Editing Sudan (section)

=== Medieval Christian Nubian kingdoms (c. 350–1500) ===
{{main|Nobatia|Makuria|Alodia|Daju kingdom}}
[[File:Christian Nubia.png|thumb|upright=0.8|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 state in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia, probably centred 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 sixth 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 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]]. Afterward the Makurian king and the Arabs agreed on a [[Baqt|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:King Moses George of Makuria.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Moses Georgios of Makuria|Moses George]], king of Makuria and Alodia]]
From the mid eighth to mid eleventh century the political power and cultural development of Christian Nubia 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}} but was also increasingly influenced by Arab culture.{{sfn|Martens-Czarnecka|2015|pp=249–265}} The state organisation was extremely centralised,{{sfn|Werner|2013|p=254}} being based on the [[Byzantine bureaucracy]] of the sixth and seventh 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 alphabet for their language, [[Old Nubian|Old Nobiin]], basing it on the [[Coptic alphabet]], while also using [[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}}

From 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 and 15th centuries [[Bedouin]] tribes overran most of Sudan,{{sfn|Hasan|1967|p=176}} migrating to the [[Butana]], the [[Gezira (state)|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 only as a petty kingdom.{{sfn|Werner|2013|pp=143–145}} After the prosperous{{sfn|Lajtar|2011|pp=130–131}} reign of king [[Joel of Dotawo|Joel]] ({{floruit}} 1463–1484) Makuria collapsed.{{sfn|Ruffini|2012|p=256}} Coastal areas from southern Sudan up to the port city of [[Suakin]] was succeeded by the [[Adal Sultanate]] in the fifteenth century.<ref>{{cite thesis |type=Masters |last1=Owens |first1=Travis |date=June 2008 |title=Beleaguered Muslim Fortresses And Ethiopian Imperial Expansion From The 13th To The 16th Century |publisher=Naval Postgraduate School |page=23 |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a483490.pdf |access-date=22 June 2020 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020204/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a483490.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Levtzion|Pouwels|2000|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=J1Ipt5A9mLMC&pg=PA229 229]}} 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}}