- Sennar (sultanate)
Infobox Former Country
native_name =
conventional_long_name = Funj Sultanate of Sennar
common_name = Sennar
continent = Africa
region =
country =
era = Early Modern Period
status =
status_text =
empire =
government_type = Monarchy
year_start = 1504
year_end = 1821
event_start =
date_start =
event_end =
date_end =
event1 =
date_event1 =
event_pre =
date_pre =
event_post =
date_post =
p1 = Funj people
flag_p1 =
s1 = Ottoman Empire
flag_s1 = Ottoman Empire1517-1844.svg
flag_type =
symbol =
symbol_type =
image_map_caption =
capital =Sennar
national_motto =
national_anthem =
common_languages = Arabic
religion =Animism ,Christianity Islam (official 1523)
currency =
leader1 =Amara Dunqas
leader2 =Badi VII
year_leader1 = 1503-1533/4
year_leader2 = 1805-1821
title_leader = KhaganThe Funj sultanate of Sinnar, also Sennar, was a
sultanate in the north ofSudan , named Funj after the ethnic group of its dynasty or Sinnar (or Sennar) after its capital, which ruled a substantial area of northeastAfrica between1504 and1821 .History
In the fifteenth century the part of
Nubia formerly controlled byMakuria was home to a number of small states and subject to frequent incursions by desert nomads. The situation inAlodia is less well known, but it also seems as though that state had collapsed. The area was reunified underAbdallah Jamma , the gatherer, who came from the eastern regions that had grown wealthy and powerful from the trade on theRed Sea . Abdallah's empire was short lived as in the early sixteenth century theFunj people underAmara Dunqas arrived from the south, having been driven north by theShilluk . The Funj defeated Abdallah and set up their own kingdom based atSennar .The Funj had originally practiced a religious mix of
Animism andChristianity . Islam also had an important influence, and in1523 the Sennar monarchy officially converted to that religion, though many elements of the previous beliefs continued. Sennar expanded rapidly at the expense of neighboring states. Its power was extended over theGezira , theButana , theBayuda , and southernKordofan . This caused immediate tensions with its neighbours.Ethiopia felt much threatened but its internal problems prevented intervention. Newly OttomanEgypt also saw the new state as a threat and invaded in force, but then failed to conquer the area, so the Ottoman forces fortified the border and consolidated their hold on northern Nubia. This border would hold until1821 .Relations with Ethiopia were more strained as both states competed over lowlands between their two states. Eventually the Ethiopians moved their capital to nearby
Gondar and secured their influence over these areas. Conflicts with theShilluk to the south continued, but later the two were forced into an uneasy alliance to combat the growing might of theDinka . Under SultanBadi II , Sennar defeated theKingdom of Taqali to the west and made its ruler (styled Woster or Makk) its vassal.The armies of Sennar relied most on
heavy cavalry : horsemen drawn from the nobility, armed with longbroadsword s as thetoe stirrup s they used did not permit the use oflance s. These riders were armoured withchain mail while the horses were covered in thickquilt s and copper headgear. A greater mass of troops were infantry who were composed of slaves, also carrying swords and armoured. This permanent standing army was garrisoned in castles and forts throughout the sultanate. Reliance on a standing army meant that the armies fielded by Sennar were usually quite small, but highly effective against their less organized rivals.Sennar was heavily divided along geographic and racial/ethnic lines. The society was divided into six racial groups. The blue, the green, the yellow, the red, the green mixed with yellow, and the slaves who were brought from further south. The capital, prosperous through trade, hosted representatives from all over the Middle East and Africa.
