Kanembu

Sultanate of Kanembu

Maibəlá la Kánnubè (Kanuri)

Flag of Kanembu

Location of Kanembu

10.9% Tebu

9.6% Beria

8.6% Daju

4.4% Fulani

3.5% Masalit

3% Hadjarai

2.7% Masa

3.3% Other

• 0.7% Shi’ism

14.6% Bori

5.6% Catholicism

0.7% TLR

3% Other

**Kanembu** (Kanuri: Kánnubè), officially known as the **Kanembu Sultanate** (Kanuri: Maibəlá la Kánnubè), is a nation located in northernmost Nasaria. It borders Wouri and Hassia to the west, Ubangi-Shari to the south, Nubia to the east and Egypt, Cyrenaica and Africa to the north. The capital is located in Njimi, and has a population of 9.66 million. Historically a centre for the Trans-Saharan trade route, it may find prosperity again with increasing Lybian trade.

## History

The Sao civilization, the first major polity in what is now Kanembu began in as early as the sixth or fourth century BC, and by the end of the first millennium BC, their presence was well established around Lake Chad and near the Chari River. The city states of the Sao reached their apex sometime between the ninth and fifteenth centuries AD. Although it has been suggested that the Sao are inhabitants of the “Hyksos” of ancient Egypt, this has been refuted by many as false. Rather, evidence shows that the Sao are the indigenous inhabitants of the basin of Lake Chad, specifically residing in the southern portion of the basin.

The Sao eventually fell in the 16th century, though many believed it to have fallen sometime between the 14th and 15th centuries to the Kanem Empire. At its height it encompassed an area covering not only most of Chad, but also parts of southern Africa (the Phasania region), eastern Hassia and northern Wouri. Directly west to Kanem, was it’s main rival, the Bornu Empire. Bornu itself was also a kingdom, lead by the ruler of the Kanuri people, who was based in the city of Ngazargamu. It occupied the western halve of the Lake Chad basin, and other select parts of northern Hassia.

The power of Kanem and its successors was based on control of the Trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. Religion was often passed through the Trans-Saharan trade routes, most notably the Bori religion of the Hausa people and Islam, which passed through Mali. Kanem occasionally made excursions into the south, often to capture slaves, and as a result a third of the empire. The slave incursions into southern areas displaced much of it’s native peoples, with exception of the Hadjarai peoples.

Sometime around 1380, Kanem and Bornu merged into a single polity, known as the Kanembu Empire. The nation inherited the more organized sultanate system of Bornu, while much of it’s military was inherited from the more powerful Kanem. The chronicles of Kanembu were recorded in a document called the Girgam, which also recorded the history of Daura, Fika and Mandara. The Girgam is one of the most comprehensive records of pre-colonial history in Lybia, and one of few surviving scriptures of extreme importance. At this time, Kanembu also frequently switched it’s capital, until finally settling for Njimi in 1784.

To the south and east, two more precolonial states grew in power, the Bagirmi Empire and the Birgu Empire respectively. Birgu spanned much of the Kanembese border with Nubia, while Bagirmi was located in the southern periphery of the Lake Chad basin. Bagirmi arose at a time when Kanembu was losing much of it’s southern territories, which they took advantage of. Many failed attempts by the Kanembu Empire were made to try and consolidate power of Birgu and Bagirmi, which furthered the slow decline of Kanembu’s power and importance.

French colonial expansion led to the conquest of the Bagirmi, Birgu and Kanembu empires, and the creation of the French administration based in Njimi known as French Sudan (French: Soudan Français). The French administration was responsible for the development of basic modern infrastructure to cater to the French colonials who resided there. French rule in Kanembu was characterised by an absence of policies to unify the territory and sluggish modernisation compared to other French colonies. As an unintended result of this failure to modernize, sympathy and support for a state like Kanembu in power rose.

After WW2, all Lybian colonies (save for the Lusitanian ones) successfully gained independence, including French Sudan. The nation was subsequently renamed back to Kanembu, and a secular monarchy system was installed in power. The first sultan was Sanda Bin Khair el-Kanemi and it’s first prime minister was N’Garta Tombalbaye, an ethnic Sao person. Tombalbaye oversaw oil exploration in the nation’s north, and while oil products were found, it could only be exported to neighbouring nations, namely Hassia and Wouri.

In 1975, the secular monarchy was abruptly reformed into an islamic sultanate under Mustafa Ibn Umar el-Kanuri. Mustafa was founded by oil wealth-funded extremists from the nation's former Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region and the Trucial States in Mesopotamia. The previous prime minister, Hissen Habre promptly dissapeared under "mysterious circumstances" in 1976. Following this, many fled the new dictatorship for the more secular Djerma and Africa as well as Europe, and the national economy soon found itself tanked due to it's reliance on cotton exports.

Mustafa died in 1995, with the next and current sultan, with Abubakar Garbai el-Kanemi reigning next as the successor. Abubakar, while retaining the islamic government, allowed for some reform in the economy, which started the nation’s slow recovery from the Mustafa reign. Included in these plans is an ongoing infrastructure renewal project, with emphasis on the cities of Njimi, Kukawa and Ngazargamu, improved transport links to neighbouring nations and finally, the necessary infrastructure to tap into solar power to shift away from oil. It is founded in part by it’s “western” allies in China and the USC).

## Politics

Kanembu is governed as an unitary, absolute islamic monarchy. It is also one of the few world nations that does not consider itself to be democratic. All legislative, executive and judiciary power ultimately rests in the hands of the hereditary Sultan. Consequently, Freedom House has routinely rated the country "Not Free". The current ruling dynasty in Kanembu is the Kanemi Dynasty, which has been in power since the end of the Sufuwa and pre-Islamic Dugawa dynasties. Though there is an acting prime minister, the sultan is the head of state, and directly controls the nation’s government.

The Kanembese legislature is known as the Gúmnati (Kanuri: the Government), consisting of the upper chamber known as the State Council, and a lower chamber known just as the Council. The judiciary, known as the Supreme Court (Kanuri: Hàlakta) is governed as a highly-personalized court, often ignoring it’s own laws when convenient. The nation has installed Sharia law, and has since the 1975 coup. The can sultan appoint judges, and can grant pardons and commute sentences.

The nation is administratively divided into 15 first-level administrative divisions, known as Provinces. Provinces are, in turn, divided into 60 second-level divisions known as Governorates, with the third level divisions being known as Districts. No major changes have been made to the provinces ever since the nation’s 1945 independence, apart from a slight re-arrangements of subnational borders in 2005. Chari, the nation’s capital territory acts as both a Governorate and a Province.