Kingdom of Baguirmi - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Kingdom of Baguirmi, also known as the Baguirmi Sultanate (1522–1897), was an Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic kingdom or sultan

Sultan

Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...

ate that existed as an independent state during the 16th and 17th centuries southeast of Lake Chad

Lake Chad

Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...

in what is now the country of Chad

Chad

Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...

. Baguirmi emerged to the southeast of the Kanem-Bornu Empire

Kanem-Bornu Empire

The Kanem-Bornu Empire existed in modern Chad and Nigeria. It was known to the Arabian geographers as the Kanem Empire from the 9th century AD onward and lasted as the independent kingdom of Bornu until 1900. At its height it encompassed an area covering not only much of Chad, but also parts of...

. The kingdom's first ruler was Mbang (king) Birni Besse. Later in his reign, the Bornu Empire

Bornu Empire

The Bornu Empire was an African state of Nigeria from 1396 to 1893. It was a continuation of the great Kanem Empire founded centuries earlier by the Sayfawa Dynasty...

conquered and made the state a tributary. Under the reign of Abdullah IV (1568–1608), Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

was adopted, and the state became a sultanate, using judicial and administrative procedures. The title of Mbang was still used along with Sultan. Later, a palace and court

Noble court

The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure...

were constructed in the capital city of Massenya

Massenya

Massenya is a small town in Chad. It is the capital of the region of Chari-Baguirmi and of the department of Baguirmi.Massenya is also the capital of the Kingdom of Baguirmi and the seat of the Mbang, or Sultan.The town is served by Massenya Airport....

Baguirmi's political history was a function of its strength and unity in relation to its larger neighbors. Absorbed into Kanem-Bornu during the reign of Alooma

Idris Alooma

Idris Alooma was mai of the Kanem-Bornu Empire, located mainly in Chad and Nigeria. His name is more properly written Idris Alawma or Idris Alauma. An outstanding statesman, under his rule Kanem-Bornu touched the zenith of its power.Idris is remembered for his military skills, administrative...

, Baguirmi broke free later in the 17th century, only to be returned to tributary status in the mid-18th century. During periods of strength, the sultanate became imperialistic. It established control over small feudal kingdoms on its peripheries and entered into alliances with nearby nomadic peoples. Early in the 19th century, Baguirmi fell into decay and was threatened militarily by the nearby Ouaddai Kingdom

Ouaddai Kingdom

The Ouaddai Empire was originally a non-Muslim kingdom, located to the east of Lake Chad in present-day Chad...

. Although Baguirmi resisted, it accepted tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

status in order to obtain help from Ouaddai in putting down internal dissension. When Rabih az-Zubayr

Rabih az-Zubayr

Rabih az-Zubayr ibn Fadl Allah or Rabih Fadlallah , usually known as Rabah in French, was a Sudanese warlord and slave trader who established a powerful empire west of Lake Chad, in today's Chad....

's forces burned Massenya in 1893, the twenty-fifth sultan, Abd ar Rahman Gwaranga, sought and received protectorate

Protectorate

In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...

status from France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

in 1897.

The language of the state, Baguirmi

Baguirmi language

Bagirmi is the language of the Baguirmi people of Chad, belonging to the Nilo-Saharan family. It is spoken by 44,761 people , mainly in the Chari-Baguirmi Prefecture...

, is still spoken today, with 44,761 speakers , primarily in the Chari Baguirmi

Chari-Baguirmi Region

Chari-Baguirmi is one of the 22 regions of Chad and its capital is Massenya. It is composed by part of the former Chari-Baguirmi Prefecture .-Subdivisions:...

region. The empire now exists as an informal entity in the department of Baguirmi, with its capital at Massenya. The rulers have the title Mbang.

See also