The Kingdom of Taqali — the Nuba Mountains state that preserved its independence
In the heart of the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan, around the Taqali mountain massif — the highest parts of the mountains in the Kordofan region — stood the Kingdom of Taqali, one of the longest-lived local states in modern Sudanese history. Historians differ on the date of its founding: oral traditions trace it back to the early sixteenth century, contemporaneous with the establishment of the Sultanate of Sennar, while a number of researchers hold that its political entity did not crystallize until the late eighteenth century, between 1750 and 1780, and that the earliest of its kings in the lists are of a semi-legendary character.
The ruler of Taqali bore the title "Makk", and according to the circulating lists about nineteen Makks inherited the throne. The kingdom's endurance is credited to its geographical location: a rugged mountain plateau surrounded by plains and deserts, which enabled it to preserve its independence for about 130 years despite powerful neighbours, from the Sultanate of Sennar to the east to the Sultanate of Fur to the west and Turco-Egyptian rule to the north.
Taqali flourished as a centre of a route linking central Sudan to the west, and its influence at its height extended from the Abu Habil area in the north to Talodi in the south. Its kings took care to spread religious education and established khalwas, until Taqali became an Islamic beacon in the Nuba Mountains, and its capital — later Abbassiya Taqali — became a well-known station for caravans and trade.
The kingdom's independence ended in 1884 when the forces of the Mahdist state invaded it, but it was restored in 1889 as a client state under the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, and its administrative authority continued until the 1969 coup, which ended its official role. The "Makk of Taqali" still retains a ceremonial and symbolic standing among the people of the area to this day, a witness to a small mountain state that endured for centuries between great empires.
📚 Sources: Wikipedia encyclopedia (the articles "Kingdom of Taqali" and "Taqali") with their academic references on the history of Kordofan and the Nuba Mountains; Sudanese Ministry of Culture and Information — History Memory page; Brookings Institution studies on the history of the Nuba and their resistance to central authority — Editorial Team
