Kingdom of Allada Timeline

The following are some general dates for the history of Allada, ending with its conquest by Dahomey in the 1720s. The dates are all drawn from Robin Law's The Kingdom of Allada and The Slave Coast of West Africa, 1550-1750: The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on an African Society. Researching the history of Allada is quite difficult, although we have scarcely scratched the surface. Jacques Lombard and Robin Law are good to start with, but from consulting their sources and references to oral traditions, much of Allada's early history is difficult to reconstruct.

c. 1485: map of Pedro Reinel shows Allada

1540/1 (or 1551/52): Allada ambassador to Portugal, Dom Adȃo. Allada king interested in trade and Christianity

1539: Portuguese report on Benin mentions kingdom of Allada's ambassadors mistreated by the oba

1553: Portuguese attempt to trade at Popo

mid-1560s: appearance of "Arara" captives among African slaves in Peru

1570: Allada marked on Portuguese maps

1591: James Welsh destroyed a Portuguese ship anchored at Allada

1602: Account of Pieter de Marees published

1607: Portuguese source estimated value of trade at Allada as 800,000 reis

c.1610: Kokpon king of Allada (Lombard's reckoning)

1620: Report mentions Allada, as well as Benin, Ijebu, and Calabar as "friends" of Portugal. One or two ships were sent annually from Sao Tome to trade at Allada for slaves, yams, palm oil, ivory and cotton cloth.

1622: Dutch ship came to Allada, but didn't stay to trade.

1627: Alonso de Sandoval's work mentioning Allada traditions published

1639: Dutch West India Company establish a factory in Allada

1646/47: Dutch bring an Allada native to the Gold Coast to train as an interpreter. The man dies.

1647: Dutch WIC in negotiations with Allada king over his debts to the company

1653/54: English ship purchased 170 slaves at Allada

1657: Bans, or Vans, arrived in Cartagena as ambassador of the king of Allada, 

1658: Publication in Madrid of a catechism in the language of Allada

1659: One source claims Allada was subject to or a vassal of Benin

1659/60: WIC establish a lodge in Allada once again

1660/61: Capuchin mission to Allada

1663: English company, Company of the Royal Adventurers of England Trading into Africa, established a factory in Allada

1664: An English letter addressed to the king of Allada, but never arrives

1668: Publication of Dapper's account

1670: Allada sends Mateo Lopes to France as its ambassador

1671: French factory transferred from Offra to Whydah; Allada and Benin reportedly at war

1672: Publication of Joseph de Naxara work alluding to Allada

1679: Trade in Allada disrupted by war (possibly Offra rebellion)

1680: Contact between Allada and Gold Coast disrupted by "Lampi Black" bandits, led by Aban

1682: Report mentions imports of cloth in Ape from Benin (or Lagos area)

1688: One account claims Allada's rule extended further west, once encompassing Great and Little Popo and Whydah

1690s: Dutch account on Benin kingdom refers to use of Allada women to brew maize beer there

1692: Destruction of Offrah by Allada (through the use of foreign mercenaries)

1694: "King Tom" of Allada was exiled and living in Whydah, banished for alleged crimes

1698: Oyo war with Allada after subjects of the latter appealed to Oyo (due to misgovernment by viceroys of Allada)

1703: Dutch WIC moved factory to Whydah

1704: Publication of Bosman's work

1705: Allada trade embargo on Whydah 

1709: Allada blocked trade to Whydah

1714: Allada king tried to redirect slave trade through Jakin instead of Whydah

1715: Apa's ruler said to be too far to be compelled to obey Allada

1716: Report suggests Dahomey was former vassal of Allada

1717: Death of Allada king reported

1718: King of Allada forced an English captain to buy 20 slaves of his

1722: Hussar in alliance with Agaja of Dahomey; king of Allada, claiming the English were indebted to him, made Bulfinch Lambe a prisoner

1724: Dahomey's conquest of Allada; King Sozo said to have raised 50,000 troops to face Dahomey

1726: Hussah of Allada said in one source to have solicited the Oyo invasion of Dahomey in his bid to regain Allada

1730: Agaja of Dahomey settled in Allada, but at new site near Togudo

1743: Tegbesu moved Dahomey capital back to Abomey from Allada

Bainet History Timeline

Although a real endeavor to trace the history of Bainet requires careful searching through archives and collecting oral traditions, we have began an attempt with a simple timeline or chronology. We have largely drawn from Madiou, Ardouin, Rouzier's geographical tomes, Moreau de Saint-Mery, Haitian journals and publications like Le Moniteur or Le Matin, and travel accounts. In addition, any references to Bainet we find in the secondary literature are occasionally sources of information. Furthermore, we did include dates from the precolonial and Spanish colonial period, even though there is no evidence of a Spanish colonial settlement at what later became known as Bainet. However, if the short-lived colonial town of Yaquimo was indeed located near modern Jacmel, we suspect there would have been small indigenous communities in the surrounding area (including today's Bainet) before and during that era. In addition, there are obvious more events or developments in the French colonial period that must be taken into account, such as the free people of color population and the enslaved population. 

pre-1492: Indigenous presence suggested by finds during French colonial period. A cave with human remains was found, said to have been used as a site of refuge to escape the Spanish (but possibly far older)

1499: Arrival of Alonso de Ojeda in Yaquimo, apparently with a goal to enslave Indians.

1503: Murder of Anacaona and several other Xaragua elites, orchestrated by Ovando.

1504: Foundation of the pueblo of Yaquimo. According to Moreau de Saint-Mery, it was built at the site of modern Aquin, although others suggest Jacmel. According to Las Casas, the area around Yaquimo was called Brasil by Columbus due to its ample brazilwood. Intriguingly, there is a section of Bainet called Bresilienne. 

1506: Diego Velazquez alcalde of Villanueva de Yaquimo

1514: Repartimiento indicates displacement of part of Yaquimo's Indian population, which was sent to mining centers of the island. Among Yaquimo caciques with indigenous names are the following: Taubacote, Camaguarex, Cataguaco, Cayguan Guaraba, Domanicarey, and Macaoquicios. Overall, around 1039 Indians, according to Martinez Almanzar.

1516: Map of Hispaniola by Andres de Morales made. Appears to place Yaquimo at the site of today's Jacmel.

by 1520: Yaquimo deserted

1577: Spanish colonial sources mention Indian and black population in Yaquimo, on a ranch

1678: Publication of Exquemelin's famous book on the buccaneers. Mention of Jacmel and Aquin as ports with ample amounts of brazilwood 

1698: Foundation of Compagnie de Saint-Domingue

1703: Census listed families established in Bainet and nearby parishes, including the Saugrain

1718: Bainet became a parish

1725: Law passed prescribing the construction of a church in Bainet

1730: Census found about 700 slaves and only 12 free people of color. 57 indigo plantations in Bainet.

1739: Census indicates growth of coffee plantations and the 'disappearance' of free people of color (presumably classified as 'whites')

1740: 67 Indigo plantations in Bainet

1744: Birth of Julien Raimond

1751: Much of Bainet town destroyed in a hurricane

1773: Nicolson finds Indian remains in Gris-Gris inside a cave

1775: Ordinance established a brigadier

1776: M. de Ennery ordered rebuilding the road from Gris-Gris to Aquin

1781: Hurricane in September destroyed the church

1788: Census indicates 1934 free people of color in Jacmel quartier

1789: Moreau de Saint-Mery described Bainet as having 20 cotton plantations, 20 indigoteries, and 70 coffee plantations. The militia had 60 whites and 240 affranchis. In terms of population Moreau de Saint-Mery wrote it contained 388 whites, 800 affranchis and 5,500 slaves.

1791: Free people of color in Bainet said to be so powerful that the whites didn't send a representative to the colonial assembly in Le Cap. Rebellion of Romaine the Prophetess said to have affected Bainet (at least 3 whites killed by blacks in insurrection, and buried in Bainet, according to Terry Rey). Moreover, Alexandre Boursiquot was accused of orchestrating the killings of 30 whites in Bainet.

1793: Report of Roume of 3000 rebel slaves, led by a white, who sacked Bainet, Jacmel and Cayes de Jacmel

1800: Dessalines takes Bainet from pro-Rigaud forces

1802: Commandant Guillaume authorized former slaves establishing homesteads in the hills for the fee of one gourde. Colonel Gilbon said to have led the insurgents of Bainet's hills against the French (same man?)

1814: Coffee estates Villard and Montra put for sale to increase the number of proprietors

1817: Arbouet listed as representant of Bainet

1818: President Boyer visited Bainet, lowering taxes for some, adjudicating disputes

1819: Thomas Madiou wrote of 5 schools in Bainet, teaching students how to read. Two in the valley, two at Jamaisvu, one at Primature and one in the town. The schools taught a total of 62 students how to read and write. It appears that they were supported or maintained by parents of the students.

1820: Jacques Fequant became new magistrat of Bainet. Colonel Aubin became new commandant de la place of Bainet.

1821: Jean Pierre, residing in Bainet, condemned to die for participating in two murders with Francois dit Aoussa

1823: President Boyer visited Jacmel, where people from Bainet, Marigot, and Saltrou flocked to see him.

1824: Boyer said to have sent many African American immigrants to Bainet (but evidence is lacking).Obin Renaud was commandant de la place. 

c.1825: Census figures included in Mackenzie's Notes on Haiti indicate 7,983 people lived in Bainet

1831: Toussaint Louis condemned for taking a horse from Jean Francois

1833: Jean Joseph Lande filed a case against the lieutenant of the rural police, Alexis Chaumeil, for beating him

1834: Colonel Lemaire commandant of Baynet 

1839: Pierre-Sanon Soliman murdered his brother, Miracle Solimon. 

1840: Bainet's Trou Mahot section under command of lieutenant Charles. Grande-Colline led by Nestant Jacques. Petit Bras led by Garcon Cazales. Mazonne led by Nicaise Jacques, Jamaisvu by Saint Juste Marcille, Gandou by Justin Bourgouin, Gris-Gris by Pointdujour, Bras de la Croix by Michel Juste. In Bainet alone, 1898 habitations or farms in 1840, with only 12 poorly cultivated.

1842: Raphael Pisano listed as priest of Bainet

1843: Garde nationale of Bainet joined the side of the liberal rebels against Boyer's government

1845: Louis Scutt commandant of the commune of Bainet, Michel Lubin inspector of cultures in the commune of Bainet. Mathieu Douge was juge de paix

1846: Fight between Saint Jacques Julien and Cadet Mafonta leads to the latter's death

1847: President of Haiti sent General Villebon to inspect Bainet 

1849: Conseil de Notables includes Jourdain fils, Ferdinand Duchemin, Rousselin Carriere, Joseph Fortin, and Jean Ambroise

1853: Emperor Soulouque in Bainet. His recovery from illness leads to celebrations.

1865: Abbey Demoy vicar of Bainet

1867: Jean Domingue the deputy for Bainet

1869: Piquets defeated in July (in context of Salnave and civil wars engulfing the country)

1872: Bernier as deputy of Bainet

1873 (or 1874?) Augustin Dorsan Ambroise deputy for Bainet

1874/5: Trou Mahot section created through the division of Brésilienne

1880: Announcement in Le Moniteur for a public concert in Bainet in August. The music program includes classical compositions.

1881: Magistrat of Bainet a A. Jean-Baptiste. Representative Polanco of Bainet solicited state funds for the construction of the church of Bainet.

