Public Documents from Sinnar

Document 27: Charter of Nasir b. Muhammad Abu Likaylik (?)

DOCUMENT 27 Document 27 is a charter issued on 6 Jumlida II 1203/4 March 1789 to Faqih Muq.ammad walad Da'ud of Kitra, confrrming his right to lands his family had held under sultanic grant since the reign ofBadi II. The text has been taken by the editors from Neil McHugh's study of a nineteenth-century copy.! The beneficiary was a member of the Ya'qubab community of the 'Abbud area, and a prominent personal supporter of the late Muq.ammad Abu Likaylik.2 It is noteworthy that neither the name of the charter-issuing benefactor (presumably the incumbent Regent Na~ir b. Muq.ammad Abu Likaylik) nor the reigning sultan is mentioned. This may be a copyist's oversight, but it may also reflect troubled conditions at the capital at the time the charter was issued; it is quite possible that as of March 1789 no successor to the late Sultan'Adlan had yet been chosen, nor had Na~ir yet been formally invested as Regent.3 I ~.il1." ~ I.,Lu ~I ~.)I 0-.)1 ..ul ~ ..:.I.J v~ D'" ..:.1 r--J ~ ~ I ~ ~ l:...1 ~ .J J.,-..)I ~ ~.:JI ..u ~I 4v:-J.- ~ .J ~I vLJ..W1 ~.r1 Jl.:i ..ul ~I ~I .J~ ~ ~J.-. ~.J .J ~ ~) .;S'L-.l1 ~ o')lZl .J jUa:J1 .J .illJ.1 ....u.. ~4 .J IJ"!"I.J ~:pl... I ..ul IJ.!') v4 ~ .al.!ll ~ j."....,tl VS' ~I.J ....).lll I ~ .r"~1 J~ &..:.i 5(jl.:J1 ~ J.l..:r.:i ~I ),),)1 -:;~ D'" ~WI I v:-bW1 o)...i L. ~I .J ~ ..u vLJ..W1 6 ~I J....- ~I ( JI:i ) .J I vWI v l'"'- t::-.:.11 o~) ')').J ~,)4 vLJ..W1 ~ I ~.J""'.) .J ..u -:;.l... ').J.JI,) ')').J J....- ~I JI ~I.J ~ "::':;.l..:r.:i ..u ~ D'" lA.b.i ,).J""'-'1.J Wo:J1~).... o.J~jJ1).).)1.J 0'".J l... ~ ......J L..! ~ ~...J.:J .J 170 '" IW 1--" '"fY' ~,,(! I {) t::iJ 1fT" '"fY' -J.t '" Irrn(! (0 0 0) I 8 '" I~ ~ '"fY' ..rrc-~ {) Irrn(! ~ '"fY' torC" I ~ I~ f:1...J '"fY' 1t::("",.J'I rrrJ '" I~ ~ '"fY' f:1...J ~ Irr':" I ~ I~ l¥jrJ I ~fY' t::(""....f" '" I~ 1--" C""fY' ..,.:J '" -=..'") -..('C" I~ ~.>" '" I~ ~ ~fY' .,f'::' / '" I~ ~ .;..c-C" I '"fY' --,. t::(""....f" '" I~ ~ 1fT" ~fY' ~ 1"..;(' '" I~ ....:,,:., ~fY' ~ IfiT ~ ~rf" q.,...r / ~ I~ q.,...r ;(:I ~ r.fw I ~ Ir:l V"'.)L... ~I r.Y.:i .ill.) ul$' .) /r .) ~ ..J..II J... <;j.# VA oj)\S .) ~L..) / "In Thy Name, 0 Generous One. 'Surely it is from Sulayman and surely it is in the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful: That exalt not yourselves against Me and come to me in submission.",9 Praise be to God, Who sent the messenger. We believe in what he says. A charter and royal document [issued] in the divinely protected kingdom of Sinnar. May God Most High exalt her warden the powerful sultan, faithful and true in the religion of God. In his name the domain and order are good, and all the soldiers [obey completely]. Under his rule the bonds of the vanquished are loosened and the downhearted receive inspiration. All the witnesses say that the sultan has confirmed and ratified what the previous sultans did concerning the gift of alms of the estate which Sultan Badi walad Irtiba! bestowed upon Shaykh I:Iamdan al-Ba!ran. Shaykh Mul).ammad Abu Likaylik [said]: "I have bestowed it as alms and ratified it for Shaykh Mul).ammad walad Da'ud." It is a gift of alms for [the sake of] God and His messenger, for him [Mul).ammad walad Da'ud] and his descendants. Let no troublemaker trouble him in it. The location