The '''Bilala dynasty'''<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Azevedo |first=Mario J. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Historical_Dictionary_of_Chad/HGeAEQAAQBAJ |title=Historical Dictionary of Chad |last2=Decalo |first2=Samuel |date=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-20783-2 |pages=119–120, 394 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Barth1">{{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=265 |language=en}}</ref> is the royal lineage of the traditional leaders of the Bilala people, an ethnic group today concentrated around Lake Fitri in Chad. The Bilala monarchs have historically ruled different territories, and varied in authority and titles used. Lists of Bilala rulers, preserved through oral tradition, are inconsistent and contradictory before the late 19th century.
In the 14th century, the Bilala conquered Kanem, a territory immediately northeast of Lake Chad, from the Sayfawa dynasty of the Kanem–Bornu Empire. Bilala rulers of Kanem are referred to with titles such as ''mai'', emir, and sultan in the sources, titles also applied to Sayfawa monarchs. The Bilala lost Kanem in the 17th century, whereafter they migrated to their present-day lands around Lake Fitri. The traditional capital of the Bilala has since then been the town of Yao. Bilala rulers since the 17th century are thus commonly referred to as the sultans of Yao,<ref name="Hagenbucher">{{Cite journal |last=Hagenbucher |first=F. |date=1968 |title=Notes sur les Bilala du fitri |url=http://www.bondy.ird.fr/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_4/sci_hum/01553.pdf |journal=Cahiers ORSTOM: Sciences humaines |language=en |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=50–51 |archive-date=2005-10-16 |access-date=2025-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051016133554/http://www.bondy.ird.fr/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_4/sci_hum/01553.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> though other titles are sometimes also used, such as ''mai'' of Fitri<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=Richmond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKqbDwAAQBAJ |title=Sudanese Memoirs: Being Mainly Translations of a Number of Arabic Manuscripts Relating to the Central and Western Sudan |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-60370-9 |language=en |chapter=V(b).–Origin of the Bulala Kings of Fitri According to the Manuscript of Sarkin Gulfei |orig-year=1928}}</ref> or sultan of Fitri.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Lionel |first=Bedoum |date=2023-10-23 |title=Le Sultan du Fitri sa majesté Tchoroma Hassane Absakine, est allé se recueillir sur la tombe du feu président Maréchal du Tchad Idriss Déby Itno. - Tchad24 TV |url=https://tchad24.tv/le-sultan-du-fitri-sa-majeste-tchoroma-hassane-absakine-est-alle-se-recueillir-sur-la-tombe-du-feu-president-marechal-du-tchad-idriss-deby-itno/ |access-date=2025-11-16 |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
== Ancestor figures == The traditional origin stories of the Bilala rulers are similar, and often connected to, the origin stories or rulers of the Sayfawa dynasty, which ruled the Kanem–Bornu Empire. Like the Sayfawa, the Bilala have from the time of their conversion to Islam onwards claimed fictitious Arab ancestry as a source of prestige.<ref name="Hagenbucher" /> There are various contradictory versions of the origin tale, with different names given to the progenitor of the Bilala dynasty:
* One version claims that the Bilala are descended from an eponymous ancestor figure named Bilal<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Yakan |first=Mohamad |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Almanac_of_African_Peoples_and_Nations/e_hADwAAQBAJ |title=Almanac of African Peoples and Nations |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-28930-6 |language=en |chapter=Bilala}}</ref> or Balal.<ref name=":0" /> Bilal is said to have been an early African convert to Islam, perhaps an early companion of the prophet.<ref name=":02" /> Bilal's descendants reportedly "mixed with the Arabs".