Muhammad IV of Bornu

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Muhammad IV
Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire
Reign15th century (0–5 years)
c. 1451–1456[a]
PredecessorAmarma
SuccessorGaji
Diedc. 1456
"Meghjibád-Nerí-Kerbúri"
DynastySayfawa dynasty (Dawudid[b])
FatherKade III

Muhammad IV[c] (Muḥammad bin Kade[3]) was mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-15th century, ruling approximately 1451–1456.[a] Muhammad ruled during the "Era of Instability", a chaotic period of internal and external conflict in the empire.

Life

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Muhammad was a son of mai Kade III.[4][5] Muhammad did not directly succeed his father, who had been killed by the rival claimant Dunama V Ahmad.[6] Most reconstructions of this period place Muhammad as the successor of mai Amarma.[3][4][6]

Later chronicles of the Kanem–Bornu Empire remembered Muhammad as a "cruel and sanguinary prince"[6] and a tyrant.[7] He had a brief reign;[6] different sources give dates between as low as a few days and at most five years.[a] The site of Muhammad's death is recorded as Meghjibád-Nerí-Kerbúri,[6] or variations thereof (such as Magi Jibidam, Maki Zabatam).[7] Muhammad was succeeded as mai by Gaji, whose relation to previous rulers is unclear.[4][6]

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: a few days (Barth), 3 years (Palmer), or 5 years (Urvoy, Nachtigal, Landeroin).[4] As a result of this, and due to different calculations for other mais, various dates have been given for his reign, including 1456 (Barth), 1452/1453–1455 (Palmer), 1453–1458 (Urvoy), 1364–1369 (Landeroin), and 1394–1399 (Nachtigal).[4] The placement of Muhammad IV in the sequence of rulers differs considerably from the others in Landeroin and Nachtigal's lists.[4] Cohen (1966) considered a reign of 5 years most likely.[4] Lange (1984) dated Muhammad's reign to 1445–1449,[5] Stewart (1989) dated it to 1456,[2] and Bosworth (2012) dated it to 1451–1456.[3]
  2. ^ The 14th and 15th centuries saw protracted civil wars between the rival Idrisid (descendants of Idris I Nikalemi) and Dawudid (descendants of Dawud Nikalemi) branches of the Sayfawa dynasty.[1]
  3. ^ 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 III.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Lange, Dierk (2012). "Ali Gajideni". Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. pp. 172–173. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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, 63, 66, 81.
  5. ^ 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. p. 261. ISBN 978-92-3-101710-0.
  6. ^ a b c d e f 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. pp. 642–643.
  7. ^ a b 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. 115.