Origins Darfur is composed mostly of semi-arid plains and small seasonal rivers that cannot support a dense population. The one exception is the area in and around the
Marrah Mountains. It was from bases in these mountains that a series of groups expanded to control the region. According to written records the
Daju and the 14th century migrants the
Tunjur were the earliest powers in Darfur. The transition of power from the Daju to the Tunjur was facilitated through marriage. The
Fur people had long interacted with the
Fazara nomads and the
Toubou. Eventually the Tunjur began marrying amongst the Fur people producing Sultan Dali, a celebrated figure in traditional Darfur histories, said to be a Fur on his mother's side, and thus brought the dynasty closer to the people it ruled. Accordingly Dali divided the country into provinces and established a penal code which, under the title of
Kitab Dali or "Dali's Book", is still preserved, and differs in some respects from
Sharia law.
Suleiman, traditionally Dali's grandson (possibly an Arab immigrant from the east who married into the Fur royal family, owing to the application of the Fur
epithet "
Solon" meaning "the Arab/red"), reigned during the mid-17th century, and was a great warrior and a devoted
Muslim. Suleiman Solon is considered the founder of the
Keira dynasty and the Sultanate of Darfur. During the 17th century, the Keira sultans introduced the feudal
hakura system into Darfur. It was common for the Keira dynasty to intermarry with other ethnic groups as the region was very ethnically diverse, and the royal family was open to integrating strangers into the elite. Over the course of its existence, the expansion of the state was often done via integration and assimilation rather than by war.
Civil war (1722–1786) Succession struggles were common in the Keira dynasty. By the 18th century, Islam became more influential in state and society, owing to the Sultanate recruiting holy men by granting them privileges and status. Holy men were also given land inhabited by the Fur from which they could receive income, furthering the economic, legal, and political complexity of the state. Also in the 18th century, trade with Egypt dramatically increased, as the sultanate began to pivot away from the west and towards the east.
Decline In 1821, the
Turco-Egyptians under
Muhammad Ali, who planned to conquer the Sudan and compile a large slave army, conquered the Funj and the province of
Kordofan from
el-Fahl. In 1856, a
Khartoum businessman,
al-Zubayr Rahma, began operations in the land south of Darfur. He set up a network of trading posts defended by well-armed forces and soon had a sprawling state under his rule. This area, known as the
Bahr el Ghazal, had long been the source of the goods that Darfur would trade to Egypt and North Africa, especially slaves and
ivory. The natives of
Bahr el Ghazal paid tribute to Darfur, and these were the chief articles of merchandise sold by the Darfurians to the Egyptian traders along the road to
Asyut. Al-Zubayr redirected this flow of goods to Khartoum and the Nile.
Turco-Egyptian rule Sultan al-Husayn died in 1873 and the succession passed to his youngest son
Ibrahim, who soon found himself engaged in a conflict with al-Zubayr. After earlier conflicts with the Turco-Egyptians, Al-Zubayr had become their ally and in cooperation with them agreed to conquer Darfur. The war resulted in the destruction of the kingdom. Ibrahim was slain in the
Battle of al-Manawashi in the autumn of 1874, and his uncle
Hassab Alla, who sought to maintain the independence of his country, was captured in 1875 by the troops of the
khedive, and brought to
Cairo with his family. Al-Zubayr was shortly recalled by the Turco-Egyptians, and Darfur was administered as a province. Numerous rebellions sought to restore the sultanate, which enjoyed popular support, however they were unsuccessful.
Mahdists, Ali Dinar, and colonisation In the 1880s, the
Mahdists launched a
jihad against the
Turco-Egyptians. In 1885 they conquered Darfur and destroyed
Khartoum, ending Turco-Egyptian rule. Although the regime change was initially popular, the Fur soon fiercely resisted Mahdist rule, and in 1887 a rebellion by the son of Sultan Ibrahim was narrowly put down. Another rebellion commenced soon after led by Abu Jammayza, a
faki, and was only put down after his death from smallpox in 1889. Rebellions sought to expel foreign occupiers and return the traditional sultans. In 1898, when the Mahdists were conquered by the
Anglo-Egyptians, sultan
Ali Dinar managed to re-establish Darfur's self-rule. Ali Dinar's rule was recognised and tolerated by the British, and he rebuilt the sultanate's institutions. Dinar interfered in
Wadai's succession struggle and placed his candidate on the throne, however he was assassinated and replaced by
Dud Murra, the
Senussi's candidate. Dinar contested the French conquests of his western tributaries, and the French and British convened to compose borders, however this was halted by the outbreak of
World War 1. Dinar reassured the British he wouldn't ally with the Islamic
Ottomans, however the British began to see the status quo as untenable. The
British campaign in Turkey ended and troops became available in Egypt. Amid the possibility of French expansion and rumours of Dinar preparing an attack, the British conquered Darfur in 1916 and Dinar was killed in battle. The kingdom was incorporated into the
Anglo-Egyptian Condominium in 1917. Colonial histories often portrayed the region as chaotic and barbaric, necessitating colonial rule to keep order, in contrast to the reality. Recent histories stress the co-operative and largely peaceful nature of coexistence in the region, however the colonial narrative has seen a resurgence due to the
Darfur War. ==Warfare==