Biri V

Biri is recorded in a list of Kanem–Bornu rulers (girgam) translated by Moïse Landeroin [fr] in 1911. According to Landeroin's list, Biri was a son of mai Umar III al-Maqdisi and ruled for a single year after Umar, directly before mai Ali III Walamma (also a son of Umar).^[1] 19th-century scholars who published translated lists of Kanem–Bornu rulers, e.g. Heinrich Barth and Gustav Nachtigal, did not include a mai Biri in this position in the list.^[2] Later scholars have been divided in their approach: Richmond Palmer (1936) omitted Biri, whereas Yves Urvoy (1941) included him, assigning him a reign of less than a year.^[2]

In 1966, Ronald Cohen concluded that Biri was either a largely forgotten figure who ruled briefly before Ali III, the same person as Ali III, or inserted into Landeroin's regnal list by mistake.^[2]