1. al-Khitat

MAQRIZI

1.) From "Al-Khitaṭ"

[General Geographical Information]

The First Climate stretches across ... the "Nile of Egypt" as far as the country of the Ḥabasha and. the town of Dumqala in the country of the Nūba. (Wiet 1,1,ch.11, §37, p. 42; Bouriant, p. 31).

West (of Egypt) there is the Western Desert; to the south, the desert of the Nūba and the Ḥabasha. (W.1,1, ch.III, §1, p. 51; B., p. 36). The frontier of Egypt begins at the Sea of the Rūm at Alexandria, or, according to others, at Barqa; traverses the land, passing behind the Oases (al-wāhāt) and continues as far as Nubia; then it turns (eastwards) along the borders of Nubia and those of Aswān, touches on the territory of the Beja which lies south of Aswān till it reaches the Sea of Qulzum. (W.I,1,ch.IV, §3, p. 54; B., p. 39).

Those who know well the history (of Egypt) say that the width of Egypt, from Aswān, in the remotest districts of Upper Egypt (aṣ-Ṣa'īd al-a‘lā) near the Nubian frontier, to Rosetta is about 30 days' journey. (W. ibid.; pp. 39 - 40).

After reaching the southernmost Oases, (if) you face towards the east and walk in the direction of the Nile; you will reach the river after eight days. Then if you go (upstream) following the Nile, you will reach the end of the territory of Islam, beyond this lies the country of the Nūba. Cross the Nile and go eastward from Aswān, leaving that town behind, in the direction of 'Aydhāb on the coast of the Sea of Ḥejāz: from Aswān to 'Aydhāb the journey takes five days. (W.1,1,ch.IV, § 8, p. 57; B., p. 41).

Traders go from Upper Egypt to the Maghrib, Nubia, the Beja country, Ḥabasha, Ḥejāz and Yemen. (W.I,1, ch. IX, §34, p. 114; B., p. 76).

[The Marvels of Ancient Egypt: A Bridge Across the Nile in Nubia]

(Pharaoh 'Adīm, son of Naqtāīm) built a bridge across the Nile at a point where Nubia begins. On this bridge he erected roar statues, each facing one of the four directions; each statue held in its hands two arrows to hit any one who dared to approach from that direction. The statues remained in place until the Pharaoh of Moses - blessings upon him destroyed them. This king (‘Adīm) erected, at the entrance to Nubia, the temple which has remained until our time. (W.I, 1,ch. IX, 94, pp. 141 - 142; B., p. SO).

[The Origin of the Hawk Worship in Nubia]

The mother of (pharaoh) Marqūnis (Marqukis) was the daughter of the king of the Nūba. Her father was a worshipper of the star as-Suhā, which he called God. She asked her son to build a temple especially for her in which she would find seclusion. He built it, decorated it with gold and silver plates and erected a statue (sanam) in it, and had it (the statue) covered with silk curtains.

The queen used to enter it with her maidens and her retinue and prostrate herself before it three times every day; she instituted a monthly feast during which she offered (to the idol) victims and frankincense day and night. She also appointed a priest from the Nūba to perform the celebration, to offer victims and to burn frankincense. She did not cease from (trying to persuade) her son, until he, too, prostrated himself before the statue and called others to worship it. When the priest saw that the king had become a true worshipper of the star, he wanted to give the star Suhā a symbol (mithāl) in the form of an animal to which worship be paid. He decided to play a trick: (he waited) until the time when the hawks became very numerous in Miṣr thus causing great inconvenience to the population. Whereupon the king invited this priest and asked him the cause of such an increase in the number of hawks. He answered: "In deed, your God sent them so that you erect (a statue) similar to them to be adored". Marqūnis said: "If that will satisfy him, I shall make it". He said: "Surely, the God will be satisfied". So (the king) ordered that the likeness of a hawk be made two cubits high and one cubit wide, of solid gold; he had its eyes made from two rubies, he put two necklaces of pearls set on rows of green stones around his neck and hung a pearl on its beak; its thighs were ornamented with red pearls. He then placed it on a pedestal of chiselled silver standing on a base of blue glass and had it erected under a vault on the right side of the sanctuary (haikal). He ordered that all kinds of spices (al-afāwiyah) and aromatic resins (as-sumūqh) be burnt. He offered it a black calf and the first brood of the chickens and the first fruits and flowers. (W.1,1, ch. X, §11, pp. 152- 153; B., p. 97).

[The Nubians and Some Neighbouring Peoples]

Epidemics in Egypt are always caused by an abnormal corruption which is easily spread by the air. This corruption may begin in Egypt itself or in the neighbouring countries, such as the (country of the) Sūdān, Syria or Barqa. (W.1,1,ch. XIII, p. 205; B., p. 132).

In the Commentary of the Fourth Book of Ptolemy it is said; Concerning the countries, of the (inhabited) quarter which is near the centre of all the Earth, such as Barqa, Egypt, the Oases, the land of the Nūba, and the Beja arid the land of the coast east of the Nūba and the Ḥabasha, all these countries lie in the angle which extends its influence on all the inhabited quarters (of the Earth) situated between the north (wind) (dabūr) and the south (wind) (janūb) [B: vent du nord], (in other words) these regions torn altogether the western half of the inhabited quarter (of the Earth) which is under the direct influence (tadbīr) of the Five Planets together. The inhabitants of these lands worship God, venerate the Genii (al-junn), practice wailing for the dead and bury their dead in graves with different ceremonies: they have different customs, rites and beliefs because mysteries (asrār) appeal strongly to them, so that every (racial) group (tā’ifa) among them performs one or another secret ceremony (al-umūr al-khaffīyya) which they all profess and perform. From these mysteries (asrār) originated the mathematical sciences (al-‘ulūm ad-daqīqa). When they are subject to foreign rule, these peoples are wretched and are generally lazy and cunning. When they have foreigners subjected to their rule, they show great generosity and kindness. Men take a great number of wives, and women alike have a number of husbands; as they (men) feel strongly inclined to intercourse, they have many children and the women are frequently pregnant. Many men are, however, weak and effeminate. (W.1,1, ch. XIII passim, pp. 205 - 206; B., pp. 134 - 135).

[The Nile]

The river (Nile) originally had no regular course, but flowed into swamps, and branched off on into the land, until King Naqrāwūs sent an expedition to Nubia comprising men who straightened the course. They dug several canals to flow from the main course so as to supply water to the towns which they built; one of these was the canal to the town of Amsūs.

... The same author ["i.e. Ibn Waṣīf Shāh] adds: Al-Walīd, the son of Dawma' (b.: Darma'), the Amalecite ... sent one of his servants by name 'Awn to Egypt; then he himself went (to Egypt).

... He (Walīd) had the idea of exploring the sources of the Nile, and finding out what peoples were living on its banks. He spent three years making preparations for the expedition, then he set out with a numerous army. He never passed through a country without exterminating the inhabitants. He passed through the countries of the Blacks (umam as-sūdān), went beyond them, then he entered the country of the gold (arḍ adhdhahab) and saw there small rods (qudbān) sticking out of the ground. (W.I,1, ch. XV, §2-3, pp. 225 - 227; B., pp. 146 - 148).

... (Idrīsī says): This lake (i.e. the one from which the Nile river finally flows) is called Kuwarā (Kurī, Kūra), after the name of a tribe of Sūdān who dwell on its banks. These Sūdān are a savage people and eat the men whom they can capture. The river Ghāna (baḥr Ghānah) and the great river (baḥr) of the Ḥabasha flows from this lake. On flowing out of the lake, the Nile crosses the country of the Kuwarā (Kurī, Kūra) and the Yana (Yanna, Nana) a tribe of Blacks (Sūdān) between Kanem (B.: Katem) and the Nūba. On reaching Dongola (Dumgala), the town of the Nūba, it enters into the Second Climate flowing in a (north-) easterly direction. (W.I,1,ch. XV, § 16, pp. 229 - 230; B., p. 149).

... Navigation of the boats coming downstream from the Nūba ends where the Nile reaches the cataracts (al-janādil), as well as the navigation by the boats coming upstream from the Ṣa'īd. Outcrops of rocks allow to beats no through-passage, except at the time of the flood. (W., ibid., pp. 231 - 232; B., p. 150).

What he (Idrīsī) says about the branch of the Nile, which flows across al-Ḥabasha is not true. The flood- season of the Nile occurs in Egypt at the same time as in the country of the Nūba and (in the other countries lying) beyond it to the south. There is no difference between the two regions except on two particulars: the first is that in the land of Egypt it flows in a rocky bed (ukhdūd), while there (in Nubia) it spreads far and wide over the lands. The second point is that in Egypt the flood is measured by the Nilometer (miqyās), but in Nubia it is quite impossible to measure it because the waters are dispersed. Those who have a good knowledge of Egypt, know well that the increase of water in the Nile is caused by the rains in the southern region. (W., ch. XV, §24, pp. 244 - 245; B., p. 160).

