Nasra bint ʿAdlan (; fl.1800s – 1850s) was a
Sudanese noblewoman, power-broker, estate manager and enslaver, whose court was visited by
Karl Richard Lepsius
Karl Richard Lepsius (; 23 December 181010 July 1884) was a German people, Prussian Egyptology, Egyptologist, Linguistics, linguist and modern archaeology, modern archaeologist.
He is widely known for his opus magnum ''Denkmäler aus Ägypten ...
.
Biography
Bint 'Adlan was born in the early 1800s, in or close to
Sennar
Sennar ( ') is a city on the Blue Nile in Sudan and possibly the capital of the state of Sennar. For several centuries it was the capital of the Funj Kingdom of Sennar and until at least 2011, Sennar was the capital of Sennar State.
Histo ...
.
Her mother was a princess of the
Funj royal house; her father Muhammed 'Adlan was an aristocrat and military commander, descended from
Muhammad Abu Likaylik. In 1821 the
Turkish army conquered the Funj state and her father was assassinated.
Her first husband was a merchant called Muhammad Sandaluba. They had a daughter named Dawwa and divided their time between Sennar and their estate at Maranjan, near
Wad Madani
Wad Madani (; also spelled Wad Medani and known simply as Madani) is a city in eastern Sudan and the capital of the Al Jazirah (state), Al Jazirah state. "Wad Madani" (population), Microsoft Encarta, Online Encyclopedia 2001. Wad Madani lies on th ...
. After the death of Sandaluba, bint 'Adlan remarried, this time to Daf ʿ Allah Muhammad, who was a district governor at Wad Madani. In the 1830s they built a palace and a village called Suriba, which served it. During this time the couple became more involved in commercial ventures, which included agriculture and prostitution, both of which were based on
slave labour
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
.
As the manager of her own estates, and connected to high-ranking officials through her family and wealth, bint 'Adlan was an influential woman in the region. She supported Nasir wad Abakr to bid for the throne of
Taqali.
She died between 1852 and 1860; after her death the Suriba palace became a ruin.
The archaeologist
Karl Richard Lepsius
Karl Richard Lepsius (; 23 December 181010 July 1884) was a German people, Prussian Egyptology, Egyptologist, Linguistics, linguist and modern archaeology, modern archaeologist.
He is widely known for his opus magnum ''Denkmäler aus Ägypten ...
had visited bint 'Adlan and an account of her life was published in 1853 in his work ''Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai.''
References
External links
*''
Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai'' (read online)
{{Authority control
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
19th-century Sudanese people
Sudanese women
Sudanese royalty