Editing Funj Sultanate (section)

===17th century peak===
[[File:Court of Badi of Sennar (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Contemporary albeit romanticizing depiction of Sultan Badi III receiving Theodor Krump. Over 100 years later an eyewitness would describe Badi VII, the last Funj king, as wearing a robe and a tunic and horned cap of rich Indian fabric. He rode a horse with a harness decorated with gold and silver and a plume made of [[ostrich]] feathers.{{sfn|Spaulding|1985|p=361}}]]
The submission of Abd al-Qadir II to the Ethiopian emperor and the possibility of a consequential invasion remained a problem for the Funj sultans. Adlan I had apparently been too weak to do something against this situation, but Badi I was able to take matters into his own hands.{{sfn|Aregay|Selassie|1971|p=65}} A rich present by Susenyos, which he perhaps sent in the belief that the successors of Abd al-Qadir II would honour the submission of the latter, was rudely answered with two lame horses and first raids of Ethiopian posts.{{sfn|O'Fahey|Spaulding|1974|p=60}} Susenyos, occupied elsewhere, would not respond to that act of aggression until 1617 when he raided several Funj provinces. This mutual raiding finally escalated into a full-fledged [[First Funj-Ethiopian war|war]] in 1618 and 1619, resulting in the devastation of many of the Funj eastern provinces.{{sfn|Aregay|Selassie|1971|pp=65–66}} A pitched battle was also fought, claimed by the Ethiopian sources to have been a victory, albeit this is posed doubtful by the fact that the Ethiopian troops retreated immediately afterwards. After the war, the two countries remained at peace for over a century.{{sfn|O'Fahey|Spaulding|1974|p=61}}

The Funj sultan who ruled during the war, [[Rabat I]], was the first in a series of three monarchs under whom the sultanate entered a period of prosperity, expansion and increased contacts with the outside world, but was also confronted with several new problems.{{sfn|O'Fahey|Spaulding|1974|p=57}}

In the 17th century, the Shilluk and Sennar were forced into an uneasy alliance to combat the growing might of the [[Dinka people|Dinka]]. After the alliance had run its cause, in 1650, Sultan [[Badi II]] occupied the northern half of the [[Shilluk Kingdom]].{{sfn|Beswick|2014|p=115}} Under his rule the Funj defeated the [[Kingdom of Taqali]] to the west and made its ruler his vassal.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}