They may previously have lived around Merowe[1] but in recent centuries have settled in the Butana region between the Atbara River and the Blue Nile.
Towns where the Shukria live include Halfa Aljadeeda, Kassala, Alfao, Khashm el Girba, and Tamboul.
In around 1779 the Rikabia suggested to Badi wad Rajab, regent of Sennar, that the Shukria should be made to pay tribute and offered to assist him in bringing them under his authority.
[1] When Badi wad Rajab heard of this he was furious, but Sultan Adlan promised the Shukria royal pardon if they would come and swear fealty to him.
Abu Sin encouraged his people to settle widely with grants of land, and increasing use of the camel promoted trade between settlements.
[3] After the Egyptian conquest of Sudan (1820–1824) the Shukria, under Abu Sin's son Ahmad Bey ibn Awad became one of the government's most trusted allies.
[6][1] As the Mahdist state consolidated, the nazir (chief) of the Shukriya, Awad al-Karim Pasha Ahmad abu Sin, was sent to prison, where he died in 1886.
[3] The great outbreak of rinderpest affected eastern Sudan from 1889,[7] and together with the harsh taxation and demands from the Mahdist Emir of Kassala, Hamed Wad Ali, this led to famine.