The scattered granite hills of northern and central Kordofan (Haraza, Kaja, Katul, Kadaru, Dilling and others), whose people speak Nubian languages, and the sandy plains between them round later El Obeid and Bara.
Ibn Hawqal (tenth century) placed a district he calls al-Jeblien, in north Kordofan, under Makuria, and a Nubian governor destroyed the Daju town of Samna before 1154; tradition remembers a Daju victory over the Nubians at the Wadi al-Milk. Medieval sites such as Zankor in the upper Wadi al-Milk are under study. No ruler is known for 1200.
Who holds it
- Title
- Elders and chiefs
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
Makuria claimed al-Jeblien in the tenth century (Ibn Hawqal); not pinned for 1200.
How things stand that morning
Self-governing hill communities; Makurian or Alodian lordship is not pinned for 1200.
Customs
Hill villages under their own chiefs; millet farming and herding.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Languages, a tenth-century notice and recent archaeology.
On the map: A wide, thinly settled country; the outline joins the hills and the plains between them.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia: Alodia (Ibn Hawqal on al-Jeblien and al-Ahdin in Kordofan)
- Wikipedia: History of Darfur (Arkell on the Daju; al-Idrisi on Tajuwa and Samna; the Tora traditions)
- DAI Entangled Africa blog: InterLINK workshop on Kordofan and Darfur (Zankor in the upper Wadi al-Milk; Ain Farah debated)
- Wikipedia: Kordofan
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.