Bornu Empire: Map & History
The Kanem–Bornu Empire was an empire based around Lake Chad that once ruled areas which are now part of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, and Chad.
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The Kanem–Bornu Empire was an empire based around Lake Chad that once ruled areas which are now part of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, and Chad. The empire was sustained by the prosperous trans-Saharan trade and was one of the oldest and longest-lived empires in world history and especially in African history.
Modern Countries Once Part of Bornu Empire
At its mapped extent, Bornu Empire covered territory in 4 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
- Chad1579–1894 CE · a large part
- Niger1487–1894 CE · a small part
- Nigeria1487–1808 CE · a small part
- Cameroon1579–1808 CE · a small part
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Bornu Empire's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Bornu Empire in Depth
History
The early history of Kanem is poorly known and subject to debate. The empire is believed to have originated in the lands between Lake Chad and the Bahr el Ghazal River, with a core territory in the region of Kanem (northeast of Lake Chad). Lake Chad was positioned along key trade routes, ideally situated between Egypt and Sudan in the east, various West African states in the west, and the Sahara Desert in the north.
Humans lived in the inner Chad Basin at least as far back as the 6th millennium BCE. The region is known to have acquired iron-smelting technology by the 5th century BCE and experienced increased agricultural activity around that time as well as the formation of permanent villages.
Government and military
The title of mai is variously equated to emperor or king. After the conversion to Islam, the rulers of Kanem began to be referred to as sultan and emir in both internal and external sources, alongside the traditional style of mai. Any son of a mai was qualified to become the next mai, which sometimes led to succession conflict and civil war. Persistent conflict and rival claims plagued much of the empire's history and virtually no mai was ever completely secure on the throne.
At some point after the conversion to Islam, perhaps in the reign of Dunama II Dibalemi in the 13th century, the empire transitioned to a feudal political system.
Economy
Regional and long-distance trade of commodities formed the core of the economy of Kanem and Bornu. The empire produced salt, textile, and agricultural products which were sold through the trans-Saharan trade. The salt industry was particularly prosperous, producing perhaps 6500–9000 tons per year. The empire likely supplied salt across the entire surrounding region. Slaves were also an important export and the Kanem–Bornu Empire participated actively in the trans-Saharan slave trade until the end of the 19th century. Slaves from Bornu are first recorded in the Mediterranean in the 16th century, when Bornu ambassadors sold them in exchange for Ottoman horses and firearms.
Little is known of what goods were imported by the Kanem–Bornu Empire.
Legacy and scholarship
Some of the people in the former empire, particularly the Toubou people, continued to resist colonisation, supported by the Ottoman Empire and the Senussi order. Resistance had largely died down by 1920, and the European colonies became firmly established. The division of the al-Kanemi dynasty under British and German rule has survived to the present in the Borno and Dikwa emirates, two traditional states in Nigeria.
European colonisation dismantled the political and economic organisation of the area around Lake Chad.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Kanem–Bornu Empire (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Bornu Empire: Key Facts
| Capital | Njimi |
|---|---|
| Official language | Saharan |
| Founded | 11th century |
| Dissolved | 22 April 1900 |
Preceded by
- Kanem Empire
Facts from Wikidata Q1139762 (CC0).
Bornu Empire Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Bornu Empire appears, with the other states of the time.
Bornu Empire Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 339,371 km² in 1607 CE.
Bornu Empire: Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Bornu Empire exist?
The Bornu Empire is dated to 1385 CE – 1894 CE, in the High & Late Middle Ages era.
What was the capital of the Bornu Empire?
The capital of the Bornu Empire was –1380), None The empire was re-centered in Bornu but lacked a permanent capital for about a century until the foundation of Ngazargamu. The court of the mai constantly moved from one site to another in this time and little information survives on the specific sites used by different mai s., (c. 1380–1472), Ngazargamu, (c. 1472–1809), None and was briefly reoccupied before being fully abandoned by mai Dunama IX Lefiami in 1809. Dunama retreated east but did not decide upon a permanent capital, instead moving between locations every few months. A new capital, Kafela, was established in 1813 by mai Muhammad IX Ngileruma., (1809–1813), Kafela, (1813–1846), Kukawa, (1846–1893), Dikwa, (1893–1902).
How large was the Bornu Empire at its peak?
At its peak in 1607 the Bornu Empire covered about 339,371 km².
How did the map of the Bornu Empire change over time?
The Bornu Empire appears on 6 dated world maps in the atlas, from 1400 CE to 1850 CE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.
Other Sovereign Realms
High & Late Middle Ages • Capital: Avarga
Early Modern & Age of Discovery • Capital: Söğüt, Bursa, Edirne, Constantinople
Industrial Era • Capital: London
High & Late Middle Ages • Capital: Thanjavur, Gangaikonda Cholapuram