Isma'il (1736–1776) was the ruler of the

Kingdom of Sennar The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue () was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern E ...

(). He was the son of king

Badi IV Badi IV (reigned 1724–1762; died 1764), also known as Badi abu Shilluk, was a ruler of the Kingdom of Sennar. He was the son of his predecessor, Nul. When Emperor Iyasu II of Ethiopia invaded his realm in 1738, the army of Sennar under the l ...

, and brother of his predecessor

Nasir Nasir ( ar, ناصر, translit=Nāṣir) is a masculine given name, commonly found in Arabic which can mean "helper" or "one who gives victory" (grammatically the Stem I masculine singular active participle of consonantal verb root ''n-ṣ-r''). ...

. The Scottish traveller

James Bruce James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia and in 1770 became the first Europ ...

was his unwilling guest from 1 May to 5 September 1772, and acted as a physician to Isma'il's three wives. Bruce left this portrait of Isma'il: : His head was uncovered; he wore his own short black hair, and was as white in colour as an Arab. He seemed to be a man about thirty-four, his feet were bare but covered by his shirt. He had a very

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

countenance, on which was stamped no decided character; I should rather have guessed him to be a soft, timid, irresolute man. Bruce summarized Isma'il's political position at the time of his visit as follows, based on conversations with the Royal Executioner, Ahmed Sid el-Koum: : Ismain, the present king, stood upon very precarious ground; that both brothers, Adelan and Abou Kalec, were at the head of armies in the field; that Kittou rother of Adelan and Abou Kalechad at his disposal all the forces that were in Sennar; and that the king was little esteemed, and had neither experience, courage, friends, money, nor troops.Bruce, ''Travels'', p. 238.

Notes

1736 births 1776 deaths Rulers of Sennar 18th-century rulers in Africa {{Sudan-bio-stub