The Bilala or Bulala are a Muslim people that live around Lake Fitri, in the Batha Prefecture, in central

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 Repub ...

. The last Chadian

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

in 1993 stated that they numbered 136,629 people. Their language, Naba, is divided in four dialects and is a part of the Central Sudanic language family; it is shared by two of their neighbours, the Kuka and the Medogo. These three peoples are collectively known as Lisi and are believed to be descendants of main ethnic groups of the Sultanate of Yao. They first appeared in the 14th century near lake Fitri as a

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...

ic clan led by scions of the Sayfawa dynasty. They were originally a political entity that came about as a result of fusion of the Kayi (old Zaghawa = current Kanembu, the clan exist even today in Kanem) and Ngizimis Kanembu clan, which exists event today in Dibbinintchi,

Lake Tchad Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...

inhabitants of the Fittri region.^ H. R. Palmer "History of the first twelve years of the reign of Mai Idris Alooma of Bornu (1571-1583), by his Imam Ahmed Bin Furtua" Settled east of the Kanem Empire, in today's

, they shattered the empire's power, killing five of six of Kanem's ''mais'' (kings) between 1376 and 1400. At the end the Bulala conquered Kanem and forced the Kanem ''mais'' to migrate to Bornu. As a result, the Bulala put their hands on Kanem, founding in the 15th century the Muslim sultanate of Yao. The Kanem-Bornu Empire counter-attacked a century later under

Ali Gazi Ali Gazi, Ali Gaji Dunamami ibn Zeinab, or Ali ibn Dunama, was a ruler of Bornu Empire from 1476 until 1503 or 1507. Prior to his reign, the Sefuwa ruling house had split into two ruling branches. The result was palace intrigues and internal strif ...

. Kanem was retaken by Ali's son after a great battle at Garni Kiyala, forcing the Bulala to move east, where they were to remain a menace for centuries to Kanem-Bornu. It continued also to be a flourishing kingdom: the traveller Leo Africanus even thought that the Bulala's reign was richer than Kanem-Bornu for its prosperous trade with

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

. Their power survived in diminished forms until the onset of colonialism, when they submitted to the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

References

External links

Notes sur les Bilala du Fitri
(PDF, in French) {{authority control Kanem Empire Ethnic groups in Chad Muslim communities in Africa