Othman I (ʿUthmān bin Dāwūd
) was the ''
mai'' of the
Kanem–Bornu Empire
The Kanem–Bornu Empire was an empire based around Lake Chad that once ruled areas which are now part of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, and Chad. The empire was sustained by the prosperous trans-Saharan trade and was one of the ...
in 1363–1366.
Life
Othman was the son of
Dawud,
who he succeeded as ''mai'' in 1363.
Othman's father had faced an invasion by the
Bilala people
The Bulala are a Muslim people that live around Lake Fitri who are of Maguemi (also known as Maguia) origin and the Bulala of Nguedjem fraction shares the same ancestor with the Toubou (Goran) of Kara (also known by the Arabic pronunciation, Kre ...
, which saw the loss of
Njimi Njimi, also called Birni Njimi, N'Jimi, N'jimi, and Anjimi, was the capital of the Kanem–Bornu Empire until the 14th century. Njimi is first recorded in texts from the 12th century but was probably the empire's original capital, perhaps establishe ...
(the Kanem–Bornu capital) and the death of the ''mai'' himself.
Othman continued the war and initially had some success, even recapturing Njimi, though he was likewise eventually defeated and killed by the Bilala
in 1366.
Othman was succeeded as ''mai'' by his cousin,
Othman II
Othman II (ʿUthmān bin Idrīs) was the '' mai'' of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in 1366–1368.
Life
Othman was the son of Idris I and Famafa. He succeeded his cousin, Othman I, as ''mai'' in 1366, after Othman I's death in the war against the ...
.
References
Rulers of the Kanem Empire
14th-century monarchs in Africa
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