Biri II Ibrahim

Biri II Ibrahim
Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire
Reign13th century
PredecessorKade I Aujami (?)
SuccessorJalil (?)
DiedNjimi, Kanem
SpouseKagudi
IssueIbrahim I Nikale
DynastySayfawa dynasty
FatherDunama II Dibalemi
MotherZainab

Biri Ibrahim (Biri Ibrāhīm bin Dunama), enumerated as Biri II,[1] and also recorded as Kashim Biri and Uthman,[2] was mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-to-late 13th century.[3] A son of mai Dunama II Dibalemi, Biri Ibrahim ruled during a several decade-long period of succession conflict between the sons of Dunama.[2] The precise sequence and chronology of mais is unclear in this period, which lasted from Dunama's death to the rise of Ibrahim I Nikale.[3]

Sources

Biri Ibrahim is recorded in lists of Kanem–Bornu rulers (girgams) translated by Heinrich Barth (1851),[4] Gustav Nachtigal (1881),[5] and Moïse Landeroin [fr] (1911).[6] Richmond Palmer (1936) and Yves Urvoy (1941) used the name Kashim Biri instead.[2][7] Stewart (1989) erroneously listed Biri Ibrahim and Kashim Biri as two separate mais,[1] whereas Lange (1984) and Bosworth (2012) like previous authors considered them the same figure.[3][8]

According to Barth's girgam, Biri Ibrahim was remembered as a conqueror, though it was not recorded what conquests he made. He reportedly died at Njimi, the capital of the empire.[4] Biri's mother was named Zainab[2] and hailed from the "tribe of the Lekmamma".[4] The earliest reference to the Fulani in the territory of the Kanem–Bornu Empire dates to Biri's reign, when they arrived as envoys of the Mali Empire.[9]

Biri II Ibrahim across sources
Author Reign Predecessor Successor Ref
Barth (1851) 20 years (1288–1306) Kade I Aujami Ibrahim I Nikale [4]
Nachtigal (1881) 16 years (1351–1367) Selema III[a] Ibrahim I Nikale [5]
Landeroin (1911) 17 years (1287–1304) Selema III[a] Ibrahim I Nikale [6]
Palmer (1936) 21 years (1279–1300) Kade I Aujami Ibrahim I Nikale [2]
Urvoy (1941) 20 years (1242–1262) Kade I Aujami Jalil [7]
Lange (1984) 19 years (1277–1296) Kade I Aujami Ibrahim I Nikale [8]
Stewart (1989) 28 years (1260–1288, Kashim Biri) Kade I Aujami Biri II Ibrahim [1]
19 years (1288–1307, Biri II) Kashim Biri Ibrahim I Nikale [1]
Bosworth (2012) ? Kade I Aujami Jalil [3]

Notes

  1. ^ a b The lists of Nachtigal and Landeroin ordered mais differently from other sources in several places based on their familial relationships.[2] Selema III is placed earlier in their lists than in those of other authors.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers: An Encyclopedia of Native, Colonial and Independent States and Rulers Past and Present. McFarland & Company. p. 146.
  2. ^ 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. 52, 57, 62, 70, 80.
  3. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2012) [1996]. The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-7486-2137-8.
  4. ^ a b c d 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. 638.
  5. ^ a b Nachtigal, Gustav (1881). Săharâ und Sûdân: Ergebnisse Sechsjähriger Reisen in Afrika: Zweiter Teil (in German). Verlagshandlung Paul Parey. p. 394.
  6. ^ a b Landeroin, Moïse (1911). "Du Tchad au Niger. — Notice historique". Documents Scientifiques de la Mission Tilho (1906–1909): Tome Deuxième (in French). Imprimerie Nationale. p. 48.
  7. ^ a b Urvoy, Yves (1941). "Chronologie du Bornou". Journal des Africanistes (in French). 11 (1): 28. doi:10.3406/jafr.1941.2500.
  8. ^ 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. 261–263. ISBN 978-92-3-101710-0.
  9. ^ Njeuma, Martin Zachary (1969). The rise and fall of Fulani rule in Adamawa 1809-1901. SOAS University of London. p. 18.