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The Heroic Age in Sinnar
The aim of this summary is to give a general idea of the contents of this important book. The Heroic Age in Sinnar is a book about the history of the Sultanate of Sinnar. The book was written by the American writer Jay Spaulding and translated by Ahmed al-Mutasim al-Sheikh and was published by the Khartoum Publishing Authority in 2010 as part of the "100 Books" series sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Information in Khartoum, Sudan.
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The Heroic Age in Sinnar, a summary by Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al-Hussein
Introduction:
The aim of this summary is to give a general idea of the contents of this important book. The Heroic Age in Sinnar is a book about the history of the Sultanate of Sinnar. The book was written by the American writer Jay Spaulding and translated by Ahmed al-Mutasim al-Sheikh and was published by the Khartoum Publishing Authority in 2010 as part of the "100 Books" series sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Information in Khartoum, Sudan. The original version of the book was published in English in 1985. The book consists of three main sections titled ‘The King of the Nubian Muslims’, ‘The Principles of the Arabs’, and ‘To the Fire’, which are in turn divided into subsections.
Part One: ‘The King of the Nubian Muslims’
This part includes a background on the structure of power and society in the Sultanate, dealing with topics related to the Sultan, the court, and the ceremonial events at court. It also covers the origin of the Funj, their system of succession, the method of selecting the sultan, the sultan's relationship with the nobles and the system of distributing land among the nobles to ensure their loyalty. This part also highlights the administrative system and the powers of both the centre and the provinces. Finally, this part deals with the Sultanate’s subjects as the lowest in the hierarchy and their relationship with the nobles, who exercise direct authority over them on behalf of the centre with regards to taxes and services provided by the subjects to the nobles.
Part Two: ‘The Principles of the Arabs’
This part explains the opening up of the Funj state to foreign cultures in the north and east through trade relations, highlighting how this was a catalyst for cultural influence and exposure to Arab principles. In summary, the author discusses the beginning of the introduction of capitalism to the state’s institutions and its transactions, explaining that this occurred through the adoption of Islamic principles in financial transactions, the emergence of clerics as a middle class, and the rise of urban and religious centres, as the face of the new economic development adopted by the Sultanate. It refers to the emergence of the clerics as a class with mutual economic and political ties and interests with the authority. These included land grants, exemptions from taxes, and access to judicial powers.
This section also talks about those Spaulding called the warlords who were most likely, as the author points out, provincial rulers who had had the opportunity to acquire wealth and needed to protect it and had therefore formed their own armed slave units. The period also saw the beginnings of the transition into a patriarchal system and the creation of genealogies for the purpose of rising up the social ladder. This part of the book deals with the control of the Hamaj in 1762 as the beginning of the disintegration of the old order of the Funj state and the transition to a new order dominated by the middle class. The Hamaj relied heavily on the clergy who were assimilated into the middle class and appointed to gather taxes with prominent clerics being included in the Sultan's court. Finally, this part talks about the emergence of the network of trading companies following the Turkish invasion which aimed to control the market, trade and investment of all kinds.
By way of conclusion to this section, the author talks about how the Turks, after their invasion of Sudan, introduced the Jihadiyya system into the army meaning the new Turkish army was made up of slaves. During this period, northern merchants began to venture to the southern regions of Sinnar, occupying the vacuum created by the withdrawal of the Turks in search of gold. They were encouraged in their quest by the Turks, who had failed to obtain the large quantities of gold they expected. The migration of citizens from the north increased after the Turks introduced new methods of production in the irrigated areas of the north. The migration of northern merchants (Jalaba) to the south grew in response to the Turkish government providing protection for northern merchants, establishing sharia courts as well as a market for slaves and goods from southern Sinnar. The final part deals with the penetration of northern Jalaba into the south as well as in the south-eastern regions of Sinnar.
