Funj Sultanate

The Funj Sultanate, also known as the Sultanate of Sennar or Blue Sultanate, was a kingdom founded in 1504 by the Funj people in what is now Sudan, northwestern Eritrea, and western Ethiopia. Initially an "African empire with a Muslim façade," it nominally converted to Islam, with a more orthodox form taking hold in the 18th century. At its peak in the late 17th century, the sultanate extended from the Third Cataract to the Ethiopian Highlands and Sobat River, and from the Red Sea to Kordofan and the Nuba Mountains, ruling an ethnically diverse population. It declined and fell apart, with the last sultan surrendering to Turco-Egyptian conquest in 1821.