Ahmad bin Furtu or Ibn Furtu (sometimes also called Ibn Fartuwa) was the sixteenth century grand Imam of the

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, and Adamawa to the south while it ...

and the chronicler of ''Mai''

Idris Alooma Idris Alooma, Idris ibn 'Ali (Alooma), or Idriss Alaoma, (r. 1570–1602/03 or 1580–1617) was Mai (king) of the Kanem-Bornu Empire, located mainly in Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria. His name is more properly written Idris Alawma or Idris Alau ...

(1564–1596). He wrote two chronicles in Arabic, ''K. ghazawat Barnu'' ("The Book of the Bornu Wars") in 1576 and ''K. ghazawat Kanei'' ("The Book of the Kanem Wars") in 1578. The first book describes in geographical order the military expeditions of ''Mai'' Idris Alooma: 1. against the Sao-Gafata in the region of the Komadugu Yobe; 2. against the town of Amsaka south of Lake Chad; 3. against the town of

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

west of Bornu; 4. against the

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Alg ...

of Aïr; 5. against the Margi people and against Mandara south of Lake Chad; 6. against the Ngizim west of Bornu and 7. against the Sao-Tatala at the edge of Lake Chad and against some towns of the Kotoko. Except a few details on the military achievements of the five predecessors of Idris Alooma he focusses his attention on the expeditions of his Sultan during the first twelve years of his reign. The book on the Kanem wars deals with seven consecutive expeditions against the Bulala from ca. 1573 to 1578. Information on earlier events at the beginning and the end of the book concern the destruction of the national relic called Mune by

Dunama Dabbalemi Dunama Dabbalemi, or Dounama Dibbalém, of the Sayfawa dynasty, was the ''mai'' (king) of the Kanem Empire, in present-day Chad, from 1210 to 1224. A fervent Muslim, Dabbalemi initiated diplomatic exchanges with sultans in North Africa and appar ...

(1203–1242), the expulsion of the Sayfawa from Kanem by the

Bulala The Bilala or Bulala are a Muslim people that live around Lake Fitri, in the Batha Prefecture, in central Chad. The last Chadian census in 1993 stated that they numbered 136,629 people. Their language, Naba language, Naba, is divided in four diale ...

and the temporary reoccupation of the ancient capital of Kanem

Njimi Njimi was the capital of the Kanuri state of Kanem (later Kanem-Bornu), north of Lake Chad, from the 11th through the 14th centuries. Founded by the Sefawa dynasty in the 11th century, the town dominated trans-Saharan trade in ivory and slaves ...

by Idris Katakarmabe (1487–1509). Some classical poems and quotations from lexicographical books bear witness of the solid education of the author. His somewhat contrived style is characterized by its archaism.

Bibliography

* Dewière, Rémi, L'esclave, le savant et le sultan. Représentations du monde et diplomatie au sultanat du Borno (XVIe-XVIIe siècles), thèse de doctorat dirigée par le professeur Bertrand Hirsch, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, 2015, 713 f. * * Palmer, Herbert, R.: "The Kanem wars", in: ''Sudanese Memoirs, vol. I, p. 15-81.

External links

*Norris, Harry
"Review of 'The Borno Expeditions of Idris Alauma (1564-1576)
in: ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', 52 (1989), 554-5. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibn Furtu Chroniclers 16th-century historians Bornu Empire