The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar or Blue Sultanate was an Islamic kingdom in what is now Sudan, northwestern Eritrea and western Ethiopia. Succeeding the medieval Nubian kingdoms of Makuria and Alodia, it was established in 1504 by Sultan Amara Dunqas, a convert to Islam who founded its capital Sennar on the Blue Nile. It was dominated by the Funj people, an arabized people of unclear ethnic origin who ruled over an ethnically diverse population including Nubians, Beja, Bedouin and Hamaj. It reached its peak in the late 17th century, when it extended from the Third Cataract southwards to the western fringes of the Ethiopian Highlands and the Sobat River, east to the Red Sea, and west to Kordofan and the Nuba Mountains. It encouraged the spread of Islam by inviting Sufi holymen, which in turn also accelerated Arabization and the formation of the modern Sudanese Arab tribes. In the 18th century the power of the Funj declined, especially after the Hamaj seized power in a coup in 1762. From the late 18th century the Sultanate disintegrated and was torn apart by civil wars. In 1821 the last sultan, greatly reduced in power, was forced to surrender to the Turco-Egyptian conquest.
Origins (until early 16th century)
Christian Nubia, represented by the two medieval kingdoms of Makuria and Alodia, began to decline from the 12th century. By 1365 Makuria had virtually collapsed and was reduced to a rump state restricted to Lower Nubia, until finally disappearing c. 150 years later. The fate of Alodia is less clear. It has been suggested that it had collapsed as early as the 12th century or shortly after, as archaeology suggests that in this period, Soba ceased to be used as its capital. By the 13th century central Sudan seemed to have disintegrated into various petty states. Between the 14th and 15th many Bedouin moved into Sudan and introduced Islam and the Arabic language to the region. In the 15th century one of these Bedouins, whom Sudanese traditions refer to as Abdallah Jammah (of the Abdallabi tribe), is recorded to have created a tribal federation and to have subsequently destroyed what was left of Alodia. In the early 16th century Abdallah's federation came under attack from an invader to the south, the nomadic-pastoralist Funj, who followed their own traditional religion.
The origins and ethnic affiliation of the Funj are still disputed, and scholars have expressed doubt that it will ever be solved. Some scholars theorise that they were either Nubians or Shilluk, while others contend that the Funj were not an ethnic group, but a social class. Other possible origins include in Bornu, Eritrea, or northern Ethiopia. Sudanese tradition varies, with some claiming the Funj rulers descended from the Umayyads. An 18th-century Funj copper drum featured an inscription that stated that Amara Dunqas was their "grandfather" who had come from a place called "Lul". The 19th-century Funj Chronicle also mentions a place called "Lulu", said to be the original home of the Funj before they migrated to Jebel Moya and eventually Sennar. "Lul"/"Lulu" may be identical with "Lam'ul" mentioned by the 16th-century traveller David Reubeni, who referred to it as "the king's city" located at the Upper Blue Nile eight days' journey south of Sennar.
In the 14th century a Muslim Funj trader named al-Hajj Faraj al-Funi was involved in the Red Sea trade. According to oral traditions the Dinka, who migrated upstream the White and Blue Nile since the 13th-century disintegration of Alodia, came into conflict with the Funj, who the Dinka defeated. In the late 15th/early 16th century the Shilluk arrived at the junction of the Sobat and the White Nile, where they encountered a sedentary people Shilluk traditions refer to as Apfuny, Obwongo and/or Dongo, a people now equated with the Funj. Said to be more sophisticated than the Shilluk, they were defeated in a series of brutal wars and either assimilated or pushed north.
There are two accounts on the founding of the Funj Sultanate in 1504. The first of which appears in the Funj Chronicle (dated to the 19th century) wherein Funj chief Amara Dunqas is said to have allied Abdallah Jammah to conquer Soba, however scholars consider the Abdallabi to have conquered Soba earlier on their own. The second, as reported by James Bruce, details a battle near Arbadji between the two parties. Regardless, the Funj Sultanate was founded with the Abdallabi chiefs assuming subordinate positions, and the Funj quickly Islamised.
In 1523 the kingdom was visited by Jewish traveller David Reubeni, who disguised himself as a Sharif. Ruler Amara Dunqas, Reubeni wrote, was Muslim and continuously travelled through his kingdom. He, who "ruled over black people and white" between the region south of the Nile confluence to as far north as Dongola, owned large herds of various types of animals and commanded many captains on horseback.
Ottoman threat and revolt of Ajib (16th–early 17th century)
In 1525, Ottoman admiral Selman Reis mentioned Amara Dunqas and his kingdom, calling it weak and easily conquerable. He also stated that Amara paid an annual tribute of 9,000 camels to the Ethiopian Empire. One year later the Ottomans occupied Sawakin, which beforehand was associated with Sennar. It seems that to counter the Ottoman expansion in the Red Sea region, the Funj engaged in an alliance with Ethiopia. Besides camels the Funj are known to have exported horses to Ethiopia, which were then used in war against the Adal Sultanate. The borders of Funj were raided by Ahmed Gurey during the war taking many slaves before stopping near the Taka mountain range near modern-day Kassala.
Before the Ottomans gained a foothold in Ethiopia, in 1555, Özdemir Pasha was appointed Beylerbey of the (yet to be conquered) Habesh Eyalet. He attempted to march upstream along the Nile to conquer the Funj, but his troops revolted when they approached the First Cataract of the Nile. Until 1570, however, the Ottomans had established themselves in Qasr Ibrim in Lower Nubia, most likely a pre-emptive move to secure Upper Egypt from Funj aggression. Fourteen years later they had pushed as far south as the Third Cataract of the Nile and subsequently attempted to conquer Dongola, but, in 1585, were crushed by the Funj at the battle of Hannik. Afterwards, the battlefield, which was located just south of the Third Cataract, would mark the border between the two kingdoms. In the late 16th century the Funj pushed towards the Habesh Eyalet, conquering north-western Eritrea. Failing to make progress against both the Funj Sultanate and Ethiopia, the Ottomans abandoned their policy of expansion. Thus, from the 1590s onwards, the Ottoman threat vanished, rendering the Funj-Ethiopian alliance unnecessary, and relations between the two states were about to turn into open hostility. As late as 1597, however, the relations were still described as friendly, with trade flourishing.
In the meantime, the rule of sultan Dakin (1568–1585) saw the rise of Abdallabi Sheikh Ajib I, who was subordinate to the Funj. When Dakin returned from a failed campaign in the Ethiopian–Sudanese borderlands Ajib had acquired enough power to demand and receive greater political autonomy. A few years later he forced sultan Tayyib to marry his daughter, effectively making Tayyib and his offspring and successor, Unsa, his vassals. Unsa was eventually deposed in 1603/1604 by Abd al-Qadir II, triggering Ajib to invade the Funj heartland. His armies pushed the Funj king to the south-east. Thus, Ajib effectively ruled over an empire reaching from Dongola to Ethiopia. Abd al-Qadir II, eventually deposed in December 1606, fled to Ethiopia and submitted to emperor Susenyos, providing Susenyos with an opportunity to intervene in the sultanate's affairs. However, the new Funj sultan, Adlan I, managed to turn the tide of war against Ajib, eventually killing him in 1611 or 1612. While chasing the remnants of Ajib's army to the north, Adlan II himself was deposed and succeeded by a son of the former sultan Abd al-Qadir II, Badi I. He issued a peace treaty with the sons of Ajib, agreeing to factually split the Funj state. The Abdallabi would receive everything north of the confluence of Blue and White Nile, which they would rule as vassal kings of Sennar. Therefore, the Funj lost direct control over much of their kingdom.