Editing History of Sudan (section)

==Medieval Nubia (c. 350–1500)==
{{see also|Makuria|Nobatia|Alodia}}
[[File:Christian Nubia.png|thumb|upright=0.9|The three Christian Nubian kingdoms. The northern border of [[Alodia]] is unclear, but it also might have been located further north, between the fourth and fifth [[Cataracts of the Nile|Nile cataract]].{{sfn|Welsby|2002|p=26}}]]

On the turn of the fifth century, the [[Blemmyes]] established a short-lived [[Blemmye kingdom|state]] in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia, probably centered around Talmis ([[Kalabsha]]), but before 450 they were already driven out of the Nile Valley by the Nobatians. The latter eventually founded a kingdom on their own, [[Nobatia]].{{sfn|Welsby|2002|pp=16-22}} By the 6th century there were in total three Nubian kingdoms: Nobatia in the north, which had its capital at Pachoras ([[Faras]]); the central kingdom, [[Makuria]] centred at Tungul ([[Old Dongola]]), about {{convert|13|km|mi|abbr=off|0}} south of modern [[Dongola]]; and [[Alodia]], in the heartland of the old Kushitic kingdom, which had its capital at [[Soba (city)|Soba]] (now a suburb of modern-day Khartoum).{{sfn|Welsby|2002|pp=24&26}} Still in the sixth century they converted to [[Christianity]].{{sfn|Welsby|2002|pp=16-17}} In the seventh century, probably at some point between 628 and 642, Nobatia was incorporated into Makuria.{{sfn|Werner|2013|p=77}}

Between 639 and 641 the [[Islam|Muslim]] [[Arabs]] of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|conquered]] [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Egypt. In [[First Battle of Dongola|641 or 642]] and again in [[Second Battle of Dongola|652]] they invaded Nubia but were repelled, making the Nubians one of the few who managed to defeat the Arabs during the [[Islamic expansion]]. Afterwards the Makurian king and the Arabs agreed on the [[Baqt]], a unique non-aggression pact that also included an annual exchange of gifts, thus acknowledging Makuria's independence.{{sfn|Welsby|2002|pp=68-70}} While the Arabs failed to conquer Nubia they began to settle east of the Nile, where they eventually founded several port towns{{sfn|Hasan|1967|p=31}} and intermarried with the local [[Beja people|Beja]].{{sfn|Welsby|2002|pp=77-78}}
[[File:Bischop of Faras.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.9|Nubian bishop and [[Virgin Mary]] on a wall painting from [[Faras]] (11th century)]]
From the mid 8th-mid 11th century Christian Nubia went through its [[Golden Age]], when its political power and cultural development peaked.{{sfn|Shinnie|1978|p=572}} In 747 Makuria invaded Egypt, which at this time belonged to the declining [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyads]],{{sfn|Werner|2013|p=84}} and it did so again in the early 960s, when it pushed as far north as [[Akhmim]].{{sfn|Werner|2013|p=101}} Makuria maintained close dynastic ties with Alodia, perhaps resulting in the temporary unification of the two kingdoms into one state.{{sfn|Welsby|2002|p=89}} The culture of the Medieval Nubians has been described as "''Afro-Byzantine''",{{sfn|Ruffini|2012|p=264}} with the significance of the "African" component increasing over time.{{sfn|Werner|2013|pp=408-409}} Increasing Arab influence has also been noted.{{sfn|Martens-Czarnecka|2015|pp=249-265}} The state organization was extremely centralized,{{sfn|Werner|2013|p=254}} being based on the [[Byzantine bureaucracy]] of the 6th and 7th centuries.{{sfn|Edwards|2004|p=237}} Arts flourished in the form of pottery paintings{{sfn|Adams|1977|p=496}} and especially wall paintings.{{sfn|Adams|1977|p=482}} The Nubians developed an own alphabet for their language, [[Old Nubian|Old Nobiin]], basing it on the [[Coptic alphabet]], while also utilizing [[Medieval Greek|Greek]], [[Coptic language|Coptic]] and [[Arabic]].{{sfn|Welsby|2002|pp=236-239}} Women enjoyed high social status: they had access to education, could own, buy and sell land and often used their wealth to endow churches and church paintings.{{sfn|Werner|2013|pp=344-345}} Even the royal succession was [[matrilineal]], with the son of the king's sister being the rightful heir.{{sfn|Welsby|2002|p=88}}

Since the late 11th/12th century, Makuria's capital Dongola was in decline, and Alodia's capital declined in the 12th century as well.{{sfn|Welsby|2002|p=252}} In the 14th (the earliest recorded migration from Egypt to the Sudanese Nile Valley dates to 1324{{sfn|Hasan|1967|p=106}}) and 15th century [[Bedouins|Bedouin]] tribes overran most of Sudan,{{sfn|Hasan|1967|p=176}} migrating to the [[Butana]], the [[Gezira (Sudan)|Gezira]], [[Kordofan]] and [[Darfur]].{{sfn|Hasan|1967|p=145}} In 1365 a civil war forced the Makurian court to flee to [[Gebel Adda]] in [[Lower Nubia]], while Dongola was destroyed and left to the Arabs. Afterwards Makuria continued to exist as a [[rump state]].{{sfn|Werner|2013|pp=143-145}}
The last known Makurian king was [[Joel of Dotawo|Joel]], who is attested for the years 1463 and 1484 and under whom Makuria probably witnessed a brief renaissance.{{sfn|Lajtar|2011|p=130-131}} After his death the kingdom probably collapsed.{{sfn|Ruffini|2012|p=256}}
To the south, the kingdom of Alodia fell to either the Arabs, commanded by tribal leader Abdallah Jamma, or the [[Funj]], an African people originating from the south.{{sfn|Welsby|2002|p=255}} Datings range from the [[Hijri year|9th century after the Hijra]] ({{circa}} 1396–1494),{{sfn|Vantini|1975|pp=786–787}} the late 15th century,{{sfn|Hasan|1967|p=133}} 1504{{sfn|Vantini|1975|p=784}} to 1509.{{sfn|Vantini|2006|pp=487–489}} An Alodian rump state might have survived in the form of the [[Kingdom of Fazughli]], lasting until 1685.{{sfn|Spaulding|1974|pp=12-30}}