The Funj were an ethnic group in present day Sudan. Their origins are not clearly known, but they are recorded as moving into Nubia from the Sudd to the south in the early sixteenth century, fleeing the pressure of the Shilluk . Arriving in Nubia, they absorbed the empire built up by Abdallah Jamma and set up the Kingdom of Sennar that ruled the area for several centuries.

The Funj monarchy had become Arabized by the time the kingdom collapsed in 1821, adopting Arabic as their common language.