Muhammad VIII Ergama

Muhammad VIII Ergama^[a] (Muḥammad Ergama bin Ḥamdūn^[2]), also spelled Muhammad Erghamma,^[3] was the mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in 1731–1747.^[2]

Muhammad VIII Ergama
Mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire
Reign	1731–1747
Predecessor	Hamdan
Successor	Dunama VIII Gana
Issue	Dunama VIII Gana (?)
Dynasty	Sayfawa dynasty
Father	Hamdan

Life

Muhammad VIII Ergama was the son of Hamdan,^[4] who he succeeded as mai in 1731.^[2] According to the German explorer Heinrich Barth, who visited Bornu in the mid-19th century, very little was recorded of Muhammad's reign. Barth mentions only a famine, which lasted two years. According to Barth, the mais of Muhammad's general timeframe rarely left their palace residences and "indulged in luxury and ostentation, while the kingdom was falling to pieces and became unable to resist any shock which might come from without".^[3]

Muhammad was succeeded in 1747 by Dunama VIII Gana,^[2] probably his son.^[4]

Notes

1. Some chronologies of Kanem–Bornu rulers omit the 14th-century Muhammad II, lowering the regnal numbers of later rulers of this name. This ruler is then considered Muhammad VII.^[1]