{{Short description|Queen regnant in the Kanem–Bornu Empire}} {{Infobox monarch| | name = Aissa Koli | succession = ''Magira'' of the Kanem–Bornu Empire | reign = 16th century (7–8 years)<br/>{{Circa}} 1563–1570{{efn|name=AissaReign}} | predecessor = Abdullah IV Dunamami | successor = Idris IV Alooma | house = Sayfawa dynasty | house-type = Dynasty | father = Unclear; Muhammad VI Aminami, Ali II Zainami, or Dunama VI Muhammad }} '''Aissa Koli''' or '''Aisa Kili''' (Āʾisha Kili<ref name="Bosworth">{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=maQxEAAAQBAJ |title=The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual |date=2012 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-2137-8 |pages=126–127 |orig-year=1996}}</ref>), sometimes called '''Aisa Kili Ngirmaramma''',<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Lipschutz |first=Mark R. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dictionary_of_African_Historical_Biograp/QYoPkk04Yp4C |title=Dictionary of African Historical Biography |last2=Rasmussen |first2=R. Kent |date=1986 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06611-3 |pages=11 |language=en |chapter=Aisa Kili Ngirmaramma}}</ref><ref name="Sheldon">{{Cite book |last=Sheldon |first=Kathleen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HwqQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA168 |title=Historical Dictionary of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa |date=2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-6293-5 |pages=26, 168 |language=en}}</ref>{{efn|Richmond Palmer translated ''Kili Ngirmaramma'' in 1912 as "lady of the great white horse".<ref name=":32">{{Cite journal |last=Palmer |first=H. R. |date=1912 |title=The Bornu Girgam |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/716085 |journal=Journal of the Royal African Society |volume=12 |issue=45 |pages=78–79 |issn=0368-4016}}</ref>}} was a ruler of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-to-late 16th century, ruling approximately 1563–1570.{{efn|name=AissaReign|Specific regnal years of rulers of the Kanem–Bornu Empire are calculated by backdating from known events using their regnal lengths and vary between sources. Palmer (1936) assigned Aissa eight regnal years and dated her reign to 1562/1563–1570. Urvoy (1941) assigned her seven regnal years and dated her reign to 1573–1580.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Ronald |url=https://archive.org/details/bostonuniversity02bost |title=Boston University Papers on Africa: Volume II: African History |date=1966 |publisher=Boston University Press |pages=55, 59, 82–83 |chapter=The Bornu King Lists}}</ref> She is sometimes omitted entirely from lists<ref name=":3" /> or designated as a co-ruler of Idris IV Alooma.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_Islamic_Dynasties/maQxEAAAQBAJ |title=The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual |date=2012 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year= |isbn=0-7486-2137-7 |pages=126–127 |orig-year=1996}}</ref> Later authors have generally followed Palmer's dates, placing her reign in c. 1563–1570,<ref name="Sheldon" /><ref name=":0" /> but alternate dates also continue to be used, such as 1497–1504.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Greenspan |first=Karen |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Timetables_of_Women_s_History/OjQpAAAAYAAJ |title=The Timetables of Women's History: A Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in Women's History |date=1994 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-67150-1 |pages=135 |language=en}}</ref> Some authors assign Aissa a longer reign, such as 1570–1580<ref name="Stewart">{{Cite book |last=Stewart |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZMuEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=African States and Rulers |date=2024 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-1707-7 |edition=3 |page=36 |language=en}}</ref> or even 1560–1610,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Falola |first=Toyin |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Women_s_Roles_in_Sub_Saharan_Africa/Uk_EEAAAQBAJ |title=Women's Roles in Sub-Saharan Africa |last2=Amponsah |first2=Nana Akua |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-38545-2 |pages=xii |language=en}}</ref> on an unclear basis.}} Formally styled as ''magira'' ("queen mother"), Aissa was one of few women to rule the empire and the only known woman to do so in her own right.<ref name="Sheldon"/>{{efn|The earlier 11th-century ruler Hu has been suggested to have been a woman though this is unproven.<ref name="Kanem-Borno">{{Cite book |last=Koslow |first=Philip |title=Kanem-Borno: 1,000 Years of Splendor |publisher=Chelsea House Publishers |year=1995 |isbn=0-7910-3129-2 |pages=19–20}}</ref> In the 12th century, Fasama also wielded considerable power as regent but she formally ruled on behalf of her young son Biri I Uthman.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barth |first=Heinrich |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Travels_and_Discoveries_in_North_and_Cen/la_zIUj0oiwC |title=Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849–1855 |date=1857 |publisher=Longmans |pages=635 |language=en}}</ref>}} Aissa remains celebrated in local Bornuan oral tradition but there is considerable disagreement in the sources on most of the details of her reign.