and boundaries of the said estate are known. Its boundary on the southern side are the reservoirs of the Mul).ammadab; on the eastern side the turus of al-Amin al-Karnili, al-Tabb Abu 'Ushayra, the dabba of Ral).um, and the estate ofthe king's mother; on the north al-Mawalil). al-Tumat and the path of al-Sunu! which goes to al-Shibayk; on the west [it is] at the stony ground of G6z al-Tuwali at al-Maykil). Umm Saq. Here the boundaries end. The said estate, its boundaries known, has become a gift of alms and the property of Shaykh Mul).ammad walad Da'iid, for him and his descendants. They shall bequeath it from heir to heir until God inherits the earth and those upon it, and He is the Best of Heirs. Let no challenger challenge him concerning this gift of DOCUMENT 27 173 alms. Let no troublemaker trouble them concerning it. It is free from all the shurur, subul, and maqiirr. It is not subject to jusara, khusara, 'ada, 'anada, rabf, /:tall, nor any of the customary subul. We command you peremptorily, all you shaykhs and muqaddams, and the jarai throughout my kingdom, all [of you]. Let no one of you trouble Shaykh Muq.ammad walad Da'ud or his descendants [concerning this] gift of alms. He who troubles after this has exposed himself to destruction. Beware, then beware of disobedience, and let the disobedient [blame none but himself]. The witnesses to that are: Shaykh Hiiriin walad Yunus, the amfn of the sultan the jundi, 'Ali walad Shawwiil, jundf of the market Shaykh Na~ir b. Muq.ammad AbU Likaylik Shaykh Sabbab walad 'Abd al-Raziq, shaykh of the compound of Na~ir Shaykh 'Abd Allah walad MuQammad al-Amin Shaykh 'Umar JfIr walad I:Iammad Darish Shaykh 'Ajib walad Hiikit Shaykh Muq.ammad KamtfIr Shaykh Aq.mad walad Salim Shaykh Ibrahim walad Darish Shaykh 'Umar walad Qasim, Shaykh of [al-Qarbin]10 Shaykh Qasim walad Idris, muqaddam Shaykh 'Ali walad Marzuq Sultan (...) Dar Allah walad I:Iasan Malik Aq.mad Walad 'Adliin 174 DOCUMENT 27 That was on Thursday, the sixth day of God's month of Jumada II in the year 1203, one thousand two hundred three from his [Mu~ammad's] hijra. May God bless him and grant him peace. This copy follows the original letter by letter (...) 1Neil McHugh, "Land, Lords and Holy Men in Eighteenth-Century Sinnar: Two Documents," Fontes Historiae Africanae: Bulletin d'Information Nos. 7/8 (1982/1983): 12-32; a photocopy is on p. 31. Dr. McHugh provides numerous corrections to show how this Sudanese text of the late nineteenth century could be transformed into Classical Arabic. 2rabaqiit, pp. 109-110. For the Ya'qiibiib, see McHugh, "Land, Lords and Holy Men," p. 14 and "Holymen of the Blue Nile." 3Jay Spaulding, "Two Documents from the days of Nii!iir b. Mul)ammad Abii Likaylik, Hamaj Regent of Sinnar," Fontes Historiae Africanae: Bulletin d'Information, Nos. 7/8 (1982-1983): 33-37; see also Heroic Age, pp. 344-352. 4Qur'iin 27:30. 50mitted from McHugh's text; but see photocopy, p. 31. 6McHugh ("Land, Lords and Holy Men, p. 16, note 1), "One word illegible." The present editors have restored this conjectural reading. 7The present editors follow McHugh in this conjectural reconstruction. 8Lacuna. 9The sCriptural translation is supplied by McHugh. lOThe copyist errs in writing al-gharb. Copyists omitted many titles, probably because they no longer understood their meaning. ...