Amerchant’sremarkabletravelaccountofanAfricankingdomMuḥammadal-Tūnisī(d.1274/1857)belongedtoafamilyofTunisianmerchantstradingwithEgyptandwhatisnowSudan.Al-TūnisīwasraisedinCairoandagraduateofal-Azhar.In1803,attheageoffourteen,al-TūnisīsetofffortheSultanateofDarfur,wherehisfatherhaddecampedtenyearsearlier.HefollowedtheFortyDaysRoad,wasreunitedwithhisfather,andeventuallytookoverthemanagementoftheconsiderableestatesgrantedtohisfatherbythesultanofDarfur.InDarfurisal-Tūnisī’sremarkableaccountofhisten-yearsojourninthisindependentstate,featuringdescriptionsofthegeographyoftheregion,thecustomsofDarfur’spettykings,courtlifeandtheclothingofitsrulers,marriagecustoms,eunuchs,illnesses,food,hunting,animals,currencies,plants,magic,divination,anddances.InDarfurcombinesliterature,history,ethnography,linguistics,andtraveladventure,andmostunusuallyforitstime,includesfifty-twoillustrations,alldrawnbytheauthor.InDarfurisarareexampleofanArabdescriptionofanAfricansocietyontheeveofWesterncolonizationandvividlyevokesaworldinwhichtravelwasuntrammeledbybureaucracy,borderswerefluid,andstartlingcoincidencesappearalmostmundane.AnEnglish-onlyedition.
