Othman IV

Life Uthman was a son of mai Kade III. Gaji had in turn succeeded Uthman's brother Muhammad IV a few years prior and his relation to the other Sayfawa rulers is unclear; later chronicles and lists only record the name of Gaji's mother.

Later chronicles record that Uthman had "excellent qualities as prince". Uthman belonged to the Dawudid branch of the imperial family, the descendants of mai Dawud Nikalemi. By Uthman's time, the Dawudids had been in conflict with the rival Idrisids (descendants of mai Idris I Nikalemi) for about a century. Uthman ruled for a few years and eventually became embroiled in civil war against an Idrisid prince, Ali Gaji. Although Uthman had the upper hand for most of the civil war, he was eventually defeated and dethroned by Ali, who replaced him as mai with the Idrisid Umar II.

Uthman was the last mai of the Dawudid line. After his defeat, Ali Gaji had the remaining Dawudids and their supporters driven away from imperial territory. The site of Uthman's death is recorded as Mikidhá.