<ref name=":02" /> Another version also features Bilal, but makes him into a local Kanembu figure, who organised a force to oppose the rule of the Sayfawa.<ref name=":0" /> * One version gives the Yemenite ancestor of the Bilala the name Muhammad al-Kabir al-Yamani.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /> Al-Yamani is said to have been invested as a king by the prophet and to have lived for two hundred years. According to this tale, al-Yamani traveled extensively and tried to convert various populations to Islam, including people around the Red Sea, before he settled in modern-day Chad.<ref name=":3" /> * One version claims that the Bilala were descendants of the "sultan of Baghdad" and that they "obtained power in Baghdad" for some time.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=Richmond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKqbDwAAQBAJ |title=Sudanese Memoirs: Being Mainly Translations of a Number of Arabic Manuscripts Relating to the Central and Western Sudan |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-60370-9 |language=en |chapter=VI.–The War Between the Bulala and Saifawa |orig-year=1928}}</ref> According to this tale, the Bilala were attacked in Baghdad by Sef (the eponymous ancestor of the Sayfawa) after he had left Yemen; Sef is said to have defeated the Bilala and became sultan of Baghdad. Sef eventually left Baghdad and traveled to "Badinimguro", where he was for 333 years, and then traveled to "N'gibi N'gabulo", where he also was 333 years, before he reached Njimi in Kanem. The Bilala came to Kanem later and the country was divided between them and the Sayfawa.<ref name=":12" /> * One version names the first ruler of the Bilala as Jil Sukumami<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=Richmond |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sudanese_Memoirs/aGsPEAAAQBAJ |title=Sudanese Memoirs: Being Mainly Translations of a Number of Arabic Manuscripts Relating to the Central and Western Sudan |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-60922-0 |pages=1–2 |language=en |orig-year=1928}}</ref> or Djil Sjikomeni.<ref name=":2" /> Heinrich Barth (1857) believed Jil was a son of the Sayfawa ''mai'' Dunama II Dibalemi.<ref name=":2" /> Richmond Palmer (1936) placed him later, as a contemporary of the 14th-century Sayfawa ''mai''s Idris I Nikalemi and Dawud Nikalemi.<ref name=":5" />
== Oral history accounts ==
=== Historical outline === A general outline of Bilala history can be produced through both Bilala and foreign sources. The Bilala are first recorded to have been in conflict with the Sayfawa in the reign of the 14th-century Sayfawa ''mai'' Dawud Nikalemi.<ref name=":32">Palmer, Richmond (1926). History Of The First Twelve Years Of The Reign Of Mai Idris Alooma Of Bornu (1571–1583) (Fartua, Ahmed Ibn). pp. 113–116.</ref> Dawud was defeated and killed by the Bilala {{Circa}} 1363,{{Efn|The dates vary between sources. See Dawud Nikalemi's article for other suggested dates for the end of his reign.}} and the Bilala were able to capture Njimi, the capital of Kanem.<ref name="Barth2">{{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=638–643 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{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=258–263 |language=en |chapter=The kingdoms and peoples of Chad}}</ref> Njimi was retaken by Dawud's successor, Uthman I,<ref name="Barth2" /> but lost again to the Bilala some years later, in the time of the Sayfawa ''mai'' Umar I Idrismi, {{Circa}} 1380.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lange |first=Dierk |title=Dictionary of African Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-19-538207-5 |location= |pages=262 |chapter=Dunama Dibbalemi}}</ref> The loss of Kanem prompted the Sayfawa to re-establish themselves west of Lake Chad, in the Bornu region.<ref name="Barth2" />
