The Bilala dynasty is the royal lineage of the traditional leaders of the Bilala people, an ethnic group today concentrated around Lake Fitri in Chad. The Bilala monarchs have historically ruled different territories, and varied in authority and titles used. Lists of Bilala rulers, preserved through oral tradition, are inconsistent and contradictory before the late 19th century.
In the 14th century, the Bilala conquered Kanem, a territory immediately northeast of Lake Chad, from the Sayfawa dynasty of the Kanem–Bornu Empire. Bilala rulers of Kanem are referred to with titles such as mai, emir, and sultan in the sources, titles also applied to Sayfawa monarchs. The Bilala lost Kanem in the 17th century, whereafter they migrated to their present-day lands around Lake Fitri. The traditional capital of the Bilala has since then been the town of Yao. Bilala rulers since the 17th century are thus commonly referred to as the sultans of Yao, though other titles are sometimes also used, such as mai of Fitri or sultan of Fitri.
Ancestor figures The traditional origin stories of the Bilala rulers are similar, and often connected to, the origin stories or rulers of the Sayfawa dynasty, which ruled the Kanem–Bornu Empire. Like the Sayfawa, the Bilala have from the time of their conversion to Islam onwards claimed fictitious Arab ancestry as a source of prestige. There are various contradictory versions of the origin tale, with different names given to the progenitor of the Bilala dynasty:
One version claims that the Bilala are descended from an eponymous ancestor figure named Bilal or Balal. Bilal is said to have been an early African convert to Islam, perhaps an early companion of the prophet. Bilal's descendants reportedly "mixed with the Arabs". Another version also features Bilal, but makes him into a local Kanembu figure, who organised a force to oppose the rule of the Sayfawa. One version gives the Yemenite ancestor of the Bilala the name Muhammad al-Kabir al-Yamani. Al-Yamani is said to have been invested as a king by the prophet and to have lived for two hundred years. According to this tale, al-Yamani traveled extensively and tried to convert various populations to Islam, including people around the Red Sea, before he settled in modern-day Chad. One version claims that the Bilala were descendants of the "sultan of Baghdad" and that they "obtained power in Baghdad" for some time. According to this tale, the Bilala were attacked in Baghdad by Sef (the eponymous ancestor of the Sayfawa) after he had left Yemen; Sef is said to have defeated the Bilala and became sultan of Baghdad. Sef eventually left Baghdad and traveled to "Badinimguro", where he was for 333 years, and then traveled to "N'gibi N'gabulo", where he also was 333 years, before he reached Njimi in Kanem. The Bilala came to Kanem later and the country was divided between them and the Sayfawa. One version names the first ruler of the Bilala as Jil Sukumami or Djil Sjikomeni. Heinrich Barth (1857) believed Jil was a son of the Sayfawa mai Dunama II Dibalemi. Richmond Palmer (1936) placed him later, as a contemporary of the 14th-century Sayfawa mais Idris I Nikalemi and Dawud Nikalemi.
Oral history accounts
Historical outline A general outline of Bilala history can be produced through both Bilala and foreign sources. The Bilala are first recorded to have been in conflict with the Sayfawa in the reign of the 14th-century Sayfawa mai Dawud Nikalemi.Palmer, Richmond (1926). History Of The First Twelve Years Of The Reign Of Mai Idris Alooma Of Bornu (1571–1583) (Fartua, Ahmed Ibn). pp. 113–116. Dawud was defeated and killed by the Bilala 1363, and the Bilala were able to capture Njimi, the capital of Kanem. Njimi was retaken by Dawud's successor, Uthman I, but lost again to the Bilala some years later, in the time of the Sayfawa mai Umar I Idrismi, 1380. The loss of Kanem prompted the Sayfawa to re-establish themselves west of Lake Chad, in the Bornu region.
The Bilala established their own kingdom in Kanem, which rivaled that of the Sayfawa in Bornu. The Bilala ruled Kanem until they lost the country 1630, whereafter they relocated to their present lands around Lake Fitri.
