Biri IV

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

Biri IV (Biri bin Dunama) was briefly mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-15th century, ruling approximately 1444–1445. 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. Biri became mai in the mid-15th century, after his predecessor Kade III had been defeated by the rival claimant Dunama V Ahmad. Biri ruled only briefly before he was succeeded by Dunama V Ahmad.

Notes

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

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.