Chap. XXIX. EPOCHS IN BO'fUSTU HISTORY. 
279 
Altogether, in the history of Bornu we can distin- 
guish the following epochs. First, the rise of power 
in Kanem, Njimiye being the capital of the empire, 
silent and imperceptible till we see on a sudden, in the 
beginning of the 12th century, the powerful prince 
Dunama ben Hume start forth under the impulse of 
Islam, wielding the strength of a young and vigorous 
empire, and extending his influence as far as Egypt. 
The acme, or highest degree of prosperity, of this 
period coincides with the reign of Dibalami Dunama 
Selmami, in the middle of the 13th century, during 
the prime of the dynasty of the Beni Hafis in Tunis. 
But this reign already engendered the germs of de- 
cay ; for during it the two cognate elements of which 
the empire consisted, namely the Teda and the Kaniiri, 
were disunited, and it yielded too much influence to 
the aristocratical element, which was represented by 
the twelve great offices, an institution which seems to 
deserve particular attention.* 
The consequence was, that a series of civil wars 
and regicides ensued, interrupted only by the more 
tranquil reign of Ibrahim Nikalemi in the first half of 
the 14th century, which was followed, however, by 
the most unfortunate period of the empire, when the 
great native tribe of the Soy burst forth and killed 
four kings in succession. Then followed another 
respite from turmoil, just at the time when Ebn 
* I shall say more of it in the chronological table, under the 
reign of Mohammed. 
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