List of mais of Kanem–Bornu

History The original royal dynasty of Kanem is called Duguwa in Kanuri and Banū Dūkū in Arabic. Kanem was established 700 and its original rulers probably belonged to the Zaghawa people, pastoralists from the Ennedi Plateau, who are referred to as the rulers of the empire in 9th–11th century Arab sources. Their dynasty has thus also been called the "Zaghawa dynasty" by modern scholars. Through intermingling with other ethnic groups in the region, the Zaghawa of Kanem are believed to have given rise to the Kanembu people. Modern scholars thus variously identify the Duguwa mais as Zaghawa or Kanembu. Islam reached Kanem in the mid-8th or 9th century and the Duguwa dynasty converted to Islam in the 11th century under mai Hu, the tenth mai. All known records of the Duguwa mais were written down centuries later, after Islam had been long established and the succeeding Sayfawa dynasty ruled. In the girgam, the Sayfawa are contradictorily described as a new dynasty and genealogically connected to the Duguwa. The line of mais is given an invented Arabised origin legend in the girgam by equating the first mai, Susam, to the 6th-century Himyarite prince Sayf ibn Dī Yazan. Because of the long timespan that separates the Duguwa mais from recorded history, and there being little historical evidence for their existence outside of the girgam, some scholars treat the entire history as legendary. Cohen (1966) contends that there is little evidence that any of the Duguwa mais have "any real historical validity". List Reign lengths and relations follow comparative tables of different sources by Cohen (1966). There is a high degree of agreement on the names and sequence of the Duguwa mais in the sources. The only major disagreements are the omission of Adyoma (#7) by both Nachtigal and Landeroin (though both nevertheless include the name as the father of Bulu) and Landeroin adding an additional mai before Susam, Abdallah ben Aïssata, who Landeroin stated ruled only for "a few days", omitted in all other lists. There are also minor disagreements on regnal lengths, parentage, and name variations of mais. Dates are sometimes given for the reigns of the Duguwa mais but most authors omit dates due to the uncertainties involved. == Sayfawa dynasty (1085–1846) ==

History The second royal dynasty is called Sayfawa or Sēfuwa in Kanuri and Banū Ḥummay or Banū Sayf in Arabic. According to the girgam and other sources, the Sayfawa dynasty began with the accession of the twelfth mai, Hummay. The girgam connects the dynastic shift to Hummay and his descendants "professing Islam" and not an actual break in the royal line, also designating Hummay as the son of his predecessor Selema. It may thus be misleading to speak of the Duguwa and Sayfawa dynasties as separate lineages. The girgam's explanation of Islam being the distinction between the dynasties is incorrect since the last two Duguwa mais were also Muslim. Different alternate explanations have been proposed by modern scholars. Hummay might have overthrown Selema and could have been an unrelated figure falsely inserted in the royal line in the girgam. Dewière (2024) speculated that the distinction could instead be that the last two Duguwa mais may have been Ibadi Muslim, whereas Hummay and his descendants were Sunni Muslim. The Sayfawa dynasty ruled continuously from the 11th to the 19th century, a period of nearly 800 years, placing them among the longest-lasting ruling dynasties in history. The Sayfawa lost Kanem to the Bilala in the 14th century and were forced to relocate west to Bornu, a former tributary territory, hence the name Kanem–Bornu. Bornu continued to remain the heartland of the empire even after Kanem was recovered in the 16th century. Intermarriages between the Kanembu people and the local Sao in Bornu may have given rise to the modern-day Kanuri people. Modern scholars thus variously identify the Sayfawa mais as Kanembu or Kanuri. List Reign lengths and relations follow comparative tables of different sources by Cohen (1966). The names and sequence of the Sayfawa mais differs at several points between the sources, especially from the middle 13th century to early 16th century. Dates for the reigns of the Sayfawa rulers derive from scholars adding together regnal years per the sources and counting backwards from known events, such as the capture of Ngazargamu by the Fulani in 1808 (which was shortly followed by mai Ahmad Alimi's abdication to his son Dunama IX Lefiami). Despite disagreements between sources, there is general agreement on the rough timeframes that the mais ruled. As an example, nearly all sources place the first Sayfawa mai, Hummay, in the late 11th century. The approximate dates in the list below largely follow Bosworth (2012). A comparative table of dates given by different authors for each mai can be found after the list. == Later history ==

After the deaths of Ibrahim IV and Ali V, power fully shifted to the shehus and shehu Umar Kura had the office of mai abolished. Survivors of the Sayfawa dynasty either fled from the country or were forced to swear allegiance to the shehu. Several of the current (non-sovereign) traditional rulers in Nigeria use the style of mai, though the title is in contemporary times considered equivalent to "emir" and lesser in status than the style of shehu, considered equivalent to "supreme emir". Traditional rulers who use the style of mai include the rulers of Bama, Biu, Shani, Askira, Gwoza, and Uba. The traditional town heads of Marte in Borno State, Nigeria claim to represent a surviving branch of the Sayfawa dynasty and use the style of mai. According to some traditions, the Bilala dynasty are a cadet branch of the Sayfawa dynasty. == Family tree ==