Tenimoun dan Sélimane

Ténimoun dan Sélimane († 1884 ; nickname: Ténimoun the Great ) was Sultan of Zinder in the 19th century .

Life

Ténimoun dan Sélimane was a son of the Sultan Sélimane dan Tintouma von Zinder, whose successor was Ténimoun's brother Ibrahim dan Sélimane in 1822 . The Sultanate of Zinder was subordinate to the Bornu Empire and had steadily expanded its domain within almost twenty years, often against Bornu's will. In 1841 Umar al-Kânemî , the Sultan of Bornu, personally traveled to Zinder to call Ibrahim to order. Ibrahim sent his brother Ténimoun to meet him. However, when he assumed that he would betray him, he fled via Kantché to Maradi . Umar al-Kânemî then named Ténimoun Sultan of Zinder. Ténimoun made the mistake of immediately taking up the fight against the Sossébaki state of Mirriah , which was subordinate to Zinder , whereupon Umar al-Kânemî again appointed Ibrahim as sultan. Ténimoun was not ready to give up the power he had just won and began a long war against Ibrahim that claimed a thousand deaths. In 1848 Ténimoun had to surrender and flee to the Tuareg region in the north. He subsequently managed to get to the court of Bornu via Mounio , but Umar al-Kânemî refused to return the throne to him. Ténimoun decided to take control of Zinder back by force. He could only get one of the two pretenders to the throne of the Emirate of Daura on his side. Ibrahim, allied with the ruler of Maradi, the Sultan of Gobir and the Tuareg north of Zinder, went on the offensive against his brother in 1850. Ténimoun won the fight and Ibrahim died during the retreat. Mohamed Katché dan Ibrahim , Ibrahim's son, became the new sultan of Zinder. But Ténimoun continued his march on Zinder, whose population welcomed him as sultan in 1851. Mohamed Katché retired to Kuka , the capital of Bornus.

Sultan Ténimoun immediately wanted to start a war against the Sultanate of Kano , but had to give up before fighting had even started. This episode is also known as the "water war" ( yaki n'roua ) because Ténimoun lost numerous horses in the wetlands off Kano. He then turned to his immediate neighbors. He replaced the rebellious ruler of the Sossébaki state Mirriah with a loyal regent. In the outskirts of Kantché and Kano he brought several villages under his control. Within two months he had a fortification wall five kilometers long and ten meters high and wide built around his capital city of Zinder. Ténimoun then made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Mounio. Only when the Sultan of Bornu installed a new ruler there, who immediately fled to the court of Bornu out of fear, could Ténimoun annex Mounio without a fight. After two unsuccessful attempts to conquer the sultanate of Hadejia further south , Ténimoun let his neighbors know that from now on he was only interested in peaceful coexistence. He promoted agriculture by introducing new cultures and trade by establishing trade routes to Tripoli and Cairo . Zinder achieved remarkable wealth. Ténimoun remained sultan until his death in 1884.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Edmond Séré de Rivières: Histoire du Niger . Berger-Levrault, Paris 1965, pp. 135-136.
2. ↑ Edmond Séré de Rivières: Histoire du Niger . Berger-Levrault, Paris 1965, pp. 137-138.