The Bilala established their own kingdom in Kanem, which rivaled that of the Sayfawa in Bornu.<ref name=":82">{{Citation |last=Dewière |first=Rémi |title=The Kanem and Borno Sultanates (11th–19th Centuries) |date=2024 |work=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History |pages=7, 13 |url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-1147 |access-date= |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.1147 |isbn=978-0-19-027773-4 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The Bilala ruled Kanem until they lost the country {{Circa}} 1630,<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Conte |first=Edouard |title=Herders, Warriors, And Traders: Pastoralism In Africa |publisher=Routledge |year=1991 |isbn=9780429045615 |pages=226, 234 |chapter=Herders, Hunters and Smiths: Mobile Populations in the History of Kanem |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429045615-10/herders-hunters-smiths-mobile-populations-history-kanem-edouard-conte}}</ref> whereafter they relocated to their present lands around Lake Fitri.<ref name=":8">{{Citation |last=Dewière |first=Rémi |title=The Kanem and Borno Sultanates (11th–19th Centuries) |date=2024 |work=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History |pages=7, 13 |url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-1147 |access-date= |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.1147 |isbn=978-0-19-027773-4 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
=== Rulers mentioned in Sayfawa ''girgam''s === The history of the Kanem–Bornu Empire and its rulers is mainly recorded in the ''girgam'', a royal chronicle preserved over the centuries mainly through oral history. ''Girgam''s recording the line of the Sayfawa rulers also mention several Bilala rulers, though a complete line of rulers is not recorded. Similar names and details of these rulers are given in ''girgam''s translated by Heinrich Barth in 1857<ref name="Barth2" /> and Richmond Palmer in 1928:<ref name=":32" /> {| class="wikitable" !Name (Barth, 1857)<ref name="Barth2" /> !Name (Palmer, 1928)<ref name=":32" /> !Sayfawa contemporary<ref name="Barth2" /> !Details<ref name="Barth2" /> |- |ʿAbd el Jélil |Abd ul Jalil of the seed of Ume (Jilmi){{efn|Ume Jilmi is one of several alternate names sometimes used for the Sayfawa ''mai'' Hummay.}} |Dawud Nikalemi |Killed Dawud in battle |- |Mohammed, son of ʿAbd Allah |"The Eanemma" |Gaji |Killed Gaji in battle |- |Selma or ʿAbd el Jélil |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|''Not mentioned'' |Ali I Gaji |Barth stated that the contemporary Leo Africanus mistakenly{{efn|Barth doubted that ʿOmár was the correct name here since he believed this Bilala ruler to have been the father of the Bilala ruler who was defeated by Idris III Katagarmabe, Ali I Gaji's heir. Idris III's defeated rival was the son of "Selma or ʿAbd el Jélil". Barth also stated that the name ʿOmár is not otherwise known from the sequence of Bilala rulers.<ref name="Barth2" />}} identified this ruler as ʿOmár. |- |Dunama, son of Selma or ʿAbd el Jélil |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|''Not mentioned'' |Idris III Katagarmabe |Son of Selma, defeated by Idris III |- |A'dim, brother of Dunama |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|''Not mentioned)'' |Idris III Katagarmabe |Took the throne after his brother Dunama's death, defeated by Idris III |- |Kadé, son of ʿAbd el Jélil and Lifiya |Kadai ibn Lefia |Muhammad VI Aminami |Rose up against Muhammad VI and was defeated |- |ʿAbd el Jélil, son of Kade |Abd ul Jalil ibn Gumsu |Dunama VI Muhammad<br/>Abdullah IV Dunamami |Son of Kadé, rose up against Dunama VI and was defeated |- |ʿAbd Allah, son of ʿAbd el Jélil |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|''Not mentioned'' |Abdullah IV Dunamami<br/>Aissa Koli<br/>Idris IV Alooma |Son of ʿAbd el Jélil, concluded a peace treaty with Idris IV |- |Mohammed, son of ʿAbd Allah |style="background:#E6E6E6;"|''Not mentioned'' |Idris IV Alooma |Son of ʿAbd Allah, died after a short reign |- |ʿAbd el Jélil ben ʿAbd el Jélil |Abd ul Jalil the son of the daughter of Gargar |Idris IV Alooma |Uncle of Mohammed, broke off negotiations with Idris IV and fought a war against him |}
