P. M. Holt\u27s The Sudan of the Three Niles is an annotated translation of the Funj Chronicle, a history of the Funj sultanate (1504–1821) based at Sennar, along the Blue Nile, and of the Turco-Egyptian regime that succeeded it at Khartoum. Along with the Tabaqat of Wad Dayf Allah (a biographical dictionary of Sudanese Muslim holy men compiled in the late 18th century), the Funj Chronicle is the most important Arabic source on the northern riverain Sudan in the Funj era, a period in which Islam was spreading widely and the region was developing its pronounced Arab–Islamic identity

Sharkey, Heather J

English

Kosmopolis

University of Pennsylvania
ScholarlyCommons
Departmental Papers (NELC) Department of Near Eastern Languages andCivilizations (NELC)
5-2000
The Sudan of the Three Niles: The Funj Chronicle
Heather J. Sharkey
University of Pennsylvania, hsharkey@sas.upenn.edu
Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.upenn.edu/nelc_papers
Part of the African History Commons, History of Religion Commons, Islamic Studies
Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, and the Near and Middle Eastern
Studies Commons
At the time of publication, author Heather Sharkey was affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently, she is a faculty member at
the University of Pennsylvania.
This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. http://repository.upenn.edu/nelc_papers/42
For more information, please contact repository@pobox.upenn.edu.
Recommended Citation
Sharkey, H. J. (2000). The Sudan of the Three Niles: The Funj Chronicle. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 32 (2), 288-290.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0020743800002361
The Sudan of the Three Niles: The Funj Chronicle
Abstract
P. M. Holt's The Sudan of the Three Niles is an annotated translation of the Funj Chronicle, a history of the Funj
sultanate (1504–1821) based at Sennar, along the Blue Nile, and of the Turco-Egyptian regime that succeeded
it at Khartoum. Along with the Tabaqat of Wad Dayf Allah (a biographical dictionary of Sudanese Muslim
holy men compiled in the late 18th century), the Funj Chronicle is the most important Arabic source on the
northern riverain Sudan in the Funj era, a period in which Islam was spreading widely and the region was
developing its pronounced Arab–Islamic identity.
Disciplines
African History | History of Religion | Islamic Studies | Islamic World and Near East History | Near and
Middle Eastern Studies
Comments
At the time of publication, author Heather Sharkey was affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Currently, she is a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania.
This review is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/nelc_papers/42
P.M. Holt, The Sudan of the Three Niles: The Funj Chronicle, 910-1288/1504-1871, 
Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts (Leiden: Brill, 1999). pp. xx + 208.  
Reviewed by Heather J. Sharkey, Department of History, Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 
 
