Hamdan of Bornu
| Hamdan | |
|---|---|
| Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire | |
| Reign | 18th century (12–23 years) c. 1717–1731[a] |
| Predecessor | Dunama VII |
| Successor | Muhammad VIII Ergama |
| Died | c. 1731 Ngazargamu, Bornu |
| Issue | Muhammad VIII Ergama Ali IV |
| Dynasty | Sayfawa dynasty |
| Father | Dunama VII |
al-Ḥājj Hamdan (Ḥamdūn bin Dunama[2]), also recorded as Dunama and Muhammad,[b] was mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the first half of the 18th century, ruling approximately 1717–1731.[a]
Life
[edit]Hamdan was a son of mai Dunama VII,[1] who he succeeded as mai in the first half of the 18th century.[2] Little is recorded of Hamdan's reign. The German explorer Heinrich Barth, who visited Bornu in the 1850s, stated that Hamdan was "a pious and indolent king, who appears to have made a pilgrimage",[3] hence the honorific al-Ḥājj. Hamdan is known to have engaged in military campaigns against the Mandara Kingdom, located to the southwest of Bornu.[4]
There is considerable variation in the regnal dates assigned to Hamdan; he may have ruled only for a few years or for over a decade, perhaps for over twenty years.[a] He died at Ngazargamu[3] and was succeeded as mai by his son Muhammad VIII Ergama.[1][3]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c Different king lists (girgams) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries give Hamdan different regnal lengths: 12 years (Urvoy), 14 years (Barth, Palmer, Landeroin), and 23 years (Nachtigal).[1] As a result of this, and due to different calculations for other mais, various dates have been given for his reign, including 1723–1736 (Barth), 1731–1747 (Palmer), 1738–1751 (Urvoy), 1713–1727 (Landeroin), and 1708–1731 (Nachtigal).[1] Cohen (1966) considered a reign of 14 years to be the most likely,[1] followed here. For unknown reasons, Bosworth (2012) assigned Hamdan a very short 5-year reign, dated to 1726–1731.[2]
- ^ Barth, Palmer, and Urvoy record Hamdan as Haj Hamdun. Landeroin records him as Dunama Hadji and (presumably mistakenly) inserts an additional Muhammad in the regnal list, hence this additional name. Nachtigal records Hamdan as Hadj Dunama.[1]
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. 55, 60, 65, 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 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.
- ^ Gronenborn, Detlef (2001). "Kanem-Borno: A Brief Summary of the History and Archaeology of an Empire of the Central bilad al-sudan". West Africa During the Atlantic Slave Trade: Archaeological Perspectives. Bloomsbury. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-4742-9104-0.