It is told that the Nile is formed by ten streams which flow from the above mentioned Jabal al-Qamar – each five streams gathering into one tributary. Then the ten streams flow into two lakes - five streams into one lake; then a river (baḥr) flows from the eastern lake smoothly (latīf), eastwards near Mount Qāqūlī (or: Qāqūl, Qāqarlī) and passes by the towns of that region, until it enters the Indian Sea. From the two lakes, six rivers flow, i.e. three rivers from each lake; the six rivers unite in a vast lake which is called "The Swamp" (al-baṭīḥa); on it there is a castle (qaṣr) which resembles a mountain round which the waters divide into two streams. One of them flows out from the western side of the Swamp, and this is the "Nile of the Sūdān" which becomes a river (baḥr) and is called the "Great River of the Damādim" (baḥr ad-Damādim). It turns towards the west between Samghara and Ghāna, passing south of Samghara and north of Ghāna, it touches the town of Barīsa, then disappears under a mountain south of that town beyond the equator as far as Rafila (?), after which it forms a lake in that region, then the remainder of the water continues flowing westwards till the lands of Mallī and Takrūr and ends in the (western) ocean, south of the town of Qaltabū (Qalab.tū?, Qalb.twā'.F.l.sū.?). The other half begins on the northern side and flows northwards as far as to the east of the town of Jīmī (Hīmī); there it divides in¬to two branches, one branch flows eastwards to the town of Saḥart, then turns south, then again southeast, to the town of Saḥarta (Sahrīyya ?), then to the town of Marka, and ends at the equator at Long. 65°, where it forms a lake (buḥairah); as for the main branch (of the Nile), from the place where it parts from the (Saḥart) branch, east of the town of Shīmī, it continues its course in the northern direction, passes by the borders of the country of the Ḥabasha, then flows north on the countries of the Sūdān to the town of Dumqala, until it falls over the cataracts to Aswān ... etc. (W.I,1,ch. XVI, §25, pp. 245 - 246; B., p. 161).

Mas’ūdī said: The Indians (al-hind) say that the flood of the Nile and its decrease depend on the torrential rains. We know that this is true because (it occurs regularly) in connection with the stars (al-anwā') causing the rainy season and thunderstorms. The Rūm said that the Nile neither increases nor decreases, and that the flood and its ebb are due to the many (hidden) springs which feed it. The Copts say that the increase and the decrease are caused by some springs on the coast, which can be observed by those who travel and explore its up¬per course. Others say that the Nile neither increases nor decreases, but that its flood is due to the wind blowing from the north, which stops its water and forces it to overflow into the countryside. Others say that the Nile flood is caused by a wind blowing called Mullathan (muln: B.: Moltan), which brings the rain-carrying clouds from below the equator; therefore it rains in the countries of the Sūdān, the Ḥabasha and the Nūba, and the mass of these waters reaches Miṣr at (the time of) the increase of the Nile and Irrigates it. (W.I, 1, ch. XVII, §13, pp. 255 - 256; B., p. 167).

All these eight rivers end into one lake out of which one river flows and this is the Nile of Egypt. It traverses the country of the Nūba and merges with another river, the source of which is not in the region across the equator. That lake is vast and round, its diameter equalling 3° (degrees). The distance of its centre from the beginning of the inhabited lands in the west is 71°; the stream flowing from this spring meets the Nile at a point distant 43° 40’ from the nearest inhabited land in the west. (W.I, 1, ch. XIX, pp. 267 - 268; B., p. 175).

[An Expedition Against the Blacks (Sūdān)]

Towards the beginning of the 30th year of the reign (of the Egyptian King Nadares b. Sabin b. Qobīim), the Zanj and the Nūba branches of the Sūdān carried out a raid on his kingdom, troubled and pillaged it (Nadares) gahtering his armies from the districts (a'māl) of Egypt, prepared boats and sent a general called Filūtus (Bilatus?, B.: Philotheos) with 300,000 men and another general with another similar army. He sent 300 boats up the Nile. On each boat there was a magician (kāhin), each one capable of doing a special miracle. Then he himself set out with a numerous army, met the multitude of the Sūdān who numbered about one million, defeated them, killed a great number and took many prisoners: his armies pursued them until they arrived at a place where elephants are found, in the country of the Zanj. He captured a great number of these animals, as well as leopards (numūr) and other wild animals and sent them to Egypt, where he had them tamed. On the borders of his country he built a light-house (manār) on which he recorded his journey, his victory and the time he spent on the expedition. Later, he then died in Egypt and was buried in a "naos" (nawūs), in which he had set up many effigies symbolizing the stars (aṣnām al-kawākib), gold, precious stones (jawhar), jewels and statues. On the "naos" (shrine) was engraved his name and the date of his death. Charms (ṭilasmāt) were placed on it (naos) so that they might keep (evil-doers) away. (W.I,l,ch. XXIII, §5, pp. 298 - 299; B., p. 199).

[A Tax on Nubian Slaves Abolisned by Sultan Nāṣir Ibn Qalāwūn]

One of the taxes and privileges abolished by the Sultan (Nāṣir Ibn Qalāwūn) was the tax of the chieftains (shadd az-zu’amā’), which was a very peculiar institution (jiha mufrada). He also abolished the tax (huqūq) levied on the Blacks (Sūdān), and the inspection of the boats and whatever was prescribed as payment on every slave, girl or man, at the time they were admitted into the hostels (khānāt) for the purpose of shameful actions (li-'amāl al-fāḥishah); on that occasion it was customary to levy a fixed tax on every male and female. (W.I,2, ch. XXXII, §16, p. 27; B., p. 255).

[Nubians in Egypt under the Fatimite Dynasty]

Ibn Muyassar [q.v.] says in his "History" that the slaves in the service of the lady mother of the Imam ('abīd as-sayyida umm al-imām) al-Mustanṣir billah Abū Tammīm Ma'add b. aẓ-Ẓāhir li-'azz dīnillah Abūl-Ḥasan ‘Alī b. al-Ḥākim biamrillah Abū 'Alī Manṣūr b. al-'Azīz billah, numbered five thousand, without counting (those in) the army.

When the government (ad-dawla) passed from the Fatimites into the hands of al-Malik an-Nāṣir Saladin Yūsuf b. Ayyūb the latter suppressed the corps of the Blacks slaves (al-'abīd as-sūd) in the Egyptian army as well as the Egyptian emirs (al-umarā' al-miṣriyyīn), the Bedouins (al-'urbān), the Armenians (al-Arman) and others, so that the army consisted (only) of Kurds and Turks. (W. 1.2, ch. XXXIV, §§21-22, p. 45; B., p. 270).

[Enterprises of the Pharaoh Naqrāwūs]

Master Ibrāhīm b. Waṣīf Shāh tells us in his book "Stories and Marvels of Egypt" that the old (town of) Miṣr (Miṣr al-qadīma) was called Amsūs and that the first king of the land of Egypt was Naqrāwūs, the powerful, (al-jabbār), son of Miṣrāīm, and (that) the meaning of Naqrāwūs is "king of his own people".

It is said that it was this king who straightened the bed of the Nile. Formerly, (this river) spread between two mountain ranges. He sent an expedition (of men) to the country of the Nūba to straighten the Nile bed (handasū-ha). They dug a large canal (nahr) flowing from it and built towns along it and planted many trees. He also wished to know the sources of the Nile: he therefore set out (on an expedition) and travelled until he arrived beyond the equator and found himself at the shore of the Dark Lake of Pitch (al-baḥr al-aswad az-ziftī) where he saw the Nile welling up to the surface of this lake like a network (of streams). From there the streams entered Jabal al-Qamar, flowed out of it and ended in (some) swampy lakes (batā’ih). It is also said that it was he who erected the statues which are found in that region. When he returned to Amsūs, he divided his kingdom among the children. (W., p. II, t.3, ch.II, §§1,2,5, pp. 6-8; B., p. 375).

After him (Naqrāwūs), his son Khaslīm became the king ... it was he who built the bridge (al-qanṭara) over the Nile in the country of the Nūba. When he died he was placed in a temple (nāwūs) together with his treasures and a talisman. (W., ibid., §15, pp. 14 - 15; B., pp. 379 - 380). They (the Egyptians) made as their king 'Adīm, son or Qafṭurīm, (Qofṭīm) ... In Nubia he built a bridge (al-qanṭara) over the Nile and he reigned 14 years ... During his days Qos was built and he raided the Ḥabasha and took prisoners. (W., ibid., §40,43 passim, p. 39; B., p. 395).

After her [i.e. Nūriāt, a sorceress queen], Marqūnis became king; he was good and wise. His mother was the daughter of the king of the Nūba. This princess did many wonderful things (‘ajā’ib). During his reign all sort of wondrous objects (kullu qharība) were made. (W., ibid., §§ 72-73, p. 47; B., p. 400).

He was followed as king by his son Badāris (B.: Todrās) who extended his power over all the provinces.

He carried out a raid in the land of the Zanj and the Ḥabasha (branches) of the Blacks (Sūdān). He sent 300 boats (safīna) down the Nile, met the Sūdān who were about one million in number and defeated them; he killed the majority of them and took a great number of them prisoners. He also took back to Egypt elephants and leopards (numūr). On the frontiers of his country he built light-houses (manārāt), on which he engraved his name, the account of his journey and of his victory.

In his time God sent the prophet Ṣāliḥ to the Thammūd. It is also said that it was he who settled the Nubians (an-Nūba) where they are now. During the war he waged in the land of the Ḥabasha and at the time of the slaughter he made among the Black peoples (umam as-sūdān), he found among them a nation (umma), who could read the books of Adam, Seth (Shith) and Idrīs; he bestowed favours on them and assigned a homeland to them, in a land lying at one month's distance from Egypt (ard Miṣr). These people were called "Nūba". He died at Memphis (al- manf). (W.,ibid., §§80-81, pp. 48 - 49; B. pp. 401 - 402).

His son Hazaba (other reading: Harbatā, Harnabā) reigned after him. Hazaba’s father had taught him the worship of the only one God and had kept him away from the worship of idols; but after the death of his father, Hazaba fell back to the worship of idols in use among his people.

... He carried out a raid against the Hind and the Sūdān, built one hundred boats of the same type as the boats (sufun) of the Hind; he set out and took with him a woman ... he built temples (hayākil) in which he erected effigies symbolizing the Planets, (aṣnām li-1-kawākib), he raided the coast of Syria, subjected its inhabitants and returned to Egypt; he then raided the Nūba and the Sūdān and imposed on them a tribute which they had to bring to him. He raised the prestige of the priests (al-kahnah) and ascribed his victory to the help of the Planets. (W. ibid., §83, pp. 49 - 50; B., pp. 402 - 403).

