constituted the bottom of the hierarchy. Among the Mahas, there was different access to power at the top. Some Mahas family groups brought in a substantial amount of turnover through agricultural land holdings. Other Mahas groups saw religious advisors, omdas (mayors), and high-ranking military officers, business men, and public servants as the conflux of power. The Mahas community established at Tuti Island, at the convergence of the Blue and White Nile, is among the oldest Mahas communities. The Mahas have occupied their site on Tuti Island for about five hundred years. The site is exclusively homogenous to the Mahas. In the 15th century, The Mahas fukahaa of Tuti were seen as key to the islamization of Sudan. As the first to build permanent structures in the Khartoum area, the Mahas may be credited with initiating the modernization of Sudan. The “Three Towns” area is the current center of modern-day Sudan. By the early 16th century, the Mahas ethnic community were established in the area. Most of the Mahas communities were established by a prominent Muslim scholar and leader called the fukahaa. Each fukahaa would bring their respective families to the site of the community. In addition to the home the family would build, there would also be a religious school, or khalwa. As the community grew, it would include multiple homes, the khalwa, and the local mesjid, or mosque. When the founding scholar died, a typical Mahas community would also include a gubba, or tomb, that would be the center of the municipal's cemetery. For larger Mahas villages, there would often be a market and areas for craft specialization whereas the inhabitants of the community could sell, exchange, and buy crafts, livestock, and various produce. Several prominent Mahas figures gave rise to the “Three Towns” area. In 1691, Sheikh Arbab El Agyed established a community and Islamic regional center in Khartoum. Born in Tuti island around the 17th century, Agayed was related to Mohammed Busati, a religious scholar responsible for spreading Islam in the state of Kordofan. The khalwa he established attracted around 500 students, 300 of them being Nubians. The masjid in the community lasted until the conquest of Sudan by the Turkish and Ottoman Empire. This community turned into the first permanent settlement in (western) Khartoum. The Mahas encountered the destruction of Agayed's masjid and community throughout Turkish rule. Today, the site is still remembered to be a