ABSTRACT
The period of Sudanese history from the early sixteenth to the early nineteenth century is for the most part obscure and lacking in firm historical data. The legend of the founding of Sennar given in the Funj Chronicle suggests that 'Amara and his people were cattle-nomads, who, in the early sixteenth century, were moving northwards down the Blue Nile. A source of a different kind is provided by Sudanese genealogies. A number of these were collected by the late Sir Harold MacMichael, and published in translation in his History of the Arabs in the Sudan. The fakis had a distinctive and important role in Sudanese society and politics. The early nineteenth century, before the Egyptian conquest, saw the appearance of new influences in the religious life of the Sudan. Kordofan was, in the eighteenth century, a buffer territory between the Funj and Keira sultanates. The eastern part was to some extent within the Funj sphere of influence.