1883: Cultivateurs of Bainet among the forces of Francois Manigat against Jacmel

1888: A. Jean-Baptiste a constituant of Bainet

1890: Population of 12,000; President Legitime sent forces from Bainet against Jacmel

1896: An address to the president of Haiti by citizens of Bainet is published in Le Moniteur

1898: President Sam visited Bainet, where arcs of triumph were established for him

1908: Address by the people of Bainet to the President of Haiti published 

1912: Haitian painter Micius Stephane born in Bainet

1917: Birth of painter Edger Jean-Baptiste.

1926: Gerald Bloncourt born in Bainet. Paul Laguerre named as member of Communal Commission. 

1928: Drought in the arrondissement of Jacmel particularly hurt Bainet. But flooding occurred in November in Bainet

1931: Article in Le Matin on Bainet mentions President Vincent's campaign stop there for the 1930 Presidential Election

1932: Letter published in Le Nouvelliste mentions economic hardship in Bainet since 1928, and difficulties paying taxes

1935: Murder of Deputy Ferere Laguerre (as well as his other relatives) in a feud with the Pierre-Louis family

1937: Christian Adrien mentioned in Le Nouvelliste as magistrat of Bainet

1950: Rossini Pierre-Louis still serving as Deputy of Bainet 

1953: Haiti Sun runs an article on Bainet entitled "Venus of Haiti"

1963: Bainet struck by Hurricane Flora

"Bambara" Timeline

Adanson's augmented/revised map includes the "Bambara Empire" of which he knew little except for its role in providing slaves.

-1063: Tunka Manin of Ghana (Wagadu) ascended to the throne

-c.1137: al-Zuhri writes of Ghana attacking "Barabara" people for slaves, as well as Tadmakka raids against the "Barbara" pagans. The description of al-Zuhri is quite ambiguous, but the "Barbara" appear to have been pagan peoples related to the peoples of Ghana and to have practiced facial scarification and believed in their own nobility.

-1464-65: Sonni Ali of Songhay defeats Mossi ruler, Komdao, pursuing him to limits of "Bambara' land (Tarikh al-Fattash)

-c.1506: Earliest written attestation of "Bambara" in the Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, a work referencing Banbarranaa, Beetu and Bahaa as towns whose inhabitants travel to Toom to buy gold for slaves. Mandingua merchants buy gold in the fairs there. 

-c.1558: Askia Dawud of Songhay, in addressing the ruler of Jenne, alludes to Bambara incursions.

-after 1591: Pagan "Bambara" referenced as attacking Jenne after the fall of Songhay (Tarikh al-Sudan). 

-c.1593-1608-1615: Ahmad Baba of Timbuktu, in his response to the questions of al-Isi on who was permissible to enslave, mentions the Bambara and Bobo as pagans beyond Jenne. A Bambara presence in Kala is also mentioned. The Bambara may also have been referenced as the pagan population living closest to the lands of Islam.

-1597-98: Pagan Bambara referenced in the Tarikh al-Sudan as allies of Hammad Amina, ruler of Masina

-1599: Mansa Mahmud IV of Mali fails to take Jenne

-1644: Revolt of Bambara of Segu area (Abitbol), possibly the revolt against the Sanakoi and Farkakoi 

-c.1650: Traditions indicate Bamana presence in Segu by 1650

-1674: Arma expedition against Bambara in Bara

-Late 1600s: Kaladian Koulibaly active as leader.

-c.1712-1755: Reign of Biton Koulibaly at Segu

-c.1715: Ruler of Cheibi fled to Douko, Bambara town, to escape an attack from the Pasha of Timbuktu

-1716: "Bambara" soldiers in Timbuktu

-1716-1719: Military expeditions against Bara Bambara from Arma of Timbuktu

-by 1719: "Bambara" slaves in Jacmel Quartier of Saint-Domingue (if not present earlier)

-1728: Labat describes people of Bambara as slaves of their king

-1731: Conflict between Haoussa and Gourma and Bambara pagans; Samba Rebellion in Louisiana, led by a "Bambara" slave 

-1733: Askia el-Hadj aids son of Maro to defeat Silti-Ouerendagh, pagan Bambara

-1739: Calm for all Bambara from Dirma to Bara and Bara to the west; reports of Fa Maghan the Wangara attacking Jenne and Bambara tradition of Fa Maghan attacking Segu and his defeat (Chronicles of Gonja)

-1740s: Long drought that severely impacted the Sahel region of West Africa

-c.1742: Pasha Said attacks 11 Bambara towns or settlements near the town of Askia El-Hadj

-1747: Ighor, a "Bambari," attacked caravan of Alid Oualata, taking prisoners.

-1753-1754: Segu blocked town of Sansa, Masina, and killed its chief, Folokoro

-1754-55: Segu attempts to take Jenne

-1755: Death of Biton Kulibali

-1756-57: Murder of Doukoure, son of Biton Kulibali, by slaves of Biton; Segu ruler who attempted to impose Islam deposed (faama Ali)

-1757: Adanson's Histoire naturelle du Sénégal: coquillages refers to the "Bambara Empire" that provided captives sold at Galam and the Gambia. 

-1758-59: Death of Kedebo Kanimou, ruler of Segu, after Tames. Succeeded by Kafa Dyogui, 3rd slave to govern Segu after death of Biton Kulibali.

-1766: Ngolo Dyara seizes power in Segu (reigns 16-18 years)

-1775-76: One of slave leaders of Biton Kulibali pillaged town of Hammat

-1788: Jacques Jacquet, dit Bambara, free black near Mirebalais (Saint-Domingue) appears as owner of runaway slave

-1790: Death of Ngolo Dyara, Reign of Da Manzon begins

-before 1791: a "Bambara camp" or neighborhood of Port-Louis in Mauritius established

-1796: Segu attacks Kaarta; Mungo Park visits Segu

-c.1806: Death of Gilles Bambara, a leader in the Haitian Revolution imprisoned by Dessalines for bring up "caste" (the color question). 

-1812: Muhammad Bello of Sokoto writes of the Bambara land as one rich in gold and inhabited by pagans

Sources

Abitbol, Michel. Tombouctou Et Les Arma: De La Conquête Marocaine Du Soudan Nigérien En 1591 à L'hégémonie De L'empire Peulh Du Macina En 1833. Paris: G.-P. Maisonneuve et Larose, 1979.

Amselle, Jean-Loup, and Elikia M'Bokolo. Au Cœur De L'ethnie: Ethnies, Tribalisme Et État En Afrique. Paris: Découverte, 1985.

Caron, Peter. 1997. “‘Of a Nation Which the Others Do Not Understand’: Bambara Slaves and African Ethnicity in Colonial Louisiana, 1718–60.” Slavery & Abolition 18 (1): 98–121. doi:10.1080/01440399708575205.

Clozel, F.-J. (François-Joseph), and Maurice Delafosse. Haut--Sénégal--Niger (Soudan Franc̜ais): Séries D'etudes Pub. Sous La Direction De M. Le Gouverneur Clozel .. Paris: E. Larose, 1912.

Courlander, Harold, and Ousmane Sako. The Heart of the Ngoni: Heroes of the African Kingdom of Segu. 1st pbk. ed. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1994.

Geggus, David. "The French Slave Trade: An Overview." The William and Mary Quarterly 58, no. 1 (2001): 119-38. Accessed October 3, 2020. doi:10.2307/2674421.

Gomez, Michael A. African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018.

Green, Toby. A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019.

Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo. Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1992.

Hopkins, J. F. P., and Nehemia Levtzion. Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History. 1st Markus Weiner Publishers ed. Princeton [N.J.]: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2000.

Houdas, Octave Victor. 1901. Tedzkiret En-Nisian Fi Akhbar Molouk Es-Soudan. Paris: E. Loroux.

Levtzion, Nehemia. Ancient Ghana and Mali. New York, N.Y.: Africana Pub. Company, 1980.

Maghīlī, Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Karīm, and John O. Hunwick. Sharīʻa in Songhay: The Replies of Al-Maghīlī to the Questions of Askia Al-Ḥājj Muḥammad. London ; New York: Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1985.

Marty, Paul (trans.). 1927. Les Chroniques de Oualata et de Nema (Soudan Francais). Paris: Paul Geuthner.

Monteil, Charles. Les Bambara Du Ségou Et Du Kaarta: (Étude Historique, Ethnographique Et Littéraire D'une Peuplade Du Soudan Française). Paris: É. Larose, 1923.

Moreau de Saint-Méry, Méderic Louis Élie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie françoise de l'isle Saint-Domingue. 3 vols. Philadelphia:  1797.

Richard, François G., and Kevin C. MacDonald (editors). Ethnic Ambiguity and the African Past: Materiality, History, and the Shaping of Cultural Identities. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press, Inc., 2015.

Roberts, Richard L. Warriors, Merchants, and Slaves: The State and the Economy in the Middle Niger Valley, 1700-1914. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1987.

Saʻdī, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʻAbd Allāh, and John O. Hunwick. Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Saʻdi's Taʼrikh Al-Sudan Down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents. Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 1999. 

Timbuktī, Maḥmūd Kutī ibn Mutawakkil Kutī, Christopher Wise, and Hala Abu Taleb. Taʼrīkh Al Fattāsh =: The Timbuktu Chronicles, 1493-1599: English Translation of the Original Works in Arabic By Al Hajj Mahmud Kati. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 2011.

Hausa History Timeline (pre-Sokoto)

The following is an early attempt at a timeline for the history of the Hausa peoples of West Africa. Drawing on sources and publications commented upon or reviewed on this blog, I endeavored to create some sense of chronology for the sprawling world of pre-jihad Hausaland. In order to do full justice to this, I would have had to read and corroborate different oral traditions and translated chronicles, manuscripts or external textual sources to clarify, expand, and fully include the entirety of the Hausa world in their major developments. Alas, Hausa states like Katsina perhaps had a full chronicle or richer archive (said to have been destroyed during the Sokoto Revolution), but without much material, and with most of the surviving texts not translated into English or French, we were forced to do our best with the somewhat problematic dates in the Kano Chronicle. References to Hausa states from the Songhay world, Borno, Agadez, and North Africa occasionally helped, though we are still very much in the dark about the specifics of the early Hausa states. Needless to say, we will revisit and update this occasionally.

by c.650: Maranda, or Marandet, settled by this date. The city was a center for copper and the name, according to Hamdani, meant henna. The capital city of Gobir after they moved south of Air was also named for henna, while the name Gobir is said to resemble the Coptic word for henna.

868-884: Reign of the first ruler of the Tulunids in Egypt, who also closed the old trade route used by Nubians and Egyptians to the Maghrib and Sudan that traversed the Oases. 

before 868/869: al-Jahiz in Iraq included the Marawa among the Sudan, along with the Abyssinians, Nubians, Fazzan and Zaghawa

872: al-Yaqubi mentions Maranda, possibly the earliest known Hausa state or town that was connected to trans-Saharan trade routes, as well as the Marawiyyun who were listed after Qaqu and before Maranda. Al-Yaqubi's brief account describes a kingdom of al-HBShH with a town called ThBYR, whose king is called MRH, next to the Qaqu, who lived under the yoke of the king of ThBYR. Kawkaw (Gao) appears to have dominated some of these kingdoms, including in its empire al-MRW (an extensive realm). In addition, al-Yaqubi referenced the kingdom of Malal, described as an enemy of Kanem, ruled by MYWSY. According to Hamani, there are many ruins of the ancient Azna people of at Amellal, east of Amandar, in Azawak.

