Sultanate of Darfur: Map & History
The Sultanate of Darfur was a pre-colonial state in present-day Sudan.
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The Sultanate of Darfur was a pre-colonial state in present-day Sudan. It existed from the 16th century to 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur, and was re-established again from 1898 to 1916, until it was conquered by the British. At its peak in the late-18th and early-19th century it stretched all the way from Darfur in the west to Kordofan and the western banks of the White Nile in the east.
Modern Countries Once Part of Sultanate of Darfur
At its mapped extent, Sultanate of Darfur covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Sultanate of Darfur's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Sultanate of Darfur in Depth
History
Tunjur oral traditions say that the founder of the Tunjur kingdom in Darfur, Ahmad al-Ma'qur, had two sons called Ahmad Kanjar and Musa; Kanjar accordingly succeeded his father in Darfur and was the founder of the Kunjaara dynasty, while Musa went to Wadai and subjugated the region with the assistance of the Mahamid Arabs. Most traditions emphasise that the Tunjur and Fur were kin of some sort. The final Tunjur king was reportedly Shaw Dorshid (lit. 'the master over us') who ruled as a tyrant (thought to have been around the mid-16th century), leading his nobility to ask his half-brother, Daali or Dalil Bahr, to usurp the kingship, after which Shaw Dorshid is said to have fled to the Jebel Marra on a white horse or antelope (a common motif).
Government
The state was headed by a sultan. Early monarchs were divine kings (an institution that was possibly inherited from the Tunjur), with Islam only transforming this rather than replacing it. Monarchs were effectively primus inter pares due to their reliance on local loyalties, until the lengthy civil war in the 18th century permitted centralisation of power in the sultan and the establishment of new institutions. Middle-ranking chiefs were titled shartay (derived from the Daju title chorte). There is some evidence of ritual regicide in the 18th century.
Economy
Darfur's harsh environment and varying levels of rainfall saw it divided into three loosely-defined economic zones, corresponding to rain-fed hoe agriculture, cattle nomadism, and camel nomadism. Ethnic terms often corresponded to lifestyles, such that a successful Fur farmer in the east who accumulated cattle was incentivised to become a cattle nomad (due to the cattle's impact on their fields) and from then on belong to the Baqqara, while in the west Fur farmers could become camel nomads and belong to the Zaghawa, with the loss of herds in natural disaster or war conversely forcing nomads to become sedentary farmers.
Society and culture
Like elsewhere, ethnicity in Darfur was ill-defined and much more fluid than modern conceptualisations. Terms used included jabalawiyyin (to refer to "mountain dwellers"), hajaray (to pejoratively refer to enslaveable peoples), and fartit (to refer to peoples to the south). The Fur were (and are) divided into loosely-defined orrenga, which were patrilineal descent-groups (though people considered themselves related to both of their parents' groups). Bridewealth and inheritance passed on bilaterally, and endogamy within descent-groups was very common. Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Arab nomads (likely belonging to a large Fazara federation in Upper Egypt) gradually migrated into northern and southern Darfur.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Sultanate of Darfur (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Sultanate of Darfur: Key Facts
| Capital | Al-Fashir |
|---|---|
| Form of government | theocracy, absolute monarchy |
| Founded | 1603 |
| Dissolved | 1874 |
Succeeded by
- Darfur under Egyptian Rule
Facts from Wikidata Q1474791 (CC0).
Sultanate of Darfur Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Sultanate of Darfur appears, with the other states of the time.
Sultanate of Darfur Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 296,630 km² in 1624 CE.
Sultanate of Darfur: Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Sultanate of Darfur exist?
The Sultanate of Darfur is dated to 1609 CE – 1876 CE, in the Early Modern & Age of Discovery era.
What was the capital of the Sultanate of Darfur?
The capital of the Sultanate of Darfur was Turra, Various, (before 1790), al-Fashir, (after 1790).
How large was the Sultanate of Darfur at its peak?
At its peak in 1624 the Sultanate of Darfur covered about 296,630 km².
How did the map of the Sultanate of Darfur change over time?
The Sultanate of Darfur appears on 3 dated world maps in the atlas, from 1700 CE to 1850 CE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.
Other Sovereign Realms
High & Late Middle Ages • Capital: Avarga
Early Modern & Age of Discovery • Capital: Söğüt, Bursa, Edirne, Constantinople
Industrial Era • Capital: London
Early Modern & Age of Discovery • Capital: Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Lahore, Delhi