The rulers of the

Wadai Sultanate The Wadai Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة وداي ''Saltanat Waday'', french: royaume du Ouaddaï, Fur: ''Burgu'' or ''Birgu''; 1501–1912) was an African sultanate located to the east of Lake Chad in present-day Chad and the Central African Repub ...

ruled a territory today located in the north of the Republic of Chad. There have been three states of Wadai, with the first dated to pre-

1500 Year 1500 (Roman numerals, MD) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The year 1500 was not a leap year in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar. The year was seen as being especially important by many Christians in Europe, ...

. In the

14th century As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was a century lasting from 1 January 1301 ( MCCCI), to 31 December 1400 ( MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and n ...

, Wadai became a "quasi independent" state of the

Maba people The Maba, Burgu or Bargo people are a minority ethnic group found primarily in the mountainous Ouaddaï region of eastern Chad and adjacent areas of Sudan. Their population is estimated to be about 300,000 in Chad. Other estimates place the total nu ...

but was destroyed at end of the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. M ...

. A second Wadai state grew out of the first and was conquered by the

Tunjur kingdom The Tunjur kingdom was a Sahelian precolonial kingdom in Africa between the 15th and early 17th centuries. Establishment Local chronicles claim that the founder of the Tunjur dynasty became a "king in the island of Sennar". Origins of the Tunjur ...

in the

16th century The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th cent ...

. In 1611, a Maba named Abd al-Krim expelled the Tunjur and became the first ''Kolak'' (King) in 1635, marking the beginning of the third Wadai state.

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

invaded Wadai in 1909 and annexed it to the territory of

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 Republic ...

. French military rule ended in 1935 and a new ''Kolak'' was installed, though with very limited powers over the

Ouaddaï prefecture Ouaddaï may refer to: * Ouaddaï highlands, an area in eastern Chad along the border with Sudan * Ouaddaï Prefecture, a former political prefecture of Chad * Ouaddaï Region, a political region of Chad created in 2002 * Wadai Empire (1635–1912) ...

. The state was suppressed France from 1912 to 1935 and by the

government from 1960 to 1970. The current ''Kolak'' Cherif Abdelhadi Mahdi was appointed by the central government of Chad, which caused uproar because he was not related to his predecessor. However, he is descended from ''Kolak'' Muhammad Sharif (r. 1843–1858). The previous ''Kolak'' was dismissed in July 2019 following ethnic clashes in the region.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadai, Rulers Political history of Chad Lists of rulers in Africa rulers of Wadai

See also

References