5 things you need to know about Kanem-Borno Empire that lasted for almost a millennium

By Yahuza Rabiu Garba 

Like Ghana, another ancient Islamic empire, the Kanuri Empire, the first at Kanem and the second at Borno, survived for almost one thousand years. 

The first empire at Kanem began to collapse from 1259 to 1472 due to struggles for power and internal dissension. The empire was revived by Mai Ali Ghaji (1472-1504) who reconstructed Kanuri power at Bornu rather than at the ancestral capital of N’jimi.

According to Prof G.N. Ayittey, the Kanuri Empire and the Sefawa dynasty owed their success and longevity to a number of factors. 

The Sefawa dynasty was one of the longest-lived in the history of the world, having ruled Kanuri states for about a thousand years. 

A number of factors accounted for this. First, great precautions were taken to avoid dynastic struggles, preserve the balance of the constitution and minimize rivalries within the ruling classes of the empire. 

As the Mai’s sons reached manhood, they were dispatched to the provinces to prevent them from becoming centers of political rivalry and intrigue within the capital.

There are other five must strategic things that kept them long-lasting, The first was the:

1. Strong and effective leadership provided by such Mais as Saif, Dunama II, `Ali Ghaji and Idris Alooma. 

2. membership of the Council of Twelve was not hereditary and the four great officers in charge of the major sub-divisions of the empire were appointed to govern areas where their families had no vested interests. What is more, with the exception of the Galadima, they and other important noblemen were required to live in the capital under the eye of royal authority. Only in times of emergency did they visit the areas they governed and assume personal control.

While this lessened the danger of their building up independent local power, it had the further value that as new areas were added to the empire, their natural rulers could be appointed Chima Gana to their own people. This reinforced their authority over their people, guaranteed a high degree of local autonomy and at the same time brought them under the supervision of one of the great Kanuri noblemen at Ngazargamu.

3. “the Mais did not keep large standing armies”. The military therefore did not act as a drain on imperial budget. The bulk of the troops were local levies that could be called up and commanded by local officials. Yet, this imperial military machine was able to overcome small scale uncoordinated resistance from the neighbors and repel invasions.

4. Aministration was decentralized though the Kanuri “absorbed the sociopolitical features of predynastic (i.e. preninth century) inhabitants”. The inhabitants managed their own local affairs under their hereditary rulers.

5. Islam provided a unifying force. As such, communers are both administratively and religiously loyal to the state.