A.H.
20.The Bedjas and Noubas send an army in aid of thebesieged Greeks at Bahnasa.
21.Aby Sarh, a commander of Amr Ibn el Aas, invadesNouba.
31.Aby Sarh makes a second expedition against Nouba,besieges Dóngola, and obliges the king of Nouba to pay a tribute inslaves.
216.Ibn Djaham, a commander of the Khalif Mamoun,renders the Bedjas tributary. Under Motasem, the successor ofMamoun, Zakaria the king of the Nouba and his son Feyraky, confirmthe tribute.
241.El Komy defeats the Bedjas, whose chief repairsto Bagdad to sue for peace.
255.El Amry, with the Arab tribes of Rabya andDjeheyne, takes possession of the gold mines in the Bedjacountry.
332.The tribe of Rabya continues in possession ofthese mines.
345.Ibrim is taken, and the King of Nouba repulsed bythe officer of Akshedy, Sultan of Egypt.
453.The pilgrim route is opened from Upper Egyptthrough the desert to Aidab.
568.Salah eddyn sends an army against the Noubas, whohad ruined Elephantine and Assouan.
569.A brother of Salah eddyn makes an incursion intoNouba from Yemen.
570.The army of Salah eddyn defeats Kenz el Dowla,the rebel of Assouan.
660.The pilgrim route through Bedja isdiscontinued.
674.Sultan Dhaher Bybars of Egypt sends an army intothe Nouba country; the churches are ruined; part of the country isannexed to Egypt, and the Nouba are obliged to pay acapitation.
684 and 688.The army of Sultan Seyf eddyn Kelaoun over-runsthe country of Nouba, as far as 18 days journey higher up thanDóngola.
760.Aidab is abandoned as a sea port of Indianmerchandises.
790.The Beni Kenz take Assouan.
799.The Osman Emperor Selym conquers Egypt. He sendsgarrisons to Assouan, Ibrim, Say, and Souakin.
815.The Howara Arabs drive the Beni Kenz from Assouan(above the cataract) and destroy that city.
Note a. I havefound in Mackrizi’s History of the Sultans of Egypt, calledEs-Selouk, which I have cited above, some farther notices on thewars between Egypt and Nouba, which I shall add here. In relatingin his chronicles of the year
674.The campaign of Dhaher Bibar’s officers againstDaoud, the King of Nouba, he describes it in the same terms asthose mentioned here, and he adds: The Moslim army reached Dóngola,built on the east side of the Nile, where they remained 17 days.They ruined the church of Ysous (Jesus). They took from all thechurches the goldencrosses and silver vessels. The soldiers took so many captives,that after they had killed and sold great numbers, at three Derhemsper head, 10,000 of them still remained in their hands.
It appears that Daoud died, and that Shekendy wasdispossessed of his kingdom by Samamoun, who became a rebel; for inthe year
684.The Sultan of Egypt, Seyf eddyn Kalaoun el Elfyes-Salehy, ordered a large army to repair into the Nouba country,among the numbers of which were likewise the Arab tribes of Kenzand Beni Helal. Samamoun, together with Djerys, the governor of thecastle of Addo retired before the approaching enemy as far asDóngola, when a bloody battle took place, in which the Nouba kingwas defeated and fled. The Moslims pursued him 15 days journeybeyond Dóngola; they took Djerys prisoner, together with the nephewof the King. The kingdom of Nouba was then given to a cousin ofSamamoun, Djerys was appointed his lieutenant, and the tribute ofslaves was re-established. The Moslim army retired, carrying withthem great numbers of Nouba captives, men and women, whom they soldat Cairo.
After the army had departed, Samamoun rallied hisparty, retook his country, and in the year
687.The fugitive rival king, together with Djerys,arrived as refugees at Cairo. In the year
688,the Sultan of Egypt set on foot an army of 40,000men to recover the Nouba country. They were accompanied by 500ships of all sorts, with many Harakes (a sort of gondolas, callednow Kandje, in Egypt), and both the refugees set out with them. Thepretender of Nouba died on the way at Assouan; a nephew of Daoud,the former King of Nouba, who then happened to be at Cairo, wasdispatched from thence to be installed in the government of Noubain his stead. The army divided into two parts, and ascended theNile on the east and west side. The country between Addo and theislands of Mykeyl, which was the province under the command ofDjerys, submitted; but farther on the inhabitants remained firm inallegiance to their king, and fled. The soldiers plundered anddestroyed every thing before them, and reached Dóngola, which theyfound entirely abandoned by its inhabitants; an old man and an oldwoman being the only people who had remained there. Samamoum hadtaken refuge in an island of the Nile, 15 days journey beyondDóngola. The army followed him, but it was found that the shipscould not pass the river on account of rocks.
