|
Sudan
The Decline of Christian Nubia
Until the thirteenth century, the Nubian kingdoms proved their
resilience in maintaining political independence and their commitment
to Christianity. In the early eighth century and again in the
tenth century, Nubian kings led armies into Egypt to force the
release of the imprisoned Coptic patriarch and to relieve fellow
Christians suffering persecution under Muslim rulers. In 1276,
however, the Mamluks (Arabic for "owned"), who were an elite but
frequently disorderly caste of soldier-administrators composed
largely of Turkish, Kurdish, and Circassian slaves, intervened
in a dynastic dispute, ousted Dunqulah's reigning monarch and
delivered the crown and silver cross that symbolized Nubian kingship
to a rival claimant (see The Rule of the Kashif , this ch.). Thereafter,
Dunqulah became a satellite of Egypt.
Because of the frequent intermarriage between Nubian nobles and
the kinswomen of Arab shaykhs, the lineages of the two elites
merged and the Muslim heirs took their places in the royal line
of succession. In 1315 a Muslim prince of Nubian royal blood ascended
the throne of Dunqulah as king. The expansion of Islam coincided
with the decline of the Nubian Christian church. A "dark age"
enveloped Nubia in the fifteenth century during which political
authority fragmented and slave raiding intensified. Communities
in the river valley and savanna, fearful for their safety, formed
tribal organizations and adopted Arab protectors. Muslims probably
did not constitute a majority in the old Nubian areas until the
fifteenth or sixteenth century.
Data as of June 1991
|