-889/890: al-Yaqubi completed his Kitab al-buldan, which mentioned the Miriyyun, Zaghawiyyun, and Marwiyyun among the black slaves exported from Zawila

-c.903: Ibn al-Faqih mentioned Maranda and Marawa as locations on the trade route stretching from Ghana to Egypt

-c.956: al-Masu'udi described the Marka peoples as a group of Sudan in the west, after Kanem and before Kawkaw

-1030: al-Biruni included coordinates for Marawah

-c.1154: Maranda described by al-Idrisi as a populous town yet seldom visited because their merchandise is scare. Yet nomads stop there (from Kawar and Air?)

-1166-1182: Reign of Abdallah Bakuru of Kanem; Borno mahrams collected by Palmer mention his mahram granted to the Beni Mukhtar Tura in the Kawar (Dirku), and mention of conflict between Air (Ahir) and Dirku Tura

-c.1337-38: al-Umari's writings allude to a Berber sultan of Ahir (Air), who was considered greater than the Berber kings of Tadmakka and DMWshH

-1353: Ibn Battuta left Takadda, a city he described as exporting copper worked by slaves to Kubar. Sultan of Takadda, a Berber named Izar, was said to have been in a dispute with the Takarkari, another Berber sultans. Ibn Battuta later described Kahir as the country of the Karkari sultan, a grassy land where people buy sheep and dry the flesh, which is later exported to Tuwat

-Also, in 1353, an ambassador of Takadda's ruler at Biskara described the city as an importance stop for travelers to Mali

1355: Ibn Battuta's Rihla mentions Gobir as a non-Muslim kingdom importing copper and practicing human sacrifice

-1355-1380: Reign of Ali Murabalus in Katsina (probably too early)

-c.1349-1385: Reign of Ali Yaji in Kano, first Kano ruler to embrace Islam

-c.1388: Reign of Kaday Afnu of the Sayfawa dynasty (Afnu meaning "Hausa" in Kanuri)

-1390-1410: Reign of Kanajeji in Kano, said to have introduced lifidi armor, coats of mail and iron helmets

-1400s-Wangara Chronicle provides information on the arrival of Shaikh Zagaite in Kano

-1404/5-1424/5: Reign of Yunus as Sultan of Air

 -1421-1422: Mai Uthman ibn Dawud reigned (Uthman K.l.n.ma), deposed by kaygama Nikali b. Ibrahim and yerima Kaday Ka'aku; died at Afnu Kunu (Kano)

-c.1421-1438: Dagachi, Borno prince, came from South Borno with men and mallams to Kano. Queen Amina of Zaria likely dominated much of Hausaland 

-c.1438-1452: Borno attacked Asben/Air during this period, but couldn’t find water, ended by receiving tribute from lands west of Borno; Kano gave tsare to Borno

-before 1442: al-Maqrizi mentions Afnu and their king, Mastur (Afnu was Kanuri term for Hausa peoples). Neighboring Mastur's Afnu kingdom was another king, Manbu, and then the Kankuma people, then Kanku, then Abqaram, and then Yadi (ruled by Rabuma), followed by the king Hudami and the Inkirar tribe. In addition, Shadi, Mabna, Abham, Ata'na, Yafalam, and Makba, naked tribes, come next. 

-mid-1400s: Yusuf Bala Usman places Korau as king of Katsina

-1445-1493: Possible reign for Muhammad Korau of Katsina. May have participated in a joint attack on Kebbi with Sunni Ali of Songhay (Lange's theory). Also said to have been the first to erect a mosque (tradition)

c.1450: Migration of Gobirawa from Air to their southern location

-1452-1463: Fulani go to Borno, according to Kano Chronicle while Gwanja merchants arrived in Katsina, Kanuri came in larger numbers, and Asbenawa came to Gobir. Reign of Abdulahi Burja in Kano

-c.1460: Agadez built, according to Marmol, though Hamani cites traditions and evidence of an earlier Hausa or Gobirawa presence at Agades

-1459-1536: Life of Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Muhammd Aqit b. Umar of Timbuktu, who visited Kano and Hausaland

-1463-1499: Reign of Muhammad Rumfa of Kano, many reforms introduced and al-Maghili came to Kano. War with Katsina for 11 years.

-1491/2: One of al-Maghili's letters addressed to Muhammad Rumfa of Kano

-1493: al-Lamtuni, probably from Air, wrote to al-Suyuti in Cairo

-c.1493: Letter form al-Suyuti to the rulers of Katsina and Agadez; reference to human sacrifice of slaves by Gobirawa when they are ill

-1493-1528: Reign of Askia Muhammad I of Songhay

-c.1494: Ibrahim was ruling in Katsina, said to have promoted Islam and corresponded with al-Suyuti.

-1498-1524: Reign of Ali in Katsina, who built walls and fortifications (Djibo Hamani's proposed dates)

-1499-1509: Reign of Abdulahi in Kano; Borno attacked Kano and Abdulahi and his mallams met with Borno's mai to humble themselves. Abdulahi said to have defeated Katsina and Zaria

by 1505: Zazzau had its first Muslim king

-1514: Askia Muhammad of Songhay attacks Katsina

-1514-1515: Askia Muhammad of Songhay conquers/annexes Air region 

-1515-1516: Kanta Kotal, Kanta of Kebbi, revolts against Askia Muhammad

-1517/18: Askia Muhammad of Songhay campaigns against Kebbi

-c. 1529: Ali Fulan of Songhay flees to Kano

-1529/30: Death of qadi al-Tazakhti, a qadi of Katsina who had studied in Mecca and Cairo

-1533/34: Death of al-Balbali, scholar who had once taught in Kano and Katsina

-1553: Askia Dawud signed peace treaty with Kebbi

-1553/54: Songhay raid against Katsina by 24 horsemen, who are defeated by 400 Katsina cavalry forces

-c.1561: Borno-Kebbi War, Borno said to have fielded an army of 100,000 against Kebbi after Kebbi attacks on Air region, but Kebbi defeated Borno (yet Muhammad Kanta died after)

-c.1563-1565: Reign of Ibrahim Maje in Katsina

c.1565-1573: reign of Abubakar Kado in Kano, presence of people from Bagirmi and Logone ("Lagoni") in Kano. Katsina victory against Kano

-c.1565-1575: Reign of another Ibrahim in Katsina (Yusufu Bala Usman)

-1573-1582: Sarki Mohamma Shashere of Kano defeated by Katsina

-1575-1587: Reign of Muhammad Wari in Katsina 

-1577: al-Nasir of the Awlad Muhammad dynasty in the Fazzan fled to Katsina, where he was well-received, after Ottomans annexed Fazzan

-before 1582: Merchant of Raguse who had traveled in West Africa for 7 years, reported to Anania that Kano was one of the three most important commercial centers in Africa (with Fez and Cairo) and the Portuguese had attempted to establish a comptoir there. Anania also reported constant wars between Kano and Katsina

-1582-1618: Reign of Mohamma Zaki in Kano; during his reign, Kano attacked and pillaged by the Kwararafa and the Kanawa fled to Daura. Katsina said to have attacked Kano during this period of Kwararafa threat but Kano later won

-1587-1600: Reign of Suleiman in Katsina

-after 1591: Ahmad al-Mansur of Morocco sends a letter to Kanta Dawud of Kebbi, discussing the post-Songhay order and complaining about Kebbi hosting rebellious Songhay

-c.1594/5: Birth of Abu Abdallah b. Masani b. Muhammad al-Barnawi al-Kashinawi in Katsina, to Borno parents

-1599-1613: Reign in Katsina of Maalam Yusufu, according to Katsina tradition. Borno said to have attacked Katsina in his reign.

-c.1600-1618: Reign of Usman Nayinawa in Katsina (Usman Tsagarana, according to Djibo Hamani)

-early 1600s: Town of Illela founded by Asben immigrants (part of Katsina kingdom)

-c.1601: Katsina intervened in the civil war of Agades to support Muhammad al-Mubarak

-1615: Ahmad Baba replies to a North African about which West African populations can be legally enslaved. He references Kano and Katsina as similar kingdoms sometimes in war, taking captives.

-1618-1623: Reign of Mohamma Zaki in Kano, who defeated invading Katsina forces

-1618-1636: Reign of Muhammad Toyarero of Katsina (Djibo Hamani). Remembered in tradition that Katsina became an intellectual center and market for books in Arabic (regnal years 1695-1705 in another source, too late)

-1623-1648: Reign of Kutumbi of Kano. Victory against Katsina earlier on, but died after battle with Katsina near the end of his reign

-1626/27: Awlad Muhammad prince Muhammad b. Juhaym raised an army and retook the Fazzan after living in exile in Katsina

-1636-1641: Reign of Muhammadu Wari of Katsina   (1625-1637 regnal years according to another source). Kwararafa said to have attacked Katsina.

-1649-1651: Reign of Shekkarau in Kano, who made peace with Katsina

1639-1677: Reign of Mai Ali b. Umar of Borno, who was praised in poem by Dan Marina for his victory against the Kwararafa

-1641-1671: Reign of Muhammadu Uban Yara in Katsina; conflict with Zamfara during his reign. Execution of Maghani who disturbed trading caravans from Kano during his reign

-1648: King Katumbi of Kano died during conflict with Katsina

-1659: Writing of poem by Dan Marina in praise of the Katsina ruler

-1661-1675: Kanta Maliki of Kebbi's reign, decadence in Kebbi

-1667: Borno-Tuareg war; Borno prince Medicon sold into slavery after Agadez attacked Borno, but Mai Ali b. Umar was able to have the Pasha of Tripoli find and liberate Medicon; death of Katsina scholar Dan Masina (who also wrote a short work on the Yoruba), who died in the fifth year of Katsina ruler Salman (Suleiman)'s reign

-Death of Dan Masanih, Katsina scholar

c.1670-1703: reign of Dadi  in Kano; Kwararafa wars resulted in the Kwararafa taking the capital.

-c.1671: Kwararafa attack on Kano

-1671-1684: Reign in Katsina of Muhammadu Jan Hazo; Kwararafa attack on city failed due to intervention of prayers of Dan Masina. 

-c.1672: Kwararafa attacks Kano and Katsina

-1672-1680: Evliya Celebi was in Egypt, where he presumably gathered information on the Hausa (Afnu). Per Celebi, the Hausa included 7 tribes but only 1 was Muslim

-1674: Sultanate of Agadez conquers Ader/Adar after defeating Kebbi

-1679: Kel Ayar raid on Borno

-1680-1689: Reign of Soba of Gobir (Djibo Hamani), conflict with Katsina

-1681: Prince Akanfaya of Agadez went on third pilgrimage

-1682: Awlad Muhammad sultan of Fazzan fled to Katsina

-c.1685: Katsina victory against Gobir

-1685: Agadez war with Zanfara; Agabba of Agadez returns to Adar

-1687: Muhammad al-Mubarak of Agadez died during epidemic, succeeded by Agabba

-1689: Successful counterattack of Muhammad Agabba (Agadez Sultanate) against Gobir; Awlad Muhammad ruler fled to Katsina

-1698/99: Sultan al-Nasir of Fazzan went to Agades

-c.1702-1728: Reign of Karyawiga in Katsina

-August 1711: Death of Prefect of Borno Carlo Maria di Genova near Katsina. Never reached Borno or the allegedly Christian Kwararafa

-1715: Awlad Muhammad ruler fled to Katsina

-c.1720-1730: A Katsina faqih among the group who tried to mediate between Darfur sultan Muhammad Dawra and his son, Musa Anqarib.

