Amara Dunqas was the first ruler of the Kingdom of Sennar (1504 - 1533/4). According to James Bruce

James Bruce

James Bruce was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia, where he traced the origins of the Blue Nile.-Youth:...

, he founded the city of Sennar, after the Wad 'Ajib had been defeated by the Funj in a battle near Arbaji moved the feat of government of Wed Ageeb to Herbagi, that he might be more immediately under their own eye.

Following the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 conquest of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 in 1517, Amara Dunqas skillfully used diplomacy to keep the Ottoman armies from advancing further up the Nile

Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...

 and conquering his realm, thus securing the future of the kingdom.

In 1523 the Jewish traveller David Reubeni

David Reubeni

David Reubeni was a Jewish political activist, described by the Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia as "half-mystic, half-adventurer."- Origin :The mysteries of ha-Reubeni's origins are manifold, and have not been solved to this day....

passed through the territory of a king 'Amara, who is usually identified with Amara Dunqas.