Muhammad III of Bornu

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Muhammad III
Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire
Reign15th century (0–5 years)
c. 1449–1450[a]
PredecessorDunama V Ahmad
SuccessorAmarma
Diedc. 1450
Damasak, Bornu
DynastySayfawa dynasty (?)
FatherAbdullah (?)
MotherMatala

Muhammad III[b] (Muḥammad[2]) was briefly mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-15th century, ruling approximately 1449–1450.[a] Possibly a usurper, Muhammad ruled during the "Era of Instability", a chaotic period of internal and external conflict in the empire.

Life

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Muhammad's connection to the Kanem–Bornu Empire's ruling Sayfawa dynasty is unclear. In a royal list (girgam) translated by Heinrich Barth in the mid-19th century, Muhammad is designated as the son of Matala. Muhammad was also designated as a son of Matala by the later scholars Richmond Palmer (1936) and Yves Urvoy (1941).[3] Matala is a female name. There is no mention of Matala having any royal status or what her connection was to the Sayfawa dynasty. As a title, matala was connected to the sister of the ruling mai; Muhammad may thus have been the nephew of one of his predecessors.[3]

Girgams translated by Gustav Nachtigal (1881) and Moïse Landeroin [fr] (1911) do not include the mothers of the mais but state that Muhammad's father was named Abdullah.[3] In 1984, Dierk Lange proposed that Muhammad was the brother of his predecessor (Dunama V Ahmad) and thus a son of Biri III Uthman, and that his royal lineage had been omitted in Barth's girgam because he directly followed his brother and this was "presumed to be known". Lange opposed the suggestion that Muhammad was a usurper.[4]

Muhammad ruled briefly, though the sources vary on the length of his reign.[a] Muhammad died at Damasak.[5] He was succeeded by Amarma.[2][3]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Different king lists (girgams) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries give Muhammad different regnal lengths: 5 months (Barth), 1 year (Urvoy), 2 years (Palmer), or 5 years (Landeroin, Nachtigal).[3] As a result of this, and due to different calculations for other mais, various dates have been given for his reign, including 1455 (Barth), 1448–1450 (Palmer), 1450–1451 (Urvoy), 1418–1423 (Landeroin), and 1446–1451 (Nachtigal).[3] Cohen (1966) considered a reign of one year most likely.[3] Later authors have also proposed different dates: 1444 (Lange, 1983),[4] 1455–1456 (Stewart, 1989),[1] and 1449–1450 (Bosworth, 2012).[2]
  2. ^ Some chronologies of Kanem–Bornu rulers omit the 14th-century Muhammad II Manza, lowering the regnal numbers of later rulers of this name. This ruler is then considered Muhammad II.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers: An Encyclopedia of Native, Colonial and Independent States and Rulers Past and Present. McFarland & Company. p. 35.
  2. ^ a b c Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2012) [1996]. The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-0-7486-2137-8.
  3. ^ 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, 58, 63, 66, 81.
  4. ^ a b Lange, Dierk (1984). "The kingdoms and peoples of Chad". In Niane, Djibril Tamsir (ed.). General history of Africa, IV: Africa from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. University of California. pp. 261, 265. ISBN 978-92-3-101710-0.
  5. ^ 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. 114.