Ibrahim III Gumsami
| Ibrahim III Gumsami | |
|---|---|
| Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire | |
| Reign | 17th century (7 years) c. 1618–1625[a] |
| Predecessor | Muhammad VII Bukalmarami |
| Successor | Umar III al-Maqdisi |
| Died | c. 1625 Ngazargamu or Galagâti, Bornu |
| Dynasty | Sayfawa dynasty |
| Father | Idris IV Alooma |
| Mother | Gumsu[b] |
Ibrahim III (Ibrāhīm bin Idrīs[2]), called Ibrahim Gumsami,[3][c] was mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the early 17th century, ruling approximately 1618–1625.[a]
Life
Ibrahim was a son of mai Idris IV Alooma.[1] His mother was named Gumsu,[1][b] or bore the title gumsu (senior wife of the mai),[4] and she was "of the house of the Magaram".[4] Ibrahim became mai in the early 17th century, succeeding his half-brother Muhammad VII Bukalmarami.[1][2] The German explorer Heinrich Barth, who visited Bornu in the 1850s, noted that the Kanem–Bornu Empire's royal chronicles recorded that Ibrahim sent an embassy to Tripoli, then part of Ottoman Tripolitania.[5][d] Ibrahim's reign was a prosperous time for the empire, according to a girgam (regnal list) translated by Richmond Palmer:
"Me Burema [mai Ibrahim]. Son of Gumsu, in whose time to one wet season there were seven autumns, and milk was plenteous. Even yearling heifers yielded milk, and young kids."[3]
Ibrahim ruled for seven years.[a] He died at Ngazargamu[4][5] or at a site called Galagâti,[3] and was succeeded as mai by another half-brother, Umar III al-Maqdisi.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b c All king lists (girgams) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries (by Barth, Nachtigal, Landeroin, Palmer, Urvoy) agree that Ibrahim ruled for seven years. Barth specifies a reign of 7 years and 7 months.[1] Due to differing dates and calculations for other mais, various dates have been given for his reign, including 1618–1625 (Barth), 1618–1625 (Palmer), 1632–1639 (Urvoy), 1612–1619 (Landeroin), and 1624–1631 (Nachtigal). Bosworth (2012) followed Barth and Palmer, placing Ibrahim's reign in 1618–1625.[2]
- ^ a b Palmer rendered Ibrahim's mother's name as Gumsu. Barth spelled it Ghumsu and Urvoy spelled it Goumsa.[1] Cohen (1966) used Palmer's rendition.[1]
- ^ "Ibrahim, son of Gumsu".[3] Ibrahim is also sometimes recorded under the Kanuri name Burema.[3]
- ^ Barth dated Ibrahim's embassy to 1627, contradicting his own dating of Ibrahim's reign to 1618–1625.[5] Either this date is wrong or the event is assigned to the wrong mai.
References
- ^ 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. 59, 64, 82.
- ^ a b c Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2012) [1996]. The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-7486-2137-7.
- ^ a b c d e Palmer, H. R. (1912). "The Bornu Girgam". Journal of the Royal African Society. 12 (45): 80–81. ISSN 0368-4016.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ a b c 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. 659.