Chapters › Christian Nubia · Sudan – Darfur & Kordofan
Tunjur kingdom
1400 CE – 1650 CE Arabic under review
Approximate area of control
Research in progress No areas drawn: the file only has reference points.
Reference points
- Ain Farah [low] — R.S. O'Fahey (2008) The Darfur Sultanate: A History
Dating note
Approximate. Ain Farah corrected 15.0N 24.9E -> 14.2657N 24.3161E (2nd Wikidata statement; matches de/ar Wikipedia). Wikidata's other value 16.76N 29.19E (repeated on rainerebert.com) lies outside Darfur and is rejected. MEDIUM confidence: the descriptive '15 km NW of Kutum' does not fit (point is c.35 km W of Kutum); no excavation-report coordinate found.
Key events
- Ruled Darfur and Wadai before the Keira
Capitals / sites
Ain Farah
Geopolitics
Balfour-Paul (via Theobald 1965, reported by Takana 2016, p.51) says the Tunjur sultanate controlled northern Darfur, with the Dajo in the south. It was founded by immigrants, it had a strong central administration, and it gave way to the Fur 'without much bloodshed'. The last Tunjur sultan, 'from whom the power was transferred to Fur Keira', is said to have had Arab lineage (Takana 2016, p.52). Arkell's view that the Tunjur kingdom was an extension of Borno is contested (Takana 2016, p.6).
Culture
'Islam was known as a religion in the Tunjur sultanate era', but it became dominant only under the Fur sultan Sulayman Solonga (Balfour-Paul via Takana 2016, p.51). Takana says 'the Tunjur sultans first introduced Islam into the area'. He calls the founders' lineage and tribal culture 'Arab in most respects', citing a lineage document that mentions the last sultan's property in Medina (pp.51–52). Tunjur oral traditions claim an eastern (Nile) origin, with clans also around Lake Chad (p.68).
Economy
Under the Tunjur (c.1400–1600), Islamic influences 'resulted from wide commercial contact with the Muslim world' and from Arab immigration (GHA V ch.7, p.187). Wadai paid tribute to the Tunjur kings and later continued paying it to the Keira sultanate (p.188).
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
- SINGLE-SOURCE (Takana 2016, which reports al-Tunisi, Nachtigal, Arkell and Balfour-Paul second-hand; O'Fahey 2008 not read)
- CONTESTED – Arab lineage of Tunjur sultans rests on a lineage document reported by Takana; Arkell's Borno thesis
- Pass 20 text: [WORKING TRANSLATION – needs native Arabic review] for every Arabic field
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]
- Y.F. Hasan and B.A. Ogot (1992) The Sudan, 1500–1800, ch.7 (General History of Africa V) UNESCO / Heinemann / University of California Press link [en]
- Wikidata Q405860 (coordinates) Wikimedia link [en]
- R.S. O'Fahey (2008) The Darfur Sultanate: A History Hurst / Columbia University Press link [en]
- Wikipedia contributors Tunjur people Wikipedia link [en]