# Kukawa Founded (c. 1814)

URL: https://allhistories.com/chad/timeline/1814-kukawa-founded
Location: Kukawa, Nigeria
Themes: main-event

After the destruction of Ngazargamu, the Sayfawa court moved between temporary residences, while al-Kanemi built up his own power base among the Kanembu and Shuwa Arabs near Lake Chad. To consolidate his authority he needed a capital of his own, distinct from the mai's court at Birni Kafela and later New Birni. Around 1814 al-Kanemi founded Kukawa, about 20 kilometres from the western shore of Lake Chad, reputedly naming it after the baobab trees (kuka) of the site. The town grew rapidly into a walled double city with royal residences, mosques and markets, linked by caravan to the Fezzan and Tripoli. European travellers from Denham and Clapperton in 1823 to Barth and Nachtigal later used it as their base. Its population was estimated by nineteenth-century visitors at tens of thousands, swelling on market days. Kukawa remained Bornu's capital, except for a brief destruction by Wadai in 1846, until Rabih az-Zubayr sacked it in 1893. It became one of the great markets of the central Sudan, where slaves, ivory and natron from the Chad basin were exchanged for horses, textiles and firearms. The town was rebuilt in the 1900s under British rule, but never regained its former importance, and it was later attacked during the Boko Haram insurgency. At this point in the timeline (c. 1814), the Shehu (de facto ruler) of Bornu was Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi (October/November 1809 – 8 June 1837); the Mai of Kanem–Bornu (Bornu) was Muhammad IX Ngileruma (1811–1814); the Mai of Kanem–Bornu (Bornu) was Dunama IX Lefiami (1814–1817 (second reign)).

## Why it matters
Kukawa became the hub of Bornu under the al-Kanemi dynasty and a gateway for European exploration of Lake Chad.

Ruler at the Time: [Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi](https://allhistories.com/chad/rulers/muhammad-al-amin-al-kanemi)

Mai of Kanem–Bornu (Bornu): Muhammad IX Ngileruma
Mai of Kanem–Bornu (Bornu): Dunama IX Lefiami

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Kukawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukawa)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Kukawa](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Kukawa)
- [Wikipedia — Jihads, Slave Raids And Rabih (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadai_Sultanate)