- Bilala
The Bilala, or Bulala, are a Muslim people that live around
Lake Fitri , in theBatha Prefecture , in centralChad . The last Chadiancensus in1993 stated that they numbered 136.629 persons. Their language, divided in four dialects, is of theNilo-Saharan group, and is very close to that of two of their neighbours, the Kuka and theMedogo . These three people are collectively known asLisi and are believed to be descendants of main ethnic groups of theSultan ate of Yao.They first appeared in the
14th century nearlake Fitri as anomad ic clan led by scions of theSayfawa dynasty . Settled east of the Kanem Empire, in today'sChad , they shattered the empire's power, killing five of six of Kanem's "mais" (kings) between1376 and1400 . At the end the bulala conquered Kanem and forced the Kanem "mais" to migrate to Bornu. As a result the Bulala put their hands on Kanem, founding in the15th century the Muslim sultanate of Yao. But the Kanem-Bornu Empire counter-attacked a century later underAli Gaji , and at the end Kanem was retaken be Ali's son after a great battle at Garni Kiyala, forcing the Bulala to move east, where they were to remain a menace for centuries to Kanem-Bornu. It continued also to be a flourishing kingdom: the travellerLeo Africanus even thought that the Bulala's reign was richer than Kanem-Bornu for its prosperous trade withEgypt .Their power survived in diminished forms till
colonialism , when they were submitted by the French.External links
* [http://www.bondy.ird.fr/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_4/sci_hum/01553.pdf Notes sur les Bilala du Fitri] (PDF, in French)
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