{{Infobox monarch| | name = Dunama VI Muhammad | succession = ''Mai'' of the Kanem–Bornu Empire | reign = 16th century (9–22 years)<br/>{{Circa}} 1545–1555{{efn|name=DunamaReign}} | predecessor = Ali II Zainami | regent = | successor = Abdullah IV Dunamami | death_date = {{circa}} 1555 | house = Sayfawa dynasty | death_place = Ngazargamu, Bornu | issue = Abdullah IV Dunamami<br/>Aissa Koli (?) | house-type = Dynasty | father = Muhammad VI Aminami{{efn|name=DunamaFather}} | mother = Fanna }} '''Dunama Muhammad''' (Dunama Muḥammad bin Muḥammad<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=127 |orig-year=1996}}</ref>), enumerated as '''Dunama VI{{efn|Some chronologies of Kanem–Bornu rulers omit the 14th-century Dunama III, lowering the regnal numbers of later rulers of this name. This ruler is then considered '''Dunama V'''.<ref name=":22"/>}}''' and called '''Dunama Ghamarami''',<ref name=":2" />{{efn|Translated by Richmond Palmer as "Dunama of the tribe of Gimara", supposedly pointing to the origin of his mother.<ref name=":322" /> This name is alternatively spelled ''Gimarami'',<ref name=":322" /> ''Ghamarámi'',<ref name=":02">{{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=649 |language=en}}</ref> and ''Rhamarami''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stokvis |first=A. M. H. J. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Manuel_d_histoire_de_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9alogie_et_de/qHNoAAAAcAAJ |title=Manuel d'histoire, de généalogie et de chronologie de tous les états du globe, depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours |date=1888 |publisher=Brill |pages=484 |language=fr}}</ref>}} '''Dunama Fannami''',<ref name=":322" />{{efn|"Dunama, son of Fanna"<ref name=":322">{{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>}} and '''Dunama Ngumaramma''',<ref name=":22">{{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 |isbn= |pages=35 |chapter=}}</ref> was ''mai'' (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-16th century, ruling approximately 1545–1555.{{efn|name=DunamaReign|Different king lists (''girgam''s) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries give Dunama different regnal lengths: 9 years (Palmer), 16 years (Nachtigal), 19 years (Barth), 19 years and 9 months (Landeroin), or 22 years (Urvoy).<ref name=":2" /> As a result of this, and due to different calculations for other mais, various dates have been given for his reign, including 1546–1563 (Barth), 1546–1555 (Palmer), 1548–1566 (Urvoy), 1512–1531 (Landeroin), and 1539–1555 (Nachtigal).<ref name=":2" /> Cohen (1966) considered a reign of 20 years most likely.<ref name=":2" /> Later authors have preferred slightly shorter reigns, such as 1546–1563, used by both Stewart (1989)<ref name=":22" /> and Bosworth (2012).<ref name=":0232" />}}
== Life == Dunama Muhammad was probably a son of ''mai'' Muhammad VI Aminami.<ref name=":2" />{{efn|name=DunamaFather|All sources except Landeroin designate Dunama as Muhammad VI Aminami's son. Landeroin designates Dunama as a son of Idris III Katagarmabe.<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, 59, 64, 81 |chapter=The Bornu King Lists}}</ref>}} His mother was named Fanna.<ref name=":2" /> Dunama became ''mai'' in the mid-16th century, succeeding Muhammad VI's brother Ali II Zainami.<ref name=":2" />
Dunama is credited with fortifying the empire's capital, Ngazargamu.<ref name=":02" /> There was a great famine in Bornu during Dunama's reign;<ref name=":02" /> later chronicles named this famine Bu Ihagana.<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. 116.</ref> Some accounts claim that Dunama had all of Ali II's sons killed (with the exception of Idris Alooma, who was hidden away) in order to avoid the possibility of one of them taking the throne.<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>
Dunama's reign saw renewed conflict with the Bilala, who governed Kanem as vassals of the empire. The Bilala ruler of Kanem, Abd al-Jalil, attacked Dunama at a site called Berberuwá. Dunama was victorious, driving Abd al-Jalil back to Kanem and defeating him in a battle there as well. The heir to the Bilala throne was killed at this second battle. The Bilala were reduced to vassals again, though people from Kanem continued to sometimes go on raids into Bornu, the empire's heartland.<ref name=":02" />
There is considerable variation in the regnal dates assigned to Dunama; he may have ruled for less than ten years or for over twenty.{{efn|name=DunamaReign}} Dunama died at Ngazargamu<ref name=":02" /> and was succeeded as ''mai'' by his son Abdullah IV Dunamami.<ref name=":2" />
== Notes == {{Notelist}} == References == {{reflist}} {{Kanem–Bornu rulers}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunama 06 Muhammad}} Category:Rulers of the Bornu Empire Category:16th-century monarchs in Africa