It is said that the pharaoh of Joseph was called ar-Rayyān (Riyān) b. al-Walīd b. Layth b. Fārān (Qārān) b. Amrū b. 'Amalīq b. Balqa' b. 'Āber b. Aslīḥā b. Lūdh b. Sām b. Nūḥ. It is also said that the pharaoh of Joseph is the grandfather (jidd) of the pharaoh of Moses, i.e. the father of his father (abū abī-hi).

... He set out on a campaign against the Maghrib with an army of 900,000 men, crossed the territory of the Barbar, the majority of whom he subjected, proceeded to the Green Sea, then marched southwards; went up to the Nūba and returned to Menf. (W., ibid., §105, p. 56; B., pp. 406 - 407).

She (Dalūka, the Old Lady), in order to protect Egypt against the enemies, built a wall which extended from the frontiers of Rafaḥ (B.: zinj) to Ifrīqiya, the Oases and Nubia. All along this wall there were gates with guards watching day and night, keeping fires alight continually. She had this wall (jidār) built around Egypt within six months; this is the wall known tinder the name of the Wall of the Old Lady (ḥā'iṭ al-'Ajūz). (W., ibid., §122, p. 61; B., p. 410).

When Egypt was ruled by Juriā (B.: Gouriāq), the daughter of Ṭūṭis, the first pharaoh of Egypt, who was also the pharaoh of Ibrāhīm ... she built a fortress (hiṣn) on the frontiers of Egypt, facing the Nūba and a bridge (qanṭara), under which the water of the Nile flows. When she became ill, she left her cousin, Dalīfa (B.: Zelfa), daughter of Māmūn to reign; then she died. (W. II, vol. 3, ch. 3, §6, p. 78; B., p. 420).

[Nubians in Egypt at the Time of the Arab Conquest]

It is said that 'Amrū ibn al-'Āṣ granted the population of Alexandria their lives and that, rather than massacre or plunder, he put them under the protection of Islam in the same way as he had done to the Nūba. (W.II, 3, ch. XIII, §12, p. 156; B., p. 474).

Know that this sand (i.e. the Western Desert) is spread over the surface of the Earth. Some people call it the "sand of the dunes (ar-raml al-habīr; B.: "le sable mamelonné")." The length of this desert, which begins behind the two mountains known as Tāy', reaches the sea, on the east, and, stretching behind these mountains, extends as far as Egypt and Nubia and the Ocean and takes five months' journey to walk across. (W.II, 3, ch. XXI, §1, p. 220; B., p. 523).

Chapter XXX : The Cataracts and the History of the Nūba in Retrospect

‘Abdalla b. Aḥmad b. Salīm (Sulaym) al-Aswānī said in his book entitled "History of the Nūba, Maqurra, ‘Alwa, the Beja and the Nile" (Akhbār an-nūba wa-l-maqurra wa-'alwa wa-l-buja wa-n-nīl): -

The first village (balād) of the Nūba is the village (qarya) of al-Qaṣr, five miles from Aswān. The last stronghold (hiṣn) of the Moslems is an island called Bi¬lāq, one mile away from the (first) village of the Nūba, situated on the Nubian river bank. From Aswān to this place there are huge cataracts (janādil) in the river (al-baḥr): boats cannot pass through, except with the skillful help of the local fishermen, who are well acquainted with them, because these rocks are steep and the Nile divides here into many streams. The roaring of the cataracts is heard from a great distance. In this village there is an armed garrison (musallaḥa) and a gate leading to the country of the Nūba. Between this village and the first cataract (janādil) of the Nubian country there are ten halting places (marāḥil). The Moslems (who live) in this district (nāhiya) have a free hand there: they own properties in the neighbourhood and carry out trade in the upper part. There is also a number of Moslem inhabitants but none of them speaks Arabic. This district is narrow and uneven, very mountainous and situated exclusively on the Nile, its villages being ranged in lines along its banks, with palm and muql (bdellium, Theban palm-tree).

The upper part of this district is broader than its lower part and has vine plantations (kurūm); the Nile does not water its fields because of the upward slope of the land (from the river). The cultivated area is one or two or three acres (faddān) and is watered by water-wheels (dawālīb) drawn by oxen. They (the inhabitants) plant little, wheat (qamh), but more barley and rye (sult).

Because the cultivated area is narrow, they plant continuously never allowing the land to go fallow. In summer, after fertilising it with manure and (new) earth, they sow it with dukhn (pennisetum millet), dhurra (sorghum millet), ... (al-jāwrus), sesame and beans (lūbiyah).

In this district is located the town of Bujarāsh , the capital of al-Marīsī, as well as two fortresses (qal’a), one ox which is the fortress of Ibrīm. There is also the port (minā) known as Adwā' (cf. Wiet, ibid., note 6), reputed to be the homeland of Luqmān the Wise and Dhū-l-Nūn. There are also the marvellous ruins of a temple (birbā). This district is ruled by a governor (wālī) called "the Lord of the Mountain" (Ṣāḥib al-Jabāl), representing the Great Lord of the Nūba (‘azīm an-Nūba). He is among the highest ranking of their wālīs. This district borders on the land of Islam and anyone who comes from the land of the Moslems to Nubia has to deal with him, whether for the purpose of trace or to bring a gift to him or to his Lord (mawlā). He receives every¬one and presents all (visitors) with slaves, but allows no one, Moslem or otherwise, to travel (up country) to visit his Lord.

At the first cataract in the country of the Nūba there is a village called Baqwā (Ta'wā, Taqwā; B. : Taqoui), which is a terminal port for the boats of the Nūba sailing upstream from al-Qaṣr on the frontier of their country. The boats cannot go further. No one, Moslem or otherwise, is allowed to go upstream beyond this point, except by permission from the Lord of the Mountain. Between the port and the Upper Maqs (al-maqs al-a'lā) there are six stopping places (all the length) full of cataracts. This is the worst part I ever saw in this district, for it is narrow, extremely difficult to navigate and full of cataracts and intervening rocks, where the Nile sometimes becomes as narrow as fifty cubits (dhirā’) only. The land on either side is cut by narrow passages (majāwib), steep heights and mountainous passes so narrow that neither a rider nor any ill-equipped traveller on foot can cross them. On both the western and the eastern (banks) there are sands. These mountains provide the inhabitants with a (natural) fortress (hiṣn), where the inhabitants of the district bordering the land of Islam seek shelter. In some islands there are palm-trees and some plantations of negligible value. Their staple food is fish. They also use fish oil (shahm) to anoint themselves. These islands are part of the Marīs and are under the authority of the Lord of the Mountain. The commander of the garrison (musallaḥa), which is in the Upper Maqs, is appointed by their Lord (Kabīr). He keeps a very tight control over them, so tight that even their greatest man ('azīma-hom), when he passes through, is stopped by any man from the garrison, who feigns to search him, so that he might do the same to the (King's) sons, his viziers and anybody else.

Here neither the dinar, nor the dirham are of any use because they do not use money in their transactions, except with the Muslims beyond the cataract they do not buy or sell with money, but carry out their transactions by the exchange of slaves (raqīq), cattle, camels, iron tools and grains.

Nobody is allowed to pass beyond this point except by permission of the king (malik): whoever transgresses this (law), is liable to the death penalty, whosoever he may be. By this precautionary measure, whatever happens (in their kingdom) is kept secret, so that their army can attack a country or carry a raid in the (environing) desert without anybody knowing.

The emery (sinbādh, whetstone) which is used in polishing gems, comes from this spot in the Nile. They dive for it and recognize it by its coldness when touched, compared with other stones. If they have any doubt as to its nature, they breathe on it and it forms a light film of moisture.

Beyond this garrison, there is a village called Say, which is on a cataract. (Say) is one of their seats (of government), where a bishop resides. There is a ruined temple (birbā).

Next comes the district (nāḥiya) of Saqlūdhā, which means the "Seven Governors" (wūlāh); its land is very similar to the region bordering the land of the Muslims, somewhere wide, somewhere narrow, with its palm-trees, vines, muql, and other plantations. There are few cotton plantations from which they make rough cotton material, and there are also some olive trees. The Wālī of this district is directly appointed by their king (kabīr) and under him are other governors who exercise authority.

A fortress (qal’a) called Astanūn (other readings: Astūn, Asfūn) is located there and it marks the beginning of the third cataract, which is the most difficult cataract to cross, because there is a mountain protruding into the Nile from the east to the west, and the water gushes through three passages, and might even be limited to only two (passages) at low tide. It has a terrible roar but (presents) a beautiful view as the waters fall on it (the bedrock) from the heights of the mountain. South of it, the (river) bed is full of rocks lying in the middle of the Nile, stretching over the distance of three days' journey (abrud) as far as the village of Bastū (Nastū, Sanū, Banstū, Yascū, Yasīr), which is the last village (in the territory) of the Marīs and the beginning of the country of Muqurra. From this place to the frontier of the Muslims the language of the people is the Marīsī, and this (al-Marīs) is the last (most northerly) district of their king (mutamallik). There is the district (nāḥiya) of Baqūn, which means "marvel": it is so called because of its beauty.

I did not see a wider district on the Nile: I estimated that the width of the Nile in this district, from east to west, is five days' journey. The islands break up the Nile into several streams, which flow among them through a low-lying land and (along) an uninterrupted string of villages and fine buildings with pigeon towers, cattle and camels. The bulk food supplies to their capital come from this district. Their (commonest) birds are the taqhṭīṭ, the nūbī, the babbāqh and other beautiful birds. Their king prefers to spend his leisure in this district. (Al-Aswānī) said: I was with him on some of these occasions and we made our way in the narrow canals under the shadow of trees from both banks. The crocodiles in this country are not harmful. I saw them (the inhabitants) swimming across these canals. Next comes Safadh Ba'al. which is a narrow district, similar to the one on the borders of their country, with the difference that at Safadh Ba'al there are beautiful islands, and within less than two days' journey are about thirty villages with beautiful buildings, churches and monasteries, many palm-trees, vines, gardens, cultivated fields and broad pastures on which one can see camels (ibil) and very fine dromedaries (jumāl suhub) for breedding (mu'abbala li-n-nitāj). Their king often comes here because the southern border of this district is contiguous with Dongola (Dunqula), the capital. From the town of Dongola, the capital of the country, to Aswān, is a distance of fifty days away. He (al-Aswānī) gave a description of it and then said: they roof their houses with the wood of the sunt tree and the sāj, which is carried to them by the Nile during the flood season, in planks (isqālāt) with carvings (manhuta), and no one knows where they come from. I saw for myself some very strange signs (‘alāma qharība).

