page_title: Funj Sultanate
section_title: Military
hierarchical_section_title: Funj Sultanate / Government / Military
caption_attribution_description: English: Beni Amer horseman, wearing quilted armour, are chasing down Ethiopian troops
context_page_description: The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar or Blue Sultanate due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern Eritrea and western Ethiopia. Founded in 1504 by the Funj people, it quickly converted to Islam, although this embrace was only nominal. Until a more orthodox Islam took hold in the 18th century, the state remained an "African-Nubian empire with a Muslim facade". It reached its peak in the late 17th century but declined and eventually fell apart in the 18th. In 1821 the last sultan, greatly reduced in power, surrendered to the Ottoman Egyptian invasion without a fight.
context_section_description: The army of Sennar was feudal. Each noble house could field a military unit measured in its power by its horsemen. Subjects, although generally armed, were only rarely called to war, in cases of uttermost need. Most Funj warriors were slaves traditionally captured in annual slave raids called salatiya, targeting the stateless non-Muslims in the Nuba mountains pejoratively referred to as Fartit. The army was divided into the infantry, represented by an official called muqaddam al-qawawid, as well as the cavalry, represented by the muqaddam al-khayl. The Sultan only rarely led armies into battle and instead appointed a commander for the duration of the campaign, called amin jaysh al-sultan. Nomadic warriors fighting for the Funj had an own appointed leader, the aqid or qa’id.
  The weaponry of the Funj warriors consisted of thrusting lances, throwing knives, javelins, hide shields and, most importantly, long broadswords which could be wielded two-handed. Body armour consisted of leather or quilts and additionally mail, while the hands were protected by leather gloves. On the heads, there were worn iron or copper helmets. The horses were also armoured, wearing thick quilts, copper headgear and breast plates. While armour was also manufactured locally, it was at times imported as well. During the late 17th century Sultan Badi III attempted to modernize the army by importing firearms and even cannons, but they were quickly disregarded after his death not only because the import was expensive and unreliable, but also because the traditionally armed elites feared for their power. In the early 1770s James Bruce remarked that the Sultan had "not one musket in his whole army".
  One time a year Sennar conducted a slave-raid against the regions to its south and south-west.
  The Funj made use of Shilluk and Dinka mercenaries.
caption: Late 19th century illustration of Beni Amer horsemen wearing quilted armour
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