Khartoum, and she stopped and greeted us, crying and distressed, and asked us why we had come. He accepted her intercession and ordered each one of us to be put in chains separately.

The Amir of the Sun, in his palace, ordered a prison to be built near the mosque. He did not spend a dirham on its construction, but rather employed the prisoners in building it.

The women were of two types: some were captives from Khartoum, and the rest were from various Sudanese tribes.

There was a guard named Tunbul, a Shaigi, who was stationed at the gate of the house. He had a key to the prison, and no one was allowed to bring anything to any of the prisoners unless Tunbul saw it.

The prisoners nicknamed Tunbul "Shanqal Manqal," which means "the spreader."

This was a custom of the prisoners. If any of them wanted to get married, or if his wife was pregnant, or if he had a child, he would address them, saying, "Do you not know that I am neither a merchant nor a farmer? You are my crops and my trade. So pay me what you owe me, and I will not ask for marriage or a child." If he had a child, he would set a date for them to pay. If they were unable to pay, they would be subjected to torture by cold water. If the season was winter...