The distance between Dongola and the beginning of the country of 'Alwa is more than that between Dongola and Aswān. In that region there are big and small villages (al-qurā wa-ḍ-ḍiyyā'), islands, cattle, palm-trees, muql, cultivated fields and vines, many times as much as is seen on the side bordering the land of the Muslims. In these places there are large islands (several) days' journey in length, in which there are mountains and wild beasts and lions (as-sibā’) and stretches of desert, where the traveller fears to travel without water. From these districts the Nile turns eastwards and westwards for long stretches equalling several days' journey, until the land becomes even on the district where the bend of the Nile reaches the mine known as ash-Shanka; it is the country known as ash-Shanqir. Al-Omarī, whose name was Abū 'Abdurrahman 'Abdalla b. 'Abdulhamīd b. 'Abdalla b. 'Abdul'azīz b. 'Abdalla b. 'Abdalla b. 'Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb originated in this country. He had waged several wars in Nubia and Bejaland, had defeated the army of Ahḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn and occupied this district until he met his fate.

The hippopotamuses are numerous in these places. From this place begins the road leading to Sawākin, Bādi', Dahlak and the islands of the Red Sea.

The Omayyads who escaped death by fleeing to Nūba passed along these roads. In this district there is also a number of Beja, who are known as az-Zanāfij: they had migrated to Nubia long ago and settled there; all of them lead their own pastoral life and preserve their own language, not mixing with the Nūba, nor settling in their (Nubians) villages. They are under a wālī, who is appointed by the Nubian King. (W. II, 3, pp. 252 - 258).

Chapter XXXI: About the Branching of the Nile as from the Country of 'Alwa and About its Peoples

The Nūba and the Muqurra are two races (jinsāni), each speaking a different language. Both live along the banks of the Nile. The Nūba, who are the Marīs, are neighbours of the land of Islam. There is a five miles gap between the frontier of their country and Aswān. It is said that Salhā, the ancestor (jadd) of an-Nūba, and Muqurrī (or Muqurrā), the ancestor of al-Mugurrah, were (both) from Yemen. It is said that (both) an-Nūba and Muqurrī were from Himyar: most of the genealogists agree that all of them (annahum jamī'an) are descendants of Ḥam b. Noah. Between the Nūba and the Muqurra there were wars before (the coming of) Christianity.

The land of al-Muqurra begins at a village called Tāfa, the day’s distance from Aswān. Their royal town (madīnat maliki-him) is called Bajarāsh, less than ten day's journey from Aswān. It is told that Moses - God may be pleased with him! - raided them before he began his (prophetic) mission in the time of the Pharaoh, and destroyed Tāfa. They were (at that time) pagans (Sābi’a), who used to worship the Planets (Kawākib) and erect statues to them; later both the Nūba and the Muqurra became Christians. The town of Dongola is the capital of their kingdom (dār mamiakati-him).

The frontier of the country of 'Alwa is (marked by) some villages on the east bank of the Nile, called al-Abwāb. This district (nāḥiya) has a wālī who is subject to the Lord of ‘Alwa and is known under the name of al-wahwāh. From this, district the Nile branches into seven streams, one of which coming from an eastern direction, has turbid water but gets so dry in summer that people camp on its bed. When the flood season comes, water springs from its bed and rises up in pools which are in the river; then rains and downpours come in the rest of the country and the level of the water rises. It is also said that the head of this river is a large source ('ain) which flows from a mountain.

The historian of the Nūba said: - Simon (Sīmūn), the Crown Prince (ṣāḥib ‘ahd) of the country of ‘Alwa, told me that under the mud of the bed of this river, there is a large fish (ḥūt) without scales, of a king which is not found in the Nile. It is found by digging as deep as the size (qāmah) of a man or more until it emerges. It is a big fish. Along this (river), there is a race (jins) which is mixed (by intermarriage) between the 'Alwa and the Buja: they are called "Dīhīyyūn" (Dījīyyūn, Dasīhūn) and another race called "Bazah": the bird called the "Bāzīn pigeon" comes from their land. Behind these (peoples) there is the frontier of the country of Ḥabasha.

Then there is the White Nile (an-Nīl al-abyad), which is a river coming from the west; it is intensely white like milk. He (al-Aswānī) said: - I asked an experienced traveller who came from the western parts of the countries of the Sūdān about the Nile in their country and its colour. He said that it flows out of mountains of sand, or out of a mountain of sand; then its waters run together in the country of the Sūdān into large pools, flows towards unknown countries, but, in that place, it is not yet white: it acquires that colour on account of the kind of soil through which it flows, or because of another river which enters it. On its banks there are peoples of different races (ajnās).

Then there is the Green Nile (an-Nīl al-akhḍar), a river which flows from the south-eastern direction. It is intensely green, very transparent in colour, so that one can distinctly see what kind of fish there are in its depths. The taste (of the Green Nile water) is different from that of the (White) Nile; he who armies from it soon becomes thirsty. The fish is the same in ail (these rivers), but its taste is different. During the flood season such kinds of wood as teak (as-sāj), log-wood (al-baqm), al-qānā' (?) (qhātā) and a wood which smells like the olibanum (labān), float downstream. Also large logs are brought down which can be worked into nalms for boats. This (kind of) wood also grows on its banks. It is also related (by al-Aswānī) that the wood of frankincense (bakhūr) is found (in the flood waters). He said: — I saw that some planks (siqālāt) of sāj, which are carried during the flood season, bear some strange signs. These two rivers, viz. the White and the Green, meet near the capital of the sovereign (mutamallik) of the country of 'Alwa and each of them keeps its own colour for about one day's journey, after which they mingle up. Their waters, when they meet, throw up big waves. He said: - I spoke with someone who took water from the White Nile and poured it into the Green Nile: the water (of the White Nile) remained for one hour the colour of milk before it mingled up. Between these two rivers is an island, the end of which is not known, nor does anybody know the end of these two rivers. The width of the first one is known (at the beginning), but further on it expands and its width increases as much as one month's journey, and further on its width has not been explored at all, for the peoples who live there, fear one another in fact, many races (ajnās) dwell on these two rivers. He (Aswānī) said: (Someone) told me that some kings (mutamallik) of the country of 'Alwa set out to visit the extreme frontier (of the island), but they failed to reach it after a number of years, and that, on its southern extremity, there is a race who, during the day-time, dwell together with their beasts in houses (built) like vaults, under the surface of the ground, because of the excessive heat of the sun, and come out during the night. Among them there are people who go naked.

The other four rivers also flow from a south-eastern direction all in the same season. Their sources cure not known. They differ from the White and the Green Rivers in width and in the number of streams and islands. All these four (rivers) flow into the Green river as well as the first one mentioned, then join the White (river): all (their banks) are inhabited and cultivated. One journeys through them by boat. One of these four comes from the country of the Ḥabasha. Al-Aswānī said: As I wanted to know more about these rivers I went on asking questions to this and that person, but I did not find any informant who told me that he had personally explored the source of all these four rivers. The one whom I asked said, on the authority of others, that (these rivers) begin in a wasteland (kharāb): (he said) that during the flood season some parts of boats (alāt marākib) and doors (a’bwāb) and other things are carried down these rivers and this proves that beyond that waste there is other inhabited land ('imāra).

As for the flood season, all agree that it is caused by the rains together with a substance that comes down spontaneously (mādda ta'tī min dhāti-ha) with the flood water and the proof of it is that this river dries up and its bed is inhabited; then, during the flood season, water springs (from its bed) and what is marvellous about it is that the flood, takes place at the same time in these rivers (which finally merge together), as well as in the other districts and countries, viz. in Egypt, in the two Thebaids (aṣ-Ṣa'īdayn). at Aswān, in the two kingdoms of Nūba and 'Alwa and in the land beyond them, What is peculiar of this flood is that it may occur, for example, at Aswān, and not at the same time at Qoos, but here it will be noticed later. Whenever the rains are abundant in the upper regions of the Nile and the streams come together, one understands that that is a year of plenty (riī "good irrigation"); but whenever the rains in the upper regions are scarce, one knows that that will be a year of drought.

... Some of the four rivers come from the countries of the Zanj because they carry wood of the zanjī type. Suyya is the capital of 'Alwa (al-'Ulwā) (situated) to the east of the great island between the two great rivers (al-bahrain), the White and the Green, at its northern tip, near their junction, on the eastern bank of the river (an-baḥr) which dries up and on the bed of which people camp. It has fine buildings (abniya husān) and large monasteries (dūr), churches rich with gold and gardens; there is also a great suburb (rabaḍ) where many Moslems live. The king (mutamallik) of 'Alwa is more powerful than the king (mutamallik) of Muqurra, has a larger army and more horses than the Muqurran (al-muqurrī): his country is more fertile and larger; but palm trees and vines are less numerous in his country. The commonest grain among them is the white dhurra (ad-dhurra al-bay-dā') which resembles rice; with it they make their bread (khubz) and their beer (mizr); they have plenty of meat because of the abundance of cattle and large plains for grazing plain land, so vast that it takes several days to reach the mountains. They have excellent horses (‘itāq), tawny camels (ṣuhub) of pure Arabian pedigree ('urāb). Their religion is Christianity (naṣrānīyya) of the Jacobite sect (ya’agiba); their bishops (asāqifa) are dependant on the Patriarch of Alexandria (ṣāḥib al-iskandarīyya) like the Nūba; their books are in Greek (bi-r-rūmīyyah) and they translate (yufassirūnaha) (these) into their own language. They are less intelligent than the Nūba. Their king can reduce to slavery any of his subjects he wants whether he be guilty of a crime or not, and they do not oppose him, rather they prostrate themselves before him. They do not revolt against his order, however, unjust it may be; (on the contrary) they call out loudly "May the king live (al-malik ya'īsh!)! And let his order be executed!" He (the king) is crowned with (a crown of) gold. Gold is found in plenty in his country.

