IV. AB. c. OF THE SUDAN 79

Lxxxii Badi "Abu Shelukh" reigned 1733-1766 (Bruce) or 1721-1761 (Cailliaud). (See note to D 7, xlviii for this name.)

Lxxxiii Badi Abu Dukn reigned 1651-1689 (Bruce) or 1638-1675 (Cailliaud).

Lxxxiv "Contribution" is w— »- (hasab), i.e. an offering, generally of dammilr (cloth) given to anyone who came as friend (haslh) of the

Sultan. "First-fruits" is S^lc {'dda), lit. "custom." "Levy" is iiU {'ana), lit. "assistance." " JMarket-due " is j 1^5 (kuwdr), i.e. a due taken on the sale of articles. "Impost" is «ijUa. (gabdya). In Darfur Abo gabdyin under the Sultans was the official responsible for collecting the

corn tithes. "Forage-due" is (3^ ('«^o'/e), i.e. a gift of corn to feed the beasts of a great man and his retinue when he halted at a village. "Herd- due" is Oj^I^ (maturat), i.e. the fattest of the flock, for slaughter in

honour of a dignitary's visit: Ar. j^, to fatten up (properly of a bull). This list is of interest as showing the local imposts in force under Fung rule.

Lxxxviii The real reason of the nickname "Westerner" was very pro-

bably that Bishara, or his ancestors, came from Borku. See D i, CXLIX. Lxxxix Ibrahim el Bulad was one of the famous sons of Gabir. He is mentioned in BA, ccv, and in the Tabakdt. Also cp. Jackson, p. 26. By race he was a Rikabi.

By "Khalil" is meant the subjects treated of by Khalil, viz. Khalil ibn Ishak el Gtindi, the author of a great compendium {mukhtasar) of

Malikite law. He died in 767 a.h. (1365-6 A.D.). EI Sanhuri, 'Abd el Baki el Zurkani, and el Ag-huri, all of whom are mentioned by AB or BA

{q.v. ccxii), were among those who wrote commentaries on Khalil's work. (See Hagi Khalfa's Lexicon, Vol. v, pp. 446-7.) Cp. D 3, vi. Risdla more commonly means "composition" and "the art of letter-writing," but from the context here and elsewhere (and most notably in the couplet quoted in D 3, No. 93), it is clear that by risdla is meant the office or duty of a rasiil or apostle. (See Hughes, p. 545, ii.)

xcvi Hugga is properly a decisive argument but the term is used to denote a person of incontrovertible authority. For the Rikabia see the trees to BA and D i and D 3, and Part HI, Ch. 7. Muhammad el Banufari is also mentioned in D 3 (No. 17) as the instructor of Ibrahim el Bulad.

Nothing definite is known about him.

xcix The Arabic phrase is Ol^JJi. aju-j J«*A»- 15* a—jj**-^ 5^.«3 and

"seven sealings" means that he lectured on the whole of his subject from beginning to end seven times and on reaching the end of the book

(Khalil's) he each time sealed or signed it in token thereof. Cp. D 3, No. 17. The 40 pupils of the Awlad Gabir are often referred to in D 3, e.g. No. 60.

For 'Abd el Rahman see D 3, No. 17, and BA, ccv. c This "divorce oath" is very frequent in the Sudan: a man says "I swear that I will do (or not do) so and so, and if I break my oath I will

divorce my wife" — and if he does break his oath he is expected to divorce her, though in practice he often compounds his offence instead.