King Gwangjong vs Mai Ali Ghaji

Gwangjong issued an edict freeing many slaves and reclassifying them as commoners. This measure aimed to undermine the economic base of powerful clans who relied on slave labor, while increasing the tax-paying population under direct royal control.

King Gwangjong initiated a systematic purge of powerful aristocratic clans that had dominated Goryeo politics. He ordered the execution or exile of many nobles, confiscated their lands, and freed thousands of slaves to weaken the old elite and strengthen royal authority.

Gwangjong established the gwageo civil service examination system in Goryeo, based on the Chinese Tang model. This reform allowed talented individuals from lower social classes to enter government service, reducing the power of hereditary aristocrats and creating a merit-based bureaucracy.

Gwangjong decreed that only the king could grant the right to wear purple robes, a symbol of high office. This edict stripped powerful nobles of their self-assumed privileges and reinforced the king's sole authority to confer rank and status.

Mai Ali Ghaji relocated the capital of the Kanem-Bornu Empire from Kanem to Ngazargamu (Birni N'Gazargamu) in the Bornu region. This move was prompted by pressure from the Bulala invaders and established a new, more defensible center for the empire.

Mai Ali Ghaji led military campaigns to consolidate Bornu's control over the Lake Chad region. He defeated the Bulala and other rival groups, securing the new capital at Ngazargamu and establishing Bornu as the dominant power in the area.

Mai Ali Ghaji died after a reign of approximately 35 years. His death marked the end of the founding period of the Bornu Empire, leaving a stable and prosperous state that would be further developed by his successors.