{{Infobox monarch| | name = Kade III | succession = ''Mai'' of the Kanem–Bornu Empire | reign = 15th century (1–7 years)<br/>{{Circa}} 1440–1444{{efn|name="KadeReign"}} | predecessor = Ibrahim II | successor = Biri IV | death_date = {{circa}} 1444 | death_place = "Amará"/"Amazá" or Damasak, Bornu | issue = Muhammad IV<br/>Uthman IV | house = Sayfawa dynasty (Dawudid{{efn|The 14th and 15th centuries saw protracted civil wars between the rival Idrisid (descendants of Idris I Nikalemi) and Dawudid (descendants of 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 = Uthman III Kalinumuwa (?) }} '''Kade III'''{{efn|The name is also spelled ''Kadai''.<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 |pages=58, 63, 81 |chapter=The Bornu King Lists}}</ref>}} (Kade bin ʿUthmān<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 ''mai'' (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-15th century, ruling approximately 1440–1444.{{efn|name="KadeReign"|Different king lists (''girgam''s) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries give Kade different regnal lengths: 1 year (Barth, Palmer), 6 years (Urvoy, Nachtigal), or 7 years (Landeroin).<ref name=":22" /> As a result of this, and due to different calculations for other mais, various dates have been given for his reign, including 1450–1451 (Barth), 1443–1444 (Palmer), 1440–1446 (Urvoy), 1346–1353 (Landeroin), and 1377–1383 (Nachtigal).<ref name=":22" /> Kade's position in Landeroin's and Nachtigal's lists is considerably different from the others.<ref name=":22" /> Cohen (1966) contradicted the figures from the list and instead considered a reign of 4 years most likely.<ref name=":22" /> Later authors have also proposed different dates. Lange (1984) and Stewart (1989) both assigned Kade a one-year reign, dated to 1439–1440<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=261 |language=en |chapter=The kingdoms and peoples of Chad}}</ref> and 1450–1451,<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 |p=35}}</ref> respectively. Bosworth (2012) followed Cohen's 4-year figure and dated Kade's reign to 1440–1444.<ref name=":0232" />}} Kade ruled during the "Era of Instability", a chaotic period of internal and external conflict in the empire.

== Life == Kade was the son of a ''mai'' named Uthman,<ref name=":22" /> probably Uthman III Kalinumuwa.<ref name=":0" /> The account of Kade's rise to the throne is confused in the sources. A royal chronicle translated by the German explorer Heinrich Barth in the mid-19th century describes Kade as taking the throne after murdering his predecessor, the unpopular ''mai'' Ibrahim II.<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> Ibrahim was also a son of "Uthman" and thus possibly Kade's brother.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=":0" /> In a preceding section, Barth's chronicle also contradictorily describes Ibrahim II to have been placed upon the throne during the reign of ''mai'' Abdullah III Dakumuni, who ruled again for a brief period after Ibrahim's death.<ref name=":122" />

Kade had a short reign.{{efn|name="KadeReign"}} He was killed during dynastic succession conflicts by a rival, Dunama V Ahmad,<ref name=":122" /> and was succeeded as ''mai'' by Biri IV.<ref name=":0232" /><ref name=":22" /> The site of Kade's death is variously recorded as Amará/Amazá,<ref name=":122" /> or Damaza (Damasak).<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>

== Notes == {{Notelist}}

== References == <references /> {{Kanem–Bornu rulers}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Kade 03}} Category:Rulers of the Bornu Empire Category:15th-century monarchs in Africa