The Baguirmi Empire or Bagirmi Empire was an Islamic empire or sultanate that existed in the 16th and 17th centuries southeast of Lake Chad in what is now the country of Chad. Baguirmi emerged to the southeast of the Kanem-Bornu Empire. Under the reign of Abdullah IV (1568-98), Islam was adopted, and the state became a sultanate, using judicial and administrative procedures. Later, a palace and court were constructed in the capital city of Massenya. Islām is described as a dīn, meaning way of life and/or guidance. Six articles of belief There are six basic beliefs shared by all Muslims: 1. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Lake Chad (in French: Lac Tchad) is a large, shallow lake in Africa. ... The Kanem-Bornu Empire existed in Africa, established around 1200 and lasting, in a changed form, until the 1840s. ...

Baguirmi's political history was a function of its strength and unity in relation to its larger neighbors. Absorbed into Kanem-Bornu during the reign of Aluma, Baguirmi broke free later in the 1600s, only to be returned to tributary status in the mid-1700s. During periods of strength, the sultanate became imperialistic. It established control over small feudal kingdoms on its peripheries and entered into alliances with nearby nomadic peoples. Early in the nineteenth century, Baguirmi fell into decay and was threatened militarily by the nearby Ouaddai Empire. Although Baguirmi resisted, it accepted tributary status in order to obtain help from Ouaddai in putting down internal dissension. When Rabih Fadlallah's forces burned Massenya in 1893, the twenty-fifth sultan, Abd ar Rahman Gwaranga, sought and received protectorate status from the French. A tributary (or affluent or confluent) is a contributory stream, a river that does not reach the sea, but joins another major river (a parent river), to which it contributes its waters, swelling its discharge. ...

The language of the empire, Baguirmi, is still spoken today, with 44,761 speakers as of 1993, primarily in the Chari Baguirmi region. The empire now exists as a informal entity in the department of Baguirmi, with its capital at Massenya. The rulers have the title Mbang. The Baguirmi language (autonym ɓarma) is the language of the Baguirmi people of Chad, belonging to the Nilo-Saharan family. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Categories: Stub | Prefectures of Chad ... Baguirmi is a department of Chad, one of three in the Chari-Baguirmi region. ...

See also

• Rulers of Baguirmi

Rulers of Baguirmi Territory located in present-day Chad See also:- Chad Heads of State of Chad Heads of Government of Chad Colonial Heads of Chad Lists of Incumbents ...

References

• Lebeuf, Annie M.D. (1978) 'L'ancien royaume du Baguirmi' Mondes et cultures, 38, 3, 437–443.
• N'Gare, Ahmed (1997) 'Le royaume du Baguirmi (XVe - XXe siècles)'. Hemispheres, 11, 27–31.
• http://countrystudies.us/chad/7.htm

This article incorporates public domain text from the Library of Congress Country Studies. - Chad The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress ( USA), freely available for use by researchers. ...