Rulers mentioned in Sayfawa girgams The history of the Kanem–Bornu Empire and its rulers is mainly recorded in the girgam, a royal chronicle preserved over the centuries mainly through oral history. Girgams recording the line of the Sayfawa rulers also mention several Bilala rulers, though a complete line of rulers is not recorded. Similar names and details of these rulers are given in girgams translated by Heinrich Barth in 1857 and Richmond Palmer in 1928: Name (Barth, 1857)Name (Palmer, 1928)Sayfawa contemporaryDetailsʿAbd el JélilAbd ul Jalil of the seed of Ume (Jilmi)Dawud NikalemiKilled Dawud in battleMohammed, son of ʿAbd Allah"The Eanemma"GajiKilled Gaji in battleSelma or ʿAbd el JélilNot mentionedAli I GajiBarth stated that the contemporary Leo Africanus mistakenly identified this ruler as ʿOmár.Dunama, son of Selma or ʿAbd el JélilNot mentionedIdris III KatagarmabeSon of Selma, defeated by Idris IIIA'dim, brother of DunamaNot mentioned)Idris III KatagarmabeTook the throne after his brother Dunama's death, defeated by Idris IIIKadé, son of ʿAbd el Jélil and LifiyaKadai ibn LefiaMuhammad VI AminamiRose up against Muhammad VI and was defeatedʿAbd el Jélil, son of KadeAbd ul Jalil ibn GumsuDunama VI MuhammadAbdullah IV DunamamiSon of Kadé, rose up against Dunama VI and was defeatedʿAbd Allah, son of ʿAbd el JélilNot mentionedAbdullah IV DunamamiAissa KoliIdris IV AloomaSon of ʿAbd el Jélil, concluded a peace treaty with Idris IVMohammed, son of ʿAbd AllahNot mentionedIdris IV AloomaSon of ʿAbd Allah, died after a short reignʿAbd el Jélil ben ʿAbd el JélilAbd ul Jalil the son of the daughter of GargarIdris IV AloomaUncle of Mohammed, broke off negotiations with Idris IV and fought a war against him
Bilala girgams and histories The Bilala have their own girgam tradition to record the royal line, though the sequence of rulers differs considerably between different versions. Some traditional short histories of specific episodes in Bilala history also record a handful of rulers. Several royal lists and short histories were translated by Richmond Palmer in his Sudanese Memoirs (1928).
Histories One of the tales translated by Palmer (in several versions) is The Bilala Secession from the Mais of Kanem, which records the Bilala conquest of Kanem and the decades that followed. Depending on the version, The Bilala Secession records a single Bilala ruler (eponymously named "Bilala" or "Bulala") as conquering Kanem and ruling for a century, or a succession of three rulers:
Sultan Bilala (or Lefia) of Fitri, who conquered Kanem from the Sayfawa mai Dawud and ruled for 25 years. Sultan Sowi, who ruled for 32 years. Sultan Yari bin Sowi, who ruled for 19 years and was defeated by the Sayfawa mai "Ali Gaji".
To make the chronology fit, Palmer identified "Ali Gaji" not as the Sayfawa mai otherwise recorded as Ali I Gaji, but as the earlier Sayfawa ruler Gaji, who the Sayfawa girgam contradictorily describes as having been killed by a Bilala ruler named Mohammed. Palmer suggested that Yari and Mohammed were two names for the same ruler, and that both names were later nicknames.
Another tale, The War Between the Bilala and Sayfawa, records Bilala history around the time of the Sayfawa mai Idris IV Alooma. This tale includes a confused account of Sayfawa history; the Sayfawa mais Ali I Gaji (builder of Ngazargamu) and Ali II Zainami (Idris's father) are erroneously equated as the same person and Aissa Koli is erroneously identified as the daughter of Dunama II Dibalemi. The War Between the Bilala and Sayfawa records that Ali married Amsa, daughter of the Bilala ruler Umr (Umar), who was Idris's mother. Idris eventually becomes ruler of the Sayfawa and later leads a campaign in which he defeats and kills his maternal grandfather Umr, also becoming ruler of the Bilala. After Idris, Mai Kunuma (or Mai Mala Ganami), son of Umr, becomes ruler of the Bilala and the Bilala relocate to the Lake Fitri region.
