Sulayman Solong
Encyclopedia
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
of Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
. According to several sources, he ruled the Sultanate of Darfur
Sultanate of Darfur
The Sultanate of Darfur was a pre-colonial East African state in what is today Sudan. It functioned independently from 1603 to October 24, 1874.-Origins:...
from 1596 to 1637. However, because of the lack of contemporary references, estimates of his reign dates diverge widely, with some modern scholars stating that he probably reigned between 1660 and 1680.
Biography
The region of Darfur is named after the Fur peopleFur people
The Fur are an ethnic group from western Sudan, principally inhabiting the region of Darfur where they are the largest tribe....
inhabiting it. The Fur succeeded the Tunjur as the dominant people in the region. The royal Keira
Keira dynasty
The Keira dynasty were the rulers of the Sultanate of Darfur from the seventeenth century to 1916. Originally the Keira clan were perhaps regional rulers in the Tunjur state, with Sulayman traditionally seen as the founder of the Darfur state...
(also spelled Kayra) clan sprang from the Kunjara, one of the three Fur tribes. Although Fur tradition speaks of early rulers such as Daali and Kuuruu, they are generally regarded as folk heroes
Folk hero
A folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
. Sulaiman Solong is considered the first historical ruler of the Keira dynasty. According to traditional accounts, a land dispute erupted between Sulaiman's father Kuuruu and his uncle Tunsam, which forced Kuuruu to flee with Sulaiman to Dar Masalit in the west. Sulaiman grew up there among his mother's Masalit tribe, to whom an Arab origin is generally ascribed. When he became strong enough, he overthrew his uncle Tunsam, recaptured Jabal Marra
Marrah Mountains
The Marrah Mountains or Marra Mountains is a range of volcanic peaks created by a massif that rises up to 3,000 m. It is located in the center of the Darfur region of Sudan, specifically within Dar Zagahawa and neighboring areas. The highest point is Deriba Caldera...
from him and forced him to flee east to the border with Kordofan
Kurdufan
Kurdufan , also spelled Kordofan, is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kurdufan, South Kurdufan, and West Kurdufan...
. Modern historians hypothesize that the civil war between Kuuruu and Tunsam may be linked to the collapse of the Tunjur empire.
Little is known of Sulaiman's reign beyond vague generalities. The traditions surrounding him were recorded two centuries later. Sulaiman's nickname "Solong" means "the red-faced" or "the Arab" in the Fur language
Fur language
All sounds are spelt with their IPA symbols except for the following: j = , ñ = and y = . Arabic consonants are sometimes used in loanwords.The vowels are as in Latin: a e i o u...
, in reference either to his complexion or to his mother's origins. He is remembered as a warrior and conqueror who led 33 military campaigns, thereby transforming his Fur tribal kingdom into a multiethnic
Multiethnic society
A multiethnic society is one with members belonging to more than one ethnic group, in contrast to societies which are ethnically homogenous. In practice, virtually all contemporary national societies are multiethnic...
empire in succession to the Tunjur. He conquered Kordofan and for a time extended his dominions over Sennar, which was weakened due to a series of civil wars. His conquests were mainly aimed at increasing the number of slaves he held, which he could then barter
Barter
Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...
with merchants from surrounding regions for arms, war-horses and fine cloth. Nevertheless, Sulaiman's sultanate lagged behind other Sub-Saharan African states in terms of modern weaponry. Unlike the Bornu
Bornu Empire
The Bornu Empire was an African state of Nigeria from 1396 to 1893. It was a continuation of the great Kanem Empire founded centuries earlier by the Sayfawa Dynasty...
or Songhai
Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire, was a state located in western Africa. From the early 15th to the late 16th century, Songhai was one of the largest Islamic empires in history. This empire bore the same name as its leading ethnic group, the Songhai. Its capital was the city...
empires, Darfur did not use firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s.
The monarchy Sulaiman founded followed the then common African model of divine kingship
Sacred king
In many historical societies, the position of kingship carries a sacral meaning, that is, it is identical with that of a high priest and of judge. The concept of theocracy is related, although a sacred king need not necessarily rule through his religious authority; rather, the temporal position...
, which was later transformed under the impact of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Sulaiman is traditionally credited with making Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
the sultanate's state religion
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...
. The prior religion of his semi-legendary predecessors is unclear, with some sources suggesting that it was paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
. Sulaiman built mosques for his subjects and encouraged Islamic practices such as circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
. However, the Islamization of the Keira state was a slow process, and the monarchy retained pre-Islamic rituals throughout its existence.
Sulaiman was married to an Arab woman. He was succeeded on his death by his son Musa Sulayman and was buried on Jabal Marra, which went on to become the ancestral cemetery of the Fur sultans. Sulaiman was considered the "founding father" of the Keira state, a status that was highlighted in the oral traditions as well as on the seals of succeeding sultans, which often gave a pedigree
Pedigree chart
A pedigree chart is a diagram that shows the occurrence and appearance or phenotypes of a particular gene or organism and its ancestors from one generation to the next, most commonly humans, show dogs, and race horses....
back to Sulaiman. Nevertheless, historian Peter Malcolm Holt writes in the Encyclopaedia of Islam
Encyclopaedia of Islam
The Encyclopaedia of Islam is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies. It embraces articles on distinguished Muslims of every age and land, on tribes and dynasties, on the crafts and sciences, on political and religious institutions, on the geography, ethnography, flora and...
that Sulaiman was probably not the founder of the Keira dynasty, but simply its first Muslim ruler. Sulaiman's descendants continued to reign over Darfur until Ali Dinar
Ali Dinar
Ali Dinar was a Sultan of the Sultanate of Darfur and ruler from the Keira dynasty.A rebellion led by him in 1915 provoked the British to launch a punitive expedition, in which he was killed.-References:* *...
's death in battle at the hands of the British in 1916.