Umar III al-Maqdisi

al-Ḥājj Umar III, called Umar al-Maqdisi and Umar Fusami, was mai of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the early-to-mid 17th century, ruling approximately 1625–1645. Umar's reign saw the fall of Bilala-ruled Kanem, though the region was secured by the general Dala Afuno.

Life

Umar was a son of mai Idris IV Alooma. His mother was named Fusam. Umar became mai in the early 17th century, succeeding his half-brother Ibrahim III Gumsami. At some point during his reign, Umar made a pilgrimage to Mecca, hence the honorific al-Ḥājj. The German explorer Heinrich Barth, who visited Bornu in the 1850s, dated Umar's pilgrimage to 1642.
During Umar's reign, the Ottomans invaded Fezzan and sacked its capital, Murzuq. One of the princes of the Awlad Muhammad, Fezzan's ruling dynasty, fled to Bornu and sought refuge with the mai. The prince, Tahir, escaped with "twelve camels loads of gold," likely taken from the state treasury. On their way to Bornu, he had apparently blinded two of his own nephews, possibly to eliminate them as succession rivals. This angered the mai, who captured him, his followers, and his gold as they neared Bornu. Umar then tied Tahir and his men in sacks and drowned them in a river.
In 1630, the Wadai Sultanate drove the Bilala out of Kanem, which they had governed as vassals of the Kanem–Bornu Empire. The mai responded by sending the general Dala Afuno to secure the eastern side of Lake Chad. Dala was successful and was made viceroy of Kanem, establishing the so-called Dalatoa dynasty, which governed Kanem until the time of European colonisation.
Umar ruled for over a decade. He died at Ngazargamu and was succeeded as mai by one of his sons, either Biri V or Ali III Walamma.