-1721: Muhammad Agabba of Agadez dethroned by brother al-Amin, fled to Adar and ruled among the Itisen from Birni-n-Ader until 1738

-1726: Tuareg of Air war with Gobir

-1730: al-Kashnawi, famous 18th century scholar, performed the pilgrimage to Mecca

1731-1743: Reign of Mohamma Kumbari in Kano, whose exactions on traders led to many Arabs relocating to Katsina in the 1730s. Sarkin Kano also said to have imported firearms through Nupe and fought with Gobir, led by Sobah. Borno launched campaign against Kano but battle averted (may have occurred during reign of Mai Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama)

-1732: Death of al-Mustafa in Yandatu, center for learning in Katsina kingdom (Gonja Chronicle)

1733: Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Fulani al-Kishwani composes a work on magic squares

-1734-1747: Reign of Gima in Katsina

-1737-1764: Ibrahim Babari ruler of Gobir, during his reign Alkalawa established as capital. Raids on Katsina, Kano, and other lands

-1738: Death of Agabba, sultan of Adar

-1738/9: Attestation of Dar Kofa in Tunis

-1740: Kel Owey Tuareg invade the palace of Agadesand slaughter many people

-1741: Death of Muhammad al-Katsinawi in Egypt, who studied in Borno. Noted for his writings on magic squares, astrology and other topics.

-c.1743-1764: Ruler Baabaari of Gobir. Attacked Katsina unsuccessfully.

-1743-1753: Alhaji Kabe of Kano in hostility with Gobir (led by Barbari)

-1746-1759: Etsu Jibril of Nupe, promoted Islam

-c.1755-1767: Reign of Wari Maikore in Katsina

-c.1759: Bilma War between Tuareg of Air and Borno, resulting in Tuareg of Agadez confederation becoming the dominant player in the movement of Kawar salt to Hausaland; Agadez Chronicles also report the Sultan attacking Gobir with Kel Owey.

-1764: Gobir sacks Zamfara capital

-1766: Appearance of a "Gambary" runaway slave in Saint-Domingue ad (Gambari being the Yoruba term for Hausa)

-c.1768-1778: Rule of Karyagiwa in Katsina, who defeated Gobir

-1768-1777: Sarkin Kano Baba Zakki said to be first Kano ruler with a guard of musketeers

-1771-1789: Sarkin Gobir Bawa Jan Gwarzo considered by some to have invented the tradition of Coptic origins for the Gobirawa and refused to send tribute to Borno

-1773: Niebuhr's account of Hausaland collected in Copenhagen mentions various towns in the Katsina state

-1774: Early appearance of Hausa runaway slave ad in Saint-Domingue (Haiti); Katsina expedition to Mafara

-c. 1778-1796: Reign of Agwaragi in Katsina. Revolt during his reign led by Bawa Bahago was crushed with the aid of Gobir

-1779: Hausa presence among enslaved Africans in Louisiana attested 

-1780s: Earliest known Kel Owey settlement on the trade route from Ahir to Katsina established at Magami

-1780s-1790s: Wealthiest trader in Porto Novo was Pierre Tamata, a Hausa former slave educated in France 

-1788: Gobir-Katsina hostilities, with Katsina the victor. Sarkin Katsina Agwaragi endeavored to make peace with the next Gobir ruler, Yakuba. Lucas reported salt trade from Kawar to Katsina 

-1795: War between Katsina and Gobir indicated in the Agades Chronicles

-1799: Horneman reported that Katsina paid tribute to Borno

-by 1800: Many in Agades had moved south to Hausaland

-c.1801: King Gozo of Katsina assassinated

-1801: Katsina defeated Gobir

-c. 1805-1806: Reign in Katsina of Mahmud, overthrown by jihadist Umar Dallaji

-1807: kaid of the Muslims of Kumasi, a native of Katsina, assisted in the Asante campaign against the Fantees

-1808: Alkalawa, capital of Gobir, destroyed

-1817: Philip Finlay, Hausa of Gobir and soldier in the West India Regiment, produces a short text in ajami, in Trinidad

-1834: Abu Bakr al-Siddiq of Jamaica's biography translated into English, including details of his Katsina mother

Tentative Timeline for the Colonial French Caribbean

A preliminary work started for another project but something we hope to continue, like our "Tentative Timeline for Kanem-Borno" on this site. We plan to add additional events and dates for Saint-Domingue (Haiti), Guadeloupe, Martinique, and other French colonial possessions in the Antilles but we have been too distracted by our Kanem-Borno and African historical "research" lately.

-1500s-1540s: French often plundered Spanish treasure fleets (according to Gad Heuman)

-1523: Jean Fleury, French corsair, sacked Spanish fleet carrying part of Aztec treasure

-1530-1570: French pirates were main scourge of Spanish possessions

-1559: Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis (Spain and France)

-1620s: Early French occupation of western Hispaniola in 1620s

-1620s-1667: frontier era in French Antilles, tobacco was first cash crop and remained important in Saint Domingue until 1690s, boucaniers and piracy in Tortuga, western Hispaniola

-1624-1625: English and French share Saint-Christophe (Saint Kitts), the French settlement led by Pierre Belain d’Esnambuc in 1625

-1626: Cardinal Richelieu invested in plans to colonize Saint Christophe (St. Kitts)

-1635: French colonization of Martinique, Guadeloupe (but French colonization proceeded at slow pace due to significant Carib population) and some of the smaller islands of the eastern Caribbean; also the year the Compagnie des Isles de l’Amerique was founded to consolidate French interests in Caribbean

-1640: Before 1640, French colonies relied on engages (indentured laborers who usually worked 3 year contracts), then increasingly depended on slave labor

-1642 Regulation of Compagnie des Indies declared all Indians of French islands equals of whites

-c. 1650: matelotage partnerships of newly freed servants common in Saint Domingue by mid-1600s, engaging in hunting cattle, processing hides, curing meat, and trade at Tortuga

-1650-1660: French Caribbean around 19% black in 1650, but grew to 36% by 1660; important role of Dutch and Jewish settlers from Brazil in sparking commercial sugarcane production in French Caribbean in 1650s (and Barbados, English colony)

-1654-1659/1660: French wars with the Caribs in the Lesser Antilles, lasting five years

1658: Caribs slaughtered French colonists at Marie Galante

-1660: Settlement reached between French and Caribs, restricting Caribs to St. Vincent and Dominica

-1664: Formation of Compagnie des Indes Occidentales, supported by Colbert

-1665-1675: Bertrand d’Ogeron governor of Tortue (Tortuga) for most of this period, promoting settlement and development of Saint Domingue

-1666: Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin joined French Compagnie des Indes Occidentales, sailing to Tortuga

-1667-1720: Colonial Conflicts and Economic Transition in French Antilles

-1669-1670: French Company of the West Indies opens slave trade with Allada and the “Slave Coast”; Mateo Lopes, ambassador of Allada king received at the court of Louis XIV

-1670-1700: enslaved Africans in Martinique grew in numbers from 7,000 in 1670 to 15,000 while the entire French Antilles had around 30,000 slaves by 1700

-1670s: French missionaries and fur traders at Fort St. Louis (Peoria, Illinois) and later other spots on Illinois River, Mississippi River, Missouri River

-1670-1672: troubles of period in Saint Domingue due to French attempts to halt contact between Dutch traders and French colonists in the Caribbean

-1670: Foundation of Cap Francais (modern Cap-Haitien)

-1671: French Lesser Antilles has population of just under 30,000

-1672-1678: French and Dutch wars in Indies

-1680: Troubles in Cap Francais following collapse of French market for colonial tobacco and enforcement of Senegal Company’s slave trade monopoly

-1680s-1690s: French privateering important for bringing slaves to Caribbean colonies

-1685: first sugarcane plantation in French Saint Domingue; also, Louis XIV revoked Edict of Nantes, leading to some migration of Huguenots to Caribbean and North American mainland

-First sovereign council of Saint Domingue established at Petit Goave by the marquis de Seignelay

1690: French raid Spanish colony of Santo Domingo

1690s: slaves carried to French colonies by privateers in late 1600s pivotal for rise of sugar production in Saint Domingue

1691: Spanish attack Cap-Francais

-1694: St. Domingue raid on Jamaica brings 1600-2000 slaves to Saint Domingue

-1695: Anglo-Spanish attack on Saint Domingue; French evacuate Sainte-Croix largely due to governor of St. Domingue, Du Casse; most of the 460 whites, 712 slaves, 52 free colored ended up in northern Saint Domingue

-1697: Treaty of Ryswick, ceding western Hispaniola to France (officially recognized by Spain)

-1698: planters and slaves from St. Croix displaced en masse to French Saint Domingue; Compagnie de Saint-Domingue (financial/military arm of French government) formed to promote sugar; foundation of Saint-Domingue Company, founded by DuCasse and financiers Bernard, Crozat, Mayon, Thome (to promote settlement of southern Saint Domingue)

-1701-1713: War of Spanish Succession

-1703: 1,369 people, including 409 whites and 908 slaves, lived in South of Saint Domingue

-1704: Andre Deslandes, former director of French East India and Asiento Companies, arrived to be first ordonnateur and established  a Superior Council at Cap-Francais the next year

-1706-1730: large number of Indian slaves , especially Panis or Pawnee in Missouri Valley

-1710: Recall of Governor Choiseul-Beaupre from Saint Domingue

1713: By this year, Saint Domingue’s population surpassed Martinique

1713-1735: French conflict with Fox Indians, Fox attack French allies in Illinois Country and French do not finally defeat the Fox until 1735

1715-1744: Years of Peace for French Antilles

1715: French Saint Domingue had a population of 7,000 white colonists, 30,000 slaves

1715-1717: Spanish pirates captured or pillaged 20 French ships along coast of Saint Domingue

1717-1723: temporarily successful rebellions of planters in Martinique and Saint Domingue against royal authority/colonial authority (the French king appointed colonial governors and officials; intendants were in charge of civil/judicial affairs

1720-1790: Plantations, slavery, Revolutions (French, Haitian, Guadeloupe)

1720: Revocation of Saint Domingue Company’s privileges

1720s: increase in coffee plantations after 1720

1726: French near Natchez villages tied to tobacco-growing concessions, 2 large grants for tobacco made in 1726

1729: 28 Nov 1729 Natchez warriors killed 237 French, captured nearly 300 slaves and 50 white women and children

1730-1731: Natchez defeated, some 500 sold into slavery (an unknown number sold in Saint Domingue, where their chief Grand-Soleil also went)

1756-1763: British successfully attack Guadeloupe and Martinique, bringing in more slaves

1758: Mackandal conspiracy in Saint Domingue

1788: Lejeune case of Saint Domingue slaves who unsuccessfully sued their master for his torture and murder 

1791: August 1791 beginning of slave uprising in the north of Saint Domingue 

Sources 

Gibson, Carrie. Empire's Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean From Columbus to the Present Day. London: Macmillan, 2014.

Heuman, Gad J. The Caribbean: A Brief History. Second edition. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014.

Palmié, Stephan, and Francisco A. (Francisco Antonio) Scarano (editors). The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its Peoples. Chicago ; London: The University of Chicago Press, 2011.

Pritchard, James S. In Search of Empire: The French in the Americas, 1670-1730. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Tentative Timeline for Kanem-Borno

Bodyguard of Shaykh al-Kanemi as depicted in Narrative of travels and discoveries in Northern and Central Africa: in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824

What follows below is our preliminary timeline for the history of Kanem-Borno. While by no means exhaustive, we hope to include dates and key events that impacted Kanem, Borno, Chad, and the Lake Chad Basin over the last several thousands of years. Some of the events included here may have no direct connection to the civilization we are interested in, but we include it for possible links, influences, and African historical contexts. We hope to update and correct any errors, as well as include more events that pertain to Borno's relationship with its neighbors and beyond. As for sources, we relied mostly on what has been cited in this previous post as well as the works of Jean-Claude Zeltner, Levtzion & Hopkins, Graham Connah, B.G. Martin, Heinrich Barth, H.R Palmer, Hamidu Bobboyi, Paul Lovejoy and Louis Brenner.

