   the kanem-bornu empire was an empire that 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 modern southern libya, eastern niger, northeastern nigeria and northern cameroon. the history of the empire in the longue durÃ©e is mainly known from the royal chronicle or girgam discovered in 1851 by the german traveller heinrich barth.barth, travels, ii, 16â17. ==theories on the origin of kanem== kanem was located at the southern end of the trans-saharan trade route between tripoli and the region of lake chad. besides its urban elite it included a confederation of nomadic peoples who spoke languages of the tedaâdaza (toubou) group. ===founding by immigrants c. 600 bc=== the origins of kanem empire are very unclear. until today, historiographical debates oppose the followers of a foundation of kanem-bornu by populations from the ancient near east and followers of a more local development. some researches try to connect the creation of kanem-bornu with exodus from the collapsed assyrian empire c. 600 bc to the northeast of lake chad. lange, founding of kanem, 31â38. the intensity of scholar discussions around this theory proves that the question hasn't been solved yet, and we must be very cautious concerning early formation of kanem-bornu.an overview of these discussions are gathered in the web page of the german scholar dierk lange, author of this theory: of dierk lange â ancient kingdoms of west africa ===founding by local kanembu (dugua) c. 700 ad=== according to a more accepted theory, the empire of kanem began forming around 700 ad under the nomadic tebu-speaking kanembu. the kanembu were supposedly forced southwest towards the fertile lands around lake chad by political pressure and desiccation in their former range. the area already possessed independent, walled city-states belonging to the sao culture. under the leadership of the duguwa dynasty, the kanembu would eventually dominate the sao, but not before adopting many of their customs. urvoy, empire, 3â35; trimingham, history, 104â111. war between the two continued up to the late 16th century. ==islamization c. 1068 ad== ===rise of the sayfawa dynasty=== the major factor that influenced the later history of the state of kanem was the early penetration of islam. no
Former_countries_in_Africa History_of_Cameroon History_of_Chad History_of_Islam Muslim_empires