)
Diedc. 1563
Ngazargamu or "Kítaba", Bornu
DynastySayfawa dynasty
FatherDunama VI Muhammad

Abdullah IV[b] (ʿAbdallāh bin Dunama Muḥammad[4]), called Abdullah Dunamami,[1] was mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-16th century, ruling approximately 1555–1563,[a] perhaps under the regency of his uncle Ali Fannami.

Life

Abdullah was a son of mai Dunama VI Muhammad,[5] who he succeeded as mai in the mid-16th century.[4] Some girgams (king lists) add a brother of Dunama VI, Ali Fannami, between Dunama and Abdullah IV.[6] Ali is most often interpreted as having served as regent for Abdullah,[4][5] then suggested to have been too young to rule, though the situation is not clear.[7]

The German explorer Heinrich Barth, who visited Bornu in the 1850s and translated Bornuan royal chronicles, noted that under Abdullah "nothing very remarkable seems to have happened".[3] A seven-year coincided with Abdullah's reign; later chronicles named this famine Sima Azadu.[8] The first settlement of Fula people in Bornu dates to Abdullah's time.[3]

Abdullah ruled for six to eight years.[a] According to Barth, Abdullah died at a site named Kítaba.[3] A girgam translated by Richmond Palmer in 1926 also places Abdullahs' death at Kítaba (though here spelled Kitala) but a girgam translated by Palmer in 1912 instead places his death and burial at Ngazargamu.[1] He was succeeded on the throne by Aissa Koli,[2][5] whose relation to other rulers of the empire varies depending on the source.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c The king lists (girgams) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries (by Barth, Nachtigal, Landeroin, Palmer, Urvoy) broadly agree that Abdullah ruled for seven years.[5] Landeroin specifies a slightly shorter 6 years and 10 months.[5] Due to differing dates and calculations for other mais, various dates have been given for Abdullah's reign, including 1564–1570 (Barth), 1555–1562/1563 (Palmer), 1566–1573 (Urvoy), 1531–1538 (Landeroin), and 1555–1562 (Nachtigal).[5] Later authors have also assigned various dates, such as 1563–1570 (Stewart, 1989)[2] and 1563–1569 (Bosworth, 2012).[4]
  2. ^ Also recorded as Dala.[1][2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Palmer, H. R. (1912). "The Bornu Girgam". Journal of the Royal African Society. 12 (45): 78–79. ISSN 0368-4016.
  2. ^ a b c Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers: An Encyclopedia of Native, Colonial and Independent States and Rulers Past and Present. McFarland & Company. p. 35.
  3. ^ a b c d Barth, Heinrich (1857). Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849–1855. Longmans. p. 649.
  4. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2012) [1996]. The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-7486-2137-7.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Cohen, Ronald (1966). "The Bornu King Lists". Boston University Papers on Africa: Volume II: African History. Boston University Press. pp. 54, 59, 64, 82.
  6. ^ Palmer, H. R. (1912). "The Bornu Girgam". Journal of the Royal African Society. 12 (45): 79. ISSN 0368-4016.
  7. ^ Ajayi, J. F. Ade; Crowder, Michael (1976). History of West Africa: Volume 1. Longman. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-582-64187-7.
  8. ^ Palmer, H. R. (1926). History Of The First Twelve Years Of The Reign Of Mai Idris Alooma Of Bornu (1571–1583) (Fartua, Ahmed Ibn). p. 116.
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