Dunama I Umemi (Dunama Umemi Muḥammad bin Hummay) was the '' mai'' of the

Kanem–Bornu Empire 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 ...

in 1097–1150/1151.

Name

It is common for Kanem–Bornu rulers named ''Muhammad'' to also be called ''Dunama'', and vice versa. According to 19th-century British colonial supervisor Richmond Palmer, the name might be a compound of ''Dun'' ("power" or "might" in Kanuri) and ''Aman'' (i.e, Ammon) the Berber god.

Life

Dunama I was the son of

Hummay Hummay (Hummay bin ʿAbd al-Jalīl), also referred to as Umme, Houmé or Hume, was the '' mai'' of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in 1085–1097. Life Hummay is considered to be the founder of a new dynastic line in Kanem, the Sayfawa dynasty. Altho ...

and Kinta. Dunama's consort was named Fasama. Dunama succeeded his father as ''mai'' in 1097, after Hummay died in

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 ...

while on the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

. According to the German explorer

Heinrich Barth Johann Heinrich Barth (; ; 16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar. Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and wri ...

, who visited Bornu in the mid-19th century, Dunama I was a very powerful ruler, possessing one of the most powerful armies in Kanem–Bornu's history. He commanded 100,000 horses and 120,000 soldiers, excluding mercenaries. Among the Beni Hume (the sons of Hume), none held greater prestige than him.Palmer, H.R. (1926). History Of The First Twelve Years Of The Reign Of Mai Idris Alooma Of Bornu ( 1571 1583) ( Fartua, Ahmed Ibn). p. 110. Dunama made the Hajj two times himself, each time bringing a vast

retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', ...

with him. On each trip Dunama left 300 slaves in Egypt as gifts for his hosts. On his third Hajj, Dunama apparently provoked the suspicions of the people of Egypt, which was in a turbulent political climate at the time, under

al-Zafir Abū Manṣūr Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ (, February 1133 – April 1154), better known by his regnal name al-Ẓāfir bi-Aʿdāʾ Allāh (, ) or al-Ẓāfir bi-Amr Allāh (, ), was the twelfth Fatimid caliph, reigning in Egypt from 1149 to ...

. The Egyptians are said to have drowned Dunama when he embarked at

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

for Mecca. Later orally transmitted histories of Kanem–Bornu claim that the Egyptians said to themselves: "if this king returns from Mecca to his country, he will take from us our land and country without doubt". They secretly opened a sea-cock aboard his ship, causing it to flood and sink. His followers witnessed him floating on the sea in his white pilgrimage garments until he disappeared from their sight. Dunama was succeeded as ''mai'' by his son, Bir I Othman.

References

Rulers of the Kanem Empire 12th-century monarchs in Africa {{Africa-royal-stub