Wadai was a former sultanate in northern Chad, located to the east of Lake Chad. Formerly subject to the Kanem-Bornu empire, which introduced Islam to the region, it was founded in the 16th century. It was ruled by a local Muslim dynasty from about 1630. Although Wadai was on occasion loosely subject to neighboring Darfur, now part of Sudan, it became independent in the 1790s and profited considerably from its strategic position astride the trans-Saharan trade routes. The sultanate came under the influence of the Sanusi in the late 19th century before being taken over by France between 1903-1913. It became part of the independent Republic of Chad on that country's independence in 1960.