page_title: Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi
section_title: Rule over Borno
hierarchical_section_title: Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi / Rule over Borno
caption_attribution_description: English: Tomb of the first Shehu of Borno, Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi, Kukawa, Borno State, Nigeria Deutsch: Grab des ersten Shehus von Borno, Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi, Kukawa, Borno State, Nigeria Español: Tumba del primer Shehu de Borno, Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi, Kukawa, Borno State, Nigeria Français&#160;: Tombe du premier Shehu de Borno, Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi, Kukawa, Borno State, Nigeria
context_page_description: Shehu al-Hajj Muhammad al-Amîn ibn Muhammad al-Kânemî was an Islamic scholar, teacher, religious and political leader who advised and eventually supplanted the Sayfawa dynasty of the Kanem-Bornu Empire. In 1846, Al-Kanemi's son Umar I ibn Muhammad al-Amin became the sole ruler of Borno, an event which marked the end of the Sayfawa dynasty's eight hundred year rule. The current Shehu of Bornu, a traditional ruler whose seat remains in modern Borno State, Nigeria, is descended from Al-Kanemi.
context_section_description: When El-Kanemi rose to power after the Fulani jihad, he did not totally reorganise the Sayfawa kingdom: he only tried to insert his men in the existing framework of the Sayfawa territorial fiefs, the chima chidibe. Cohen argued that the main political organisation of nineteenth century Borno was based on personal relationship and that Al-Kanemi initiated a more formal patron-client relationship.
  Six men support al-Kanemi's rise to power in Bornu.  They include his childhood friend Al-Hajj Sudani, a Toubou trader and family friend al-Hajj Malia, his eldest brother-in-law from his wife's family who led the Kanembu Kuburi in Kanem as Shettima Kuburi, and three Shuwa Arabs: Mallam Muhammad Tirab of Baghirimi, Mallam Ibrahim Wadaima of Wadai, and Mallam Ahmed Gonomi. 
  However, as Last mentioned, we still ignore to what extent Al-Kanemi was dominating the whole territory of Borno after the Fulani jihad. Was he only at the head of a personal principality as Last suggested, or did he totally overthrow the power of the mai?  This process which may have been longer than Brenner suggested is not very well documented. Oral history and European explorers’ narratives only retain Al-Kanemi’s irresistible rise to power. In this version of early nineteenth century history, Al-Kanemi assumed power in the 1810s without any competition from mai Dunama IX Lefiami before 1820. El-Kanemi, not just the face of Borno to foreign leaders, became more and more indispensable to the mai. Some in mai Dunama's coterie were believed to have been behind an attempt to kill the Shehu in 1820. At this date, mai Dunama and king Burgomanda of Baguirmi plotted to get rid of El-Kanemi. This foreign intervention in Bornuese politics was a failure and mai Dunama was replaced by mai Ibrahim. El-Kanemi, while still titular subject of the new mai, had his own seals struck as Shehu of all Bornu. 
  In 1814, al-Kanemi constructed the new city of Kukawa. This new city became the de facto capital of Borno, as al-Kanemi took the title Shehu.
  About 1819-20, Mai Dunama rose up in revolt against al-Kanemi, and was subsequently killed in battle.  Al-Kanemi then made Dunama's brother, Ibrahim, Mai.  Then in the 1820s, al-Kanemi drove the Fulani out of Bornu, challenging the Sokoto Caliphate, and occupying the Deya-Damaturu area.  This was followed by the occupation of the Kotoko kingdom city states of Kusseri, Ngulfai, and Logone, after defeating the Bagirmi in 1824.
  Sayfawa mais remained titular monarchs after El-Kameni's death in 1837.
  In 1846 the last mai, in league with the Ouaddai Empire, precipitated a civil war, resisted by El-Kanemi's son, Umar (1837–1881). It was at that point that Umar became sole ruler, thus ending one of the longest dynastic reigns in African history.
caption: Tomb of Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi, Kukawa, Borno State, Nigeria
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