<P> According to a more accepted theory, the kingdom of Kanem began forming around 700 AD under the nomadic Tebu - speaking Kanembu . The Kanembu were supposedly forced southwest towards the fertile lands around Lake Chad by political pressure and desiccation in their former range . The area already possessed independent, walled city - states belonging to the Sao culture . Under the leadership of the Duguwa dynasty, the Kanembu would eventually dominate the Sao, but not before adopting many of their customs . War between the two continued up to the late 16th century . </P> <P> The major factor that influenced the later history of the state of Kanem was the early penetration of Islam . North African traders, Berbers and Arabs, brought the new religion . Towards 1068, Hummay, a member of the Sayfawa establishment, who was already a Muslim, discarded the last Duguwa King Selma from power and thus established the new dynasty of the Sayfawa . Islam offered the Sayfawa rulers the advantage of new ideas from Arabia and the Mediterranean world, as well as literacy in administration . But many people resisted the new religion favouring traditional beliefs and practices . When Hummay had assumed power on the basis of his strong Islamic following, for example, it is believed that the Duguwa / Kanembu began some kind of internal opposition . This pattern of conflict and compromise with Islam occurs repeatedly in Chadian history . </P> <P> When the ruling dynasty changed, the royal establishment abandoned its capital of Manan and settled in the new capital Njimi further south of Kanem (the word for "south" in the Teda language). By the 13th century, Kanem's rule expanded . At the same time, the Kanembu people drew closer to the new rulers and increased the growing population in the new capital of Njimi . Even though the Kanembu became the main power - base of the Sayfuwa, Kanem's rulers continued to travel frequently throughout the kingdom and especially towards Bornu, west of lake Chad . Herders and farmers alike recognized the government's power and acknowledged their allegiance by paying tribute . </P> <P> Kanem's expansion peaked during the long and energetic reign of Mai Dunama Dabbalemi (ca . 1203--1242), also of the Sayfawa dynasty . Dabbalemi initiated diplomatic exchanges with sultans in North Africa and apparently arranged for the establishment of a special hostel in Cairo to facilitate pilgrimages to Mecca . During his reign, he declared jihad against the surrounding tribes and initiated an extended period of conquest . After consolidating their territory around Lake Chad the Fezzan region (in present - day Libya) fell under Kanem's authority, and the empire's influence extended westward to Kano (in present - day Nigeria) and thus included Bornu, eastward to Ouaddaï, and southward to the Adamawa grasslands (in present - day Cameroon). Portraying these boundaries on maps can be misleading, however, because the degree of control extended in ever - weakening gradations from the core of the empire around Njimi to remote peripheries, from which allegiance and tribute were usually only symbolic . Moreover, cartographic lines are static and misrepresent the mobility inherent in nomadism and migration, which were common . The loyalty of peoples and their leaders was more important in governance than the physical control of territory . </P>

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