-2345 BCE – 2181 BCE: 6th Dynasty Old Kingdom Egypt contacts and trade with the polity of Yam, which was possibly located in Chad (southwest of Gebel Uweinat); Yam described in Autobiographical inscriptions of Harkhuf. Possible linguistic evidence of ancient Egyptian influence on Teda language as well as Teda words in ancient Egyptian (very speculative at this stage)

-c.1800-1200 BCE: Early Gajiganna Culture

-1000-500 BCE: Ancient Garamantian Phase (Mattingly)

-c.600-400 BCE: Gajiganna culture in Lake Chad Basin develop larger settlements, including fortified sites like Zilum

-500 BCE-500 CE: spread of iron, walled sites in Lake Chad Region

-500 BCE to 1 CE: Proto-Urban Garamantian Phase 

-c.400 BCE: Establishment of Jarma as Garamantian capital

-c.2000 BP: Daima site shows evidence of iron, sorghum, goats, glass, beads

-1 to 400: Zawila established as Garamantian center; Classic Garamantia Phase

-c.90: Traveler Julius Maternus said to have reached Agisymba with Garamantes, possibly Kanem or another region around Lake Chad

-400-700: Late Garamantian Phase

-450 CE: Traces of mud wall at Daima site

-mid-400s: Arnobius the Younger wrote that the Garamantes of the Fezzan spoke Punic

-500s: Possible foundation of Kanem, according to Lange's chronology

-533-534: Pudentius revolts against Vandals in Tripolitania, Vandalic Wars

-c.550: Cosmas Indicopleustes authored Christian Topography, claiming Christian churches existed in land of the Garamantes

-569: King of Garamantes sent envoy to Byzantium; allegedly Christians 

-600s-700s: Islamization of Fezzan region

-600s: Humid phase in Sahel favored growth of kingdoms, trans-Saharan trade

-642: Raid on Zawila by Uqba b. Nafi from Barqa

-663-664: Uqba ibn Nafi in Kawar (land of the blacks); Jawan as citadel in Kawar

-670-857: Dates for the central mosque of Zawila

-before c.728/729 or 732/733: Wahb b. Munabbih mentions the Nubians, Zanj, Qazan (Fazzan?), Zaghawa, Habasha, Qibt (Copt), and Barbar (Berber) as the races of the “Sudan” (if authentic, this is earliest known reference to “Zaghawa” peoples among the Sudan)

-700s: Reign of Fune b. Duku seems to have taken place in 8th century, said to have died at M.lan (Manan?)

-by c.700-1050: figurative art, mud-brick architecture, iron, weaving industry attested in firki plains south of Lake Chad

-c.757: foundation of Sijilmasa (or city rebuilt), major trading town for trans-Saharan commerce through western Sahara

-759: Al-Mansur (caliph) sends expedition to Fezzan against Berber Ibadites

-761-762: Foundation of Tahart by Abd al-Rahman b. Rustam, trade to the “Land of the Blacks”

-762: Abbasid troops killed Ibadite chief at Zawila

-By 800s, evidence of bronze/brass, cooper, beads found south of Lake Chad; reign of Mai Katuri seemed to have been in 9th century

-800-850: Governor of Djabal Nafusa, Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Hamid knew language of Kanem

-c.833: al-Khwarizmi mentions Ghana, Kawkaw (Gao), and “Zaghawa” in the relative positions of Ghana, Kawkaw/Gao and Kanem

-c.850-1172: Zuwayla as capital of Ibadi Berber Banu Khattub bin Izliten dynasty in Fezzan

-c.868-884: Oases route through Sahara to “Sudan” and “Maghrib” discontinued; route through oases west of Nile once prosperous, with “Rum” (Greeks) and Egyptians and Nubians traveling to the west/Northwest and another route to the Fazzan

-872-3: al-Yaqubi wrote of Kanem, describing it as a Zaghawa kingdom whose inhabitants live in huts made of reeds, their king is called KAKRH, and another Zaghawa group is called al-HWDN but Kanem is opposed by another kingdom called Malal (ruled by MYWSY)

-889-890: al-Ya’qubi writes of Zawila, the slave trade: Zawila inhabited by Ibadiyya Muslims (some from Basra, Khurasan, al-Kufa) who go on pilgrimage to Mecca, and export black slaves from the Miriyyun, Zaghawiyyun, Marwiyyun and other “Sudan” peoples; also mention of Kawar (town in series of oases simply called Kawar), inhabited by Muslims from mostly Berber tribes, who bring “Sudan” slaves; between Zawila and the town of Kawar live the Lamta people, who resemble Berbers

-900-1020: Date range for the walls of Zawila

-903: Ibn al-Faqih mentions route used by traders to travel from Egypt to Ghana, which passed through the Wahat Misr (Oases of Egypt) to Marawa, Maranda, Kawkaw (Gao), and Ghana)

-918: Berber Banu Khatta take Zawila, establish a dynasty that rules about 250 years

-947 or 956: Al-Mas’udi’s Muruj al-dhahab wa-ma’adin al-jawhar mentions Kanem and the Zaghawa, distinguishing between the two

-Late 900s: al-Muhallabi wrote of Kanem and the “Zaghawa”: Zaghawa have 2 towns (Manan and Tarazki), Zaghawa live in reed huts, worship king, king wears silk/wool, king’s wealth consisted in cattle, sheep, camels, horses, worship of king believed to bring life, death, sickness, health

-Late 900s-early 1000s: Akhbar al-zaman mentions the kingdom of Zaghawa as vast, large and at war with Nubia

-987-1007: Reign of Ayuma b. Katar of Kanem (according to Lange’s chronology)

-c.988: final version of Ibn Hawqal’s Kitab Surat al-ard, which mentions past trade route used by Nubians and Egyptians to reach Fezzan, Barqa, and the “Sudan” (Land of the Blacks) through the Oases west of the Egyptian Nile (route discontinued sometime 868-884)

-c.990: al-Muqaddasi wrote that the “Qaramatiyyun” (Garamantes?) transact with salt, Nubians and Habasha (Abyssinians) with cloth

-992: Zirid Sultan Mansur (984-996) received a gift from Bilad al-Sudan as did Ibn Khattab, governor of Zawila

-1007-1023: Reign of Bulu b. Ayuma of Kanem

-1013/14: Earliest known epitaph from Tadmakka

-1023/24: Zawila issued its own dinars

-c.1023-1067: Reign of Arku in Kanem, said to have established slave colonies in the Kawar region (300 slaves in D.r.ka, mosque of Sik.d.m, and Zaylan)

-1031: Zirid sultan Mu'izz (1016-1062) received a gift of slaves from a Sudan king (perhaps Kanem? Arku?)

-1040/41: Death of Warjabi, Muslim ruler of Takrur

-1042: Earliest Islamic epitaph at Kawkaw

-1063: Beginning of Tunka Menin's reign in Ghana (Wagadu)

-c.1067-1071: Reign of Hawa b. Arku of Kanem, to a Tomaghera mother T.f.su, daughter of Ar.kay.waw.n

-c.1068: al-Bakri writes of Kanem, calling them pagan, scarcely anyone reaches them, reports story of Ummayads in Kanem who fled there due to Abbasid persecution

-1071-1075: Reign of Abd al-Galil b. Ladsu (Hawa?)

-1075-1086: Alternative dates for reign of Mai Hume (Hume Jilmi) of Kanem

-1076-1086: Reign of Hummay b. Abd al-Galil, to a Kay mother and said to have died in Egypt

-1086-1140: Reign of Dunama b. Hummay of Kanem to a Tubu mother; died after performing the Hajj 3 times

-c.1100: Beginning of Sayfawa dynasty of Kanem (although it appears to be the same as the earlier “Duguwa” dynasty of pre-Islamic Kanem) with Mai Hume (Humme)

-c.1106-1107: Conversion of Kanem to Islam in period, according to Kitab al-Istibsar

-1108: Death of queen S.wa at Gao Saney

-1110: Death of Abu Abdullah Muhammad b. Abdu Llah b. Zaghi at Gao Saney, with a stela in Almerian style; death of king Abu Bakr ibn Abu Quhafa at Gao Saney -1116/17: Ghana's royal palace constructed (al-Idrisi) -1117: Death of Aisha, daughter of King Kuri, probably the same Korey or K.r.y in the Zuwa dynasty lists (Gao) -1119: Death of Queen M.s.r (Gao Saney) -1120: Death of King Yama b. K.ma b. Zaghi, or Umar b. al-Khatta, a king who waged holy war

-1126: Death of Fatima, daughter of King Mama (or Yama or Nama) (Gao Saney) -1127: Death of Za (Zu'a) b. Queen Hakkiya (Saney inscriptions) -1140: Death of Bariqa, daughter of Kuri (Gao Saney inscriptions)

-c.1140-1166: Reign of Sultan Biri b. Dunama of Kanem, said to have been punished by his mother F.sama of the Kay for misapplying sharia law in the execution of a thief. Remembered by Ahmad b. Furtu as a learned and God-fearing sultan.

-c.1154: al-Idrisi’s Book of Roger written, contains numerous details on Kanem, Kawar, Central “Sudan” and “Zaghawa” 

-c.1155/56: Birth of poet Ibrahim al-Kanemi in Bilma

-1166-1182: Reign of Abdallah Bakuru of Kanem; Borno mahrams collected by Palmer mention his mahram granted to the Beni Mukhtar Tura in the Kawar (Dirku), and mention of conflict between Air (Ahir) and Dirku Tura

-1172/3: Fall of Banu Khattab dynasty of Zawila

-c.1182-1210: Reign of Sultan Salma b. Hawa of Dabir (sedentary Kanembu origins), said to be the first black mai

-1198: Arrival in Marrakesh of the poet, Ibrahim al-Kanimi

-1200s-1300s: Fezzan region dominated by Kanem

1203: Death of King Fanda, son of 'Aru Bani (Aru-Baani/Arbaani/Aru Bine/Arbine), son of Zaghi (or Zaghay) of Gao -1210: Funerary stelae of a Songhay woman, Buwy or Waybiya, at Gorongobo

-c.1210-1248: Muhammad ibn Jil (Dunama Dibale/Dibbalemi) king of Kanem, son of Dabali of the M.gh.r.ma (Magomi?); apogee of medieval Kanem (opening of mune, war against Ghayu b. L.f.r.d, rise of factions, war with Tubu)

-c.1212: Death of Kanem poet Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kanemi, a poet and grammarian from Kanem (Bilma, in Kawar). Father was from the Dhakwan branch of the Banu Sulaym Arabs, and may have been educated in Ghana before moving to Marrakech. He eventually moved to Spain, where he seems to have died.

-1212: Death of Qaraqush in Waddan. His son later died there in the 1250s after rebelling.