One of the marvels of his country is that on the great island between the two rivers there is a race called al-Karsā: they have a vast land which is fertilised (muzdara’a) by the Nile and the rain. When the time for sowing comes, everyone goes out with whatever seed (bidhr) he has and traces the boundaries of the land according to his quantity of seed; he spreads a little of the seed at the four corners of the field and puts the (remainder of the) seed in the middle of the enclosure and also a little mizr. Then he goes away. The next morning, he finds that the area he has enclosed has been sowen and the mizr has been drunk. When it is harvest time, he harvests a small part of the crop and places it wherever he likes together with a little mizr and away he goes; then he finds that all the crop has been harvested and grounded. If he wants to have it thrashed or winnowed, he acts in the same way. If any one wants to clear his seed from the weeds and, by mistake, uproots even a little seed, he will find (on the morrow) that all the seed has been uprooted. This district (nāḥiya), where the things I have just mentioned take place, contains vast territories (buldān) equal to two months' journey in both length and width; and all of it is sown at the same time. The provisions (mīra') of the (people of the) country of 'Alwa and of their king come from this district: they send the boats and these come back loaded. Sometimes there is war between them. Al-Aswānī said: - This account is true and is well known among all the Nūba, the 'Alwa and the Moslem traders, and all those who travel over that country: they have no doubt about it, nor suspicion. Were it not so well known and widely spread, no one would believe any part of what I reported, but would treat it as a shameful lie. The natives believe that the jinn do this and that they appear to some of their wizards who, by means of some stones, have the power to subject them (the jinn) to their will and to work wonders for them. (The natives claim) that even the clouds obey (their wizards).

Al-Aswānī said: - One of the wonders of Nubia - about which the King of Maqurra told me – (is) that, when they have rains on the mountains, they, soon afterwards, collect fish on the ground. I asked them what kind it was. They said that it was small in size and has a red tail. Al-Aswānī said: - I saw many tribes of the people whom I mentioned before; most of them believe in the Creator (al-bārī) and make offerings to Him in the form of the Sun, or the Moon or the Stars. Some of them do not know the Creator and adore the Sun and the Day (an-na-hār; B.: an-nār, the Fire); some others adore whatever they like; trees or animals. He said that he saw a man in the council of the King of Maqurra (majlis 'azīm al-muqurra) and questioned him about his country. The man answered that the distance from it to the Nile is three months' journey. He questioned the man about his religion and the man replied: 'My Lord (rabbī) and your Lord and the Lord of the King and the Lord of every man is but One'. He asked: 'Where is He?' The man answered: 'In Heaven alone: Glory to Him!' He also said that‘if the rains are late, or the people are hit by the plaque, or if pestilence falls on their cattle, they climb the mountain and pray to God and they are heard promptly and granted their demands before they come down (from the mountain). (Al-Aswānī) asked him: 'Did He ever send an Envoy (rasūl) among you?' He replied: ‘No’. So al-Aswānī told him about the mission of Moses and 'Isā and Moḥammed - God be pleased with them! - and the wonders which they wrought! The man answered: 'If they have wrought this, they should be believed.' Then he said: ‘I (too) should have believed in them, had they done that (in my presence)’.

... The author said: - The Awlād Kanz ad-Dawla vanquished the Nūba and took their kingdom since the year... (lacuna) and built a mosque in Dongola where he gives lodging to foreign travellers.

[The Karem]

Know that one the (west) bank of the Nile there is the (country of the) Kānem. Their king is a Mos¬lem: between him and the Māllī there is a very great distance; his capital is called Jīmī and the beginning of his kingdom, on the side of Egypt is a village called Zalā (Zella), and on the opposite side there is a village called Kākā: between the two there are about three months' journey. They wear the muffler (yatalaththimūna). Their king lives in seclusion and can be seen on two feast days in the morning and in the afternoon; throughout the rest of the year nobody may speak to him except from behind the screen (hijāb). Their staple food is rice which grows without being sown; they have wheat, dhurra, figs, lemons, egg-plant, turnip, fresh dates: they trade by exchanging home-made cloth called "dandī"; each piece (thawb) is 10 cubits in length; they buy it in pieces of 1/4 cubit each or more; they also make use of cowry (wada’), glassware (kharz, glassware, shells), pieces of copper, paper (waraq): all this is exchanged against pieces of that cloth.

In the south of their country there are places which are very hot (shi’ārī) and deserts (sahārā) inhabited by savage people similar to the Ghūl with human features; a horseman cannot overtake her, yet she can do harm to men; she appears during the night under the form of sparks (filal) of bright fire; if anyone attempts to catch her, she flees away from him; even though he runs after her, he cannot catch her: she will constantly flee ahead of him; if he throws stones at her and hits her, sparks of fire fly from her. In their country the gourd plant (al-yaqtīna) is held in great esteem so that they use it to make boats to cross the Nile. These countries between Ifrīqiya and Barqa extend southwards as far as the middle of the western parallel: the land is rainless and rugged and unattractive.

The first (person) who spread Islam there was a certain al-Hādī al-'Uthmanī, who claimed to be a descendant of Osman b. 'Affān. After him (the population) passed over to the Yazmīyyīn of Sayf b. Dhū-l-Yazan. They belong to the rite of the Imām Malik b. Uns. Justice is administered among them and they are very conservative about religion and tough. They built in the city of Miṣr a madrasa for the Mālikī (rite), called "madrasa ibn Rashīq", in the year 641 H. (1243 A.D.) and the students from their country come and settle here. (W. II, 3, pp. 252 - 258; B., pp. 554 - 560).

Chapter XXXII: The Beja who are Said to be a Berber People

The first village of the Beja country is that known as al-Khirba (B.: al-Hazabah). The emerald (az-zumurrud) mine is found in the desert of Qos. The distance between this place and Qos is about three days' Journey.

Al-Jāḥiz mentioned that there is no other emerald mine in the world apart from this. The emerald is found in deep dark caverns entered with lamps and ropes to indicate the way out and prevent one becoming lost. Mat¬tocks are used to dig it out: it is found in stones surrounded by a gangue which is not pure and lacks lustre.

The other extremity of the Beja country is where it joins Ethiopia (al-Ḥabasha). Within this island - I mean to say the "island of Egypt" (Miṣr) - the Beja occupy a territory which extends as far as the coast (sayf) of the sea where the islands of Sawākin, Bādi’ and Dahlak are found. The Beja are nomads, who look for fresh grass wherever it may be found for grazing: (they move around) and live in their tents made of skins. Their rules of descent are matrilinear (min jihat an-nisā’); each section (baṭn) (of a tribe) has its own chieftain (ra'īs), but they have no king (mutamallik). They fol¬low no (God-given) religion (dīn). The inheritance is passed to the son of the sister (ibn al-ukht) or to the son of the daughter (ibn al-bint) to the exclusion of the son (walad) of the deceased. This is done on grounds that concerning the son born to a sister of the deceased, or the son of the daughter (of the deceased) there can be no doubt as to who is the father, the child can only be her own child. In the past they had a chief whom all the (other) chiefs obeyed, and who used to reside in a village called Hajar (Hajr) in the remotest part of the Beja land. The Beja ride tawny dromedaries (najab) which are bred in their country; they also have very numerous camels (jumāl) of the Arab breed. Cattle, goats, and sheep are extremely numerous among them. Their cattle are beautiful with long shining horns; these too are in great numbers, as well as rams and sheep, which are of a spotted breed and produce abundant milk. Their food consists of meat and their drink is milk: they make little use of bread (khubz; Bulāq ed.: jibn: cheese), yet there are some who eat it. Their bodies are healthy and their stomachs are thin; their complexion is rather light; they run very fast; in speed they surpass (all) the other men.

Also their camels are very speedy and can last the pace for a long time running well and endure thirst. When mounted on camels, (the Beja) can overbake horses and fight in battle; they turn them around at their will, and run for very long distances over the country. It must also be mentioned that the Beja go to combat on camelback and throw spears: if (the javelin) has struck the target, the camel runs toward it so that its master might seize it (the target); if the javelin strikes the ground, the camel bends his neck (to the ground) so that its master may pick it up.

Some time in the past there arose among them a man called Kilāz (Kilār). He was strong and brave, and had a camel of incredible speed; the camel, as well as his master, was one-eyed. (Kilāz) promised his people that he would go to (pray in) the masallā of Fusṭāṭ (Miṣr) on the day of the feast. This was already so near, that it seemed impossible, but he kept the promise and arrived at the Moqattam (at the time agreed upon). Several horsemen ran after him, but could not overtake him. This was the man who caused sentinels to be posted at the foot (of the Moqattam) at the beginning of the feast. The Tulunides and other emirs of Egypt (Miṣr) used to post at the foot of the Moqattam Mountain, at a place next to the quarter of the Ḥabash, a numerous garrison in charge of the security of the population until the celebration of the feast had ended.

