Fazughli

Fazughli lies in the hilly border country of the upper Blue Nile, a region long prized for its gold. A local kingdom survived here until the Funj conquered it and established a province in 1685. Its hills and rivers marked the frontier between the Sudanese plains and the Ethiopian uplands, while reports of mineral wealth continued to attract rulers from farther downstream.

In 1820–23 an Egyptian military expedition led by Ismail, son of Muhammad Ali, advanced into the region in search of gold and people to enslave. Frédéric Cailliaud, George Waddington and George Bethune English accompanied the army and later left accounts of the campaign and its course. Muhammad Ali organized Fazughli into sheikhdoms as Egyptian rule took shape in the country.