Umar of Borno

Umar I ibn Muhammad al-Amin or Umar of Borno (died 1881) was "shehu" (ruler) of the Kanem-Bornu Empire and son of Muhammad al-Kanem.

Umar came to power after a civil war, the first ruler in a long line from the Kanemi dynasty, and not from the traditional Sayfawa dynasty. The Kanem-Bornu Empire survived the end of the latter dynasty; but Umar, who eschewed the ancient title "mai" for the simpler designation "shehu" (from the Arabic "shaykh"), could not match his father's vitality and gradually allowed the kingdom to be ruled by advisers ("wazirs"). Bornu began to decline, as a result of administrative disorganization, regional particularism, and attacks by the militant Ouaddai Empire to the east. The decline continued under Umar's sons, and in 1893 Rabih az-Zubayr, leading an invading army from eastern Sudan, conquered Bornu.

Umar ruled from 1846 until November 1853, and for a second time from September 1854 to 1881. Between these periods, `Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Amin was "mai".