[Beja Customs]

The Beja are a people living under the protection of Islam (aṣḥāb dhimma): if anyone has committed treachery, the man who has suffered (the treachery) raises a piece of cloth on a spear-head and says: "This is the off shoot (qhars) (Quatremère read: ‘arsh "la tente") of N.N. (the traitor)"; by this he means to say: "I am the traitor". Thus he claims for himself the responsibility, until they come to an agreement. They are exceedingly hospitable: if any visitor coses to one or their, (by night), the host kills a lamb to honour him. If the visitors number more than three, the host slaughters a camel (or an ox) from the nearest herd, whether it belongs to him or to another. If there is no animal at all he slaughters the mount of the guest himself and compensates him with a better one.

Their weapons are spears, called subā’ īyya, seven cubits long, so called because the iron-head with which they are equipped, measures three cubits; the iron part equals a sword in width; they never lay them down except at certain (definite) times, because at the end of the wooden handle there is a sort of catch which prevents it from slipping from their hands. The women make these spears; they make them in a place where no man is allowed to enter except when buying from them. If any of these women has a girl-child from the visitors, they (the women) rear her; but if she has a boy-child, they kill him saying that men are able only to cause quarrels and wars.

They have shields (daraq) made of haired ox-skins and also shields turned round the side (maqlūba) made of buffalo skin, called Axumite (aksumīyya), and also others called dahlakīyyah (Dahlak islands) and others made of the skin of a sea-animal. Their bows are large and thick, made of wood of sidr (lote-tree) and shūḥāṭ, the shape of the Arab bow, with which they discharge poisoned arrows; this poison is made from the roots of qhalqah (Peganum harmala, a poisonous tree of Arabia) boiled on the fire until it becomes like glue. If they want to test it, one of them makes an incision on his body and lets the blood flow, then he applies this poison: if the blood flows back (towards the wound) they know that the poison is good, then he wipes away the blood to prevent it from entering his body and causing death; if it enters the body of a man, he is instantly killed, however, small the wound may be; it has no effect except on bleeding wounds; if it is drunk, it causes no harm.

[The Beja Country]

Their territories are rich in minerals: the further one penetrates the country the better and more abundant the gold is. They have silver mines, copper, iron, and lead, magnetic ore (mal-maghnatīs), marcasite (al-marqashitā), amethyst (al-jamshīt, al-ḥamsīt) , emerald (az-zummurrud), asbestos stone (hijāra bīshtā). If the as¬bestos is soaked in oil, it kindles like a wick. In addition to these (minerals), there are others, but all the Beja work mainly to find gold, while they completely neglect the other minerals. In their valley there are the moql (dom-palm, bdellium), the myrobalan-tree (al-iblīj), shoemantum (al-idhkhir), the absynth (ash-shīh), a kind of wormwood or broomplant, the common senna (as-sanā), coloquint (ḥanẓal), al-bān (ficus bengalensis) etc and, at the extremity of their country there are date-palms, vines, odoriferous and other wild plants. There is wild game such as lion, elephant, leopard (numūr) and panther (fuhūd), monkeys, badger, ('annāq al-arḍ) "ursus meles", civetcat (zabād) and an animal similar to gazelle, beautiful with golden horns, which does not survive in captivity. Among their birds, there is the parrot (babbāqh), the taghṭīṭ (Bouriant: naqīt) and the nūbī, the turtle-dove (qāmārī), the guinea-fowl (dajāj al-ḥabash), the Bāzīn pigeon, etc.

All their men are deprived of the right testicle, and their women are deprived of the magna labia: the edges are drawn together and let heal so that, at marriage, it is necessary to make an incision convenient for the man's organ. This practice has become rare. It is told that the reason for it was that after a king had defeated them in war, he made a peace-treaty and laid down among the conditions that at birth, all girls should be deprived of their breasts and the boys should be deprived of their genital organs; by so doing he intended to stop procreation among them; they accepted the conditions, but inverted the terms, so that they cut the breasts of the men and the valva (furūj) of the women. There are some who cut their own two incisors, lest they resemble donkeys, as they say.

At the extreme end of their country, there is another tribe called (Bazāh), among whom the women all have the same name and also the men. (It is said that) a Muslim man, a camel-owner, happened to pass through their country: they called one another saying: - This is (a) God who came from Heaven and is now sitting under a tree! They looked at him from afar.

They hold snakes in great esteem of which there are many kinds.

The Beja are troublesome and aggressive. At the rise of Islam and even before it, the Beja carried out raids into the eastern bank of Upper Egypt, where they destroyed several villages. The Pharaohs of Egypt used to invade their country and, at times, they made agreements because they were in need of the minerals. Also the Greeks (ar-Rūm), when they occupied Egypt, left some obvious remains (of their working). Their mines and the managers were still there (running the mines), when Egypt was conquered by the Arabs.

[Beja-Arab Relations]

'Abd ar-Raḥmān b. 'Abdalla b. 'Abd al-Ḥakam said that (some of) the Beja met 'Abdalla b. Sa'd b. Abī Sarḥ during his withdrawal from Nubia along the Nile. He asked them about their affairs: he was told that they had no king to whom to refer to; he despised them and left them; they made no treaty or peace (with him): The first who signed a treaty and agreement with them was ‘Ubaidallah b. Ḥabḥāb as-Salūlī. He ('Abd al-Ḥakam) said that he found the letter of ibn Ḥabḥāb whereby (the tribute) was fixed at 300 young camels (bakr) every year, so that they alight be allowed to come (down) into the (Egyptian) countryside (rīf), but only in transit as merchants, without right of residing and on condition cnat they kill no Moslem or dhimmī; if they killed any, the agreement would become null and void; not to give asylum to the slaves ('abīd) of the Muslims, and hand back those who ran away if they sought refuge among the Beja. It is said that for any of these runaway slaves, as well as for any sheep, they (the Beja) had to pay four dinars; for a cow, ten dinars. Their agent (wakīl) lived in the Egyptian territory as a hostage in the hands of the Moslems.

Later on, the Moslems became numerous in the mines and by intermarriage with the Beja; many Beja of the tribe known as Ḥadārib professed Islam, (only) superficially they live in the territory next to Upper Egypt, i.e. from the frontier up to al-'Allāqī and to 'Ayahāb, which is the harbour, from which one sails for Jeddah and beyond. There is another tribe among them called Zanāfij, who are more numerous than the Ḥadārib, but they are subject to them as serfs, escorts (khufarā') and guards and the Ḥadārib entrust their cattle to them. Every chieftain of the Ḥadārib owns a number of the Zanārij as patrimony (hamla): they are like slaves (‘abīd) and many be be bequeathed from one to another. In the past the Zanāfij were masters (of the Ḥadārib).

The raids of the Ḥadārib on Muslim territory multiplied; at that time the wālīs of Aswān came from Iraq and reported the affair to the Commander of the Faithful, Al-Ma'mūn. He sent 'Abdalla b. Jahm who fought them several times, and made a peace-treaty with them signed by him and Kanūn, their paramount chief, who lived in the village of Hajar mentioned above. The following is a copy of the treaty: "This is the letter (Kitāb) written by 'Abdalla b. al-Jahm, servant (mawlā) of the Commander of the Faithful, head of the victorious army, agent ('āmil) of the emir Abū Ishāq, son of the Commander of the Faithful ar-Rashīd (Hārūn), in the month of Rabī al-Awwal of the year 216 H. (April 831 A.D.), to Kanūn 'Abd al-'Azīz, chief of the Beja in Aswān. You have asked me to give you a safe conduct and I undertake to give you and your people security in my name, as well as in the name of all the Muslims. I answered and I offered you the promise in my name and in the name of all the Muslims, as long as you and they are straight for-ward to keep what you gave me and what you laid down as condition in this treaty, viz. that the plain and the mountains of your country, from the extreme frontier at Aswān in the land of Egypt, up to a frontier between Dahlak and Bāḍi belongs as property (mulk) to al-Ma'mūn ‘Abdalla b. Hārūn the Commandant of the Faithful. You and all your people are servants ('abīd) of the Commander of the Faithful, but he acknowledges you as king (malik) of your country, over which you rule. You must pay every year that tribute (kharāj), which has been customary among the Beja, i.e. 100 camels (ibil), or 300 dinars in cash, to be paid to the Treasury (bait al-māl), the choice between this and that will be decided by the Commander of the Faithful and his wālīs. You must not subtract any part of it, i.e. of the tribute. You and your people must not say anything unworthy at any time when mention is made of Moḥammed the Prophet, or of the Koran (Kitāb Allah) or His religion.- You must not kill any Moslem, free or slave; otherwise the protection (dhimma) will cease, viz. the protection of God, of his Prophet, the protection of the Commander of the Faithful and that of the Moslem people, and the murderer's blood will be shed in the same way as that of the enemies (ahl al-ḥarb) and their children. No one of you should help enemies of Islam with money or guide them to any place belonging to the Moslems, or spy on their army ('izzah): should this happen, the agreement of protection will become null and void, and his (i.e. of the of¬fender) blood will be shed. Also, if anyone of you were to kill a Moslem, intentionally or unintentionally, whether he be a free man or a slave, or a man having the status of protection (ahl adh-dimma) or if anyone causes damage financially to any Moslem or the people under their protection, whether it be in Beja country, or in Moslim country or in the Nūba country, or any other place, on land or at sea, he shall pay for the killing of the Moslem 10 times the blood-price (dīyya), equivalent to 500 camels; for the killing of a slave of the Moslem, ten times the price (of the slave), or for the killing of a dhimmī, ten times the dīyya that is paid in the country of the victim; for any financial damage to the Moslem or the dhimmī, ten times as much. If a Moslem goes to the Beja country to trade or to reside or is in transit or on pilgrimage to Mecca, he must enjoy the same security as one of your people until he leaves your territory; you must not give asylum to fugitive slaves (ubbāq) of Moslems: if any of them arrives (in your country) you must return him to the Muslims; you must give back the livestock property (amwāl) of the Muslims whenever any crosses (the frontier) into your country, without obligation on their part to pay back to you anything for that (service). If you enter (the countryside (rīf) of) Upper Egypt for trade or in transit, you must neither carry arms (openly), nor enter the towns and the villages under any pretext. You must not prevent a Moslem from entering your country and carrying out trade there by land or by sea; you must keep the way free from danger, and you must not prevent any Moslem or dhimmī from travelling; you must avoid stealing anything from a Moslem or a dhimmī; you must not pull down the mosques (masājid) which the Moslems have built in Sinja (Bouriant: Sīḥa), Hajar and other places throughout your country. If you do that, the treaty becomes null and void and you will enjoy no protection. Kanūn Ibn 'Abdel 'Azīz must reside in the countryside of Egypt as an agent (wakīl) to the Muslims to execute the conditions stipulated for the payment of the tribute, and to pay the compensation for any offence (iṣāba) committed by the Beja against the life or property of the Moslems. No Beja man may cross the frontier of al-Qaṣr beyond the village of Qubbān, in Nubia, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. 'Abdalla al-Jahm, mawlā of the commander of the Faithful, undertakes to guarantee safety to Kanūn ibn 'Abdel 'Azīz, chief of the Beja according to the conditions laid down in this our letter, to be ratified by the Commander of the Faithful. If he infringes (any of the conditions) or commits acts of violence, neither the treaty nor the protection will remain valid. Kanūn must allow the agents (‘ummāl) of the Commander of the Faithful to enter his country to collect the alms (sadaqāt) of those Beja who have emoraced Islam; he must also faithfully execute the terms agreed upon between him and ‘Abdalla b. Jahm, which he has sworn by an oath (in the name) of God, which is the most solemn oath a man can lake. Kanūn ibn ‘Abdel ‘Azīz and all the Beja will enjoy God’s unfailing promise of protection (‘ahd Allah wa-mīthāqi-hi), as well as the protection (dhimma) of the Commander of the Faithful and the protection of Abū Ishāq (= al-Mu’tasim), son of the Commander of the Faithful, the protection of 'Abdalla b. al-Jahm, and the protection of the Moslems (and their assurance) that they will fulfil the terms offered by 'Abdalla b. Jahm so long as Kanūn b. 'Abdel 'Azīz will fulfil all the terms laid down to him. If Kanūn b. 'Abdel 'Azīz or any of the Beja alters (any clause of the treaty), the protection of God (dhimmat Allah), the protection (dhimma) of the Commander of the Faithful, and that of the emir Abū Ishāq son of the Comander of the Faithful ar-Rashīd, the protection of 'Abdalla b. Jahm and the protection of the Muslim become null and void." All that was (written) in this letter was translated, word by word, by Zakariah b. Ṣālih al-Makhzūm, one of the inhabitants of Jedda, and by 'Abdalla b. Ismā'īl al-Qorashī, then it was entered in the register by a number of (judiciary) witnesses of Aswān.

