Biri V
| Biri V | |
|---|---|
| Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire | |
| Reign | 17th century (1 year?) c. 1645[a] |
| Predecessor | Umar III al-Maqdisi |
| Successor | Ali III Walamma |
| Dynasty | Sayfawa dynasty |
| Father | Umar III al-Maqdisi |
Biri V (Biri bin ʿUmar) may have been a mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-17th century. Biri is recorded only in a single source; he was either a briefly-reigning ruler immediately before mai Ali III Walamma, or his name may have been an alternate name for Ali III and misunderstood as a separate monarch.
Sources and interpretation
Biri is recorded in a list of Kanem–Bornu rulers (girgam) translated by Moïse Landeroin in 1911. According to Landeroin's list, Biri was a son of mai Umar III al-Maqdisi and ruled for a single year after Umar, directly before mai Ali III Walamma (also a son of Umar).[1] 19th-century scholars who published translated lists of Kanem–Bornu rulers, e.g. Heinrich Barth and Gustav Nachtigal, did not include a mai Biri in this position in the list.[2] Later scholars have been divided in their approach: Richmond Palmer (1936) omitted Biri, whereas Yves Urvoy (1941) included him, assigning him a reign of less than a year.[2]
In 1966, Ronald Cohen concluded that Biri was either a largely forgotten figure who ruled briefly before Ali III, the same person as Ali III, or inserted into Landeroin's regnal list by mistake.[2]
Notes
- ^ Specific regnal years of rulers of the Kanem–Bornu Empire are calculated by backdating from known events using their regnal lengths and vary between sources. Landeroin dated Biri's reign to 1635–1636[1] and Urvoy dated it to 1657.[2] The date 1645 used here derives from dating the start of Ali III's reign to c. 1644/1645, per Barth (1851), Palmer (1936),[2] and Bosworth (2012).[3]
References
- ^ a b Landeroin, Moïse (1911). "Du Tchad au Niger. — Notice historique". Documents Scientifiques de la Mission Tilho (1906–1909): Tome Deuxième (in French). Imprimerie Nationale. p. 350.
- ^ a b c d e Cohen, Ronald (1966). "The Bornu King Lists". Boston University Papers on Africa: Volume II: African History. Boston University Press. pp. 64, 83.
- ^ Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2012) [1996]. The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-7486-2137-7.