Chapters › Funj & Darfur Sultanates · Sudan – Darfur & Kordofan
Musabba'at sultanate (Kordofan)
1680 CE – 1785 CE Arabic under review
Approximate area of control
Research in progress No areas drawn: the file only has reference points.
Reference points
- Kordofan (region) [low] — R.S. O'Fahey & J. Spaulding (1972) Hāshim and the Musabba'āt
Dating note
Bracket from O'Fahey & Spaulding (BSOAS 1972 abstract: 'late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries'); 1734/1772/1782/1785 events taken from a Wikipedia summary citing O'Fahey 2008 pp.49–59 – book pages not directly checked. No capital location verified.
Key events
- Exiled Keira faction contesting Kordofan with Funj and Darfur, late 17th–18th c.
- Isawi dislodges Funj (Ghudiyat) administration c.1734
- Hashim b. 'Isawi retakes Kordofan c.1772; ousted by Funj 1782
- Darfur's Muhammad Tayrab conquers Kordofan c.1785
Capitals / sites
Research in progress We have not yet read a source for this section. It will be added once one is checked; nothing is filled in by guesswork.
Geopolitics
Founded in Kordofan by Keira princes who had lost out in Darfur. In Nachtigal's account, Tansam, uncle of Sulayman Solonga, was driven east after losing the struggle for Dar Fia (Takana 2016, pp.5, 49). Its stated aims were to regain the Fur throne and to hold Kordofan as a base for that. Three sultans tried and failed to take the Fur throne. The most serious attempt was Hashim's (1772–1786). Sultan Tairab then marched on Kordofan, Hashim fled to the Funj, and the Fur ruled Kordofan for 35 years until the Turco-Egyptian victory at Bara in 1821 (Takana 2016, pp.25–26). Holt & Daly call Kordofan 'a debatable land between the rulers of Sennar and Darfur' (HD2011, intro p.8).
Culture
The Musaba'at were 'kinsmen of the Fur Keira' (Takana 2016, p.25). Al-Tunisi lists them among the Muslim sultans east of Jebel Marra who were subdued by Sulayman Solonga (Takana 2016, p.10). Takana says the customs of eastern Darfur (Dar Dali) were 'influenced more by those of the Sinnar and Musaba'at kingdoms than by those of the Fur sultanate' (p.131).
Economy
No source read describes the Musaba'at economy itself. Holt & Daly note that rivalry over Kordofan, together with the Shilluk on the White Nile, made the direct caravan route from Kubayh to Sennar via El Obeid unsafe, so caravans went north from El Obeid to Shendi (HD2011, intro p.8). Holt & Daly do not name the Musaba'at; the link is the period and the region only.
Regional power
Research in progress We have not yet read a source for this section. It will be added once one is checked; nothing is filled in by guesswork.
Open data flags
- regional_power: no actors scored
- Pass 17 text: [WORKING TRANSLATION – needs native Arabic review] for every Arabic field
- UNVERIFIED – economy text is regional context (HD2011 p.8), not about the Musaba'at as such
Sources
- Yousif Suliman Saeed Takana (trans. Awad Al Awad) (2016) Darfur – Struggle of Power and Resources, 1650–2002: An Institutional Perspective Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen link [en]
- P.M. Holt & M.W. Daly (2011) A History of the Sudan: From the Coming of Islam to the Present Day Routledge (Pearson/Longman) link [en]
- R.S. O'Fahey & J. Spaulding (1972) Hāshim and the Musabba'āt Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies link [en]
- R.S. O'Fahey (2008) The Darfur Sultanate: A History Hurst / Columbia University Press link [en]
- Wikipedia contributors Muhammad Tayrab Wikipedia link [en]