=== Bilala ''girgam''s and histories === The Bilala have their own ''girgam'' tradition to record the royal line, though the sequence of rulers differs considerably between different versions. Some traditional short histories of specific episodes in Bilala history also record a handful of rulers. Several royal lists and short histories were translated by Richmond Palmer in his ''Sudanese Memoirs'' (1928).<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=Richmond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKqbDwAAQBAJ |title=Sudanese Memoirs: Being Mainly Translations of a Number of Arabic Manuscripts Relating to the Central and Western Sudan |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-60370-9 |language=en |chapter=V.–The Bulala Secession from the Mais of Kanem |orig-year=1928}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=Richmond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKqbDwAAQBAJ |title=Sudanese Memoirs: Being Mainly Translations of a Number of Arabic Manuscripts Relating to the Central and Western Sudan |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-60370-9 |language=en |chapter=V(a).–List of Bulala Mais of Kanem |orig-year=1928}}</ref>
==== Histories ==== One of the tales translated by Palmer (in several versions) is ''The Bilala Secession from the Mais of Kanem'', which records the Bilala conquest of Kanem and the decades that followed. Depending on the version, ''The Bilala Secession'' records a single Bilala ruler (eponymously named "Bilala" or "Bulala") as conquering Kanem and ruling for a century, or a succession of three rulers:<ref name=":13" />
* Sultan Bilala (or Lefia) of Fitri, who conquered Kanem from the Sayfawa ''mai'' Dawud and ruled for 25 years.<ref name=":13" /> * Sultan Sowi, who ruled for 32 years.<ref name=":13" /> * Sultan Yari bin Sowi, who ruled for 19 years and was defeated by the Sayfawa ''mai'' "Ali Gaji".<ref name=":13" />
To make the chronology fit, Palmer identified "Ali Gaji" not as the Sayfawa ''mai'' otherwise recorded as Ali I Gaji, but as the earlier Sayfawa ruler Gaji,<ref name=":13" /> who the Sayfawa ''girgam'' contradictorily describes as having been killed by a Bilala ruler named Mohammed.<ref name="Barth2" /> Palmer suggested that Yari and Mohammed were two names for the same ruler, and that both names were later nicknames.<ref name=":13" />
Another tale, ''The War Between the Bilala and Sayfawa'', records Bilala history around the time of the Sayfawa ''mai'' Idris IV Alooma.<ref name=":12" /> This tale includes a confused account of Sayfawa history; the Sayfawa ''mai''s Ali I Gaji (builder of Ngazargamu) and Ali II Zainami (Idris's father) are erroneously equated as the same person and Aissa Koli is erroneously identified as the daughter of Dunama II Dibalemi.<ref name=":12" /> ''The War Between the Bilala and Sayfawa'' records that Ali married Amsa, daughter of the Bilala ruler Umr (Umar),{{Efn|Amsa is in some other accounts identified as ''Amsa Aliram'', i.e. "Amsa, daughter of Ali".}} who was Idris's mother. Idris eventually becomes ruler of the Sayfawa and later leads a campaign in which he defeats and kills his maternal grandfather Umr, also becoming ruler of the Bilala.<ref name=":12" /> After Idris, Mai Kunuma (or Mai Mala Ganami), son of Umr, becomes ruler of the Bilala and the Bilala relocate to the Lake Fitri region.<ref name=":12" />
==== Lists (''girgam''s) ==== In ''Sudanese Memoirs'', Palmer translated three lists of Bilala rulers. These lists included a Bilala ''girgam'', with regnal years and some notes, as well as two name lists of rulers. Palmer titled the two name lists as ''List of Bilala Mais of Kanem'' (List A) and ''Origin of the Bilala Kings of Fitri According to the Manuscript of Sarkin Gulfei'' (List B). The lists do not differentiate between ancestral figures, Bilala rulers of Kanem, and Bilala rulers of Yao (Fitri). {| class="wikitable" |+ ! scope="col" width="33%"|Bilala ''girgam''<ref name=":1" /> ! scope="col" width="33%"|List B<ref name=":3" /> ! scope="col" width="33%"|List A<ref name=":22" /> |- | # Muhammad al-Yamani, the first Bilala ruler, came to the "Bahr Sau"{{efn|Bahr Sau was identified by Palmer as "In Bideyat country. East of N'galaka."<ref name=":1" />}} and died there. # Salih (12 years) # Muhammad al-Wan (24 years) # Abdul Jalil al-Kabir (47 years), fought against "Idris of Bornu"{{Efn|Three rulers of Bornu bore the name Idris: Idris III Katagarmabe, Idris IV Alooma, and Idris V.