Tunjur kingdom | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1400s[1]–c. 1650s | |||||||||||
| Capital | Uri (early)[2] | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Arabic | ||||||||||
| Religion | Traditional African religions,Islam | ||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 1400s[1] | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | c. 1650s | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Chad Sudan | ||||||||||
TheTunjur kingdom was aSahelian precolonial kingdom inSudan'sDarfur region and stretched into parts ofOuddaï region in modern dayChad between the 15th and early 17th centuries.[1][3][4]
Local chronicles claim that the founder of the Tunjur dynasty became a "king in the island of Sennar".[5] Origins of the Tunjur state are not well known.[6] It is known that the Tunjur kingdom replaced an earlierDaju kingdom, after theTunjur people migrated from north to the Darfur region in the fifteenth century. Their migration represents a second knownBerber migration to the region.[1][7] The states possibly coexisted for some time, with Tunjur rule in the north and Daju rule in the south, before the Tunjur people managed to replace the earlier dynasty completely.[1] The lands ruled by theTunjur people are within contemporarySudan, and their influence extended intoChad.[3]
The Tunjur were probablyArabized Berbers, and spoke theArabic language. They claimed heritage from the tribe ofBanu Hilal. However, they were initially entirelypagan after the migration had finished. No trace of their own language exists. All of the Tunjur oral tradition is attributed in an unusual manner to a single person called Shau Dorsid.[7]
Society inDarfur changed drastically due to the influence of the Tunjur dynasty.Corvée labor was organized for the newly-organized state, long-range trade began, andIslam was partially adopted as a religion.[7]
Tunjur architecture drew influence from Berber andTora styles.[7] There is a stonemosque, the first Muslim building in Darfur, possibly built around the year 1200, at the city ofUri which was the first capital of the kingdom.[8][2] This may indicate thatIslam was adopted as a court religion. The king however, probably, held a divine status. The city was built in Fur architecture.[8]
The role of Islam in the region ruled over by the Tunjur kingdom, and earlier theDaju dynasty, remained insignificant until the late 16th century. No material remains for Islamization are known from the preceding Daju dynasty's period.[8]
By the early 16th century the Tunjur kingdom ruled Darfur andWadai. Capitals of the kingdom were in northern Darfur. The cities of Uri andAin Farah are associated with the kingdom.[6][2] Uri, the early capital, was at the meeting point of two major trade routes.[2] It is certain that Egyptian merchants traded with the Tunjur people. Caravan routes and earlier river based routes throughNubia allowed long-distance trade. The kingdom exported slaves, gold, camels, rhinoceros horn, ivory, ostrich feathers,tamarind,gum arabic andnatron. Trade was, according to Egyptian sources, under close royal control.[9] Unlike in the newly-islamized and briefly dynastically relatedWadai Empire, it is unclear if the Tunjur kingdom was a Muslim state.[7][3][4][10] However, the rulers of the kingdom were Muslim.[11]Slavery was common in the region, and the Tunjur also engaged in enslavement of other peoples.[12]
The Tunjur kingdom was succeeded by theSultanate of Darfur (Keira Sultanate). TheFur people and theirKeira dynasty superseded the Tunjur around the 1650s.[3][4] A story about a dynastic link between Keira and Tunjur dynasties involving Ahmad al-Maqur is known.[6] Tunjur rule in Wadai ended when a local dynasty ofMaba people revolted, expelled and replaced them.[6] The Tunjur kingdom may have ceased to exist as early as in 1611 or 1635.[6]
A branch of the Tunjur dynasty in Wadai was also overthrown by an alliance of the Arabs and theMaba.[7]
Eventually, the Tunjur people assimilated to a large decree into other peoples of the region.[4]
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