The Borno Emirate or Borno Sultanate is a traditional

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

state formed at the start of the 20th century. It is headed by descendants of the rulers of the

Bornu Empire Bornu may refer to: * Bornu Empire Bornu may refer to: * Bornu Empire, a historical state of West Africa * Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest ...

, founded before 1000. The rulers have the title Shehu of Borno (var. Shehu of Bornu, Sultan of Borno/u). The traditional Emirate of Borno maintains a ceremonial rule of the

Kanuri people The Kanuri people (Kanouri, Kanowri, also Yerwa, Baribari and several subgroup names) are an List of ethnic groups of Africa, African ethnic group living largely in the lands of the former Kanem Empire, Kanem and Bornu Empires in Niger, Nigeria ...

, based in

Maiduguri Maiduguri is the capital and the largest city of Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border form ...

Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon, its northern border ...

, Nigeria, but acknowledged by the 4 million Kanuri in neighbouring countries. The current ruling line, the al-Kanemi dynasty, dates to the accession of

Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi Shehu al-Hajj Muhammad al-Amîn ibn Muhammad al-Kânemî ( ar, محمد الأمين بن محمد الكانمي) (1776–1837) was an Islamic scholar, teacher, religious and political leader who advised and eventually supplanted the Sayfawa dy ...

in the early 19th century, displacing the

Sayfawa dynasty 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, centered first in Kanem in western Chad, and then, after 1380, in Borno (today north-easte ...

which had ruled from around 1300.

History

The old Bornu Empire collapsed in 1893 when the

Funj The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue () was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern E ...

warlord Rabih Zubayr ibn Fadlallah seized power and transferred the capital to

Dikwa Dikwa is a town located in Borno State, Nigeria. History of Dikwa Dikwa used to be part of the kingdom of Borno before being captured by Rabih in 1893. The latter had the place fortified and Dikwa became the capital of his kingdom from 1893 ...

. The French, then expanding in West Africa, defeated and killed Rabih they installed Shehu Sanda Kura, a member of the old Bornu dynasty, as the first Shehu of Borno in Dikwa in 1900. In 1901 they replaced him by his brother Umar Abubakar Garbai, ancestor of the current Emirs of Borno. Based on a treaty between the French, Germans and British, the old Bornu was split up and Dikwa became part of the German colony of Cameroon. The British invited Umar Abubakar Garbai to become ruler of the part falling to the British, and he moved in 1902 first to Monguno and later to

. Later Dikwa was transferred to the newly created British

Northern Nigeria Protectorate Northern Nigeria (Hausa: ''Arewacin Najeriya'') was a British protectorate which lasted from 1900 until 1914 and covered the northern part of what is now Nigeria. The protectorate spanned and included the emirates of the Sokoto Caliphate an ...

, resulting in two Shehus, the Shehu of Borno based at Maidgurui and the

Shehu of Dikwa The Dikwa Emirate is one of the successor states to the old Bornu Empire, a traditional state within Borno State, Nigeria. It was established in 1901 at the start of the colonial period after the Bornu empire had been partitioned between the Briti ...

based at

Rulers

Rulers of the Borno Emirate since the beginning of the colonial period with the title of "Shehu":

Local Government Areas in Borno Emirate

Borno Emirate covers fifteen

Local Government Areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

: *

Abadam Abadam is a remote Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria, on the western coast of Lake Chad. It borders Chad and Niger, and it's very close to Cameroon, in 2016 its population is projected to be 140,000 inhabitants, It has its headquart ...

Chibok Chibok is a Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria, located in the south of the state. It has its headquarters in the town of Chibok. Landscape It has an area of 1,350 km² Population It has a population of 66,105 at the 2006 ...

Gubio Gubio, also Gobiyo, is a Local Government Area of Borno State, in northeastern Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Gubio. It has an area of 2,464 km and a population of 152,778 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is ...

Guzamala Guzamala is a Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Gudumbali. It's located approximately 125 kilometres north of the state capital, Maiduguri. It has an area of 2,517 km and a population of 95,648 ...

* Jere * Kaga *

Konduga Konduga is a community in Borno State, Nigeria and the center of a Local Government Area of the same name about 25 km to the southeast of Maiduguri, situated on the north bank of the Ngadda River. The population of the Konduga Local Governmen ...

Kukawa Kukawa (previously Kuka) is a town and Local Government Area in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, close to Lake Chad. The town was founded in 1814 as capital of the Kanem-Bornu Empire by the Muslim scholar and warlord Muhammad al-Amin al ...

* Mafa *

Magumeri Magumeri is a Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Magumeri. It has an area of 4,856 km and a population of 140,231 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 602. It is one of the sixt ...

Marte Marte may refer to: *Marte, Nigeria, a Local Government Area in Borno State *Marte (surname), including a list of people with the name * C.D. Marte, a Mexican football club *C.D. Atlético Marte, a Salvadoran football club * ST ''Marte'', a tug in ...

Mobbar Mobbar is a Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Damasak. It has an area of 2,790 km and a population of 116,654 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 602. It is one of the sixte ...

* Monguno *

Nganzai Nganzai is a Local Government Area of Borno State in northeastern Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Gajiram. Land Mass It has an area of 2,467 km and a population of 99,799 at the 2006 census. Postal Code The postal code o ...

References

{{Nigerian traditional states * Maiduguri Nigerian traditional states Emirates

History

Rulers

Local Government Areas in Borno Emirate

See also

References