Teqali

Teqali lies in the highlands of the northeastern Nuba Mountains, a cluster of rugged hills above the plains of Kordofan. The massif was the heart of a kingdom whose rulers bore the title of mek. Its strongholds and settlements occupied a landscape of steep slopes and valleys, distinct from the open country surrounding the mountains.

Tradition places the rise of the kingdom in the late sixteenth century, although its early chronology is debated. It appears in written accounts during the reign of Badi II of Sennar, who sent an expedition against its ruler in the seventeenth century. Teqali endured amid the rivalries of Sennar and Darfur, maintaining a political centre in the hills while its relations with the lowland powers changed.