Kanem–Bornu

Kanem–Bornu grew up around Lake Chad and lasted for more than a thousand years. Its Sayfawa dynasty held power for roughly a millennium, which makes it one of the longest-ruling royal lines anywhere in the world.

The empire began in Kanem, east of the lake, and its rulers adopted Islam in the 11th century. In the 14th century, under pressure from rivals, the court moved west of the lake to Bornu and built a new capital at Ngazargamu.

Kanem–Bornu sat on the trade routes running north across the Sahara to Tripoli and the Mediterranean. Under Mai Idris Alooma in the late 16th century, Bornu used firearms and exchanged embassies with the Ottoman Empire.

The Sayfawa line ended in the 1840s, but the state continued under new leadership until 1893, when it was conquered by Rabih az-Zubayr, shortly before European colonial rule arrived.