In 689the army reached however the banks opposite theislands, when they saw many ships of the Nouba. They offered a safeconduct to the king, but he did not accept it, and afraid as he wasof the coming up of the ships and the Harakes, he fled towardsAboab, three days journey distant from that island, which is aplace beyond the limits of his territory.i[217] His chiefs and officers, the bishop andpriests abandoned him, and demanded a safe conduct from the commander of theMoslims, who granted it. His army remained three days before thatisland, and then returned to Dóngola. They made a feast for him andexhibited martial evolutions, and the dinner was spread in thechurch of Ysous, the first church of Dóngola. The nephew of Daoudwas then crowned, and a corps of Moslim was left with him for hisdefence. The chiefs swore allegiance to him, and the Bakt wasconfirmed. After an absence of six months the army returned toAssouan, and soon after to Cairo with great booty. No sooner hadthey left Nouba than Samamoun returned in disguise to Dóngola. Heknocked at the doors of all his officers, who when they came outand saw him, kissed the ground (in sign of obedience). On the nextmorning he assembled his whole army; he proceeded to the mansion ofthe king, sent back the Moslim guard with their commander to Kous,and laid hold of his rival. He dressed him in an ox skin, and tiedhim to a post where he was left until he died. Djerys was killed.Samamoun then wrote to the Sultan of Egypt to ask his pardon,promising to send the Bakt. He sent slaves and other presents,which were accepted.
Note b. Itdeserves mentioning here, that Aidab was at the end of the 12thcentury, for a short time in possession of the Crusaders. I find inMacrizi’s History, Es-Selouk, that in the year
578.El Bernys Ernati[218] (البرنيسارناط), the Franks chief of Kerek, built ships, andtransported them by land to the Red Sea. He stationed two ships atthe castle of Kolzum, to prevent the Moslim inhabitants of thatplace from taking in water,i[219] while he proceeded with the rest of his fleettowards Aidab. He killed and took captives on the road. He burntabout 16 ships, and took at Aidab a ship full of pilgrims comingfrom Djidda. He intercepted the caravan route with Kous, and tookat Almor,i[220] in the desert between Kous and Aidab, acaravan of pilgrims, whom he killed. They took two ships that hadcome from Yemen full of merchandise, together with a great quantityof provisions which had been collected on the coast for the supplyof the holy city. Such a misfortune had never been heard of in thetime of the Islam, and before them no Roumyi[221] had ever come into these parts, forthere remained only one day’s journey between them and Medina, thetown of the Prophet. They marched against Medina to take it. Thegovernor of Egypt, El Melek el Aadel, sent an army to Kolzum; shipswere built at Cairo and at Alexandria. The Moslims reached Aila,and took some of the ships of the Franks, which they burnt,making their crews prisoners. The commander then set out for Aidabin pursuit of the Franks. He overtook their ships and took them,and having liberated the captives, restored what had been takenfrom them by the enemy. He then landed on the firmland,i[222] and the Arab horsemenpursued the fugitives of the Franks; two of the latter were carriedto Muna,i[223] and were slaughtered there in the same manneras a ram is immolated. The Moslims then returned to Cairo with manycaptives, who were decapitated.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1]Macrizi was a native of Baalbek, who flourished about the year 800 of the Hejra, or in the beginning of the 15th century.

[2]Vide [note 1] at the end.

[3]The exact distance between Assouan and the cataract of Wady Halfa.

[4]Probably the Doum.

[5]Meaning, I suppose, the extent of ground irrigated by each water-wheel, which exactly corresponds with what I have observed on that subject in my journal.