Kanem << KAHN ehm >> was one of Africa’s longest-lasting empires. It originated as a small kingdom in the area north of Lake Chad in about the 700’s. Kanem gradually grew into an empire and lasted until the 1800’s. The early kingdom engaged in trade across the Sahara with Muslim North Africa. The profits from this trade helped Kanem expand and conquer other kingdoms and territories. Cloth, copper, glass, and horses from North Africa and the Mediterranean region were traded in Kanem’s markets for ivory, leather goods, and slaves. At its height, Kanem included parts of what are now Cameroon, Chad, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan.
The Sefuwa royal family ruled Kanem from the 800’s to the 1800’s. The rulers converted to Islam, the Muslim religion, in 1086. They began to expand their territory at about the same time. After Bornu, on the southwest side of Lake Chad, became a province of Kanem, the empire was often called Kanem-Bornu. In the late 1300’s, Bulala people conquered the part of Kanem on the northeast side of Lake Chad, and the emperor fled to Bornu. Mai Idris Alooma, who ruled Kanem from 1580 to 1617, reconquered the lost territory and extended the empire to its greatest size.
Starting in the 1600’s, Kanem began to decline because trade centers shifted from inland routes to the coast. European powers gained control of Kanem in the late 1800’s.
See also Chad .
