The Kingdom of Bagirmi , Bagirmi, also spelled Baguirmi , a historical African state founded in the 16th century in the region southeast of the Lake Chad . Europeans first learned of the existence of Bagirmi and the other powerful states Central Africa (Wadai Bornu-Kanem), as Dixon Denham invaded the Lake Chad region in 1823. Details were obtained in particular from written records of later discoverers Heinrich Barth and Gustav Nachtigal known .
Britannica Quiz Destination Africa:Fact or Fiction? Is Africa's northernmost point further north than Europe's southernmost point? See if your geographical knowledge points north or south on this journey through Africa. The Bagirmi Dynasty appears to have been founded in 1522. The Bagirmi King, called Mbang , ruled from the capital of Massenya. The rulers and many of their followers accepted the Islam during the reign of the fourth Sultans Abdullah ( um 1600). The 17th century brought about the Slave Trade Prosperity . Bagirmi became a pawn in the conflicts between the rival empires of Bornu to the west and Wadai to the east. A vassal of Bornu in the 17th and 18th centuries, it fell to Wadai in the early 19th century and was repeatedly sacked and forced to pay tribute by both states. Drought and persecution of Muslim teachers encouraged a significant exodus from Bagirmi in the 19th century. Nevertheless, in the first half of the 19th century it was an important center of trade and crafts, exporting locally woven and dyed fabrics and non-Muslim slaves. In 1894, Massenya was slain by the adventurer's army Rābiḥ az-Zubayr destroyed . A series of treaties in the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought the area under French control.