The Sudan of the Three Niles is an annotated translation of the Funj Chronicle, a 
history of the Funj sultanate (1504-1821) based at Sennar, along the Blue Nile, and 
of the Turco-Egyptian regime that succeeded it at Khartoum.  Along with the 
Tabaqat of Wad Dayf Allah (a biographical dictionary of Sudanese Muslim holy men 
compiled in the late eighteenth century), the Funj Chronicle is the most important 
Arabic source for the northern riverain Sudan in the Funj era, a period when Islam 
was spreading widely and the region was developing its pronounced Arab-Islamic 
identity. 
 The primary author of the Funj Chronicle was Shaykh Ahmad ibn al-Hajj Abi 
Ali (b. 1784-5), generally known as Katib al-Shuna, because of his service as granary 
clerk for the Turco-Egyptian government.  Having reached maturity in the late Funj 
era (the period of the "Hamaj regency" when Funj kings had lost effective power), 
Katib al-Shuna witnessed dramatic political and social upheavals.  Reflecting that 
the days of the Funj kings had become mere "anecdotes and homilies" (p. 77), Katib 
al-Shuna sought to record their history and to extract moral guidance from it.  He 
drew primarily on "tales in circulation" and first-hand observation, supplemented 
by a Funj king-list and the aforementioned Tabaqat of Wad Dayf Allah, his solitary 
written sources.  Although he ended his story in 1838, by which time the Turco-
Egyptian system was well entrenched, a few other writers added to and revised his 
account, taking the record up to 1871. 
 The Funj Chronicle is therefore not one text but a series of texts.  It has 
multiple authors, and multiple versions.  The latter have slight narrative variations, 
while some survive in only fragmentary form.  Even taking Katib al-Shuna's account 
alone, the existence or survival of an "original" text is doubtful.  Based upon internal 
evidence in the text, Holt concludes that Katib al-Shuna wrote the work over the 
span of two decades.  Moreover, an extant version of the chronicle produced by 
Shaykh Ahmad al-Hajj Muhammad Janqal (the first to add to Katib al-Shuna's story) 
includes passages that appear to be antecedent to manuscripts in Cairo and Istanbul, 
the oldest surviving copies of the manuscript.  Holt concludes that in reproducing 
his chronicle for Turco-Egyptian authorities, Katib al-Shuna may have edited his 
own copy -- a version now lacking. 
 Holt faces up to the challenges of these variant versions, by comparing and 
where appropriate synthesizing them.  He relies primarily on the printed version of 
the Cairo manuscript (the closest thing to a core text, published by al-Shatir Busayli 
Abd al-Jalil as Makhtutat Katib al-Shuna [Cairo,1963]), supplemented by 
manuscripts in Istanbul, Nottingham, Vienna, and Paris, as well as by the printed 
rendition of the last recension up to 1871, published by Makki Shubayka as Tarikh 
muluk al-Sudan (Khartoum, 1947).   
 The Sudan of the Three Niles has three main parts.  The first is the fascinating 
introductory essay in which Holt discusses the the textual history and authorship of 
the Funj Chronicle.  The second is an annotated translation of an amalgamated prose 
text, indicating the source of inclusions from manuscripts other than the Cairo 
version.  (Holt omits extensive passages of poetry which Katib al-Shuna included 
within his narrative, arguing that these verses are primarily of literary rather than 
historical importance.)  The third part of the volume includes ancillary materials, 
namely, appendices of supporting texts (e.g., introductions from the chronicle's first 
and second recensions); genealogical tables and king-lists; a glossary; a 
bibliography; and indices (for people, places, and social groups). 
 The Funj Chronicle is above all a political history, detailing the rise and fall of 
rulers (the Funj kings, later the Hamaj regents, and finally the Turco-Egyptian 
governors and administrators); their wars; and their foreign relations.  It pays rich 
tribute to Sufi holy men -- their powers of erudition and miracle-making -- and in 
this regard reflects the growth of Islamic culture in the region.  Scattered details also 
yields insights into the history of environmental disaster (droughts, famines, 
flooding, and earthquakes); endemic disease (plague, smallpox, guinea worm); 
urban life (consider Arbaji, a ruined Funj city which Katib al-Shuna extols for its 
beautiful buildings, fine cuisine, and scholarship); clothing; population movements 
(e.g., the migrations of Nuba soldier-slaves and West African pilgrims); and natural 
phenomena (especially eclipses and falling stars). 
 The Sudan of the Three Niles aims for a highly specialized audience.  Those 
who are not well-versed in the details of Sudanese Funj and Turco-Egyptian history 
should read more general works before broaching this one.  The sparse bibliography 
of this volume points to two historical overviews -- O.G.S. Crawford's The Fung 
Kingdom of Sennar (Gloucester, 1951) and Richard Hill's Egypt in the Sudan, 1820-
1881 (London, 1959).  It does not mention, however, an important and very 
readable third, Jay Spaulding's account of the Funj in Kingdoms of the Sudan (London, 
1974; co-authored with R.S. O'Fahey), or a more recent work concerned with the 
growth of the Sudan's Arab-Islamic identity in the Funj era, Neil McHugh's Holymen 
of the Blue Nile (Evanston, 1994). 
 Before this volume, the only English rendition of the Funj Chronicle was a 
summary translation published in 1922.  P.M. Holt has done historians a great 
service by presenting this rigorously researched, annotated translation of the full 
Funj Chronicle.  Over the years, Holt's other works have already enriched the 
historiography of the Sudan, notably The Mahdist State in the Sudan, 1881-1898; and 
his general history of the region, The History of the Sudan (first published 1961, 
revised by M.W. Daly in various editions beginning with the third in 1979).  With 
this translation of the Funj Chronicle, Holt makes a major and lasting contribution to 
the field.  


