# Biri IV

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{{Infobox monarch|
| name         = Biri IV
| succession   = ''[Mai](/source/List_of_mais_of_Kanem%E2%80%93Bornu)'' of the [Kanem–Bornu Empire](/source/Kanem%E2%80%93Bornu_Empire)
| reign        = 15th century (1–6 years)<br/>{{Circa}} 1444–1445{{efn|name="BiriReign"}}
| predecessor  = [Kade III](/source/Kade_III)
| successor    = [Dunama V Ahmad](/source/Dunama_V_Ahmad)
| death_date   = {{circa}} 1445
| house        = [Sayfawa dynasty](/source/Sayfawa_dynasty) (Idrisid{{efn|The 14th and 15th centuries saw protracted civil wars between the rival Idrisid (descendants of [Idris I Nikalemi](/source/Idris_I_Nikalemi)) and Dawudid (descendants of [Dawud Nikalemi](/source/Dawud_Nikalemi)) branches of the Sayfawa dynasty.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lange |first=Dierk |url=https://www.google.se/books/edition/Dictionary_of_African_Biography/39JMAgAAQBAJ |title=Dictionary of African Biography |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-538207-5 |pages=172–173 |language=en |chapter=Ali Gajideni}}</ref>}})
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [Dunama IV](/source/Dunama_IV) (?)
}}
'''Biri IV''' (Biri bin Dunama<ref name=":0232">{{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>) was briefly ''[mai](/source/List_of_mais_of_Kanem%E2%80%93Bornu)'' (ruler) of the [Kanem–Bornu Empire](/source/Kanem%E2%80%93Bornu_Empire) in the mid-15th century, ruling approximately 1444–1445.{{efn|name="BiriReign"|Biri is omitted in the 19th–20th century king lists (''[girgam](/source/girgam)''s) published by [Barth](/source/Heinrich_Barth), [Palmer](/source/Richmond_Palmer), and [Urvoy](/source/Yves_Urvoy). [Nachtigal](/source/Gustav_Nachtigal) and [Landeroin](/source/Mo%C3%AFse_Landeroin) both assign Biri a 6-year reign.<ref name=":22" /> Nachtigal dated his reign to 1455–1461 and Landeroin dated it to 1427–1433.<ref name=":22" /> Among later scholars, Biri is also omitted by Lange (1984)<ref>{{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=261 |language=en |chapter=The kingdoms and peoples of Chad}}</ref> and Stewart (1989).<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 |pages=35}}</ref> Cohen (1966) assigned Biri a reign of a single year without comment, contradicting Nachtigal and Landeroin's lists.<ref name=":22" /> Bosworth (2012) followed Cohen's assessment of a single year, dating Biri's reign to 1444–1445.<ref name=":0232" />}} Biri ruled during the "[Era of Instability](/source/Era_of_Instability_(Kanem%E2%80%93Bornu))", a chaotic period of internal and external conflict in the empire.

== Life ==
Biri was the son of a ''mai'' named Dunama, probably [Dunama IV](/source/Dunama_IV).<ref name=":22">{{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 |chapter=The Bornu King Lists |pp=58, 63, 81}}</ref> Biri became ''mai'' in the mid-15th century,<ref name=":0232" /> after his predecessor [Kade III](/source/Kade_III)<ref name=":0232" /><ref name=":22" /> had been defeated by the rival claimant [Dunama V Ahmad](/source/Dunama_V_Ahmad).<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=642 |language=en}}</ref> Biri ruled only briefly{{efn|name="BiriReign"}} before he was succeeded by Dunama V Ahmad.<ref name=":0232" /><ref name=":22" />

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
<references />
{{Kanem–Bornu rulers}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Bir 04}}
Category:Rulers of the Bornu Empire
Category:15th-century monarchs in Africa

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Biri IV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biri_IV) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biri_IV?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.