Wadai Empire

Wadai Empire
1635–1909
Wadai and surrounding states in 1750.
Capital		Abeche
Languages		Maban
Religion		African Traditional Religion, later Islam (official 1635)
Government		Monarchy
Kolak
•	1603-1637	Abd al-Karim
•	1902-1909	Muhammad Doud Mourrah
Historical era		Early Modern Period
•	Established	1635
•	Disestablished	1909
Preceded by Succeeded by Tunjur French Equatorial Africa
Today part of		Central African Republic Chad

The Wadai Empire or Sultanate (French: royaume du Ouaddaï; 1635–1912) was a kingdom located to the east of Lake Chad in present-day Chad and in the Central African Republic. It emerged in the sixteenth century as an offshoot of the Sultanate of Darfur (in present-day Sudan) to the northeast of the Kingdom of Baguirmi.

In 1635, the Maba and other small groups in the region rallied to the Islamic banner of Abd al-Karim, who led an invasion from the east and overthrew the ruling Tunjur group. Abd al-Karim became the first Kolak or Sultan of a dynasty that lasted until the arrival of the French. During much of the 18th century, Wadai resisted reïncorporation into Darfur.

After 1804, during the reign of Muhammad Sabun (r. 1804 - c. 1815), the sultanate of Wadai began to expand its power as it profited considerably from its strategic position astride the trans-Saharan trade routes. A new trade route to the north was found, via Ennedi, Kufra and Jalu-Awjila to Benghazi, and Sabun outfitted royal caravans to take advantage of it. He began minting his own coinage and imported chain mail, firearms, and military advisers from North Africa. Sabun's successors were less able than he, and Darfur took advantage of a disputed political succession in 1838 to put its own candidate in power in Ouara, the capital of Wadai. This tactic backfired, however, when Darfur's choice, Muhammad Sharif, rejected Darfur's meddling and asserted his own authority. In doing so, he gained acceptance from Wadai's various factions and went on to become Wadai's ablest ruler.