The Sudan of the Three Niles: The Funj Chronicle

ScholarlyCommons@Penn

University of PennsylvaniaScholarlyCommonsDepartmental Papers (NELC) Department of Near Eastern Languages andCivilizations (NELC)5-2000The Sudan of the Three Niles: The Funj ChronicleHeather J. SharkeyUniversity of Pennsylvania, hsharkey@sas.upenn.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://repository.upenn.edu/nelc_papersPart of the African History Commons, History of Religion Commons, Islamic StudiesCommons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, and the Near and Middle EasternStudies CommonsAt the time of publication, author Heather Sharkey was affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently, she is a faculty member atthe University of Pennsylvania.This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. http://repository.upenn.edu/nelc_papers/42For more information, please contact repository@pobox.upenn.edu.Recommended CitationSharkey, H. J. (2000). The Sudan of the Three Niles: The Funj Chronicle. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 32 (2), 288-290.http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0020743800002361The Sudan of the Three Niles: The Funj ChronicleAbstractP. M. Holt's The Sudan of the Three Niles is an annotated translation of the Funj Chronicle, a history of the Funjsultanate (1504–1821) based at Sennar, along the Blue Nile, and of the Turco-Egyptian regime that succeededit at Khartoum. Along with the Tabaqat of Wad Dayf Allah (a biographical dictionary of Sudanese Muslimholy men compiled in the late 18th century), the Funj Chronicle is the most important Arabic source on thenorthern riverain Sudan in the Funj era, a period in which Islam was spreading widely and the region wasdeveloping its pronounced Arab–Islamic identity.DisciplinesAfrican History | History of Religion | Islamic Studies | Islamic World and Near East History | Near andMiddle Eastern StudiesCommentsAt the time of publication, author Heather Sharkey was affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology. Currently, she is a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania.This review is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/nelc_papers/42P.M. Holt, The Sudan of the Three Niles: The Funj Chronicle, 910-1288/1504-1871, Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts (Leiden: Brill, 1999). pp. xx + 208.  Reviewed by Heather J. Sharkey, Department of History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts  The Sudan of the Three Niles is an annotated translation of the Funj Chronicle, a history of the Funj sultanate (1504-1821) based at Sennar, along the Blue Nile, and of the Turco-Egyptian regime that succeeded it at Khartoum.  Along with the Tabaqat of Wad Dayf Allah (a biographical dictionary of Sudanese Muslim holy men compiled in the late eighteenth century), the Funj Chronicle is the most important Arabic source for the northern riverain Sudan in the Funj era, a period when Islam was spreading widely and the region was developing its pronounced Arab-Islamic identity.  The primary author of the Funj Chronicle was Shaykh Ahmad ibn al-Hajj Abi Ali (b. 1784-5), generally known as Katib al-Shuna, because of his service as granary clerk for the Turco-Egyptian government.  Having reached maturity in the late Funj era (the period of the "Hamaj regency" when Funj kings had lost effective power), Katib al-Shuna witnessed dramatic political and social upheavals.  Reflecting that the days of the Funj kings had become mere "anecdotes and homilies" (p. 77), Katib al-Shuna sought to record their history and to extract moral guidance from it.  He drew primarily on "tales in circulation" and first-hand observation, supplemented by a Funj king-list and the aforementioned Tabaqat of Wad Dayf Allah, his solitary written sources.  Although he ended his story in 1838, by which time the Turco-Egyptian system was well entrenched, a few other writers added to and revised his account, taking the record up to 1871.  The Funj Chronicle is therefore not one text but a series of texts.  It has multiple authors, and multiple versions.  The latter have slight narrative variations, while some survive in only fragmentary form.  