Kanem Bornu and the Hausa Kingdoms Kanem-Bornu In the late 1300's, civil strife within Kanuri territory began to seriously weaken the empire. By the early 1400's, Kanuri power shifted from Kanem to Bornu, a Kanuri kingdom south and west of Lake Chad. When Songhay fell, this new Kanuri empire of Bornu grew rapidly. The Kanuri grew powerful enough to unite the kingdom of Bornu with Kanem during the reign of Idris Alawma (1575-1610). Idris Alawma was a fervent Muslim and set about building a Muslim state all the way west into Hausaland in northern Nigeria. This state would last for another two hundred years, but in 1846, it finally succumbed to the growing power of the Hausa states. Pictured above are Bornu trumpeters sounding the Frum-Frums. The Bornu were well known for their chain-mailed cavalry. These trumpeter may have served to lead the medieval African kingdom's powerful shock troops into battle. (Photo courtesy of WSU) The Hausa Kingdoms Being in close contact with one another, these kingdoms all shared a common language, Hausa. In the late 1300's Islam began to filter into Hausaland through traveling merchants. But the pace was relatively slow. It was not until the 1450's that a group of people from the Senegal River, known as the Fulani, began immigrating in large numbers into Hausaland that a strong Islamic presence took root. The Fulani immigration was driven by the desertification of north and western Africa. A pastoral people, the Fulani were in search of a land that could support their herds. Devoutly Muslim, with a great deal of indigenous beliefs therein, the Fulani not only brought Islam and its books, but also began to set up Islamic schools and learning centers all throughout Hausaland. Pictured above is a 1959 picture of Kano, a city that traces back to one of the early Hausa kingdoms. (Photo courtesy of WSU)
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