tour 2 of 13
Sudan Past and Present: From the Islamic Period to the Modern World
Islamic Period
The people of Sudan first had contact with
Islam when the Baqt Treaty was signed with Egyptian Muslims in AD
652. Objects from the Islamic world such as pottery, textiles and
glass were subsequently imported into the area. The Christian king
of Makuria was deposed in AD 1323 and was replaced by a Muslim.
Arab migration immediately increased and scholars set up Koranic
schools and mosques. The southern kingdom of Alwa was taken over by
Arab people in AD 1504.
At
the beginning of the sixteenth century AD a powerful Islamic state
called the Funj Sultanate rose in the middle Nile valley. It gained
power without violence, indicating that there was already a large
Muslim community in the area. The Funj capital until AD 1821 was
Sennar, about 250 km south of Khartoum. It was a large, unfortified
town notable for its palace, mosque, marketplaces and cemeteries.
From the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries the region of Darfur,
to the west, also saw the rise of an Islamic state. The power of
the Funj declined from the late eighteenth century and the
Turco-Egyptian government conquered its territory in
1821.
Illustration:
Helmet worn during the nineteenth century AD. Conservation of the
helmet began at the Sudan National Museum, where the gilded
decoration was revealed under the rust. At the British Museum the
textile components were cleaned using low powered vacuum suction,
the outer blue fabric was stitched to the quilted wadding and the
frayed edging was covered with nylon net dyed in a sympathetic
colour.