{{Distinguish|Amarna}}{{Infobox monarch| | name = Amarma | succession = ''Mai'' of the Kanem–Bornu Empire | reign = 15th century (1–2 years)<br/>{{Circa}} 1450–1451{{efn|name=AmarmaReign}} | predecessor = Muhammad III | successor = Muhammad IV | death_date = {{Circa}} 1451 | death_place = "Tármata" or "Yaramiya" | house = Sayfawa dynasty | house-type = Dynasty | mother = Aisa }} '''Amarma''',{{efn|There are many variations of Amarma's name across sources, including ''Amarma'',<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":02322" /> ''Amer'',<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":02322" /><ref name=":122">{{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=643 |language=en}}</ref> ''Amr'',<ref name=":0" /><ref name="stewart" /> ''Aman'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nachtigal |first=Gustav |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdclccn.02013942v2/?st=gallery |title=Săharâ und Sûdân: Ergebnisse Sechsjähriger Reisen in Afrika: Zweiter Teil |publisher=Verlagshandlung Paul Parey |year=1881 |isbn= |pages=396 |language=de |chapter=}}</ref> and ''Mer''.<ref name=":122" />}} also recorded as '''Hummay II''',{{efn|Landeroin (1911) recorded Amarma as ''Oumé'', the same name he used for the earlier ''mai'' Hummay.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Landeroin |first=Moïse |url=https://archive.org/details/documentsscienti21911miss/page/348/mode/2up |title=Documents Scientifiques de la Mission Tilho (1906–1909): Tome Deuxième |date=1911 |publisher=Imprimerie Nationale |pages=48 |language=fr |chapter=Du Tchad au Niger. — Notice historique}}</ref> This name is also rendered as ''Ume'',<ref name=":02322" /> ''Umme'',''<ref name=":2" />'' and ''Oume'',''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Urvoy |first=Yves |date=1941 |title=Chronologie du Bornou |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/jafr_0037-9166_1941_num_11_1_2500 |journal=Journal des Africanistes |language=fr |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=29 |doi=10.3406/jafr.1941.2500}}</ref>'' depending on the source.}} was briefly ''mai'' (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-15th century, ruling approximately 1450–1451.{{efn|name=AmarmaReign|King lists (''girgam''s) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries agree that Amarma ruled for either one year (Barth, Nachtigal), one year and five months (Landeroin), or two years (Palmer, Urvoy).<ref name=":2">{{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=54, 58, 66, 81 |chapter=The Bornu King Lists}}</ref> Due to differing dates and calculations for other ''mai''s, various dates have been given for his reign, including 1456 (Barth), 1450–1452 (Palmer), 1451–1453 (Urvoy), 1423–1424 (Landeroin), and 1451–1452 (Nachtigal).<ref name=":2" /> Cohen (1966) considered a reign of one year to be most likely.<ref name=":2" /> Lange (1984) dated Amarma's reign to 1444–1445,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Lange |first=Dierk |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000184287 |title=General history of Africa, IV: Africa from the twelfth to the sixteenth century |date= |website= |publisher=University of California |year=1984 |isbn=978-92-3-101710-0 |editor-last=Niane |editor-first=Djibril Tamsir |pages=265 |language=en |chapter=The kingdoms and peoples of Chad}}</ref> Stewart (1989) dated it to 1456,<ref name="stewart">{{Cite book |last=Stewart |first=John |title=African States and Rulers: An Encyclopedia of Native, Colonial and Independent States and Rulers Past and Present |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=1989 |pp=35}}</ref> and Bosworth (2012) dated it to 1450–1451.<ref name=":02322">{{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>}} Possibly a usurper, Amarma ruled during the "Era of Instability", a chaotic period of internal and external conflict in the empire.
== Life == Amarma was the son of Aisa, daughter of ''mai'' Uthman.<ref name=":2" /> It is not clear which Uthman is meant in the sources, as several ''mai''s bore this name (Uthman I, Uthman II, Uthman III Kalinumuwa and Biri III Uthman). Lange (1984) suggested Biri III Uthman as the most likely candidate.<ref name=":0" /> Some sources state that it was Amarma's father (and not grandfather) who was named Uthman, presumably a mistake.<ref name=":2" />{{efn|Barth (1857) and Palmer (1936) did not name Amarma's father and named his mother as Aisa, daughter of Uthman. Nachtigal (1881), Landeroin (1911), and Urvoy (1941) named Amarma's father as Uthman. Urvoy also named his mother as Aisa, whereas Nachtigal and Landeroin did not include the names of the mothers of the ''mai''s in their lists.<ref name=":2" />}}
As the grandson of a monarch, Amarma bore the title of ''maidu''. A ''maidu'' could advance to become a ''maina'' if their father became king, and therefore also become a possible successor to the throne. In the case of Amarma, this should have been impossible since he was ''maidu'' only through a female line.<ref name=":2" /> Amarma nevertheless succeeded Muhammad III as ''mai'' in the mid-15th century.<ref name=":02322" /> Cohen (1966) proposed that Amarma usurped the throne<ref name=":2" /> whereas Lange (1984) opposed designating him as a usurper due to the limited evidence.<ref name=":0" /> Amarma ruled briefly, only one or two years,{{efn|name=AmarmaReign}} before dying at a site recorded as Tármata<ref name=":122" /> or Yarimiya (Yamia).<ref>Palmer, H. R. (1926). History Of The First Twelve Years Of The Reign Of Mai Idris Alooma Of Bornu (1571–1583) (Fartua, Ahmed Ibn). p. 114.</ref> He was succeeded as ''mai'' by Muhammad IV.<ref name=":02322" />
== Notes == {{Notelist}}
== References == <references /> {{Kanem–Bornu rulers}} Category:Rulers of the Bornu Empire Category:15th-century monarchs in Africa