There was a sharp division between those who were the heirs of the ancient kingdom of
Alodia and the rest of Sennar. The Alodians adopted the mantle of the defeated Abdallah Jamma and came to be known as theAbdallab . In the late sixteenth century they rose in revolt underAjib the Great . Ajib routed the Kings of Sennar, first making them his vassals and then seizing almost the entire kingdom in1606 . The Sennar monarchy regrouped underAdlan I , defeating Ajib in a pair of decisive battles. Eventually a compromise was reached whereby Ajib and his successors would rule the Sennar province ofDongola with a great deal of autonomy.Sennar was at its peak at the end of the sixteenth century, but over the seventeenth it began to decline as the power of the monarchy was eroded. The wealth and power of the sultans had long rested on the control of the economy. All caravans were controlled by the monarch, as was the gold supply that functioned as the state's main currency. In time this power was eroded. Foreign currencies became widely used by merchants breaking the power of the monarch to closely control the economy. The thriving trade created a wealthy class of educated and literate merchants, who read widely about
Islam and became much concerned about the lack of orthodoxy in the kingdom. The monarchy of Sennar had long been regarded as semi-divine, in keeping with ancient traditions, but this idea ran strongly counter to Islam. Many festivals and rituals also persisted from earlier days, and a number them involved massive consumption ofalcohol . These traditions were also abandoned. The greatest challenge to the authority of the king was the merchant fundedulema who insisted it was rightfully their duty to mete out justice.In
1762 Badi IV was overthrown in a coup launched byAbu Likayik of the redHamaj from the northeast of the country. Abu Likayik installed another member of the royal family as his puppet sultan and ruled as regent. This began long conflict between the Funj sultans attempting to reassert their independence and authority and the Hamaj regents attempting to maintain control of the true power of the state.These internal divisions greatly weakened the state and in the late 1700s Mek Adlan II, son of Mek Taifara, took power during a turbulent time at which a Turkish presence was being established in the Funj kingdom. The Turkish ruler,
Al-Tahir Agha , married Khadeeja, daughter of Mek Adlan II. This paved the way for the assimilation of the Funj into the Ottoman Empire.In
1821 ,Ismail bin Muhammad Ali the general and son of the nominally Ottomankhedive ofEgypt , Muhammad Ali, led an army into Sennar; he encountered no resistance from the last king, whose realm was promptly absorbed into Ottoman Egypt. The region was subsequently absorbed into theAnglo-Egyptian Sudan and the independent Republic of Sudan on that country's independence in1956 .Rulers of Sennar
*
Amara Dunqas 1503 -1533 /4 (AH 940 )
*Nayil1533 /4 (AH 940 )-1550 /1 (AH 957 )
*Abd al-Qadir I 1550 /1 (AH 957 )-1557 /8 (AH 965 )
*Abu Sakikin 1557 /8 (AH 965 )-1568
*Dakin1568 -1585 /6 (AH 994 )
*Dawra1585 /6 (AH 994 )-1587 /8 (AH 996 )
*Tayyib1587 /8 (AH 996 )-1591
*Unsa I 1591 -1603 /4 (AH 1012 )
*Abd al-Qadir II 1603 /4 (AH 1012 )-1606
*Adlan I 1606 -1611 /2 (AH 1020 )
*Badi I 1611 /2 (AH 1020 )-1616 /7 (AH 1025 )
*Rabat I 1616 /7 (AH 1025 )-1644 /5
*Badi II 1644 /5-1681
*Unsa II 1681 -1692
*Badi III 1692 -1716
*Unsa III 1719 -1720
*Nul1720 -1724
*Badi IV 1724 -1762
*Nasir1762 -1769
*Isma'il1768 -1769
*Adlan II 1776 -1789
*Awkal 1787 -1788
*Tayyib II 1788 -1790
*Badi V 1790
*Nawwar 1790 -1791
*Badi VI 1791 -1798
*Ranfi 1798 -1804
*Agban 1804 -1805
*Badi VII 1805 -1821 Hamaj regents
*
Abu Likayik -1769 -1775 /6
*Badi walad Rajab -1775 /6-1780
*Rajab1780 -1786 /7
*Nasir1786 /7-1788 References
*R.S. O'Fahey and J.L Spaulding: "Kingdoms of the Sudan" Studies of African History Vol. 9, Methuen, London 1974, ISBN 0-416-77450-4
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.