Dawud of Kanem

Dawud (Dāwūd bin Ibrāhīm Nikale ), called Dawud Nikalemi (Also spelled Nigalemi.) was mai (ruler) of the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the mid-14th century, ruling approximately 1353–1363. (King lists (girgams) and chronicles translated in the 19th–20th centuries assign Dawud a reign of 10 years (Barth, Palmer) or 13 years (Urvoy, Landeroin).) He is omitted in the list of Nachtigal. Stewart dated it to 1377–1386, and Bosworth (2012) dated it to 1353–1363. Although Dawud maintained his hold on the throne for about a decade, the civil war weakened the armies of the empire

With his armies weakened, Dawud was unable to counter an invasion of the empire by the Bilala from the east. Dawud was the first mai to fight against the Bilala. The invasion marked the beginning of a destructive conflict between the Sayfawa and the Bilala, which would last for centuries. The Bilala defeated Dawud in battle and temporarily captured Njimi, the imperial capital. Dawud was not able to retake the capital and was killed by the Bilala ruler Abd al-Jalil at a site identified as Mélfala, located in the lands surrounding Lake Fitri. He was succeeded as mai by his son Uthman I.