Lists (girgams) In Sudanese Memoirs, Palmer translated three lists of Bilala rulers. These lists included a Bilala girgam, with regnal years and some notes, as well as two name lists of rulers. Palmer titled the two name lists as List of Bilala Mais of Kanem (List A) and Origin of the Bilala Kings of Fitri According to the Manuscript of Sarkin Gulfei (List B). The lists do not differentiate between ancestral figures, Bilala rulers of Kanem, and Bilala rulers of Yao (Fitri). +Bilala girgamList BList A Muhammad al-Yamani, the first Bilala ruler, came to the "Bahr Sau" and died there. Salih (12 years) Muhammad al-Wan (24 years) Abdul Jalil al-Kabir (47 years), fought against "Idris of Bornu" and conquered Lake Fitri, first to rule from Yao Muhammad Alwan (19 years), son of Abdul Jalil al-Kabir Muhammad Rishad (21 years), son of Muhammad Alwan Muhammad Adil Saghir (7 years and 6 months), brother of Muhammad Rishad Muhammad Adil al-Kabir (19 years), son of Muhammad Adil Saghir Muhammad Beyad (4 years and 4 months), son of Muhammad Adil al-Kabir Muhammad Umr (30 years), brother of Muhammad Beyad Muhammad Jeli al-Saghir (3 years), son of Muhammad Umr Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Kabir (5 years), son of Muhammad Jeli al-Saghir Muhamamd N'gâri (15 years), son of Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Kabir Abdurahman (or Abd ar-Rahman) (25 years), son of Muhammad N'gâri, fought a war against a group of Toubo Muhammad Sowi (49 years), son of Abdurahman, a just ruler Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Kabir (32 years), son of Muhamamd Sowi Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Saghir (47 years), brother of Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Kabir, famine and sickness in his reign Muhammad Shawi (29 years), son of Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Kabir Idris (37 years), son of Muhammad Shawi, war with Bagirmi over ivory Muhammad Bekuma al-Kabir (39 years), son of Idris Jurab al-Fil (40 years), brother of Muhammad Bekuma al-Kabir Musa (24 years), civil war against his brother Jurab al-Saghir, who fled the country but returned and killed Musa after Musa had ruled 24 years Jurab al-Saghir (38 years), brother of Musa Hassan Bekuma (7 years), civil war against his brother Gudei, who fled the country to Wadai Maina Jiri (3 years), brother of Hassan Bekuma, attacked, defeated, and taken prisoner by Yusuf of Wadai Gudei (13 years), brother of Maina Jiri and Hassan Bekuma, installed by Yusuf of Wadai, faced civil war by Musa's sons, killed by the French Hassan (20 years), successor of Gudei Chiroma, son of Hassan, became ruler in 1922 Muhammad al-Kabir al-Yamani Muhammad Muhammad Muhammad Moama Mahmud Muhammad Muhammad Muhammad al-Bulalai, "in whose time the separation occurred" Muhammad Muhammad Tsilin (Al Aswad) "the prosperous" Muhammad Muhammad Abd al-Kârim Abd al-Jalil Abd al-Jalil Abdalla Fahanam Jili (Abd al-Jalil) Muhammad Chiroma Muhammad Wali, buried at "Seita" Abdalla (Abdullahi) Muhammad Jurab al-Kabir Muhammad Abu Sakkin Sultan Muhammad Jurab Muhammad Kade Othman ibn Affan Hakkiyi Umr Khuri Hadar Tadu Hari Kudu or Kiwada Kunna or Kinâ Gadig or Gadga Mai Koma or Mai Gana Sadiyi or Sadi Lefia Gemu or Jimu Jurab Abu Sakkin Baliyi or Baliya K'ala Haj Halihan or Haj Jil Bêhama Asawa or Asawi Dahu or Dahi Lihu or Lihi Hamr or Umr Adam Bikur Tâdu Haj Umr Adam Kai Abdurrahman Ahmad or Hamad Sowi or Sawi (Asawi) Sultan Yari Lefia (Maina Muhammad ibn Yari) Dala Daward (Khalifa Daudumi) Lefia Dala Umr Chiroma Medu or Maidugu Kademi or Kazgin Kâlah or Kâle Shattima "who is Mahir-asal-Sheikh"