''Makk'' (plural ''mukūk''), also spelled ''mak'', ''mek'' or ''meek'',Robert S. Kramer, Richard Andrew Lobban Jr. and Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, ''Historical Dictionary of the Sudan'', 4th ed. (Scarecrow Press, 2013), p. 293.Richard Andrew Lobban Jr., ''Historical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Nubia'' (Scarecrow Press, 2004), p. . is a title formerly used in the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, meaning "ruler" or "king". There are three theories of its origins. It may be a corruption of the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

word ''

malik Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic duri ...

'' (pl. ''mulūk''), meaning "king";Jay L. Spaulding, "The Fate of Alodia", ''Transafrican Journal of History'' 4, 1 (1974): 27–40. it may descend from Meroitic ''mk'', meaning "God", appropriate to the

divine kingship In many historical societies, the position of kingship carries a sacral meaning; that is, it is identical with that of a high priest and judge. The concept of theocracy is related, although a sacred king need not necessarily rule through his re ...

practised in the Sudan; or, as E. A. Wallis Budge proposed, it may be derived from Ge'ez መከሐ (''mkḥ''), meaning "to be glorious", making it an

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n import. The territory ruled by a ''makk'' may be called a "makkdom" or "mekdom" in English. The title ''makk'' was used for the ruler of the

Funj Sultanate 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 ...

and for all his vassal rulers in the region of Sennar. It was used by the ruler of

Taqali Taqali (also spelled Tegali) was a state of Nuba peoples which existed in the Nuba Mountains, in modern-day central Sudan. It is believed to have been founded in the eighteenth century, though oral traditions suggest its formation two centuries ...

, whose tributaries were also known as ''mukūk al-ʿāda'' (sing. ''makk al-ʿāda''), "customary kings".Janet J. Ewald, ''Soldiers, Traders, and Slaves: State Formation and Economic Transformation in the Greater Nile Valley, 1700–1885'' (University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), p. 235. The ruler of

Shendi Shendi or Shandi ( ar, شندي) is a small city in northern Sudan, situated on the southeastern bank of the Nile River 150 km northeast of Khartoum. Shandi is also about 45 km southwest of the ancient city of Meroë. Located in the R ...

also bore the title, and Shendi's last ruler, ''Mek'' Nimr, resisted the Egyptian conquest of Sudan in 1821–22. During the period of the Anglo-Egyptian condominium in the Sudan, the government used

indirect rule Indirect rule was a system of governance used by the British and others to control parts of their colonial empires, particularly in Africa and Asia, which was done through pre-existing indigenous power structures. Indirect rule was used by variou ...

, appointing and deposing many ''mukūk''. Following the deposition in 1903 of the ''makk'' of the

Shilluks The Shilluk ( Shilluk: ''Chollo'') are a major Luo Nilotic ethnic group of Southern Sudan, living on both banks of the river Nile, in the vicinity of the city of Malakal. Before the Second Sudanese Civil War the Shilluk also lived in a number of ...

for misappropriation of funds and other abuses, the new ''makk'' was forced to accept "eleven conditions of mekship". Among the

Nuba The Nuba people are indigenous inhabitants of central Sudan. Nuba are various indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state in Sudan, encompassing multiple distinct people that speak different languages which b ...

, the government made the "''mek''-in-council" (akin to the

king-in-council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of ap ...

), along with tribal hierarchies and federations, the basis of indirect rule.Kamal Osman Salih, "British Policy and the Accentuation of Inter-Ethnic Divisions: The Case of the Nuba Mountains Region of Sudan, 1920–1940", ''African Affairs'' 89, 356 (1990): 417–36.

References

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