[Al-Qummī's Campaign]

The Beja kept that agreement for some time, then they resumed their raids into the country of Upper Egypt; many complaints were made against them to the Commander of the Faithful Ja'far al-Mutawakkil 'alā Allah. He appointed Muḥammad b. 'Abdalla al-Qummī to wage war against them. He (Qummī) asked to select his men as he wished: he did not like to have a numerous array because of the difficult roads; he marched on them (the Beja) from Miṣr with a powerful troop of selected men; some boats sailed by sea. The Beja gathered in numbers mounted on camels to oppose them. The Muslims were terrified by that multitude. He (al-Qummī) kept them (the Beja) busy by writing them a long letter on ṭūmār (rolled) paper and wrapped it in a piece of cloth: they gathered to read it, then he fell on them. He also had bells tied to the neck of the horses, causing the camels of the Beja to flee in all directions, not standing the noise (ṣalṣala) of the bells. Then the Muslims hurled themselves in pursuit and many Beja were killed in the slaughter. The Beja chief himself was killed, and his nephew (ibn akhīhi = his brother's son) took his place: he asked for a truce and al-Qummī made a peace-treaty on condition that he would pay a visit to the Commander of the Faithful. So he went to Baghdad and was Introduced to al-Mutawakkil at Surra-man-ra'ā in the year 241 H. (b. 22 May 855 A. D.). A peace-treaty was signed on condition that he should pay the tribute (itāwa), as well as the baqṭ. The condition was also laid down that they (the Beja) would not prevent the Muslims from working in the mines. Al-Qummī resided at Aswān for sometime and consigned to the stores of the town all the armament and equipment he had brought for that raid; the wālīs (of Aswān) continued using this war material until it was finished.

[Al-Omarī]

When the Muslims became very numerous in the mines and mixed with the Beja they (the Beja) became less troublesome. Gold was produced in considerable quantity because of the multitude of miners. People heard about it and came from several countries. One of the prominent people who travelled thither was one 'Abū ’Abdur-raḥmān b. 'Abdalla b. 'Abd al-Ḥamīd al-Omarī (Bouriant: al-'Amarī) after he had fought against the Nūba in the year 255 H. (868 A.D.). He had with him (an army of) Rabī'a and Juhayna (Bouriant: Gahinahs) and other Arab tribes. The population in the mines region of the Beja increased so much that 60,000 beasts of burden were engaged to transport supplies (mirah) from Aswān to them, without counting what was imported by boat from Qulzum to 'Aydhāb.

The Beja were friendly with the Rabī'a and intermarried with them.

It is said that the Beja magicians (kuhhān), before any of them adhered to Islam, had announced on behalf of their divinity (ma'būd) that they should (one day) become subject to the Rabī'a. This is what actually happened when Omarī was killed: the Rabī'a occupied the island (jazīra) and the Beja helped them: they expelled those Arabs who were hostile to the Rabī'a. The Beja chieftains gave their daughters in marriage to them and so the enmity against the Moslems ceased.

[The Beja Magicians]

The Beja of the interior, who live in the desert of tha country of 'Alwa along the (Red) Sea up to the frontier of Ethiopia (al-Ḥabasha), are, likewise the Ḥadārib, nomads (za'n) and shepherds, have the same food, use the same beasts of burden and the same weapons; the only difference is that the Ḥadārib are more courageous and less turbulent.

The Beja of the inner country have remained pagans (ālā kufr), following the worship of Satan (Shayṭān) and the decisions of their magicians. Each clan has its own magician (kāhin), who erects a leather dome (qubba) where they worship. If they ever want to consult him (the magician) about their needs, he takes off his garments and enters the qubba walking backwards towards it, then he comes out to them looking somewhat like a madman (or epileptic), shouting: - "The Devil greets you and advises you to withdraw from such and such a place, lest a people should attack you. You have asked about such and such a raid; well, go, because victory will be yours and you will take such and such spoils, the camels which you will seize from such and such a place will be mine, as well as that slave girl whom you will find in such and such a hide-out, and a sheep of such and such a kind." He utters these and similar words. They believe that most of what he foretells them will become true. If they take booty, they separate from it the part which he specified (as belonging to him) and they give it to the magician. If any (Beja) objects to this (i.e. to paying the magician his due), they refuse to let him (the objector) (the right of) drinking the milk of their she-camels. If they decide to move to another place, the magician puts his leather dome on a special camel and they claim that that camel can hardly rise on its feet and walk with great effort and that it sweats profusely although the qubba is quite empty. There are still some (clans) among the Ḥadārib who follow this practice and some who hold this (belief) together with Islam.

The Historian of Nubia, from whom I have summarized what I have related here above, said: I read a letter written by some tribes (ajnās) to the Commander of the faithful Alī ibn Taleb, where the mention of the Beja and the Kajah occurs. It is said in the letter that they are very wild, but little inclined to stealing. Actually, that is true about the Beja as for the Kajah, I do not know them. Here ends what Abdalla b. Aḥmed (al-Aswānī), the Nubian Historian, reported.

[Other Writers on the Beja]

Abū-l-Ḥasan al-Mas'ūdī said: - The Beja settled in the territory between the Red Sea and the Nile of Egypt and are divided into branches (but) which have established one king (malik) (other reading: mulūk, several kings) to rule over them all.

In their land there are gold mines where native gold ore (tibr) is found; there are also emerald mines. They go in big troops (sarāyā) or in smaller parties (manāsir), mounted on dromedaries, into the country of the Nūba where they carry out raids. In the past, the Nūba were stronger than the Beja, until Islam penetrated there and prevailed; in fact, a great number (jamā’a) of Muslims came and settled in the region of the gold mines region, at 'Allāqī and 'Aydhāb; (then) in that territory Arabs of the tribe of Rabī'a b. Nizār, b. Ma'add, b. 'Adnān settled and their power increased considerably since they intermarried with the Beja and the Beja became stronger. Then some Rabī'a became related to the Beja by inter¬marriage, and the Rabī'a, thanks to their relation with the Beja, became more powerful than the neighbouring tribes such as the Qaḥṭān and others who had settled in that territory.

The ruler of the mines (region) at this time, which is the year 332 H. (= 943 A.D.) is Bishr b. Merwān b. Ishāq b. Rabī'a, who owns 3,000 warriors. Their allies are the Mudar and the Yaman, as well as 30,000 Beja spear-men mounted on camels and carrying native (bijāwiyya) leather shields. They are of the Ḥadārib tribe and are (the only) Muslims among the Beja: while the Beja living in the inner parts are pagans who worship an idol of theirs.

The land of these Beja nomads who own the emerald mine is bordering on 'Allāqī, where there is (also) the gold mine. Between 'Allāqī and the Nile there are 15 days and the nearest town is Aswān.

