Bornu Empire

State · 1385–1894 CE · at its largest around 1579 CE

A Sahelian state around Lake Chad founded by the Sayfawa dynasty after it relocated from Kanem. It reached its height under Idris Alooma in the 16th century.

On its lands while it lasted

• Heinrich Barth’s expedition to Central Africa (1850–1855 CE): Joining a British expedition that left Tripoli in 1850, the German scholar Heinrich Barth spent five years crossing the Sahara and travelling through Bornu, the Sokoto Caliphate and Timbuktu, recording their history, languages and peoples.

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