Kanem

Kanem was a Muslim empire of the Chad Basin, ruled from Njimi by the Sayfawa dynasty. In 1337 Salmama held the throne as internal rivalries threatened the dynasty's authority.

In the fourteenth century conflict with the Bilala drove the Sayfawa west to Bornu, where Ali I Gaji later founded Ngazargamu. Idris III Katagarmabe reconquered Kanem; in the late sixteenth century Idris IV Alooma strengthened Kanem-Bornu with firearms, camel corps and fortified camps. Early nineteenth-century Fula jihads nearly brought down the state.