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Sayfawa dynasty, Sefouwa, Sefawa, or Sefuwa dynasty is the name of the Muslim kings (or ''mai'', as they called themselves) of the US Country Studies: Chad
/ref> "The legendary eponymous ancestor of the Saifawa, as the Maghumi are called, only became in Muslim times Saif, the 'lion of Yaman.' The pre-Muslim dynasty is known as the
Sayfawa dynasty, Sefouwa, Sefawa, or Sefuwa dynasty is the name of the Muslim kings (or ''mai'', as they called themselves) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire
The Kanem–Bornu Empire existed in areas which are now part of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad. It was known to the Arabian geographers as the Kanem Empire from the 8th century AD onward and lasted as the independent kingdom of Bornu (the B ...
, centered first in Kanem in western Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Repub ...
, and then, after 1380, in Borno (today north-eastern Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...
).
The dynasty was rooted in the Tubu expansion by the Kanembu./ref> "The legendary eponymous ancestor of the Saifawa, as the Maghumi are called, only became in Muslim times Saif, the 'lion of Yaman.' The pre-Muslim dynasty is known as the
Duguwa dynasty
The Duguwa dynasty, or Dougouwa (700–1086), is the line of kings (''mai'') of the Kanem Empire prior to the rise of the Islamic Seyfawa dynasty in 1086.
According to the '' Girgam'', the Duguwa kings were the kings of Kanem whose dynastic nam ...
.
Sayfawa-Humewa kings in Kanem
The chronology of the Sefuwa concerns the rule of the Sayfawa dynasty first over Kanem, then over the Kanem–Bornu and finally, since c. 1380, over Bornu alone. The chronology of kings has been ascertained from dynastic records of the Sefuwa on the basis of lengths of reign for the successive kings (''mai''), found in the ''Girgam
The ''Girgam'' (or ''Diwan'') is the royal chronicle of the Kanem–Bornu Empire, written in Arabic. Girgam is also used as the name for written historical records in some kingdoms west of Bornu, including Daura, Fika and Mandara, defined as "ch ...
''. African historians presently use several conflicting chronologies for the history of Kanem–Bornu. Below a list of the main kings of the Empire with the conflicting chronologies is provided.
List of rulers of the Sayfawa dynasty according to John Stewart's ''African States and Rulers'' (1989).
The Sayfawa dynasty ended in 1846 and was succeeded by a series of Sheikhs who ruled the Bornu empire until 1893.
See also
*Bornu Empire Bornu may refer to:
* Bornu Empire, a historical state of West Africa
* Borno State, Nigeria
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