Badi II

Bādī II Abū Daqn, known as The Bearded (r. 1644/5 – 1681), was a ruler of the Kingdom of Sennar. He was the son of Rabat I and ascended to the throne in 1644/5.

During the reign of Badi II, the Kingdom of Taqali to the west was defeated and made a vassal state. He captured northern and western parts of Kordofan and extended Funj territory across the White Nile, occupying the northern half of the Shilluk Kingdom in 1650^[1] and defeating the Abdallabi tribes who were supported by the Ottoman Empire. He defeated the Darfur Sultan Musa by the mid-1650s and reduced the tribal chieftaincies northward along the Nile to feudatories.^[2]

Through his conquests, Badi II formed a slave army, drawing primarily from the population of Nubia. The captured slaves were taken to Sennar where their influence grew and they formed a military caste that later fought with the aristocracy for control of state offices.^[3]

Under Badi II, Sennar became the fixed capital of the Funj Sultanate. During his reign written documents concerning administrative matters first appeared, with the oldest known dating to 1654.^[4]

Badi II died in 1681. He was succeeded by Unsa II.^[2]

References

1. Beswick, Stephanie (2014). "The Role of Slavery in the Rise and Fall of the Shilluk Kingdom". In Souad T. Ali; et al. (eds.). The Road to the Two Sudans. Cambridge Scholars. p. 115. ISBN 9781443856324.
2. E.A Wallis Budge, A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia, 1928 (Oosterhout, the Netherlands: Anthropological Publications, 1970)
3. McKenna, Amy, ed. (2011). The History of Northern Africa. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. p. 133. ISBN 9781615303182.
4. Spaulding, Jay; Abu Salim, Muhammad Ibrahim (1989). Public Documents from Sinnar. Michigan State University. pp. 2–3. ISBN 0870132806.

Preceded by Rabat I

King of Sennar

Succeeded by Unsa II