Editing Kanem–Bornu Empire (section)

==== Shift of the Sayfuwa court from Kanem to Bornu, 1377–1529 ====
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = 
| conventional_long_name = Bornu Empire
| common_name            = Bornu Empire
| era                    = Middle Ages
| status                 = Empire
| status_text            = 
| empire                 = Kanem
| government_type        = [[Monarchy]]
| year_start             = 1380s
| year_end               = 1893
| event_start            = 
| date_start             = 
| event_end              = 
| date_end               = 
| p1                     = Kanem Empire
| flag_p1                = Kanem flag from dulcerta 1339-pt.svg
| border_p1              = no
| s1                     = French Chad
| flag_s1                = Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg
| s2                     = Rabih az-Zubayr
| flag_s2                = 
| s3                     = Borno Emirate
| flag_s3                = 
| s4                     = Dikwa Emirate
| flag_s4                = 
| image_flag             = Flag of the Bornu Empire.svg
| flag                   = <!-- Link target under flag image. Default: Flag of {{{common name}}} -->
| flag_type              = Flag of Bornu from Vallseca atlas of 1439
| image_coat             = 
| image_map              = Bornu map 1750.svg
| image_map_caption      = Bornu Empire extent c.1750
| capital                = [[Ngazargamu]]
| common_languages       = [[Kanuri language|Kanuri]]
| religion               = [[Islam]]
| currency               = 
| leader1                = [[Sayfawa dynasty|Said of Bornu]]
| leader2                = 
| year_leader1           = 1381–1382
| year_leader2           = 
| title_leader           = [[Sayfawa dynasty|King (Mai)]]|<!--- Area and population of a given year --->
| stat_year1             = 1800<ref>Oliver, page 12</ref>
| stat_area1             = 50000
| stat_pop1              = 
| stat_year2             = 1892<ref>Hughes, page 281</ref>
| stat_area2             = 129499
| stat_pop2              = 5,000,000
| today                  = {{ubl|[[Nigeria]]|[[Chad]]|[[Niger]]|[[Cameroon]]}}
}}

By the end of the 14th century, internal struggles and external attacks had torn Kanem apart. War with the [[Sao civilisation|Sao]] brought the death of four Mai: [[Selemma]], [[Kure Ghana es-Saghir]], [[Kure Kura al-Kabir]], and [[Muhammad I of Kanem-Bornu|Muhammad I]], all sons of [[Abdullah II of Kanem-Bornu|'Abdullāh b. Kadai]]. Then, war with the [[Bulala]] resulted in the death of four Mai in succession between 1377 and 1387: [[Daud Nigalemi]], [[Uthman I of Kanem-Bornu|Uthmān b. Dawūd]], [[Uthman II|Uthmān b. Idris]], and [[Abu Bakr Liyatu]]. Finally, around 1387 the Bulala forced ''Mai'' Umar b. Idris to abandon [[Njimi]] and move the [[Kanembu people]] to [[Borno State|Bornu]] on the western edge of Lake Chad.<ref name=Smith/>{{rp|179}}<ref name=Palmer/>{{rp|92–93,195–217}}<ref>Smith, "Early states", 179; Lange, "Kingdoms and peoples", 238; Barkindo, "Early states", 245–46.</ref><ref name=Kevin/>{{rp|190–191}}

But even in Bornu, the Sayfawa dynasty's troubles persisted. During the first three-quarters of the 15th century, for example, fifteen Mais occupied the throne. Then, around 1460 [[Ali Gazi]] (1473–1507) defeated his rivals and began the consolidation of Bornu. He built a fortified capital at [[Ngazargamu]], to the west of Lake Chad (in present-day [[History of Nigeria|Nigeria]]), the first permanent home a Sayfawa ''mai'' had enjoyed in a century. So successful was the Sayfawa rejuvenation that by the early 16th century ''Mai'' [[Idris Katakarmabe]] (1507–1529) was able to defeat the Bulala and retake [[Njimi]], the former capital. The empire's leaders, however, remained at Ngazargamu because its lands were more productive agriculturally and better suited to the raising of cattle. Ali Gaji was the first ruler of the empire to assume the title of Caliph.<ref>{{cite book|title=The History of Islam in Africa|author=Nehemia Levtzion |author2=Randall Pouwels |publisher=Ohio University Press|page=81}}</ref><ref name=Martin/>{{rp|159}}<ref name=Urvoy/>{{rp|73}}<ref name=Smith/>{{rp|180–182,205}}<ref name=Palmer/>{{rp|94,222–228}}