The Borno Emirate or Sultanate, sometimes known as the Bornu Emirate, is a traditional Nigerian state that was formed at the start of the 20th century. It is headed by the descendants of the rulers of the Bornu Empire, founded before 1000. The rulers have the title Shehu of Borno (var. Shehu of Bornu, Sultan of Borno/u). The traditional emirate of Borno maintains a ceremonial rule of the Kanuri people, based in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, but acknowledged by the 4 million Kanuri in neighbouring countries.[1]
The old Bornu Empire collapsed in 1893 when the Funj warlord Rabih Zubayr ibn Fadlallah seized power and transferred the capital to Dikwa.[3] When the French, then expanding in West Africa, defeated and killed Rabih they installed Shehu Sanda Kura, a member of the old Bornu dynasty, as the first Shehu of Borno in Dikwa in 1900. In 1901, he was succeeded by his brother, Umar Abubakar Garbai, the ancestor of the current Emirs of Borno. Based on a treaty between the French, Germans, and the British, the old Bornu was split up and Dikwa became part of the German colony of Cameroon. The British invited Umar Abubakar Garbai to become ruler of the part falling to the British, and he moved in 1902 first to Monguno and later to Maiduguri.
Later Dikwa was transferred to the newly created British Northern Nigeria Protectorate, resulting in two Shehus, the Shehu of Borno based at Maiduguri and the Shehu of Dikwa based at Dikwa.[4]
Rulers
Rulers of the Borno Emirate since the beginning of the colonial period with the title of "Shehu":[4][5]
^Nigeria (2000). Nigeria: a people united, a future assured. Vol. 2, State Surveys (Millennium ed.). Abuja, Nigeria: Federal Ministry of Information. p. 106. ISBN9780104089.
