The Bulala are a Muslim people that live around

Lake Fitri Lake Fitri is a shallow freshwater lake in central Chad, located in the Sahel region about 300 km east of N’Djamena. It has been designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. Geography The normal size of t ...

who are of Maguemi (also known as Maguia) origin and the Bulala of Nguedjem fraction shares the same ancestor with the Toubou (Goran) of Kara (also known by the Arabic pronunciation, Kreda) Kodera fraction Bahr El Gazel,The Kara took their name from the Kri (or Kiri) area, located south of the Borkou region, in the depression of the Djourab and Kiri. The Djourab is a pastureland—an arid or desert area—traditionally used by the Toubou (Goran) for grazing animals. In the

Batha Prefecture Batha Prefecture () was one of the 14 prefectures of Chad. Located in the center of the country, Batha covered an area of 88,800 square kilometers and had a population of 288,458 in 1993. Its capital was Ati, Chad. It is largely coextensive with ...

, in central

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

. The last Chadian

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

in 1993 stated that they numbered 136,629 people. Their language, Naba, is divided in four dialects and is a part of the Central Sudanic language family; it is shared by two of their neighbours, the

Kuka KUKA is a German manufacturer of industrial robots and factory automation systems. In 2016, the company was acquired by the Chinese appliance manufacturer Midea Group. It has 25 subsidiaries in countries including the United States, the Eur ...

and the Medogo. These three peoples are collectively known as Lisi and are believed to be descendants of main ethnic groups of the

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

ate of Yao.

History

They first appeared in the 14th century near lake Fitri as a

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

ic clan led by scions of the Sayfawa dynasty. They were originally a political entity that came about as a result of fusion of the Kayi (old Zaghawa = current Kanembu, the clan exist even today in Kanem) and Ngizimis Kanembu clan, which exists even today in Dibbinintchi,

Lake Chad Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...

inhabitants of the Fittri region.^ H. R. Palmer "History of the first twelve years of the reign of Mai Idris Alooma of Bornu (1571–1583), by his Imam Ahmed Bin Furtua" Settled east of the

Kanem Empire Kanem may refer to: * Kanem–Bornu Empire, existed in modern Chad and Nigeria known to Arabian geographers from the 9th century AD onward and lasted as the independent kingdom of Bornu until 1900 * Kanem Prefecture, of former prefectures of Chad * ...

, in today's

, they shattered the empire's power, killing five of six of Kanem's ''mais'' (kings) between 1376 and 1400. At the end the Bulala conquered Kanem and forced the Kanem ''mais'' to migrate to Bornu. As a result, the Bulala put their hands on Kanem, founding in the 15th century the Muslim sultanate of Yao. The Kanem–Bornu Empire counter-attacked a century later under Ali Gazi. Kanem was retaken by Ali's son after a great battle at Garni Kiyala, forcing the Bulala to move east, where they were to remain a menace for centuries to Kanem-Bornu. It continued also to be a flourishing kingdom: the traveller

Leo Africanus Johannes Leo Africanus (born al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Wazzān al-Zayyātī al-Fasī, ; – ) was an Andalusi diplomat and author who is best known for his 1526 book '' Cosmographia et geographia de Affrica'', later publish ...

even thought that the Bulala's reign was richer than Kanem–Bornu for its prosperous trade with

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Their power survived in diminished forms until the onset of colonialism, when they submitted to the French.

External links

Notes sur les Bilala du Fitri
(PDF, in French) Central Sudanic peoples Kanem Empire Ethnic groups in Chad Muslim communities in Africa

References

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