The Kay were associated with both the earlier Dugawa and the later Sefuwa dynasties. The mother of Hummay was descended from the Kay, and the mother of Bir b. Dunama was also a Kay, identified in the extract as Koyam. Their continued appearance across the dynastic transition suggests that their political standing was not destroyed when the Sefuwa replaced the Dugawa.

The Kay are located north of Bornu, near the Komadugu Yobe. They are described as a sedentary people, yet they continued to raise camels in an environment unfavourable to camel husbandry. This practice is interpreted as evidence of northern, nomadic origins, showing how an established population could preserve economic practices associated with an earlier way of life.

Their role in Sefuwa marriage alliances places the Kay among the groups through which the dynasty built political support. The extract does not present them as a ruling dynasty, but as a population whose connections to royal mothers helped sustain continuity between different phases of Kanem’s political history.