Makouria
Makouria was a significant kingdom in Nubia that emerged after the decline of Kush in the fourth century CE. Situated between the Nile River's Third and Fifth Cataracts, its capital was Dongola, a location strategically favorable for agriculture and trade. Known to Arab traders as al-Muqurra, Makouria's history is marked by its early rulers, possibly linked to the Tanqasi culture, who resided in mound graves. The kingdom became a recognized independent entity by the sixth century and underwent a religious transformation, embracing Christianity, which was influenced by political rivalries with neighboring Nobatia. By the seventh century, Makouria and Nobatia unified into a single kingdom, which thrived for six centuries until facing challenges from Arab invasions. The pivotal agreement known as the Baqt, reached in 652 CE, established a framework for peaceful relations between Makouria and the Muslim rulers of Egypt, allowing Nubian culture to flourish until the fourteenth century.
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Makouria
Also known as: Makhorae; Makuria; Maqurra.
Date: fifth-eighth centuries c.e.
Locale: Upper Nubia
Makouria
After the fourth century c.e. decline of Kush, the area between Aswan and the confluence of the Niles was divided into three kingdoms: Nobatia in the north, Alwa in the south, and Makouria (mah-KEW-ree-ah) in the center. Makouria was previously unknown, and its subjects cannot be easily identified with an earlier political entity. Known to Arab traders as al-Muqurra, it was located between the Nile River’s Third and Fifth Cataracts. Its capital, Dongola, was situated on the east bank. Its location was exceptionally favorable for agriculture and trade, and it emerged as a political power of Nubia.
The post-Meroitic history of Upper Nubia is fragmentary. The stele of King Ezana provides one of the few literary references to the period between the downfall of Kush and the advent of Christianity. When the Axumite king arrived in Nubia in 350 c.e., the Noba (or Nobatae), former subjects of Meroe, had taken possession of large areas of the Meroitic steppe lands. Some of these people later are designated as the Tanqasi culture, named after a major site of their mound grave groupings. Although their origins are obscure, Makouria’s early rulers may have been those buried beneath the mounds at Tanqasi. The sixth century Ecclesiastical History by John of Ephesus (fragmentary work, part 3 translated as The Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of Ephesus, 1860) provides reliable political information; Makouria was then a recognized, independent kingdom.
In 540 c.e., the Byzantine emperor Justinian I closed the temple of Isis at Philae. Christian missionaries were dispatched to Nubia, where the new religion was readily accepted by rulers and subjects. Motives were political as well as religious: Rival kings chose rival sectarian affiliations. The contemporary historian John of Biclarum documents Makouria’s conversion to the Diophysite faith in about 570 c.e.; John of Ephesus notes that the ruler of Nobatia, Makouria’s rival, had adopted the Monophysite sect of Christianity.
Makourian-Nobatian rivalries did not last, as the two kingdoms merged into a single confederation sometime in the seventh century. This united kingdom, ruled by the king of Makouria, maintained its capital at Dongola. It now extended from Aswan to the vicinity of the Fifth Cataract. Although the reasons for this unification remain unclear, the combined kingdom existed peacefully for six hundred years.
After the Arab invasion of Egypt in 639 c.e., raiders traveled up the Nile and attacked Makouria. (Their records do not mention Nobatia, which already had been absorbed.) They laid siege to Dongola, destroying the cathedral. Attacks and counterattacks ensued, with heavy casualties on both sides.
In 652 c.e., the king of Makouria and Egypt’s Muslim rulers reached an agreement commonly known as the Baqt, which is believed to have determined Muslim-Nubian relations for the next six centuries. It institutionalized economic relations and guaranteed the sovereignty of Makouria, a non-Muslim kingdom, an event without precedent in early Islamic history. With this mutual agreement of nonaggression, Nubia was left in peace and the Arabs had a stable frontier. Until the fourteenth century c.e., an indigenous Nubian culture was able to develop.
Bibliography
Davies, W. V., ed. Egypt and Africa: Nubia from Prehistory to Islam. London: The British Museum Press, 1991.
Shinnie, P. L. Ancient Nubia. New York: Kegan Paul International, 1996.