}} and conquered Lake Fitri, first to rule from Yao # Muhammad Alwan (19 years), son of Abdul Jalil al-Kabir # Muhammad Rishad (21 years), son of Muhammad Alwan # Muhammad Adil Saghir (7 years and 6 months), brother of Muhammad Rishad # Muhammad Adil al-Kabir (19 years), son of Muhammad Adil Saghir # Muhammad Beyad (4 years and 4 months), son of Muhammad Adil al-Kabir # Muhammad Umr (30 years), brother of Muhammad Beyad # Muhammad Jeli al-Saghir (3 years), son of Muhammad Umr # Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Kabir (5 years), son of Muhammad Jeli al-Saghir # Muhamamd N'gâri (15 years), son of Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Kabir # Abdurahman (or Abd ar-Rahman) (25 years), son of Muhammad N'gâri, fought a war against a group of Toubo # Muhammad Sowi (49 years), son of Abdurahman, a just ruler # Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Kabir (32 years), son of Muhamamd Sowi # Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Saghir (47 years), brother of Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Kabir, famine and sickness in his reign # Muhammad Shawi (29 years), son of Muhammad Abd al-Jalil al-Kabir # Idris (37 years), son of Muhammad Shawi, war with Bagirmi over ivory # Muhammad Bekuma al-Kabir (39 years), son of Idris # Jurab al-Fil (40 years), brother of Muhammad Bekuma al-Kabir # Musa (24 years), civil war against his brother Jurab al-Saghir, who fled the country but returned and killed Musa after Musa had ruled 24 years # Jurab al-Saghir (38 years), brother of Musa # Hassan Bekuma (7 years), civil war against his brother Gudei, who fled the country to Wadai # Maina Jiri (3 years), brother of Hassan Bekuma, attacked, defeated, and taken prisoner by Yusuf of Wadai # Gudei (13 years), brother of Maina Jiri and Hassan Bekuma, installed by Yusuf of Wadai, faced civil war by Musa's sons, killed by the French # Hassan (20 years), successor of Gudei # Chiroma, son of Hassan, became ruler in 1922 | # Muhammad al-Kabir al-Yamani # Muhammad # Muhammad # Muhammad # Moama Mahmud # Muhammad # Muhammad # Muhammad al-Bulalai, "in whose time the separation occurred"{{efn|The separation of the Sayfawa and Bilala realms, i.e. the conquest of Kanem by the Bilala.}} # Muhammad # Muhammad Tsilin (Al Aswad) "the prosperous" # Muhammad # Muhammad # Abd al-Kârim # Abd al-Jalil # Abd al-Jalil # Abdalla Fahanam # Jili (Abd al-Jalil) # Muhammad Chiroma # Muhammad Wali, buried at "Seita" # Abdalla (Abdullahi) # Muhammad Jurab al-Kabir # Muhammad Abu Sakkin # Sultan Muhammad Jurab # Muhammad Kade | # Othman ibn Affan # Hakkiyi # Umr # Khuri # Hadar # Tadu # Hari # Kudu or Kiwada # Kunna or Kinâ # Gadig or Gadga # Mai Koma or Mai Gana # Sadiyi or Sadi # Lefia # Gemu or Jimu # Jurab # Abu Sakkin # Baliyi or Baliya # K'ala # Haj Halihan or Haj Jil # Bêhama # Asawa or Asawi # Dahu or Dahi # Lihu or Lihi # Hamr or Umr # Adam # Bikur # Tâdu # Haj Umr # Adam Kai # Abdurrahman # Ahmad or Hamad # Sowi or Sawi (Asawi) # Sultan Yari # Lefia (Maina Muhammad ibn Yari) # Dala # Daward (Khalifa Daudumi) # Lefia # Dala # Umr # Chiroma # Medu or Maidugu # Kademi or Kazgin # Kâlah or Kâle # Shattima "who is Mahir-asal-Sheikh" |} According to Palmer, the differences at the end of List A are due to a split in the Bilala lineage, with List A representing the branch of a Bilala prince named Shettima, not of the main line.<ref name=":22" /> Palmer believed both List A and List B to be faulty but stated that they supplemented each other, claiming that an approximate full list could be created by combining the two.<ref name=":3" /> Palmer also created a comparative list, where several figures were speculatively identified as the same, such as Othman ibn Affan in List A perhaps being the same figure as Muhammad el-Yamani in List B.<ref name=":3" />
