Sennar (sultanate)

The Funj Sultanate of Sennar was a sultanate in the north of Sudan, named after the Funj ethnic group of its dynasty, or Sinnar after its capital, which ruled a substantial area of northeast Africa between 1504 and 1821.OriginIn the 15th century the part of Nubia previously controlled by Makuria was home to a number of small states and subject to frequent incursions by desert nomads. The situation in Alodia is less well known, but it also seems as though that state had collapsed. The area was reunified under Abdallah Jamma, the gatherer, who came from the eastern regions that had grown wealthy and powerful from the trade on the Red Sea. To him is ascribed the capture of Soba, which sank into unimportance: according to Reubeni, in the time of ‘Amara Dunqas it was in ruins. ‘Abdallah’s status as Muslim hero is confirmed by traditions representing him marrying the daughter of a Hijazi holy man called Alshikh Hamd Abou Dunana who was burned in Abu Delaig, and as the eponymous ancestor of the ruling clan, the ‘Abdallab.Abdallah's empire was short lived as in the early 16th century the Funj people under Amara Dunqas arrived from the south, having been driven north by the Shilluk. The Funj defeated the kingdom of Aiwa in 1504 and set up their own kingdom based at Sennar. The new Funj kingdom reached from north to the third cataract, south to the foothills of Ethiopia, and east to the desert of Kordofan. Its rulers were Muslim and used Arabic as the lingua franca of trade. Although, the court was conducted all in Funj. Only in the 18th century did the court start using Arabic.