== Life == There are discrepancies in the sources on Aissa's familial relationships and the details on her reign. Aissa is celebrated in local oral tradition in Bornu<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Coquery-vidrovitch |first=Catherine |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/African_Women/72dNDwAAQBAJ |title=African Women: A Modern History |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-98212-5 |language=en |chapter=Queen Mothers and Female Regents}}</ref> but is often omitted in literary sources written by Arab historians.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> This is generally attributed to an unwillingness on the part of these historians to acknowledge powerful female rulers.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />
Aissa is said to have succeeded ''mai'' Abdullah IV Dunamami in the absence of obvious male heirs to the throne.<ref name="Sheldon" /> Her connection to the empire's ruling Sayfawa dynasty differs depending on the source. Transcripts and translations of Bornuan documents and oral histories done in the 19th and 20th centuries designate her as a daughter of either ''mai'' Muhammad VI Aminami (Palmer, 1936) or ''mai'' Dunama VI Muhammad (Urvoy, 1941).<ref name=":3" /> Another version designates her as a daughter of ''mai'' Ali II Zainami<ref name="Jackson">{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Guida Myrl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wASHhCGGFkC&q=Aissa+koli |title=Women Who Ruled: A Biographical Encyclopedia |date=1998 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |isbn=978-0-7607-0885-9 |pages=19–20 |language=en}}</ref> and an older sister or half-sister of her successor, ''mai'' Idris IV Alooma.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Jackson" /> Aissa reportedly ruled until Idris was able to assume the throne and then abdicated,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> having ensured dynastic continuity during a timespan when Idris was either a minor<ref name=":1" /> or missing.<ref name="Jackson" /> Aissa continued to serve as a close advisor to Idris after her own reign<ref name=":1" /> and is sometimes credited with educating him in politics.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Aderinto |first=Saheed |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/African_Kingdoms/6hXHEAAAQBAJ |title=African Kingdoms: An Encyclopedia of Empires and Civilizations |date=2017 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-580-0 |pages=xviii |language=en}}</ref>
In one version of the tale that presents Aissa as Ali II's daughter, Dunama VI (who succeeded Ali) had all the sons of Ali killed, except for Idris who was sent away to the Bilala in secret by his mother, Amsa. When Abdullah IV (Dunama's heir) died, Aissa succeeded him as ruler as she was unaware that Idris was still alive.<ref name="Sheldon" /> Some versions designate Aissa as Idris's mother,<ref name=":4" /> perhaps out of confusing resulting from the use of the title ''magira'' ("queen mother").<ref name=":3" /> This is false since Idris's mother is known from various sources to have been named Amsa.<ref name=":3" /> Ronald Cohen suggested in 1966 that the use of ''magira'' could imply that Aissa was a wife of Ali II, but not Idris's mother, and that she thus lacked formal blood ties to the other rulers.<ref name=":3" />
== Notes == {{Notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Kanem–Bornu rulers}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koli, Aissa}} Category:Queens regnant in Africa Category:History of women in Nigeria Category:Rulers of the Bornu Empire Category:16th-century monarchs in Africa Category:16th-century Nigerian women Category:16th-century Nigerian people Category:16th-century queens regnant Category:Chadian women in politics