-1242: Madrasat in Cairo built by Kanem for pilgrims

-1248-1277: Reign of Mai Kade (Kaday) in Kanem, assassinated by a dignitary of his court in 1277

-1250s: Borno under Kanem rule (to at least some extent, implied by Ibn Khaldun)

-1252/1253: Kanem raid on the Mabna people, according to al-Maqrizi

-1253: Death of Ai'isha, daughter of king Zuwa Kayna (Gao Saney)

-1257: Kanem sent ambassador to Tunis, and a gift for Hafsid sultan Mustansir

-1258: Kanem’s king killed Qaraqush’s son, who had rebelled against al-Mustansir in Tunis and had seized Waddan in the Fezzan

-1260: Henry of Castile found refuge in Tunis

-1260-1277: Mansa Wali reigned in Mali, who made the hajj to Mecca during the reign of the Mamluk sultan Baybars

-1264-65: Death of Yama Kuri (Yama Korey), son of king R.w.a (Zuwa)

-1277-1296: Bir, brother of Mai Kade, reigned as mai of Kanem; 2 Fellata shaykhs from Mali arrived in Kanem during his reign

-1296-1315: Reign of Ibrahim b. Bir of Kanem

-before 1286: Ibn Sa’id al-Maghribi’s Book of Geography, borrowing from lost work, describes Kanem in great detail: King Muhammad, capital of Njimi, old capital was Manan, Kanem ruled over Fezzan, Tajuwa, Kawar, “Zaghawa” east of Manan

-1296-1315: Ibrahim Nikale king of Kanem (also known as Ibrahim b. Bir); his yerima Muhammad b. Ghadi threw his corpse into a river

-c.1300: Reigning king was al-Hajj Ibrahim, then al-Hajj Idris, then Daud b. Ibrahim, then Umar, then Uthman b. Idris (according to al-Maqrizi’s chronology)

1315-1335: Reign of Abdallah b. Kaday of Kanem, war with Ghayu b. D.r.gh.z.na (King of Bagirmi???)

-1335-1339: Reign of Salma b. Abdallah of Kanem, died in war with Sao

-1339-1340: Reign of Kuri le jeune in Kanem, died in war with Sao

-1340-1341: Reign of Kuri le aine (the elder) of Kanem, died in war with Sao

-1341-1342: Reign of Muhammad b. Abdallah of Kanem, died in war with Sao

-1342-1366: Reign of Idris b. Ibrahim of Kanem, made the Hajj

-by 1349: al-Umari writes about Kanem, mentions the ascetic shaykh Uthman al-Kanemi, related to the Kings of Kanem

-1363-1377: Reign of Rasulid sultan al-Malik al-Afdal, who wrote Nuzhat al-'uyun. This text contains information on Takrur and Borno referring to Borno's gigantic city of brick, Jimi as largest city, and Borno holding Kran, Waddan, Fran, Zawila and Kanem. The text also mentioned other cities in Borno like Kaka, Naniqm, Abkam, Aflikm, and Kmtuluwa. There were 20 cities in the country mainly of reed huts, with a market for each town. Only the king of Borno lived in a solid construction. In addition, the people wore sewn clothes and turbans.

-1366-1376: Reign of Dawud b. Ibrahim in Kanem, war with sons and war with Bulala (killed by Abd al-Jalil)

-1376-1379: Reign of Uthman b. Dawud in Kanem

-1379-1381: Uthman b. Idris as ruler of Kanem

-1381-1382: Reign of Abu Bakr Liyatu b. Dawud ruled Kanem

-c.1382-1387, Mai Umar b. Idris reigned, relocated to Kagha (Kaka?) in Borno, leaving Kanem; Umar was killed by Judham Arabs (according to Zeltner)

-1387-1388: Reign of Sa’id in Borno, a usurper

-1388-1389: Reign of Kaday Afnu b. Idris in Borno

-c.1389-1421: Reign of Mai Biri b. Idris; civil war with kaygama Muhammad b. Dalatu and said to have died in Bagirmi

-1391-1392: Letter of Sultan Uthman (Bir) b. Idris of Kanem-Borno to Mamluk Sultan Barquq, complaining of depredations of Judham Arabs and asking the Mamluk ruler to free any Kanem-Borno Muslims sold into slavery in Egypt, Syria. Judham Arabs are said to have killed the previous Borno king, Amr the Martyr b. Idris, son of al-Hajj Idris, son of al-Hajj Ibrahim

-c.1421-1438: Dagachi, Borno prince, came from South Borno with men and mallams to 

Kano

-1421-1422: Mai Uthman ibn Dawud reigned (Uthman K.l.n.ma), deposed by kaygama Nikali b. Ibrahim and yerima Kaday Ka'aku; died at Afnu Kunu (Kano)

-1422-1424: Reign of Dunama b. Umar in Borno

-c.1424-1431: Mai Abdallah b. Umar fought with Kaygama Abd Allah, who defeated him; he was later restored to the throne after the death of Mai Ibrahim b. Uthman, who was installed by the Kaygama

-1431-1439: Reign of Ibrahim b. Uthman in Borno, killed by Kaday

-c.1438-1452: Borno attacked Asben/Air during this period, but couldn’t find water, ended by receiving tribute from lands west of Borno; Kano gave tsare to Borno

-1439-1440: Reign of Kaday b. Uthman in Borno, fought war with Dunama b. Bir

-1440-1444: Dunama (Ahmad) reigned in Borno (also known as Dunama b. Bir)

-January 1440: Letter found at Zaglou in Touat from Borno urging them to renew trade with Borno (possibly sent by Kaday b. Uthman)

-1444: Brief reign of Muhammad b. Matala

-1444-1445: Reign of Amr b. A’isa in Borno

-1445-1449: Reign of Muhammad b. Kaday in Borno

-1449-1454: Reign of Ghadji b. Imata in Borno; killed by Kanem/Bulala leader Muhammad b. Abd Allah

-c.1450: Fra Mauro world map depicts some locations/place names in Lake Chad Region, including Bagirmi (Bargemin), Marghi, Mandera (Mandara), Bolala (Bulala)

-1452-1463: Fulani go to Borno, according to Kano Chronicle while Gwanja merchants arrived in Katsina, Kanuri came in larger numbers, and Asbenawa came to Gobir

-1454-1459: Reign of Uthman b. Kaday in Borno; war with Sultan Ali b. Dunama

-1459-1460: Reign of Umar b. Abdallah in Borno, not installed by princes

-c.1460: Agadez built, according to Marmol

-1460-1465: Reign of Muhammad b. Muhammad

-1465-1497: Reign of Ali b. Dunama in Borno; war with Uthman b. Kaday, ended wars among Banu Sayf, died at Gazargamo

-c.1472: establishment of Birni Gazargamo as capital of Borno by Mai Ali ibn. Dunama (r.1465-1497)

-1477/78: al-Suyuti reports that some of his books were brought to the land of "Takrur" and used by students (E.M. Sartain)

-1479-1516: 20% of the 600 black slaves sold in Barcelona arrived via Barqa and the Central Sudan (Armenteros-Martinez)

-1484: al-Suyuti writes of a "Takrur" sultan returning from Mecca, in Cairo who was invested by the nominal Abbasid caliph, possibly Ali b. Dunama (Ali Ghaji) of Borno

-July-August 1493: al-Suyuti of Egypt received a letter of questions from Muhammad al-Lamtuni (possibly of Agadez) of Takrur on bribery, legal studies, matrilineal descent, magic, spirit possession, music, talismans, unveiled women

-1491/92: Death of Sonni Ali of Songhay (mentioned by al-Suyuti)

-c.1497: Tripoli liberated itself from the Hafsids

-1497-1519: Reign of Idris Katagarmabe (Idris b. Ali) of Borno, whose reconquest of Kanem was chronicled by Shaykh Umar b. Uthman Masbarma, whose grandfather was from Waddan (Fezzan). Defeated Bulala sultan Dunama ibn Salma at Garni Kiyala.

-1499-1509: Reign of Abdulahi in Kano; Borno attacked Kano and Abdulahi and his mallams met with Borno's mai to humble themselves

-early 1500s: Awlad Muhammad Dynasty established in Fezzan by this time

-c.1501-1502: Borno attacks Logone for the latter's refusal to pay tribute. Borno wins the Battle of Logone.

-1509-1565: Sarki Kisoki in Kano; failed Borno attack on Kano; arrival of Shehu Karaski, Magumi, and Kabi from Borno to Kano

-1510: Spanish conquest of Tripoli

-1514-1515: Askia Muhammad of Songhay conquers/annexes Air region 

-1517: Ottoman conquest of Egypt

-1519-1538: Reign of Muhammad b. Idris in Borno, war with Kaday b. L.fiya

-1522-1536, first mbang (king) of Bagirmi in place, Birni Besse (Nachtigal's chronology)

-1530: Charles V gives Malta and Tripoli to the Chevaliers de Saint-Jean

-1536-1548: Reign in Bagirmi of Lubatko, who continued expansion of Bagirmi (Nachtigal)

-1538-1539: Reign of Ali b. Idris in Borno

-1539-1557: Dunama b. Muhammad reigns in Borno; war with Sultan Abd al-Djalil son of ghumsa, then famine struck, built fortifications of Gazargamo (according to Barth)

-1548-1568: Reign in Bagirmi of Malo, who surrounded Massenya with a wall. Also defeated the Bulala

-1551: Turghut takes Tripoli

-1553: Ottomans seized Algiers

-1555: Borno embassy to Dragut in Tripoli

-1557-1564: Reign of Abdallah b. Dunama in Borno; famine that lasted for 7 years. Barth alludes to Fulbe settlements in Borno during his reign

-c.1561: Borno-Kebbi War, Borno said to have fielded an army of 100,000 against Kebbi after Kebbi attacks on Air region, but Kebbi defeated Borno

-c.1564-1596: Reign of Idris Alooma of Borno, chronicles of his reign produced by Ahmad b. Furtu and his mother Aisha Kili Ngirmaramma was a regent (according to tradition)

-1564/1565: Pilgrimage of Idris b. Ali (Idris Alooma) with Bulala ruler

-1565: Census enumerated 117 enslaved people from Borno in Sicily

-1568-1608: Reign of mbang Abdallah of Bagirmi (Nachtigal's chronology). Promoted Islam in the Bagirmi state, defeated Bulala and imposed tribute on Middogo

-1569-74: Ottomans conquer Tunis

-1571: Seizure of Amsaka by Idris Alooma

-1574: Idris Alooma of Borno sents ambassador to Constantinople (al-Hajj Yusuf) after Ottomans conquer Fezzan

-1574-1576: Kanem campaigns of Idris Alooma against Bulala sultan Abd al-Jalil, success 

achieved by 1576 as Bulala sultan appointed by Idris Alooma recognizes suzerainty of Borno

-1576: Ahmad b. Furtu writes his chronicle of Idris b. Ali's Borno campaigns

-1577/78: Idris Alooma’s ambassador al-Hajj Yusuf sent to Constantinople again, returns in 1578 with an Ottoman representative and a message of Ottoman refusal to cede the Fezzan

-1579: Letter in Ottoman archives to the beglerbeg of Egypt on a request from Idris b. Ali of Borno that pilgrims from Borno who die, have their property given to their sons or heirs

-1581: Publication of Orlanndo di Lasso's Libro de villanelle, moresche et altre canzoni, which includes a song with Kanuri words

-1581-1583: Borno ambassador al-Hajj Yusuf sent to Morocco, bearing gifts (over 200 young slaves) and requesting troops, mustkets, and cannons for holy war

-1582-1585: Ottoman garrison in Fezzan is massacred, return of Fezzan sultanate (Awlad Muhammad)

-1585/1586: Embassy to Tripoli sent by Idris Alooma of Borno

-1591: Battle of Tondibi leads to Moroccoan victory over Songhai; "Anonymous Spaniard" reports the ruler of Borno had 500 musketeers in his army (Hunwick)

-c.1593-1608: Ahmad Baba of Timbuktu in exile in Morocco, writes a response to questions from al-Isi which mention Idris Alooma's reconquest of the Bulala (Kanem); Ahmad Baba's answer also touches upon the unjust enslavement of Muslims by Idris Alooma (described as "unenlightened) as well the enslavement of Shuwa Arabs (descendants of the Judham) in Kano and Timbuktu (Hunwick)

-c.1595: Birth of Abu Abdallah b. Masani b. Muhammad al-Barnawi al-Kashinawi in Katsina, to Borno parents

-c.1596: Death of Idris Alooma from wounds received in a Bagirmi campaign (Zeltner)

-1596-1612: Reign of Muhammad b. Idris in Borno, said to be patient and of excellent character. This mai was buried at Dagana Daniski in Kanem, "slain in Holy War" (Bornu Sahara and Sudan)

-c.1601: Ibn al-Mubarak fled to Kazway in Borno during civil war with his cousin Yusuf, ruler of Agadez (date from H.R. Palmer)

-1607: Deposed Abd al-Qadir II of Sennar fled to Ethiopia, performed obeisance to Susenyos

-1608-1625: Reign of Omar in Bagirmi, said to have been pious

-c.1611: Wadai state founded by Abd al-Karim

-1612-1619: Reign of Ibrahim b. Idris, whose mother was ghumsa of the Maghrama tribe (Magumi?). Ibrahim b. Idris was assassinated in 1619, according to Bobboyi. This mai was also said to have only become pious later in life after being criticized by an old woman for watching plays, dancing, and racing (Bornu Sahara and Sudan). A famine of one year also said to have happened in his time.