Part Three: ‘To the Fire’
The final section of the book deals with the era of the Hamaj, which the author describes as a bloody and highly complex period characterised by power struggles. It also deals with the biography of Abu Likaylik, providing insight into his character and the way in which he held the reins of power for the benefit of the Hamaj which produced profound changes in the structure of the state, particularly through his reliance on the clergy against the nobility. During the period following the death of Abu Likaylik, the coup leader, and Adlan, power began to disintegrate with the provinces turning against the centre. From 1803 to 1809, the power of the Hamaj began to disintegrate through power struggles, and real control came into the hands of the commanders of the slave cavalries. This section is filled with details of rebellions instigated by those seeking centralised power and of tribal conflicts during the final years of the eighteenth century and the commencement of the nineteenth century. It further details the tendency of the regions and tribes to become independent from the central authority until the Turks invaded the country.
A brief background to the book
The Heroic Age in Sinnar is one of the few books that deals with the history of the Funj in a comprehensive and in-depth manner. It is clear the author made a great effort to collect material from multiple and varied sources, mainly from the writings of foreign travellers or administrators as well as from local sources such as the manuscript of Katib al-Shuna and the book of Tabaqat Wad Dhaifallah. The content of the book is, therefore, rich in information. In addition, there are numerous angles of analysis which makes many of the conclusions the author reaches thought-provoking and to an extent, perhaps controversial. In my opinion, The Heroic Age in Sinnar is an indispensable book for any student, reader or follower of the history of the state of Sinnar.
I must point out that the book's rich and varied information has somewhat affected the organisation of the book, as the main headings sometimes do not accurately indicate the content of the information that falls under it, so the reader (especially the hurried or non-specialist) may find it difficult to follow and link events to each other.
The author did not consider Sinnari rule as a single period of time, as many of his predecessors did, but as two distinct eras: the Funj and the Hamaj. This distinction helped in recognising the characteristics of each phase and understanding the dynamics and circumstances that influenced each of them.
In his analysis, the author adopted an economic approach, to reveal the penetration of capitalism and the bourgeois nature of governance and administration, particularly in the second phase of the Sinnari State. These, he argues, were the factors that impacted various aspects of life under Hamaj rule, and indirectly led to the weakening of their grip on power.
The cover picture is the ruined palace of Sennar at the time of the Turkish conquest (1821). Voyage à Meroé by Frédéric Cailliaud © LeGabrie
The Heroic Age in Sinnar, a summary by Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al-Hussein
Introduction:
The aim of this summary is to give a general idea of the contents of this important book. The Heroic Age in Sinnar is a book about the history of the Sultanate of Sinnar. The book was written by the American writer Jay Spaulding and translated by Ahmed al-Mutasim al-Sheikh and was published by the Khartoum Publishing Authority in 2010 as part of the "100 Books" series sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Information in Khartoum, Sudan. The original version of the book was published in English in 1985. The book consists of three main sections titled ‘The King of the Nubian Muslims’, ‘The Principles of the Arabs’, and ‘To the Fire’, which are in turn divided into subsections.
Part One: ‘The King of the Nubian Muslims’
This part includes a background on the structure of power and society in the Sultanate, dealing with topics related to the Sultan, the court, and the ceremonial events at court. It also covers the origin of the Funj, their system of succession, the method of selecting the sultan, the sultan's relationship with the nobles and the system of distributing land among the nobles to ensure their loyalty. This part also highlights the administrative system and the powers of both the centre and the provinces. Finally, this part deals with the Sultanate’s subjects as the lowest in the hierarchy and their relationship with the nobles, who exercise direct authority over them on behalf of the centre with regards to taxes and services provided by the subjects to the nobles.
Part Two: ‘The Principles of the Arabs’
This part explains the opening up of the Funj state to foreign cultures in the north and east through trade relations, highlighting how this was a catalyst for cultural influence and exposure to Arab principles. In summary, the author discusses the beginning of the introduction of capitalism to the state’s institutions and its transactions, explaining that this occurred through the adoption of Islamic principles in financial transactions, the emergence of clerics as a middle class, and the rise of urban and religious centres, as the face of the new economic development adopted by the Sultanate. It refers to the emergence of the clerics as a class with mutual economic and political ties and interests with the authority. These included land grants, exemptions from taxes, and access to judicial powers.
