Biri IV

❧

Wikipedia

Biri IV
Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire
Reign15th century (1–6 years)
c. 1444–1445[a]
PredecessorKade III
SuccessorDunama V Ahmad
Diedc. 1445
DynastySayfawa dynasty (Idrisid[b])
FatherDunama IV (?)

Biri IV (Biri bin Dunama[2]) was briefly mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-15th century, ruling approximately 1444–1445.[a] Biri ruled during the "Era of Instability", a chaotic period of internal and external conflict in the empire.

Life

Biri was the son of a mai named Dunama, probably Dunama IV.[3] Biri became mai in the mid-15th century,[2] after his predecessor Kade III[2][3] had been defeated by the rival claimant Dunama V Ahmad.[6] Biri ruled only briefly[a] before he was succeeded by Dunama V Ahmad.[2][3]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Biri is omitted in the in the 19th–20th century king lists (girgams) published by Barth, Palmer, and Urvoy. Nachtigal and Landeroin both assign Biri a 6-year reign.[3] Nachtigal dated his reign to 1455–1461 and Landeroin dated it to 1427–1433.[3] Among later scholars, Biri is also omitted by Lange (1984)[4] and Stewart (1989).[5] Cohen (1966) assigned Biri a reign of a single year without comment, contradicting Nachtigal and Landeroin's lists.[3] Bosworth (2012) followed Cohen's assessment of a single year, dating Biri's reign to 1444–1445.[2]
  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]

References

  1. ↑ Lange, Dierk (2012). "Ali Gajideni". Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. pp. 172–173. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2012) [1996]. The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 126–127. ISBN 0-7486-2137-7.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cohen, Ronald (1966). "The Bornu King Lists". Boston University Papers on Africa: Volume II: African History. Boston University Press. pp. 58, 63, 81.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers: An Encyclopedia of Native, Colonial and Independent States and Rulers Past and Present. McFarland & Company. p. 35.
  6. ↑ 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. 642.