-c.1616-1617: birth of Abd Allah b. Abd al-Aziz b. Umar (or Abd Allah al-Barnawi) in Borno, a scion of the Sayfawa dynasty and leader of Kulumbardo

-1618-1619: Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos campaigned against Sennar

-c1619-1639: Reign of al-hajj Umar b. Idris of Borno; Waldede-Jirmi Affair during his reign, in which Shaykh Jirmi was killed by Sultan Umar and Waldede fled to Bagirmi. Shaykh Umar Waldede was said to have traveled to Agadez and Timbuktu for study, was part of the Fulani diaspora. A Mandara prince fleeing his homeland is installed in Muniyo by Umar b. Idris.

-1622-23: Sultan Tahir of Fezzan fled to Borno due to Ottomans in Tripoli invading, but Mai Umar al-Maqdisi had him killed for blinding 2 of his own nephews

-1625-1635: Reign in Bagirmi of Dalai, who raided the Musgo (Nachtigal)

-1626-1658: Reign of Muhammad ben Jehim as Sultan of Fezzan

-c.1630: First galadima established at Nguru (Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno). First galadima was named Mai Makintami, son of Umar b. Idris and a slave woman. Said to have captured Marmar after defeating Fulani rebels (Palmer). Makintami said to have ruled for 30 years

-1630s: Tunjur arrival in Kanem (according to Zeltner's estimate)

-1632-1667: Reign of Fasiladas in Ethiopia

-1635-1665: King Burkomanda I of Bagirmi reigns. Said to have raided Kanem, Kotoko, Borku, Kawar and other lands. Fought a war with Mandara. His fetcha was said to have defeated Wadai when their forces attacked the Bulala, whose ruler was married to a sister of Burkomanda. Also said to have surrounded the royal palace with a brick wall.

-1636: Pasha of Tripoli sent European renegades or slaves to Borno

-1639-1677: Reign of Mai Ali b. Umar of Borno who killed 4 of his brothers when he ascended to the throne, recalled as great thinker and courageous but famine Dala Dama occurred during his reign. Shayk Abd Allah al-Barnawi accused of sedition by 'alim Abu Bakr al-Zakkaki in Gazargamo, had to defend himself against charges to Ali b. Umar.

-by 1642: Borno rulers established the Dala Afuno for Kanem at Mao (Zeltner, though Nur Alkali suggests 1650s)

-1642: first pilgrimage of Ali b. Umar (according to Girard)

-1644/5-1681: Reign of Badi II of Sennar (Funj Sultanate)

-1648: second pilgrimage of Ali b. Umar (Girard)

-1649-1672: Reign of Pasha Osman in Tripoli, who knew the Kanuri language and enjoyed cordial relations with Borno

-by 1650-1675, Bagirmi under rule of Borno

-1652: Fezzani source mentions first coming of Ali b. Umar through Fazzan (unclear if referring to 1642 pilgrimage or 1648 hajj)

-1654-1687: Muhammad al-Mubarak's reign in Agadez

-before 1655: Ali b. Umar defeats the Kwararafa led by Lewafaru (Katsina poet Dan Marina died in 1655 so the battle must have occurred by or before this year).

-1655: Pasha of Tripoli sent European slaves to Borno

-c.1657: Tuareg-Borno war; birth of Abu Bakar b. Al-Tahir Tashi, a Tuareg of Agadez and faqih

-1657: Agadez began exporting senna to Fezzan (Girard)

-1657-1658: third pilgrimage of Ali b. Umar, said to have been accompanied by widespread death among the Sudan on the pilgrimage. Ali b. Umar also said to wage jihad.

-1658-1681: Reign of Jehim in Fezzan

-c.1660-1680: Reign of Sulayman in Darfur

-1662: Imam Kona of Zaria traces his descent from Sheikh Jibrilu of Kulumbardo who left the site in this year

-1665-1674: Abd al-Raḥman reigns in Bagirmi. Said to have been pious.

-Late 1660s: Shaykh Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Yamani, from the Nile Valley, visited Kulumbardo

-1667: Borno-Tuareg war; Borno prince Medicon sold into slavery after Agadez attacked Borno, but Mai Ali b. Umar was able to have the Pasha of Tripoli find and liberate Medicon; also, the year Ali b. Umar went on pilgrimage (Girard)

-1668-1675: Chirurgien esclave, French captive in Tripoli

-1669: Borno-Tuareg War

-1672: Plan to send Catholic mission to Nubia through the Fezzan aborted due to fall of Pasha Osman in Tripoli

-1674: Sultanate of Agadez conquers Ader/Adar; Borno sent a giraffe to North Africa for Regeb Bey but the animal died in North Africa before being sent to the Duke of Tuscany

-1674-1680: Reign in Bagirmi of Dalobirni, killed in a conflict with Waday

-1675: Prince al-Hajj Aknafaya of Agadez went on 2nd pilgrimage to Mecca

-1677: Death of Shaykh Abd Allah al-Barnawi, founder of Kulumbardo religious center

-1677-1696: Reign of Idris b. Ali in Borno, died at Taraghen (Fezzan)

-1679: Muhammad al-Mubarak, Sultan of Agadez, invades Borno, troops led by Muhammad b. al-Hajj Ibrahim, surnamed Amma Fatim, with Kel Away Tuaregs

-1680-1707: Reign of Abd al-Qadir Woli in Bagirmi. Said to have been pious so he abdicated to focus on religion.

-1681: al-Hajj Aknafay of Agadez made 3rd pilgrimage to Mecca

-1683: Muhammad al-Mubarak of Agadez brought about peace between Kel-Oui and Itissines at In-Teboraq

-1684: Borno-Tuareg War

-1685: Agadez war with Zanfara

-1686: Claude Lemaire, French consul in Tripoli, reported on trans-Saharan trade through the Fezzan. Reported 500-600 black slaves exported through Borno annually. The ruler of Borno said to have 300,000 soldiers.

-1687: Muhammad al-Mubarak of Agadez died during epidemic

-1688: Borno-Tuareg War

-1689: Successful counterattack of Muhammad Agabba (Agadez Sultanate) against Gobir

-early 1690s: Borno-Tuareg War

-1680s: Destruction of Kulumbardo religious center by Tuareg raiders. Some of its residents are said to have migrated to Nupeland, possibly being early settlers at Kutigi.

-1686: French consul Claude Lemaire wrote that 500-600 slaves passed through the Fezzan to Tripoli annually

-1696: King of Borno Mai “Dris fils de Mai Ali”, died in Fezzan en route to Mecca; fighting between Kel Ewey and Itisen Tuareg in Air

-1696-1715: Reign of Mai Dunama b. Ali of Borno, who was said to have offered lukewarm support to the ulama, which was perceived as a cause of famine (that lasted 7 years) and lack of success in his administration. Active Borno scholars during his reign included Shaykh Muhammad b. al-Hajj 'Abd al-Rahman (Shaykh Hajrami), who was imam of one of the Gazargamo Friday mosques which hosted a study circle including Shaykh Tahir, Umar Mama, Shaykh al-Yamani.

-1698: Consul Delalande in Tripoli reported on trans-Saharan trade through the Fezzan. Black Muslim traders said to bring captives from the land of Prester John (Kwararafa?).

-1698-1700: Voyage of Charles Jacques Poncet to the Court of Iyasu I in Gondar, failed effort to establish embassy to France. But passage through Sennar to reach Gondar in Ethiopia

-1700s: Bade became semi-autonomous, a development later followed by other territories

-1700-1702: Theodor Krump traveling from Sennar to Egypt with people from Borno and the Fezzan, reports caravans from Darfur, Borno, Fezzan reach Sennar

-1703: Fra Damiano da Rivoli tried to reach Borno from Sennar but didn’t pursue caravan route; a Borno caravan leader in Sennar told him the journey would take 60 days

-1705: Claude Lemaire, French consul in Tripoli, said he would ask the ruler of the Fezzan to write to his cousin, the king of Borno. Lemaire also reported on trans-Saharan trade via the Fezzan,

-1706: Father Carlo Maria di Genova met 2 Borno princes in Cairo. Their grandfather who made the pilgrimage died on the hajj and a dome was built over his grave. This same grandfather (Ali b. Umar?) was said to have founded and funded hostels for Borno pilgrims in Egypt, Mecca, and Medina.

-1707-1722: Reign in Bagirmi of Bar, who fought with his brother, Kindana, for the throne. After defeating his brother, ruled without intelligence or justice until forces rallied behind his uncle, Wanya, to overthrow Bar.

-c.1707:Writing of poem Shurb al-Zullal by poet Muhammad b. al-Hajj Abd al-Rahman al-Barnawi

-1710-1766: Reign of Ahmad al-Nasir in the Fazzan

-October 1710: Fra Carlo Maria de Genoa met an Agadez prince at Taraghen in the Fezzan

-August 1711: Death of Prefect of Borno Carlo Maria di Genova near Katsina. Never reached Borno or the allegedly Christian Kwararafa

-1714: Death of first Muslim king of Dagomba, Ya Na Muhammad Zangina, 17th king

-c. 1714, the Pasha of Tripoli defeated Fezzani sultan, demanded tribute

-1715-1729: Reign of al-Hajj Hamdun b. Dunama in Borno, his wazir was Nasr b. Maidalla

-1721: Muhammad Agabba of Agadez dethroned by brother al-Amin, fled to Adar and ruled among the Itisen from Birni-n-Ader until 1738

-1722-1736: Reign of Wanya in Bagirmi. Wanya defeated his brother, Abdal Qadir Woli, who tried to retake power with the aid of Karka Islanders and Arabs of Waday and Bagirmi. Unable to take Massenya, Wanya's brother was defeated and Wanya ruled unjustly until killed by smallpox.

-1727-28: Pilgrimage of Muhammad b. al-Hajj Hamdun, who traveled through Bagirmi, Wadai and Darfur to reach Egypt before crossing the Red Sea. According to a document describing the Rihla in the collection of Sheik El-Miskin of Borno, the Borno mai settled slaves in Wadai and Bagirmi.