Even taking Katib al-Shuna's account alone, the existence or survival of an "original" text is doubtful.  Based upon internal evidence in the text, Holt concludes that Katib al-Shuna wrote the work over the span of two decades.  Moreover, an extant version of the chronicle produced by Shaykh Ahmad al-Hajj Muhammad Janqal (the first to add to Katib al-Shuna's story) includes passages that appear to be antecedent to manuscripts in Cairo and Istanbul, the oldest surviving copies of the manuscript.  Holt concludes that in reproducing his chronicle for Turco-Egyptian authorities, Katib al-Shuna may have edited his own copy -- a version now lacking.  Holt faces up to the challenges of these variant versions, by comparing and where appropriate synthesizing them.  He relies primarily on the printed version of the Cairo manuscript (the closest thing to a core text, published by al-Shatir Busayli Abd al-Jalil as Makhtutat Katib al-Shuna [Cairo,1963]), supplemented by manuscripts in Istanbul, Nottingham, Vienna, and Paris, as well as by the printed rendition of the last recension up to 1871, published by Makki Shubayka as Tarikh muluk al-Sudan (Khartoum, 1947).    The Sudan of the Three Niles has three main parts.  The first is the fascinating introductory essay in which Holt discusses the the textual history and authorship of the Funj Chronicle.  The second is an annotated translation of an amalgamated prose text, indicating the source of inclusions from manuscripts other than the Cairo version.  (Holt omits extensive passages of poetry which Katib al-Shuna included within his narrative, arguing that these verses are primarily of literary rather than historical importance.)  The third part of the volume includes ancillary materials, namely, appendices of supporting texts (e.g., introductions from the chronicle's first and second recensions); genealogical tables and king-lists; a glossary; a bibliography; and indices (for people, places, and social groups).  The Funj Chronicle is above all a political history, detailing the rise and fall of rulers (the Funj kings, later the Hamaj regents, and finally the Turco-Egyptian governors and administrators); their wars; and their foreign relations.  It pays rich tribute to Sufi holy men -- their powers of erudition and miracle-making -- and in this regard reflects the growth of Islamic culture in the region.  Scattered details also yields insights into the history of environmental disaster (droughts, famines, flooding, and earthquakes); endemic disease (plague, smallpox, guinea worm); urban life (consider Arbaji, a ruined Funj city which Katib al-Shuna extols for its beautiful buildings, fine cuisine, and scholarship); clothing; population movements (e.g., the migrations of Nuba soldier-slaves and West African pilgrims); and natural phenomena (especially eclipses and falling stars).  The Sudan of the Three Niles aims for a highly specialized audience.  Those who are not well-versed in the details of Sudanese Funj and Turco-Egyptian history should read more general works before broaching this one.  The sparse bibliography of this volume points to two historical overviews -- O.G.S. Crawford's The Fung Kingdom of Sennar (Gloucester, 1951) and Richard Hill's Egypt in the Sudan, 1820-1881 (London, 1959).  It does not mention, however, an important and very readable third, Jay Spaulding's account of the Funj in Kingdoms of the Sudan (London, 1974; co-authored with R.S. O'Fahey), or a more recent work concerned with the growth of the Sudan's Arab-Islamic identity in the Funj era, Neil McHugh's Holymen of the Blue Nile (Evanston, 1994).  Before this volume, the only English rendition of the Funj Chronicle was a summary translation published in 1922.  P.M. Holt has done historians a great service by presenting this rigorously researched, annotated translation of the full Funj Chronicle.  Over the years, Holt's other works have already enriched the historiography of the Sudan, notably The Mahdist State in the Sudan, 1881-1898; and his general history of the region, The History of the Sudan (first published 1961, revised by M.W. Daly in various editions beginning with the third in 1979).  With this translation of the Funj Chronicle, Holt makes a major and lasting contribution to the field.  

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