The Sultanate of Bornu

"Lord Lister No. 0037: De Diamantenkoningin" by Kurt Matull and Theo von Blankensee is a historical and ethnographic study written in the early 20th century. The work examines the former Sultanate of Bornu around Lake Chad, outlining its political history, geography, climate, flora and fauna, peoples, and commerce, with special attention to Kanem-Bornu’s rise, decline, and the colonial partition by Britain, France, and Germany. Drawing on Arabic chronicles and reports by 19th‑century European explorers, it also treats the hydrology of Lake Chad and the role of slave-raiding in the region’s past. The opening of the work presents a translator’s preface situating the study, emphasizing Bornu’s long-standing power and Kanuri identity, and noting maps, appendices, and sources; an author’s preface explains the aim to consolidate scattered literature and personal observations; and a detailed contents list follows. The introduction frames Bornu’s centrality in the Sudan, its exposure to European attention through anti-slavery reporting, and its renewed prominence during late‑19th‑century colonial expansion. The history section then sketches Kanem-Bornu from the Sef dynasty and Islamization, through Idris Aloma’s zenith, later conflicts with Tuareg and Fulani, the rise of Mohammed al‑Kanemi and Omar, and successive European expeditions (Denham, Clapperton, Barth, Overweg, Vogel, Rohlfs, Nachtigal). It recounts Rabeh’s late‑19th‑century conquests, his fortress-capital at Dikoa, French campaigns (Gentil, Lamy) culminating in his death, the resistance of his sons, and the installation of Garbai amid Anglo‑French‑German partition. It then outlines Bornu’s setting: fluid borders, a vast flat plain edged by Mandara granites, the shifting, shallow Lake Chad with dunes and islands, major rivers (Shari–Logone) and seasonal floods, the distinctive firki soils, and the seasonal regimes of the Yedseram and Komadugu‑Yobe, before beginning a climate chapter. (This is an automatically generated summary.)