Muhammad IX Ngileruma (Muḥammad Ngileruma bin ʿAlī bin Ḥamdūn) 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 1811–1814.

Life

Muhammad Ngileruma was a son of ''mai'' Ali IV (1750–1791). By 1811, the reign of Muhammad's nephew

Dunama IX Lefiami Dunama IX Lefiami (Dunama Lefiami bin Aḥmad) was the '' mai'' of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in 1808–1811 and 1814–1817. Dunama came to power after his elderly father, Ahmad, decided to abdicate in the aftermath of the Fulani capture and destru ...

had inspired considerable discontent among the courtiers and nobility of the empire. Dunama had failed to deal with the invasion of the empire in the

Fula jihads The Fula (or Fulani) jihads () sometimes called the Fulani revolution were a series of jihads that occurred across West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, led largely by the Muslim Fula people, Fulani people. The jihads and the jihad sta ...

, with leadership instead mainly falling on the scholar and religious leader

Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi List of shehus of Bornu, Shehu Muhammad al-Amîn al-Kanemi (; 1776 – 8 June 1837) was an Islamic scholar, teacher, religious and political leader who advised and eventually supplanted the Sayfawa dynasty of the Kanem–Bornu Empire. In 1846, al ...

. Al-Kanemi's growing influence and power as a result of his victories also represented a threat to the empire's establishment. In 1811, Dunama was deposed in a palace revolt and replaced as ''mai'' with Muhammad Ngileruma. The conspirators argued that they were acting justly by pointing to the fact that Dunama had become ''mai'' with the abdication of his father,

Ahmad Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root ( ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from ...

, and had thus irregularly acceded to the position while his predecessor was still alive. The conspirators expected Muhammad Ngileruma to return the empire to the state of peace and security it had enjoyed prior to the Fula jihads, and to contain the ambitions of al-Kanemi. Muhammad Ngileruma does not appear to have opposed al-Kanemi, however, instead employing him and his warriors as the empire's defense force. A permanent capital was re-established at Kabela, close to al-Kanemi's capital at Ngurno. The previous capital,

Ngazargamu Ngazargamu, also called Birni Ngazargamu, Birnin Gazargamu, Gazargamo or N'gazargamu, was the capital of the Kanem–Bornu Empire from its foundation by Ali I Gaji in the 15th century to its destruction in the Fula jihads in the early 19th centu ...

, had been destroyed in the Fula jihads. Little is known of the political developments in Muhammad Ngileruma's reign, though he appears to have held his position only tenuously as different factions in Kabela and Ngurno struggled for influence. Muhammad Ngileruma's reign came to an end after just three years, when al-Kanemi supported the restoration of Dunama IX. The ''mai'' had, like Dunama, failed to lead the resistance against the Fulani. Muhammad Ngileruma was also a man of deep religious convictions, and had imposed unpopular legal strictures at court. With the pretext of preparing another campaign against the Fulani, al-Kanemi summoned leading courtiers to Ngurno. The courtiers who did not support Dunama were outnumbered and forced to comply. Upon hearing of the conspiracy, Muhammad Ngileruma left Kabela quietly without a fight. Al-Kanemi, Dunama, and their supporters then rode to Kabela and again invested Dunama as ''mai''.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad 09 Ngileruma Rulers of the Bornu Empire 19th-century monarchs in Africa