See Also: Kordofan(encyclopedia)

Kordofan (sh)




or Kurdufan

Region, central Sudan.

Lying west of the White Nile River, it was originally inhabited by Nubian-speaking peoples. Controlled by the Christian Tungur dynasty (900-1200 AD), it was later taken by Arabs, and in the 17th century a sultanate was established. Egyptian rule began in the 1820s. The slave trade played an important part in the region's economy until its eradication in 1878 by Charles George Gordon. Egyptian rule was ended by a revolt in 1882 led by al-Mahdi. Kordofan became a province of The Sudan in 1899.