Dikwa, Nigeria

History

When the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr conquered the Kanem–Bornu Empire in 1893, Rabih destroyed the empire's capital at Kukawa. Rabih spent some time at Kukawa but settled on Dikwa as his capital instead, since the town had better communications and a superior water supply. Dikwa was heavily fortified and remained Rabih's capital for the duration of his rule. Rabih was killed by a French army, bolstered by local Bornu forces, at the battle of battle of Kousséri in 1900. The al-Kanemi dynasty, which had governed the Kanem–Bornu Empire prior to Rabih's invasion, was reinstalled as rulers with French and local support. With Kukawa destroyed, Dikwa remained the capital during the last years of the Kanem–Bornu Empire under the shehus Sanda Kura, Masta Gumsumi, and Abubakar Garbai. In 1902, all territories of the empire came under European colonial rule. Per a 1893 treaty, Dikwa fell under German control.

Between 1902 and 1916, Dikwa was the capital of what the Europeans called German Borno (the modern-day Dikwa Emirate). After the First World War until 1961, the town and the Dikwa Emirate were administered by the British under a League of Nations mandate and a United Nations Trusteeship agreement. In 1942, Dikwa ceased to be the capital of the Dikwa Emirate. Bama became the capital of the Emirate which kept its name as Dikwa Emirate.

From the History section of Dikwa on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.