Mandara Kingdom
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[[Image:Arrival at Mora, the capital of Mandara.jpg|right|thumb|Arrival at [[Mora, Cameroon|Mora]], the capital of Mandara by British explorer [[Edward Francis Finden]] in 1826.]]
'''The Mandara Kingdom''' (sometimes called '''Wandala''') was a [[West African]] kingdom in the [[Mandara Mountains]] of what is today [[Cameroon]]. The [[Mandarawa]] people are descended from the kingdom's inhabitants.
==History==
Tradition states that Mandara was founded shortly before 1500 by a female ruler named Soukda and a non-Mandarawa hunter named Gaya. the kingdom was first referred to by [[Fra Mauro]] (in 1459) and [[Leo Africanus]] (in 1526); the provenance of its name remains uncertain.
For the kingdom's first century of history, its rulers warred with neighbouring groups in an effort to expand their territories. After conquering the Dulo (or Duolo) and establishing the capital at [[Dulo, Mandara|Dulo]] c. 1580, the dynasty of [[Sankre]], a war leader, began. When the Dulo made an attempt to seize the throne, the [[Kanem-Bornu Empire|Bornu]] kingdom supported the claim of [[Aldawa Nanda]], a member of Sankre's house. Emperor [[Idris Alaoma]] of Borno personally installed Nanda as king in 1614. Bornu thus attained an influential position over Mandara.
[[Mai Bukar Aji]], the 25th king, made Mandara a [[sultan]]ate c. 1715, which it would remain for nearly two hundred years. Muslim visitors converted Bukar to Islam, and the Islamicisation of the kingdom would continue for most of the next century. The kingdom experienced a golden age of sorts under Bukar and his successor, [[Bukar Guiana]] (1773-1828). Around 1781, the Mandara defeated the kingdom of [[Borno]] in a major battle, further expanding their control in the region. At the peak of her power at the turn of the century, Mandara received tribute from some 15 chiefdoms. However, the kingdom faced a setback in 1809, when [[Modibo Adama]], a [[Fula people|Fulani]] disciple of [[Usman dan Fodio]], led a [[jihad]] against Mandara. Adama briefly seized Dulo, though the Mandara counterattack soon drove him from the kingdom's borders. Adama's defeat prompted Borno to ally with Mandara once again against the Fulani invaders.
Upon the death of ruler [[Bukai Dgjiama]], Mandara's non-Muslim tributaries rose up, and the Fulani attacked once more. By 1850, Borno could not pass up the opportunity to attack the weakened kingdom. This renewed conflict began to sap the kingdom's strength, paving the way for the invasion of [[Muhammad Ahmad]]'s forces in the 1880s. In 1895 or 1896, Muhammad Ahmad's army destroyed Dulo, marking a further decline in Mandara power. However, the kingdom continued to exist, repelling continual Fulani raids until it finally fell to them in 1893.
[[United Kingdom|English]] explorer [[Dixon Denham]] accompanied a slave-raiding expedition from [[Borno]] into the Mandara kingdom in February of 1823; though he barely escaped with his life following the raiders' defeat, he brought back one of the first European accounts of the kingdom. In 1902, the kingdom was conquered by [[Germany]], passing then to [[France]] in 1918. In 1960, the Mandara kingdom became a part of newly-independent Cameroon.
== List of Rulers of [[Mandara kingdom|Mandara]] (in modern [[Cameroon]]) ==
(Dates in italics indicate ''de facto ''continuation of office)
{| class="wikitable"
|- align=left
! width="18%"|Tenure
! width="40%"|Incumbent
! width="20%"|Notes
|- valign=top
|''c.''1500||colspan="2"|''Foundation of [[Mandara kingdom|Mandara]] Kingdom''
|- valign=top
|colspan="3"|'''Sultanate of Mandara'''
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1715 to 1757|| ||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1757 to 1773||'''[[T'Kse Bldi]]''', <small>Sultan||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1773 to 1828||'''[[Bukar D'Gjiama]]''', <small>Sultan||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1828 to 1842||'''[[Hiassae]]''', <small>Sultan||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1842 to 1894||'''[[Bukar Narbanha]]''', <small>Sultan||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1894 to ''1902''||'''[[Umar Adjara]]''', <small>Sultan||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1902||''Incorporated into [[Cameroon]]''||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>''1902''to 1911||'''[[Umar Adjara]]''', <small>Sultan||<small>''(contd.)''
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1911 to 1915||'''[[Bukar Afade]]''', <small>Sultan||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1915 to 1922||'''[[Umar Adjara]]''', <small>Sultan||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>1922 to May 1924||'''[[Amada]]''', <small>Sultan||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>May 1924 to [[18 March]] [[1942]]||'''[[Kola Adama]]''', <small>Sultan||
|- valign=top bgcolor="#ffffec"
|<small>[[18 March]] [[1942]] to present||'''[[Hamidu Umar]]''', <small>Sultan||
|}
=== See also ===
*[[Cameroon]]
**[[Politics of Cameroon]]
**[[Heads of government of Cameroon]]
**[[Colonial heads of British Cameroon|Colonial heads of Cameroon British Cameroon (Cameroons)]]
**[[Heads of government of British Cameroon|Heads of government of British Cameroon (Cameroons)]]
**[[Colonial heads of French Cameroon|Colonial heads of French Cameroon (Cameroun)]]
**[[Heads of government of French Cameroon|Heads of government of French Cameroon (Cameroun)]]
**[[Colonial heads of German Cameroon|Colonial heads of German Cameroon (Kamerun)]]
**[[Rulers of the Bamum]]
**[[The Northwest Fons]]
***[[The Fon of Batibo]]
*[[Lists of office-holders]]
*[[Rulers of Mandara]]
==References==
*Barkindo, Bawuro Mubi (1989). ''The Sultanate of Mandara to 1902''. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
*DeLancey, Mark W., and DeLancey, Mark Dike (2000). ''Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon''. 3rd ed.
*Fanso, V. G. (1989). ''Cameroon History for Secondary Schools and Colleges: Volume 1: Prehistoric Times to the Nineteenth Century''. London: Macmillan Education Ltd.
==External links==
*[http://www.mandaras.info/WandalaMandara.html History of Mandara ethnic group]
*[http://www.hostkingdom.net/Centafr.html#Mandara List of sultans of Mandara]
[[Category:Cameroonian traditional rulers|Mandara]]
[[Category:Cameroon-related lists]]
[[Category:Lists of rulers|Mandara]]
[[Category:States of Medieval Africa]]
[[Category:Former countries in Africa]]
[[Category:History of Cameroon]]
[[fr:Royaume Mandara]]