The Funj are an ethnic group in present day Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

. Their origins are not clearly known, but they are recorded as moving into Nubia

Nubia

Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...

 from the Sudd

Sudd

The Sudd , also known as the Bahr al Jabal, As Sudd or Al Sudd, is a vast swamp in South Sudan, formed by the White Nile. The word “sudd” is derived from the Arabic word “sadd”, meaning “block.” The term has come to refer to any large solid floating vegetation island or mat...

 to the south in the early 16th century, fleeing the pressure of the Shilluk. Arriving in Nubia, they absorbed the empire built up by Abdallah Jamma and set up the Funj Sultanate of Sinnar

Funj sultanate of Sinnar

The Funj Sultanate of Sennar , known in Sudanese traditions as the Blue Sultanate , was a sultanate in the north of Sudan, named Funj after the ethnic group of its dynasty or Sinnar after its capital, which ruled a substantial area of northeast Africa between 1504 and 1821.-Origin:In the 15th...

 that ruled the area for several centuries.

The Funj monarchy had become Arabized by the time the kingdom collapsed in 1821, adopting Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

as their common language.