Assosa

Assosa lies in the Blue Nile borderland, where the river's southern margin runs between the Sudanese plains and the highlands that rise toward Ethiopia. The land is a mix of woodland, grassland and river terraces, and seasonal streams drain into the Blue Nile. Farming communities grew sorghum, millet and sesame, and cattle grazed the open country between the villages.

The region sat on the frontier of the Funj Sultanate, whose rulers at Sennar drew tribute and slaves from the peoples along the southern edge of their domain. Farther south, the Berta and related peoples of the Blue Nile country maintained their own chiefdoms, trading iron, honey and cattle with the Sennar merchants and paying tribute when the sultans sent their armies.