Funj Chronicle

The ''Funj Chronicle'' is an Arabic history of the Funj Sultanate and the early years of Ottoman rule in the Sudan based on oral tradition. It originally covered the period from 1504 to 1838, but continuations bring it up to 1871. It has been translated into English.

Manuscripts and editions

The ''Chronicle'' exists in several recensions. The original was written by Shaykh Aḥmad, called ''Kātib al-Shūna'', and covered Funj history from 1504 to 1838 ( AH 910–1254). He began his work before the Ottoman conquest of the Funj in 1820. There were two versions of the original in circulation, an early draft and a polished version with some fifteen passages removed. The first continuator was Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ḥājj Muḥammad Janqāl. Besides continuing the chronicle, he interpolated a couple of passages of his own into the original. The polished original recension is known from two manuscripts. Two further fragmentary manuscripts, in part, preserve the earlier draft and the first continuation.

A second continuation of the ''Chronicle'' was made by al-Zubayr wad Ḍawwah, who extended it up to 1863 (1280), while also adding to the beginning material on medieval Nubia drawn from Ibn Sulaym al-Aswānī via al-Maqrīzī. The final recension was made by Ibrāhīm ʿAbd al-Dāfiʿ. He cut much of al-Zubayr's additions to the beginning and added some material on al-Zubayr's father as well as a final notice from al-Amīn Muḥammad al-Ḍarīr that extends the ''Chronicle'' up to 1871 (1288). There is one manuscript of al-Zubayr's version. The final recension is known from many manuscripts., names two:
*London, British Museum, MS Or. 2345 – given to the museum by Charles George Gordon
*London, School of Oriental and African Studies, Arkell Papers, Box 2, File 6 – a copy made for A. J. Arkell

Both the original and final recensions have been published, the former under the title ''Taʾrīkh mulūk al-Sūdān'' by Makkī Shubayka at Khartoum in 1947 and the latter as ''Makhṭūṭat Kātib al-Shūna'' at Cairo in 1963. Harold MacMichael produced a summary translation of the final recension in 1922. Peter Holt made a complete translation.

Sources and structure

The Kātib al-Shūna admits in his introduction that his sources are mainly anecdotes, often contradictory ones. For the latter part of the ''Chronicle'' he makes use of family stories and finally his own memories. He did make use of two written sources: a king-list distinct from that acquired by James Bruce in 1772 and the ''Ṭabaqāt'' of Wad Ḍayfallāh, a biographical dictionary of Sudanese religious men compiled between 1753 and 1805.

The first part of the ''Chronicle'' is based on the king-list, fleshed out with occasional anecdotes. O'Fahey and Spaulding call it "a king-list with the accretion of a certain amount of commentary". The ''Chronicle'' goes into more depth beginning with the reign of Bādī IV (1724–1762). From 1788/1789 (AH 1203), the reign-based structure is dropped because "the power of the Funj ended, and no list of them was kept. Their kingship became a customary institution, and the regnal dating passed in reality in the name of the Hamaj". The ''Chronicle'' is thus at its most detailed for the period of the Hamaj Regency.

The ''Chronicle'' has a narrow geographical scope, centred on the Blue Nile and the Funj capital, Sinnār. The region west of the White Nile and the northern regions of the ʿAbdallāb and Jaʿaliyyūn are only occasionally mentioned. Likewise, the Kātib did not know anything of the Khashm al-Baḥr to the south of Sinnār before the Hamaj Regency. The Shāyqiyya are not mentioned before the Ottoman invasion. With the coming of the Ottomans, the scope of the ''Chronicle'' expands somewhat. The latter part is structured around the tenures of the Ottoman governor-generals.

Notes

Works cited

*
*
*{{cite book , author-link=Harold MacMichael , first=H. A. , last=MacMichael , title=A History of the Arabs in the Sudan , volume=2 , url=https://archive.org/details/historyofarabsin0002macm_gn652 , publisher=Frank Cass , year=1922

History books about Sudan
Sudanese books
Arabic non-fiction books