Sennar

13.5533.6Koordinaten: 13 ° 33 'N, 33 ° 36' O

Sennar, Arabic سنار Sennar; also Sennar or Sinnar; is the capital of the Sudanese state of Sennar. 1504 / 5-1821 Sennar was the capital of the Sultanate of Sennar (realm of Funji ).

Location

Sennar lies in the east of Sudan, approximately 280 kilometers south of Khartoum on the west bank of the Blue Nile, which dams up in the city by the Sennar Dam on a lake. The nearest towns are Kusti, about 100 kilometers southwest and Wad Madani as far north. From the turn of the highway between the two cities, the modern Sennar located about seven kilometers to the south.

Nearby is the Sennar Dam, which allows the irrigation of the Jazirah level. The town lies on the railway line between Khartoum in the north and al - Ubayyid in the West.

The barely existing remnants of the old Funji capital are right on the banks of the Nile east of the turnoff. A settlement in the late 1970s, founded by nomads spreads out at the site of the medieval village.

Population

For Sennar 134 883 inhabitants ( 2010 calculation ) can be specified.

Population development:

History

The name Sennar means in ancient Egyptian language " rainstorm ". From the city at that time there are no residues. The city was founded by later sources 1504 and was until 1821 the capital of the independent Sultanate of Funji. After that, the place was abandoned. According to a report of the traveler Jacques Poncet Sennar to have had in 1700 about 100,000 inhabitants.

In the sprawling city there were several living quarters, which were scattered around the large market on the banks of the Nile. OGS Crawford was 1950, the ruins much more destroyed than in his first visit in 1913. Ali Osman described in 1982 that more channels should discharge the rain water, had expanded to wide wadis to a depth of three to five meters the terrain traversed.

The main building was a palace, a mosque, market places and cemeteries. 1910, the well-preserved remains of a small mosque were even photographed. It was just 300 meters south of the large market square in the center of the palace quarter and had a richly landscaped entrance, a mihrab and pillars of burnt brick. The situation indicates that Islam must already have been the official religion at the time. The building was investigated in 1980 by Ali Osman again, but hardly found residues. The mosque was probably about 10 × 15 meters, and have offered for a maximum of 100 worshipers. This seems too small for a Friday mosque in the city of such importance. The typical size of modern mosques in Sudan is about 15 × 15 meters.

There were three market places, one of which was a slave market. The main palace of the Funj rulers to have been built in the mid 17th century by Baadi II (reigned 1645-1681 ). After a description he had a five-story tower with a Council Chamber and was surrounded by a wall with nine goals. Other reports that the building was anything but impressive and should have rather made ​​a chaotic impression.

North-west of the former town is the cemetery of Fugara (plural of Faki, simple Islamic scholars, holy men). The buried here Muslim scholars are of the local population still known by name and enjoy great reputation. The graves are occasionally sought to gain baraka ( blessing power ). In contrast, the names of famous Funji rulers are as well as their burial places forgotten.

On 13 June 1821, the city was conquered by Egyptian troops, who found it, however, entirely located in resolution. On October 22, Ibrahim Pasha met here and his brother Ismael together the conquest of Sudan should continue jointly on behalf of her father Muhammad Ali Pasha. After that, the city sank completely into irrelevance. The palace was torn down after the Egyptian conquest of the city in 1821 and in 1833 described as a ruin. In an investigation of the site in 1982 only foundation walls could be determined.

Middle of the 19th century must have been run down the city; as Egyptian soldiers told the Africa travelers Ferdinand Werne, the city hot sense el- Harr, ie " hot mouth", must be supplied in the form of Merisa which alcohol. 1885 was Caliph Abdallahi ibn Muhammad destroy the city ..