Chap. XXIV. 
KINGS OF KA'TSEXA. 
75 
lieve that the ruin of the Songhay empire, and the 
rise of that of Katsena, was the consequence of this 
holy man's curse, nevertheless we are justified in 
presuming that after he had received offence from the 
king Is-hak, by being refused satisfaction, he began 
to cultivate friendly relations with the king of Ka- 
tsena, a country then rising into importance. 
We are therefore justified in placing Ibrahim Maji 
(the king of Katsena, whom the fanatic Moslim con- 
verted to Islam) about the middle of the 10th century 
of the Hejra. Now, if we count backwards from this 
period, adding together the years attributed to each 
reign, to Komayo, the man who is universally stated 
to have founded Katsena, we obtain at least three 
hundred and fifty years, which would carry back the 
political existence of the state of Katsena to the be- 
ginning of the 7th century of the Hejra. In this 
computation we reduce the reign of the first two 
kings, or chiefs (of whom Komayo is said to have 
reigned a hundred years, and his successor ninety), to 
about twenty years each. Excepting this little exag- 
geration, which is such as we find recurring in the 
early history of almost every nation, I do not see any 
reason for rejecting the list of the kings of this coun- 
try, as it is preserved not only in the memory of 
the people, but even in written documents, though, 
indeed, it is to be lamented that the books con- 
taining a comprehensive history of this nation have 
been destroyed intentionally by the Fulbe, or Fellani, 