=== Hagenbucher's list === Frank Hagenbucher wrote down a list of Bilala rulers in April 1967, published in 1968 as part of a larger collection of notes and observations on the Bilala.<ref name="Hagenbucher" /> Hagenbucher's list is limited to the Bilala rulers of Yao, i.e. after their flight from Kanem. Hagenbucher's list begins with Mahamat Djil Essa Tubo, who Hagenbucher identified as the first sultan of Yao.<ref name="Hagenbucher" /> {| class="wikitable" !Name !Regnal years !Relationship, notes !Seat |- |Mahamat Djil Essa Tubo |40 years |First sultan of Yao |Yao |- |Tshéroma Mahamat |23 years |Son of predecessor |Yao |- |Mahamat Madgashé |30 years |Son of predecessor |Yao |- |Mada Saxaïr ({{Also known as}} Mat Kurtu) |18 years |Son of predecessor |Yao |- |Mahamat Djourab el Kabir |28 years |Son of predecessor |Yao |- |Mahamat Mortcho |80 years |Son of predecessor |Yao |- |Djourab el Mongo |3 years |Son of predecessor |Yao |- |Dogo Arma |3 years |Son of Mahamat Mortcho |Am Sawasil{{efn|name="Sawasil"|Located near Ati.<ref name="Hagenbucher" />}} |- |Mahamat Balkashé |60 years |Son of Mahamat Djourab el Kabir |Yao |- |Djourab Saxaïr ({{Also known as}} Bob Gumsu) |1 year and 6 months |Son of predecessor |Yao |- |Moussa Mortcho |7 months |Son of Mahamat Mortcho |Am Sawasil{{efn|name="Sawasil"}} |- |Djourab Saxaïr (second reign) |3 years |Returned to the throne |Yao |- |Bayé Mortcho |15 years |Son of Moussa Mortcho |Yao |- |Djourab Saxaïr (third reign) |38 years |Returned to the throne |Yao |- |Hassan Baïkouma |7 years |Son of predecessor |Yao |- |Djili |3 years |Son of Djourab Saxaïr |Yao |- |Mahamat Gadaï |12 years |Son of Djourab Saxaïr |Yao |- |Hassan Absakin |22 years |Son of Tschéroma Abdallah, a nephew of Mahamat Balkashé |Yao |- |Mahamat Hassan Abba |23 years |Son of Hassan Absakin |Yao |- |Oumar Mahamat Abba |24 years |Son of predecessor |Yao |- |Hassan Absakin | |Became ruler in 1967 |Yao |}
== Recent rulers (late 19th century–present) == Lists of Bilala rulers are largely in agreement from the death of Djourab Saxaïr (Jurab al-Saghir) in the late 19th century, though dates are inconsistent and contradictory.
This period began with a civil war over the throne between two of Djourab's sons, Hassan Baïkouma (Hassan Bekuma) and Mahamat Gadaï (Muhammad Gadai). Gadaï, based in "Auni (near Meto)", failed to take the throne and was in exile in the Wadai Sultanate for seven years until the Wadai sultan Yusuf defeated Hassan's son Djili and installed Gadaï as ruler.<ref name=":1" /> Gadaï ruled until French colonization.<ref name=":1" /> The throne has since then been in the hands of the line of Gadaï's relative Hassan Absakine.<ref name="Hagenbucher" /> {| class="wikitable" |+ !Name !Reign !Relation to predecessor |- |Hassan Baïkouma (or Hassan Bekuma) |"7 years"<ref name="Hagenbucher" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Palmer |first=Richmond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKqbDwAAQBAJ |title=Sudanese Memoirs: Being Mainly Translations of a Number of Arabic Manuscripts Relating to the Central and Western Sudan |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-60370-9 |language=en |chapter=III.–Bulala Girgam: Their Well-Established Descent from the Arabs of Yaman as Recorded |orig-year=1928}}</ref> |Son of Djourab Saxaïr (Jurab al-Saghir) |- |Djili (or Jiri) |"3 years"<ref name="Hagenbucher" /><ref name=":1" /> |Son<ref name="Hagenbucher" /> or brother<ref name=":1" /> |- |Mahamat Gadaï (or Gudei, Kadai, Kade) |"12 years",<ref name="Hagenbucher" /> "13 years",<ref name=":1" /> killed in 1909?{{efn|Mahamat Gadaï is said in one ''girgam'' to have been defeated and killed by the French at Mulabis.<ref name=":1" /> The Lake Fitri region was occupied and colonized by France in May 1909.<ref name=":0" />}} |Uncle or brother{{Efn|Son of Djourab Saxaïr (Jurab al-Saghir)}} |- |Hassan Absakine (or Hassan Absakin) |"20 years",<ref name=":1" /> "22 years",<ref name="Hagenbucher" /> incumbent in 1917<ref name=":3" /> |First cousin, once removed{{efn|Hagenbucher states that Hassan Absakine was a son of Tschéroma Abdallah, a nephew of Mahamat Balkashé.<ref name="Hagenbucher" />}} |- |Mahamat Hassan Abba (or Tchoroma) |"23 years",<ref name="Hagenbucher" /> became sultan in 1922<ref name=":1" /> |Son |- |Oumar Mahamat Abba |"24 years"<ref name="Hagenbucher" /> |Son |- |Hassan Absakine Oumar Mahamat Abba |1967<ref name="Hagenbucher" />–1973 |Son |- |Tchoroma Hassane Absakine<ref name=":4" /> |1973–present |Son |}
== See also == * List of ''mai''s of Kanem–Bornu – the line of Sayfawa rulers, rivals and possibly relatives of the Bilala rulers
== Notes == {{Notelist}} == References == <references />
Category:Lists of monarchs in Africa Category:African royalty