Kaday b. Lafia and Assakélé

Whilst perusing Dierk Lange's study of the Diwan and taking another look at H.R. Palmer's Sudanese Memoirs, we wanted to revisit the Bulala sultans in the first half of the 16th century. Since we believe Aisa Kili of Borno traditions may also be remembered in Kanem under a slightly different name, we previously proposed identifying Aisa Kili with the daughter of Kalo, a Bulala sultan remembered for resisting the Sayfawa in the 16th century. Unfortunately, Carbou's allusions to Kanembu songs of a historical nature that remember the Bulala sultans are not fully quoted. However, Carbou was confident about Kalo being the son of a woman named Lafia. We suspect Aisa Kili, or Assakélé, may have been the daughter of Kaday b. Lafia. Identified in the Diwan as Kaday b. L.fiya (Lange's translation), he was defeated by Muhammad b. Idris of Borno at Lada. If Ahmad b. Furtu's chronicle is reliable, this war took place early in the reign of Muhammad b. Idris (c. 1519-1538, using Lange's chronology). 

The other theory is that Aisa Kili was the daughter of Dunama b. Salma. A brother of Kaday b. Lafia, Dunama b. Salma was noted in Bornoan sources as the sultan defeated by Idris b. Ali, who reigned from c. 1497 to 1519 (Lange's chronology). Around that time, a brother of Dunama b. Salma also took the throne in Kanem, Adam b. Salma (thus, a brother of Kaday, too). Kalo, the name used for Assakélé's royal Bulala father, is likely a Kanembu alternative name for Kaday or his brother. After all, Dunama b. Salma, Adam b. Salma and Kaday b. Lafia were both identified by Ahmad b. Furtu as sons of Abd al-Jalil (Lange has speculated that Salma was interchangeable with the name Abd al-Jalil). If the two brothers shared the same mother, either one could be the Kalo remembered in Kanembu song. Alternatively, a later Bulala sultan, Abd al-Jalil b. Abd al-Jalil, could potentially also match with Kalo, although the timing makes it less likely.

As for the name Kalo, somewhat similar names appear in Bulala girgams or traditions included in Palmer's second volume of Sudanese Memoirs. For instance, a K'ala appears on the list of Bulala maiwa of Kanem. The information is difficult to use given the contradictions and problematic nature of it, but part of the list in the second volume includes the names Lefia, Dala, Umr, Chiroma, Medu, Kademi and Kâlah or Kâle. In Palmer's confusing reading, these Bulala sultans never ruled in Kanem after Lefia and Dala were made into tributaries of Ali Gaji Zeinami. Elsewhere in the second volume of this book, Palmer suggests the name Kade is a local form of Abd al-Karim. Perhaps Kalo is related to Kale, which may be another local variant for Dalla or Dalil, or even the name Nigale (Nikale)? Assuming that Assakélé and Aisi Kili are indeed the same person, Kalo was mostly one of the 3 siblings who reigned in the first half of the 1500s in Kanem.