'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Amin

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Abd ar-Rahman
Official seal of Shehu Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad al-Kanemi.png
Official seal, 1853
ReignOctober 1853 – 3 September 1854
Predecessor Umar I ibn Muhammad al-Amin
Successor Umar I ibn Muhammad al-Amin
DiedDecember 1854 [1]
Borno
Burial
Dynasty Kanemi
Father Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi
Religion Muslim

'Abd ar-Rahman, Abdurrahman or Darman was Shehu of Borno from 1853 to 1854.

Contents

Reign of 'Abd ar-Rahman

With the help of some courtiers of Kukawa, 'Abd ar-Rahman deposed his brother Umar in November 1853 and became Shehu of Borno. He was considered too violent and tyrannical by his followers which explains why he only reigned for ten months before his brother reconquered his throne in September 1854. [2] He was then executed, most probably in December 1854.

'Abd ar-Rahman as seen by Heinrich Barth

In 1851, a British expedition led by Heinrich Barth arrived in Borno. For Barth, 'Abd ar-Rahman was a:

good soldier but a man of very loose and violent character. When a youth he had committed all sorts of violence and injustice, carrying off young brides by force to indulge his passions; he was besides, a man of little intelligence. Being but a few months younger than Omar, he thought himself equally entitled to the succession; and if once admitted into a high position in the empire, he might be expected to abuse his influence on the very first opportunity

Dynasty

'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Amin
Regnal titles
Preceded by 3rd Shehu of Borno
1853-1854
Succeeded by

Footnotes

  1. Lavers, John, "The Al- Kanimiyyin Shehus: a Working Chronology" in Berichte des Sonderforschungsbereichs, 268, Bd. 2, Frankfurt a. M. 1993: 179-186.
  2. Louis Brenner, The Shehus of Kukawa: A History of the Al-Kanemi Dynasty of Bornu, Oxford Studies in African Affairs (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1973), pp.74-80.
  3. Heinrich Barth,Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa (London: Longman, 1857), p.41.

Bibliography


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