This book, first published in 1974, is a study of the two states which dominated the northern and western regions of Sudan from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century: the Funj kingdom of Sinnar and the Keira sultanate of Dar Fur. Until now the history of these two states has been neglected in comparison with that of the western states of the Sudanic Belt. The authors spent years researching the documentation of the period and the present book is a concise survey of their findings, comprising history, literature, politics, economics, trade and religion.