Bir I of Kanem

Biri I (Biri bin Dunama), also recorded as Uthman Biri (ʿUthmān Biri bin Dunama), was mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-to-late 12th century, ruling approximately 1151–1177. (King lists (girgams) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries assign Biri a reign of either 26 years (Palmer, Urvoy) or 27 years (Barth, Nachtigal, Landeroin).) and Stewart dated it to 1150–1176. Bosworth (2012) assigned a shorter reign to Biri than other authors, dating his reign to 1151–1174 (23 years). Biri succeeded his father as mai after Dunama was killed on a pilgrimage while in Egypt. Biri was, at least in his early reign, completely under the influence of his mother Fasama, who governed the empire as regent. Biri ruled for 26–27 years. The site of his death is recorded as Ghamtilú, or variations thereof (Ghamtilú Bela Ghanna, Gamtilo Jilarge, "Jilargen in the land of Gamtilo" ). Biri was succeeded as mai by his son Abdullah I Bikur.