Sennar (province)

Sennar, otherwise El Gesire Sennar - in the narrow sense, the region going from Khartoum to Fasokles between the White and Blue Nile , and in the wide - the southeastern historical region of modern Sudan and the former province of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, reaching the Sobat River in the south. In the north, it is the plain of the savannah, like Kordofan ; about 14 ° sowing w. there are already individual granite mountains; further to the southeast, Sennar serves as a transitional step to the Abyssinian Alps.

Vegetation and Agriculture

Vegetation from grasses and shrubs goes southeast to luxurious steppe meadows and even southeast to high forests. The plain consists of alluvial soil, which from the Abyssinian Alps to the White Nile is rich in gold and excellent iron. Sennar's calcareous soil retains water and, moistened by rain, it is very fertile, but in the dry season it represents a real desert. After the rains, millet (Sorghum vulgare) is sown without any cultivation of the soil, and after 3 and a half months, at the end of October, the entire plain is covered with waves of mature ears. Acacia, tamarind are found from plants, and south of 12 ° C. w. from the Blue Nile - palm trees.

Fauna

Of the animals there are sea cats, porcupines, jumpers, ichneumons, stinkers, lions, cheetahs, gigantic monkeys, gazelles, giraffes, hippos, elephants, and many marsh and water birds.

Climate

Before and during the rainy period, the heat is unbearable that the air temperature rises in the shade to 48 ° C; this is a period of fever and dysentery. In winter, the temperature often drops to 16 ° C, and the atmosphere is so dry that the meat dries without decomposition.

The population of Sennar is very mixed; the upper classes are more light-skinned, beautiful in face and figure, the lower classes are dark-skinned blacks; more than half of the population are slaves. Blacks include the Fungis, or Fungs, a Negro tribe that invaded here from the southwest in 1500 and founded the Sennar state, which existed until 1821. The inhabitants of the White Nile coast exist almost exclusively for fishing.

Major Cities

The administrative center - the city of Sennar, on the White Nile, barely has a population of 10,000 and has been gradually falling since the rise of Khartoum . Of the other cities and towns are more significant: Wad Medina, now more populated than the city of Sennar; Dekin, former administrative center; Misselemia, Sennar's most commercial point; Kalamin, where there are small factories and plants.

The province is divided into 3 districts ( districts ):

• Ad Dinder
• Singa
• Sennar (Sinnar)

The main area of ​​economy is agriculture , in the city of Sennar there is a sugar factory, plantations are located on the banks of the Blue Nile (mainly mangoes and bananas are grown).

Folk traditions consider Sennar the residence of Macrobiev, which Herodotus mentions as the most ancient Ethiopians, wealth of gold aroused Cambyses envy.

The modern province of Sennar occupies a small part of the historical region of Sennar and a small part of the territory of the Sennar Sultanate , which also owned the Kordofan region.

• Sennaar // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.