Sultanate of Mandara
c. 1500–1902
Mandara on the outskirts of theBornu Empire (c. 1810)
Capital	Doulo Mora
Common languages	Mandara
Religion	Traditional African religion, laterIslam (official 1715)
Government	Monarchy
Historical era	Early modern period
• Established	c. 1500
• Islamization	1715
• Disestablished	1902
Succeeded by German Cameroon
Today part of	Cameroon

TheMandara Kingdom (sometimes calledWandala or theKingdom of Medra) was anAfrican kingdom in theMandara Mountains of what is todayCameroon. TheMandara people are descended from the kingdom's inhabitants.

Tradition states that Mandara was founded shortly before 1500 by a female ruler namedSoukda and a non-Mandarawa hunter namedGaya. The kingdom was first referred to byFra Mauro (in 1459) andLeo Africanus (in 1526); the provenance of its name remains uncertain. Medra is mostly likely the original name of Mandara, one letter being obliterated in Leo's Arabic notes. Leo acknowledges the Kingdom of Medra (Mandara) for their good governors and rulers. The inhabitants of Medra are rich and industrious people, visited often, and great lovers ofjustice andequity.^[1] The region of Medra is listed on theAfricae Tabula Nova in 1570. Leo Africanus visited the Kingdom of Medra, located in the south.^[2]

For the kingdom's first century of history, its rulers warred with neighbouring groups in an effort to expand their territories. After conquering theDulo (or Duolo) and establishing the capital atDulo c. 1580, the dynasty ofSankre, a war leader, began. When the Dulo made an attempt to seize the throne, theBornu kingdom supported the claim ofAldawa Nanda, a member of Sankre's house. EmperorIdris Alaoma of Borno personally installed Nanda as king in 1614. Bornu thus attained an influential position over Mandara.

Mai Bukar Aji, the 25th king, made Mandara asultanate c. 1715, which it would remain for nearly two hundred years. Muslim visitors converted Bukar toIslam, and theIslamicisation of the kingdom would continue for most of the next century.

The kingdom experienced a golden age of sorts under Bukar and his successor,Bukar Guiana (1773-1828). Around 1781, the Mandara defeated the kingdom ofBorno in a major battle, further expanding their control in the region. At the peak of her power at the turn of the century, Mandara received tribute from some 15chiefdoms. However, the kingdom faced a setback in 1809, whenModibo Adama, aFulani disciple ofUsman dan Fodio, led ajihad against Mandara. Adama briefly seized Dulo, though the Mandara counterattack soon drove him from the kingdom's borders. Adama's defeat prompted Borno to ally with Mandara once again against the Fulani invaders.

Upon the death of rulerBukai Dgjiama, Mandara's non-Muslim tributaries rose up, and the Fulani attacked once more. By 1850, Borno could not pass up the opportunity to attack the weakened kingdom. This renewed conflict began to sap the kingdom's strength, paving the way for the invasion ofMuhammad Ahmad's forces in the 1880s. In 1895 or 1896, Muhammad Ahmad's army destroyed Dulo, marking a further decline in Mandara power. However, the kingdom continued to exist, repelling continual Fulani raids until it finally fell to them in 1893.

English explorerDixon Denham accompanied a slave-raiding expedition fromBorno into the Mandara kingdom in February 1823; though he barely escaped with his life following the raiders' defeat, he brought back one of the first European accounts of the kingdom. In 1902, the kingdom was conquered byGermany, passing then toFrance in 1918. In 1960, the Mandara kingdom became a part of newly independent Cameroon.

Names and dates taken from John Stewart'sAfrican States and Rulers (Third edition, 2006).^[3]

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• Barkindo, Bawuro Mubi (1989).The Sultanate of Mandara to 1902. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
• DeLancey, Mark W., and DeLancey, Mark Dike (2000).Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon. 3rd ed.
• Fanso, V. G. (1989).Cameroon History for Secondary Schools and Colleges: Volume 1: Prehistoric Times to the Nineteenth Century. London: Macmillan Education Ltd.

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