Dunama VII
| Dunama VII | |
|---|---|
| Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire | |
| Reign | 17th/18th century (15–19 years) c. 1699–1717[a] |
| Predecessor | Idris V |
| Successor | Hamdan |
| Died | c. 1717 Ngazargamu, Bornu |
| Issue | Hamdan |
| Dynasty | Sayfawa dynasty |
| Father | Ali III |
Dunama VII[b] (Dunama bin ʿAlī[2]) was mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the late 17th and/or early 18th century, ruling approximately 1699–1717.[a]
Life
[edit]Dunama was a son of mai Ali III and succeeded his brother Idris V as mai[1] in the late 17th or early 18th century. Little is recorded of Dunama's reign. According to the German explorer Heinrich Barth, who visited Bornu in the 1850s, the only major event from Dunama's reign recorded in later royal chronicles was a long seven-year famine.[4]
Dunama ruled for over a decade, between 15 and 19 years.[1][a] He died at Ngazargamu[4] and was succeeded as mai by his son Hamdan.[1][4]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c Different king lists (girgams) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries give Dunama slightly different regnal lengths: 15 years (Urvoy), 18 years (Palmer, Nachtigal), or 19 years (Barth, Landeroin).[1] As a result of this, and due to different calculations for other mais, various dates have been given for his reign, including 1704–1722 (Barth), 1699–1717 (Palmer), 1711–1726 (Urvoy), 1694–1713 (Landeroin), and 1690–1708 (Nachtigal).[1] Cohen (1966) considered a reign of 18 years most likely,[1] followed here. For unknown reasons, Bosworth (2012) assigned Dunama a long 27-year reign, dated to 1699–1726.[2]
- ^ Some chronologies of Kanem–Bornu rulers omit the 14th-century Dunama III, lowering the regnal numbers of later rulers of this name. This ruler is then considered Dunama VI.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Cohen, Ronald (1966). "The Bornu King Lists". Boston University Papers on Africa: Volume II: African History. Boston University Press. pp. 60, 65, 82.
- ^ a b Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2012) [1996]. The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-7486-2137-7.
- ^ Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers: An Encyclopedia of Native, Colonial and Independent States and Rulers Past and Present. McFarland & Company. pp. 35, 146.
- ^ 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. 660.