Muhammad VIII Ergama

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Muhammad VIII Ergama
Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire
Reign18th century (13–16 years)
c. 1731–1747[a]
PredecessorHamdan Dunamami
SuccessorDunama VIII Gana
Diedc. 1747
Ngazargamu, Bornu
SpouseLefiya
IssueDunama VIII Gana[b]
DynastySayfawa dynasty
FatherHamdan Dunamami[c]
MotherFanna

Muhammad VIII[d] (Muḥammad bin Ḥamdūn[2]), called Muhammad Ergama,[2][e] Muhammad Hajimite,[6][f] and Muhammad Fannami,[7][g] was mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the first half of the 18th century, ruling approximately 1731–1747.[a]

Life

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Muhammad was a son of mai Hamdan Dunamami,[1][c] who he succeeded as mai during the first half of the 18th century.[2] Muhammad's mother was named Fanna.[6] Little is recorded of Muhammad's reign.[4][6] The German explorer Heinrich Barth, who visited Bornu in the 1850s, stated that the empire's royal chronicles mentioned a famine as having taken place in his reign. Barth assessed Muhammad and his immediate predecessors and successors negatively:[4]

Of his reign likewise we know nothing but of a famine which lasted two years. These princes, indeed, seem in general to have seldom left their favourite residence, where they indulged in luxury and ostentation, while the kingdom was falling to pieces and became unable to resist any shock which might come from without.[4]

A girgam translated by Richmond Palmer exaggerates the size of the empire by Muhammad's time, claiming that "in the East his domains were bounded by the Nile, in the West by the setting sun."[6] Muhammad ruled for over a decade, between 13 and 16 years.[1][a] He died at Ngazargamu[4] and was succeeded as mai by his son[b] Dunama VIII Gana.[1][4]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Different king lists (girgams) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries give Muhammad slightly different regnal lengths: 13 years (Urvoy), 14 years (Landeroin), 15 years (Nachtigal), or 16 years (Barth, Palmer).[1] As a result of this, and due to different calculations for other mais, various dates have been given for his reign, including 1737–1751 (Barth), 1731–1747 (Palmer), 1738–1751 (Urvoy), 1727–1742 (Landeroin), and 1731–1746 (Nachtigal).[1] Cohen (1966) considered a reign of 15 years to be most likely.[1] Bosworth (2012) followed Palmer and dated Muhammad's reign to 1731–1747.[2]
  2. ^ a b Every author other than Richmond Palmer agrees that Dunama VIII Gana was Muhammad VIII Ergama's son. Palmer instead names Dunama's father as Aman.[1]
  3. ^ a b Some versions of the royal chronicle record Muhammad as the son of "Dunama"; Dunama is sometimes used as an alternate name for Hamdan.[1]
  4. ^ Some chronologies of Kanem–Bornu rulers omit the 14th-century Muhammad II, lowering the regnal numbers of later rulers of this name. This ruler is then considered Muhammad VII.[3]
  5. ^ The name is also spelled Muhammad Erghamma[4] and Muhammad Irgama.[5]
  6. ^ "Muhammad son of "Haji",[6] i.e. Hamdan Dunamami (sometimes recorded with the honorific al-Ḥājj)
  7. ^ "Muhammad, son of Fanna"[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Cohen, Ronald (1966). "The Bornu King Lists". Boston University Papers on Africa: Volume II: African History. Boston University Press. pp. 55, 60, 65, 82.
  2. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2012) [1996]. The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-7486-2137-7.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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. p. 660.
  5. ^ Lipschutz, Mark R.; Rasmussen, R. Kent (1986). Dictionary of African Historical Biography. University of California Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-520-06611-3.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Palmer, H. R. (1912). "The Bornu Girgam". Journal of the Royal African Society. 12 (45): 80–81. ISSN 0368-4016.
  7. ^ Palmer, H. R. (1912). "The Bornu Girgam". Journal of the Royal African Society. 12 (45): 80–81. ISSN 0368-4016.