Muhammad IV (Muḥammad bin Kade) was mai (ruler) of the KanemâÂÂBornu Empire in the mid-15th century, ruling approximately 1451âÂÂ1456. Muhammad ruled during the "Era of Instability", a chaotic period of internal and external conflict in the empire.
Muhammad was a son of mai Kade III. Muhammad did not directly succeed his father, who had been killed by the rival claimant Dunama V Ahmad. Most reconstructions of this period place Muhammad as the successor of mai Amarma.
Later chronicles of the KanemâÂÂBornu Empire remembered Muhammad as a "cruel and sanguinary prince" and a tyrant. He had a brief reign; different sources give dates between as low as a few days and at most five years. The site of Muhammad's death is recorded as Meghjibád-NerÃÂ-Kerbúri, or variations thereof (such as Magi Jibidam, Maki Zabatam). Muhammad was succeeded as mai by Gaji, whose relation to previous rulers is unclear.