Kanem


Kanem

(känēm`), former empire in Africa in the areas near Lake Chad that are now part of Chad and N Nigeria. The empire began in the 9th cent., when the Sefawa migrated to the area from the Sahara. The rulers eventually embraced Islam and extended their control to neighboring BornuBornu
, former Muslim state, mostly in NE Nigeria, extending S and W of Lake Chad. It began its existence as a separate state in the late 14th cent. From the 14th to the 18th cent. Bornu exported slaves, eunuchs, fabrics dyed with saffron, and other goods to N Africa.
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. After attacks by the Bulalas forced the rulers of Kanem to shift their capital to Bornu (c.1380), Bornu gradually emerged as the center of a revitalized empire of which Kanem became a protectorate.