-1729-1744: Reign of Muhammad b. al-Hajj Hamdun in Borno, considered a scholar and said to have studied at al-Azhar in Cairo before taking the throne (but famine for 2 years)

-1731-1743: Reign of Mohamma Kumbari in Kano; Borno launched campaign against Kano but battle averted (may have occurred during reign of Mai Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama)

-1732-1790: Life of Shaykh Muhammad al-Kanemi, the father of the first Shehu of Borno (Bobboyi)

-1736-1741: Reign of Burkomanda in Bagirmi, also known as Tad Lele. Reigned with justice and mildness while the land was said to have been very fertile.

-c.1738: Birth of Francisque dit Omore, Borno native from the capital (Birni Gazargamo)

-1738-1753: Great Drought in Borno. According to Nur Alkali, many nomadic peoples move south, including Tubu, Fulani, Koyam and Jotko during these years. Tubu later control trans-Saharan commerce with little input or say from the Sayfawa

-c.1740: Kel-Oui Tuareg as dominant group in Air region

-1741: Death of Muhammad al-Katsinawi, who studied in Borno; Borno's victory against Bagirmi, leading to the latter becoming a tributary state

-1741-1751: Reign in Bagirmi of Loel or Loen, who invested in good horses for the Bagirmi military. Civil war caused by a trivial cause. Return of Haji, another son of Abdal Qadir Woli, from Sennar (?) led to fall of Loel

-1744: Ethiopia-Funj Sultanate War during reign of Badi IV

-1744-1747: Reign of Dunama Gana; great famine

-1747-1792: Reign of Mai Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama of Borno, considered a scholar by Borno sources and said to have memorized the Koran, studied Quranic exegesis; also said by Heinrich Barth to have attempted to defeat Tuareg. Ali was married to Amina Talbamaran (daughter of the Talba) . Tsougourtis of Kanem said to have migrated to Borno during his reign due to constant raids from the Awlad Sulayman

-mid-1700s: spread of Sufism in the state (Nur Alkali)

-2nd half of 1700s: sangaya of Goni Musa Ngalbiyama in Birni Gazargamo said to have had over 500 students (fugurawa and Ma'ajirwa) and some from as far away as Hausaland and Mandara (according to Hamsatu Zanna Laminu)

-1751-1785: Reign in Bagirmi of Muhammad al-Amin, also known as Haji. Led many military expeditions, including against Bulala, Waday. One raiding campaign said to have hit Kanem and Kawar. Also attacked Logon and the Arabs in the south of Borno. Haji also said to have started the practice of blinding princes and preparing eunuch slaves, sending some to Mecca.

-c.1752/3-1785/6: Sultan Muhammad Tayrab ruled Darfur; Borno faqih Tahir Jamus from Manawashi married his daughter, Fetessa, and advised Sultan Abd al-Rahman

-1754: Arrival in Malta of Francisque dit Omore of Borno. Unclear if he arrived as a slave via Tripoli or in other conditions. He ended up in the employ of Pons-François de Rosset de Fleury, who brought him to France via Naples.

-1754/1755: Birth of Goni Musa Burmama, scholar who married a daughter of Mai Ahmad b. Ali

-Nov 1755: Death of Shaykh Muhammad b. Abd al-Rahman Hajrami, who was imam of one of the Friday mosques in Gazargamo and led a study circle attended by Shaykh Tahir, Umar Mama, and Shaykh al-Yamani

-1757: Arrival in France of Francisque dit Omore of Borno. He remained in the service of the same employer until 1774.

-c. 1759: Bilma War between Tuareg of Air and Borno, resulting in Tuareg of Agadez confederation becoming the dominant player in the movement of Kawar salt to Hausaland

-1765: Kanuri massacred Kel Ewey Tuareg, leading to retaliation by Sultan Muhammad of Agadez who attacked Borno, marching to the gates of the capital

-c.1776: Death of Fulani scholar al-Tahir ibn Ibrahim al-Fallati, a scholar who had criticized the Sayfawa (Nur Alkali reference)

-1777: Francisque dit Omore of Borno living in Paris, working as a domestic servant of the marquise de Solard. He was married to a white washerwoman and sired 4 sons, all deceased except for the youngest.

-c.1778: birth of Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi (according to Zeltner)

-1781: Borno defeated by Mandara. Girgam of Mandara suggests Mali Ali started the conflict and was defeated outside Dulu, the capital of Mandara.

-1785-1806: Reign in Bagirmi of Abd er-Rahman Gauranga, who infamous married his sister, Tamar. Sabun of Waday's invasion sacked Massenya.

-c.1787-1792: Koyam defeated at Gaskeru, many massacred by Tuareg

-1789-1797: Reign of Agonglo in Dahomey. Arrival of Muhammad Gatari, Kambarin Barebari in Abomey with students near the end of Agonglo's reign

-1789: Miss Tully met a “black prince” of Borno in Tripoli; "Bernon" (Borno) natives Christophe and Scipio listed in runaway slave ad in Saint-Domingue (Haiti)

-c.1790: Dunama founded Kanuri settlement at Lafia Berri-Berri in Nassarawa. Palmer speculates that he was a Sayfawa prince, son of Ali b. Hajj Dunama.

-1791: Darfur Sultanate sends an embassy to the Ottoman Sultan Selim III

-c.1792 famine in Borno (Kana nguraram according to Ali Eisami)

-1792-1808: Reign of Ahmad b. Ali of Borno, said to have been a scholar who supported scholarship, supported the poor

-1795: Joda, ruler of Wadai, raids Mao and Mondo in Kanem (Zeltner)

-1795-1832: Yusuf Qaramanli pasha of Tripoli

-1798-1799: Hornemann possibly reached Borno; Vivant Denon in Egypt, where he met a Darfur prince who reported Darfur and Borno were allies

-c.1799: Writing of anti-Fulani poem comparing settlements of Fellata to dogs.

-1799-1800: death of Shaykh Abu Hafs Umar Mama, renowned in Arabic specialization and fiqh (Bobboyi)

-1805-1815: Abd al-Karim Saboun of Wadai in power; invades and takes capital of Bagirmi after the mbang allegedly married his own sister. Also invades Kanem after a deposed alifa of Mao invites him (alifa Mele Koura)

-1806-1812: Fulani jihadists attack Borno capital, western provinces

-1808: Destruction of Birni Gazargamo (Goni Mokhtar), capital of Borno, by Fulani jihadists, city permanently abandoned in 1809; decline of Borno textile industry as workers migrate to Hausaland

-1808-1816: Reign of Dunama b. Ahmad of Sayfawa in Borno

-1811: Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi defeats another attack of Fulani jihadists led by Ibrahim Zaki; al-Mukni becomes "bey" of the Fezzan after taking Murzuq

-1810s: Burckhardt's travels in Nubia, met Borno native Hadji Aly el Bornawy, who had traveled as a slave trader in Turkey, Constantinople, and Syria and was now based in Kordofan as a trader

-c.1813: Shaykh al-Kanemi able to depose mai Ngileramua and restore Dunama to throne (Brenner)

-1815-1818: Sharif Ibrahim al-Barnawi in Kumase (Asante), and according to Lovejoy, was highly critical of local Muslims for attending Asante executions and ceremonies

-c.1816: al-Mukni raids Kanem from Fezzan

-c.1816-1820: Reign of Mai Muhammad Ngilerumma of Borno (also known as Muhammad b. Ali)

-1816-1824: Conflicts between Borno and Bagirmi

-1818: Ali Eisami arrived in Sierra Leone after the British intercepted Spanish slave ship carrying him

-1819: Pasha Yusuf of Tripoli secretly plans for invasion of Borno which doesn't happen

-1820-1830: About 200 “Bornu” people lived in Sierra Leone, according to Koelle

-1820-1846: Reign of figurehead Sayfawa sultan Ibrahim b. Ahmad in Borno

-1821-1825: Denham, Clapperton, and Oudney on Borno Mission sent by Great Britain

-1824: Pro-Sayfawa Manga rebellion against al-Kanemi (strongman with effective power/rule of Borno), led by Muslim cleric Fanaamy. Rebellion defeated by al-Kanemi and Fanaamy pardoned

-1826: al-Kanemi unsuccessfully campaigns against eastern emirates of Sokoto Caliphate

-1830: Shaykh Muhammad al-Kanemi campaigned against galadima of Borno in the west

-1835: End of Qaramanli Pashas in Tripoli

-1836: “Routes in North Africa” published, drawing on autobiography of Abu Bakr al-Saddik, which mentions his father (18th century) who traveled from Jenne and Timbuktu to Katsina, Birni Borno; Pablo Peratta, Borno native and slave on a Spanish ship, used British law to claim his freedom in Freetown (Sierra Leone); birth of Nicholas Said of Borno

-1837: Death of Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi (Lavers)

-1842: Borno embassy in Istanbul, which included the son and uncle of the Borno ruler

-1845-1846: Manga rebellion against Shehus/government of Borno; by 1845, Borno's rule of Kanem over

-1845: Conflict between Buduma and Kotoks, when Kotokos attacked the Maibouloas of the island of Ngala Soua (Landeroin)

-1846: Wadai invaded Kanem, marched on Kukawa but were defeated at Kusseri; also, final attempt by Sayfawa dynasty to retake power in Borno, but defeated by Shehu Umar (death of Ibrahim b. Ahmad and Ali b. Ibrahim, last of Sayfawa sultans)

-1850: Catholic priest Filippo da Segni visits Kukawa (capital of Borno), meets with a resident Maltese family but doesn't engage in any proselytizing

-1850-1855: Heinrich Barth’s travels in Borno and other parts of West Africa, Sahel, savanna

-1850-1851: James Richardson’s travels to Air region, reports Borno “fighis” traveling and teaching in Air/Ahir

-1851: Relative of the ruler of Borno died in Malta

-1853: Abba Abdurahman overthrew Shehu Umar because of favored status of vizier Hajj Bashir

-1855: Campaign against Ngizims by Borno, for their refusal to pay tribute

-1854-1869: Ottomans named Sharif Barkan as Ottoman resident in Kukawa, capital of Borno

-1861-1865: Successive campaigns against the Musgus by Borno for their refusal to pay tribute

-1866: Campaign against Adamawa that pillaged the rich village of Balbaya

-1869: Expedition against the Bades (Badi) for refusing to pay tribute

-1870-1871: Gustav Nachtigal in Borno

-1873-c.1893: Giuseppe Valpreda, an Italian half-slave cook of Borno's Shehu, lived in Kukawa

-Borno forces sacked the village of Ngourkoum of Kousseri

-1883: Kumoreji excessive taxation in Borno under Shehu Bukar

-1890: Royal Niger Company's MacIntosh mission to Kukawa in 1890, failure to establish trade/relations with Borno

-1892: Bornoan Adem Mahanna interrogated in Tunis by the French for information on Borno

-by 1893, Borno was divided into 504 fiefs held by 104 chima kura

-1893-1900: Sudanese warlord Rabih conquers Borno (but faced Mallam Abu Gantar's failed resistance movement that relied on messianic appeal and the peasantry) and rules until defeated by French forces; Rabih maintained chima system

-c.1896: Koyam of Nganzai rebelled due to tax burden (Kyari Mohammad)

-1898: Ruler of Zinder kills French officer Cazemajou plus 20 Frenchmen

-1905: British colonial officials end absentee landlords (except for 3 members of the court).

-1913: famine in Borno after failure of harvest

-1920s: Shaykh Al-Faki Ahmad Umar, of Borno, became prominent among Muslim Oromos in Ethiopia