In Darfur: An Account of the Sultanate and Its People, Volume Two

A Merchant’s Account Of His Travels Through An Independent African State Muhammad Ibn 'umar Al-tunisi (d. 1274/1857) Belonged To A Family Of Tunisian Merchants Trading With Egypt And What Is Now Sudan. Al-tunisi Was Raised In Cairo And A Graduate Of Al-azhar. In 1803, At The Age Of Fourteen, Al-tunisi Set Off For The Sultanate Of Darfur, Where His Father Had Decamped Ten Years Earlier. He Followed The Forty Days Road, Was Reunited With His Father, And Eventually Took Over The Management Of The Considerable Estates Granted To His Father By The Sultan Of Darfur. In Darfur Is Al-tunisi’s Remarkable Account Of His Ten-year Sojourn In This Independent State. In Volume Two Al-tunisi Describes The Geography Of The Region, The Customs Of Darfur’s Petty Kings, Court Life And The Clothing Of Its Rulers, Marriage Customs, Eunuchs, Illnesses, Food, Hunting, Animals, Currencies, Plants, Magic, Divination, And Dances. In Darfur Combines Literature, History, Ethnography, Linguistics, And Travel Adventure, And Most Unusually For Its Time, Includes Fifty-two Illustrations, All Drawn By The Author. In Darfur Is A Rare Example Of An Arab Description Of Africa On The Eve Of Western Colonization And Vividly Evokes A World In Which Travel Was Untrammeled By Bureaucracy, Borders Were Fluid, And Startling Coincidences Appear Almost Mundane. Frontmatter -- Letter From The General Editor -- Table Of Contents -- Map 1: The Author’s World: From Mali To Mecca -- Map 2: Darfur -- Chapter 1: A Description Of Darfur And Its People, Of Their Customs And The Customs Of Their Kings, And Of The Names Of The Positions And Ranks Held By The Latter, In Five Sections -- Chapter 2, In Two Sections -- Chapter 3, In Two Sections -- A Chapter On The Plants That Grow In Darfur; On Magic, The Making Of Amulets, And Geomancy; And On Other Matters -- Colophon -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- List Of Images -- Index -- About The Nyu Abu Dhabi Institute -- About The Typefaces -- Titles Published By The Library Of Arabic Literature -- About The Editor–translator Muḥammad Ibn 'umar Al-tūnisī ; Edited And Translated By Humphrey Davies ; Foreword By R. S. O'fahey. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In English.