This section also talks about those Spaulding called the warlords who were most likely, as the author points out, provincial rulers who had had the opportunity to acquire wealth and needed to protect it and had therefore formed their own armed slave units. The period also saw the beginnings of the transition into a patriarchal system and the creation of genealogies for the purpose of rising up the social ladder. This part of the book deals with the control of the Hamaj in 1762 as the beginning of the disintegration of the old order of the Funj state and the transition to a new order dominated by the middle class. The Hamaj relied heavily on the clergy who were assimilated into the middle class and appointed to gather taxes with prominent clerics being included in the Sultan's court. Finally, this part talks about the emergence of the network of trading companies following the Turkish invasion which aimed to control the market, trade and investment of all kinds.
By way of conclusion to this section, the author talks about how the Turks, after their invasion of Sudan, introduced the Jihadiyya system into the army meaning the new Turkish army was made up of slaves. During this period, northern merchants began to venture to the southern regions of Sinnar, occupying the vacuum created by the withdrawal of the Turks in search of gold. They were encouraged in their quest by the Turks, who had failed to obtain the large quantities of gold they expected. The migration of citizens from the north increased after the Turks introduced new methods of production in the irrigated areas of the north. The migration of northern merchants (Jalaba) to the south grew in response to the Turkish government providing protection for northern merchants, establishing sharia courts as well as a market for slaves and goods from southern Sinnar. The final part deals with the penetration of northern Jalaba into the south as well as in the south-eastern regions of Sinnar.
Part Three: ‘To the Fire’
The final section of the book deals with the era of the Hamaj, which the author describes as a bloody and highly complex period characterised by power struggles. It also deals with the biography of Abu Likaylik, providing insight into his character and the way in which he held the reins of power for the benefit of the Hamaj which produced profound changes in the structure of the state, particularly through his reliance on the clergy against the nobility. During the period following the death of Abu Likaylik, the coup leader, and Adlan, power began to disintegrate with the provinces turning against the centre. From 1803 to 1809, the power of the Hamaj began to disintegrate through power struggles, and real control came into the hands of the commanders of the slave cavalries. This section is filled with details of rebellions instigated by those seeking centralised power and of tribal conflicts during the final years of the eighteenth century and the commencement of the nineteenth century. It further details the tendency of the regions and tribes to become independent from the central authority until the Turks invaded the country.
A brief background to the book
The Heroic Age in Sinnar is one of the few books that deals with the history of the Funj in a comprehensive and in-depth manner. It is clear the author made a great effort to collect material from multiple and varied sources, mainly from the writings of foreign travellers or administrators as well as from local sources such as the manuscript of Katib al-Shuna and the book of Tabaqat Wad Dhaifallah. The content of the book is, therefore, rich in information. In addition, there are numerous angles of analysis which makes many of the conclusions the author reaches thought-provoking and to an extent, perhaps controversial. In my opinion, The Heroic Age in Sinnar is an indispensable book for any student, reader or follower of the history of the state of Sinnar.
I must point out that the book's rich and varied information has somewhat affected the organisation of the book, as the main headings sometimes do not accurately indicate the content of the information that falls under it, so the reader (especially the hurried or non-specialist) may find it difficult to follow and link events to each other.
The author did not consider Sinnari rule as a single period of time, as many of his predecessors did, but as two distinct eras: the Funj and the Hamaj. This distinction helped in recognising the characteristics of each phase and understanding the dynamics and circumstances that influenced each of them.
In his analysis, the author adopted an economic approach, to reveal the penetration of capitalism and the bourgeois nature of governance and administration, particularly in the second phase of the Sinnari State. These, he argues, were the factors that impacted various aspects of life under Hamaj rule, and indirectly led to the weakening of their grip on power.
The cover picture is the ruined palace of Sennar at the time of the Turkish conquest (1821). Voyage à Meroé by Frédéric Cailliaud © LeGabrie
