The Abdallah Bey Hamza Collection (EAP1284)

The Abdallah Bey Hamza Collection is a private archive of documents belonging to the northern Sudanese trader and landowner, Abdallah Bey Hamza. Abdallah was an influential figure, granted the honorific title of “Bey” by the Ottoman administration. He traded in the major commodities of 19th and early 20th century Sudan, including gum Arabic, cotton and ostrich feathers. His trading activities spanned all regions of Sudan and Upper Egypt, and his career traversed the major periods of modern Sudanese history (roughly 1840-1920). The collection consists in approximately 1500 commercial, financial, legal and personal documents belonging to Abdallah and his brothers.