The Duguwa dynasty, or Dougouwa (700–1086), is the line of kings (''mai'') of the

Kanem Empire Kanem may refer to: * Kanem–Bornu Empire, existed in modern Chad and Nigeria known to Arabian geographers from the 9th century AD onward and lasted as the independent kingdom of Bornu until 1900 * Kanem Prefecture, of former prefectures of Chad * ...

prior to the rise of the

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

ic Seyfawa dynasty in 1086. According to 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 ...

'', the Duguwa kings were the kings of Kanem whose dynastic name is derived from Duku, the third king of the Duguwa. Comparisons with accounts from

Arab geographers Medieval Islamic geography and cartography refer to the study of geography and cartography in the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age (variously dated between the 8th century and 16th century). Muslim scholars made advances to the map-maki ...

show that the Duguwa were the king of the ruling class called

Zaghawa Zaghawa may refer to: * Zaghawa people * Zaghawa language Zaghawa is a Saharan language spoken by the Zaghawa people of east-central Chad (in the Sahel) and northwestern Sudan (Darfur). The people who speak this language call it Beria, from ''B ...

. Up to recently historians believed that the Duguwa kings mentioned in the ''Girgam'' ruled in Kanem just before the first Muslim kings.

Richmond Palmer Sir Herbert Richmond Palmer (25 April 1877 – 22 May 1958) was an English barrister, who became a colonial supervisor for Britain during the inter-World War period. He served as a Lieutenant Governor in Nigeria, Governor and Commander-in-Chief ...

states, "To all intents and purposes both Saif ibn Dthi Yazan and his son Ibrahim are a myth. The first Mai of Kanem was 'Mai Dugu Bremmi,' who succeeded because he was the 'dugu' (''tegasi'') or son of the chief's daughter or sister..." "The name dugu means strictly that he was the son of the daughter or a Mai, or Chief, i.e. the person the Tuareg call ''tegasi'', or heir." "Descent among the Maghumi, as among the Tuareg, passed to the son of a sister of the deceased king, called among the Tuareg, the ''tegasi'' or heir..." "The legendary eponymous ancestor of the Saifawa, as the Maghumi are called, only became in Muslim times Saif, the 'lion of Yaman'." One historian suggested that all the Duguwa kings except one were ancient Near Eastern rulers. Their names and titles bear witness of the founding of Kanem by refugees from the

Assyrian Empire Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyr ...

c. 600 BCE.Lange
''Founding of Kanem''
13–18. This hypothesis is, however, not widely accepted.

Table of Duguwa kings

References

{{reflist

Literature

* Dierk Lange
''The founding of Kanem by Assyrian Refugees ca. 600 BCE: Documentary, Linguistic, and Archaeological Evidence''
Boston, Working Papers in African Studies N° 265, 2011. * Abdullahi Smith: ''The early states of the Central Sudan'', in: J. Ajayi and M. Crowder (ed.), ''History of West Africa'', vol. I, 1st ed., London, 1971, 158–183. * Yves Urvoy: ''L'empire du Bornou'', Paris 1949.

Table of Duguwa kings

References

Literature

See also