The island of Sawākin is less than one mile in length and in width: between it and the Red Sea (al-baḥr al-ḥabashī) there is a strait which one can swim across. Its population consists of a branch of Beja called al-Khāsa, who are Moslems and have their own king (malik) on the island. Al-Hamadhānī said: - Kana'ān b. Hām married Arsal daughter of Betāwīl, b. Taris, b. Yapheth; she gave birth to Khafā (Khaqā ?), the Asāwid (= the Blacks), the Nūba, the Fazzān, the Zanj, the Zaghāwa and other tribes of Blacks (ajnās as-Sūdān). It was said that the Beja are descendants of Ḥam, son of Noah; it was also said that they are descendants of Kūsh b. Kana'ān b. Ḥam; others said that the Beja are one of the tribes of the Ḥabash (Ḥubsh). They have tents of (woven) hair, their complexion is darker than the Ḥabasha; they wear the same dress as the Arabs. They have no towns or villages or cultivated fields, they live on what they import from the land of Ḥabasha, Egypt (Miṣr) and Nubia. The Beja were idol worshippers, then they embraced Islam under the emirate of 'Abdalla b. Sa'd b. Abī Sarḥ. They are quite generous; they are divided into tribes and sub¬tribes (afkhādh), each of them under a chief (ra'īs): they are all shepherds and live only on neat and milk. (W.II,3, pp. 267 - 280; B., pp. 561 - 571).

Chapter XXXIII: The Town of Aswān

... In the month of Dhū-l-Hijja of the year 344 H. (= April/May 956 A.D.), the king of Nubia made a raid on Aswān and killed many Muslims. Muḥammad b. 'Abdalla al-Khāzin marched with an army from Miṣr to fight him by order of Unūjūr, the son of Ikhshīd, in the month or Muḥarram of the year 345 H. (= May/June 956 A.D.). They moved by land and river, and sent (to Miṣr) a number of Nubians they had taken prisoner and (later) beheaded them. The king of the Nūba was defeated and al-Khāzin advanced into Nubia until he took the town of Ibrīm and made its inhabitants prisoners. Then he returned to Miṣr about the middle of Jumadā al-Ulā of the year 345 H. (26 August 956 A.D.) bringing with him 150 prisoners and a great number of heads (of people he had beheaded).

Al-qādī al-Fāḍil said that the revenue of the frontier town of Aswān in the year 585 H. (= 1187 A.D.) was 25,000 dinars.

Kamāl Ja'far al-Edfūwī said: At Aswān there were 80 delegates in charge of the taxation (rusul ash-shar'), and the revenue of Aswān in one year was 30,000 ardab of dates (tamar). A clerk told me that in his office there were forty head-clerks (sharīf khāṣṣa), and that in an¬other office he saw sixty head-clerks, without counting the minor employees. He also said: - I saw for myself in one office about forty archivists (mu'arrikh). This was after the year 620 H. (= 1219 A.D.). In the town of Aswān lived the Banu Kanz, a branch of the Rabī’a, who were valiant and praiseworthy emirs, of whom al-Fāḍil as-Sadīd Abū-l-Ḥasan b. 'Arrām wrote the biographies, describe their merits, the names of those who honored them and those who opposed them. When Saladin Yūsuf b. Ayyūb sent an army against Kanz ad-Dawla and his men (aṣḥāb), they abandoned their country, - the army (of Saladin,) entered their (Kanz’s) homes and found there poems written in their praise, among which a poem by Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. az-Zubayr in which the poet said:

"He whom the fate forsakee, finds at last protection from these men, whose support involves no humiliation. Whenever they grant it, everything under the planets becomes afraid; whenever they deny it, everything on earth becomes miserable."

It is said that Saladin rewarded (the author) with one thousand dinars and assigned to him a "sāqiya" farm worthy 1,000 dinars.

A garrison of the regular army, equipped with weapons, was stationed at Aswān to defend the borders from attacks by the Nūbah and the Sūdān. After the fall of the Fatimid dynasty this precaution was neglected: therefore the king (mutamallik) of Nubia, with ten thousand men, attacked and occupied the island in front of Aswān and took prisoner all the Muslims who lived there.

After this, the importance of Aswān as a frontier dwindled to nothing and the Awlād Kanz have occupied it since the year 790 Η. (= 1388 A.D.) and caused much damage.

They (the Kanz) were several times at war with the wālīs of Aswān until the great trials (mihan, surrerings) which fell (upon the people) as from the year 806 H. (= 1403/1404 A.D.), during which the territory (iqlīm) of Ṣa'īd was devastated, and the Sultan's, power over the frontier town of Aswān practically ceased: he is no more represented by a wālī in the town of Aswān and this situation lasted for several years. Then, the Muḥarram of the year 815 H. (1412 A.D.) the Hawwāra invaded Aswān and fought the Awlād Kanz, defeated them, killed many people and took prisoners from women and children and reduced all to slavery, pulled down the walls of the town of Aswān and went away with the prisoners; they left behind them heaps of ruins without a single person living there.

The town remained in this state after it had been (the flourishing town) described by Selim al-Aswānī in his book "Akhbār an-Nūba". He said that Abū 'Abd ar-Raḥmān 'Abdalla b. 'Abd a1-Ḥamīd al-Omarī when he conqured the mines, wrote to Aswān inviting the merchants to come out and join him with equipment for the mines. A man called 'Uthmān b. Ḥanjala at-Tamīmī went to join him with 1,000 beasts loaded with equipment and wheat (burr).

He (Aswānī) mentioned that when al-Omarī returned to the Beja country after his campaign against the Nūba, the population (in the mines) increased so much that the beasts which transported the provisions to them from Aswān numbered 60,000 head, without counting the boats which carried provisions from Suez to 'Aydhāb.

He (Aswānī) said: - Some of our trustworthy, old people (shuyukh) of Aswān, or precisely of a village called Ashashī, which is two and-a-half days' distance from Aswān, assured him that they had seen on the eastern bank on the Nile, a walled village before whose gate there was a sycomore-tree and people went in and out: but when they went to that place (to ascertain what they had seen) they found nothing; this (phenomenon) happens in winter, and not in summer, before sunrise; and all the inhabitants admit the truth of this fact.

Aswān has many kinds of dry dates (tamur) and fresh dates (ruṭab) (Bouriant: "fruits" and "legumes" respectively), among which a kind of ruṭab which are greener than the garden-beet (salq). Hārūn ar-Rashīd ordered to collect for him (samples) of all kinds of the dates of Aswān on date of each quality to be collected for him; they filled one waiba and nobody in the world, except in Aswān, knows how dates become tamar, (i.e. dry dates) without being first ruṭab (green). (W. II, 3, pp. 280 - 286; B., pp. 572 - 576).

Chapter XXXIV: Philae (Bilāq)

Philae is the last fortress belonging to the Moslems, (it is situated) on an island near the Cataracts, surrounded by the Nile. There is a big village (balād) which is thickly populated. It is rich in palm-tree. At this island, the boats of the Nūba as well as those of the Moslems of Aswān land. The distance between this place (Philae) and the village of al-Qaṣr, which is the first village of Nubia, is one mile; between Philae and Aswān, four miles. From Aswān to this place is a continuous cataract (janādil), unnavigable by boats unless they are guided by experienced fisherman who (usually) fish there. At al-Qaṣr there is a garrison and a gate leading to the country of the Nūba. (W. op.cit., p. 282; B., p. 577).

Chapter XXXVI: The Baqṭ

§ 1 - Baqṭ is the name given to the (consignment of) Nubian slaves who are brought to Egypt every year, as a tribute imposed on them. It is an Arabic word used by them (Arabs) when a (piece of) land (is rented) to express the (amount of) rent in vegetables or green fodder (baqṭ min baql wa-'ushb) i.e. a piece of grazing land; in this sense it also means a small sum of money. It is also used by them to say, for example, that the Banī Tamīm are a portion (paqṭ) of the Rabī’'a tribe, or a branch or a sub-division (qiṭ’a): in this sense it would mean a portion or a fraction of property (māl): for example, a portion of land (baqṭ al-arḍ) or a portion of anything (baqṭ ash-shay'). Baqṭ is also called the portion of grain which is given at the rate of one-third, or one-quarter; baqṭ is also that part of dates (tamar) which,when they are harvested, fall out of the basket because during the harvest, the reaping hook missed them.

In the subject which we are dealing with, the word baqṭ means what is in possession of the Nūba.

§ 2 – The baqṭ is received from them (Nubians) in a village called al-Qaṣr, five miles from. Aswān, between Philae and Nubia. Al-Qaṣr was the port (farda) of Qos. The first time that this baqṭ was imposed on the Nūba, was during the emirate of 'Amrū b. al-'Āṣ, when, after the conquest of Egypt, he sent 'Abdalla b. Sa'd Abī Sarḥ to Nubia, in the year 20 H. (641 A.D.), or in the year 21 H. according to others, with an army of 20,000 men. He remained there some time, and 'Amrū wrote to him to come back. After the death of Omar, the Nūba broke the peace agreement (sulh) which had been drawn up between them and 'Abdalla b. Sa'd; their raids in Upper Egypt multiplied, they caused damage and devastation, so that 'Abdalla b. Sa'd b. Abī Sarḥ invaded their country a second time when he was emir of Miṣr, under the caliphate of Osman, in the year 31 H. (=652 A.D.).

He besieged them in the town of Dongola (Dumqala) and shelled them by means of catapults (manjanīq), which were unknown to the Nūba. He broke down the (roof of the) church with stones (from the catapults) and this astonished them. Their king, by name Qalīdurūt (Balīdurūb. Qalīdurdāt) asked for peace and went out to meet 'Abdalla looking humble, sad and submissive. 'Abdalla met him, raised him and gave him a place near him ('Abdalla); then he concluded the peace agreement with him, on condition (that he paid) 360 men every year, while 'Abdalla undertook to supply him with grain, as (the king) had complained of the scarcity of food in his country. Of this (agreement) he left a written document as follows:

[The Peace Agreement]

"Omitting the conventional greetings (al-basmala),.. this is the convention given by the emir 'Abdalla b. Sa'd b. Abī Sarḥ to the chief (‘azīm) of the Nūba and to all the people of his kingdom, a convention binding all the Nubians, great and small, from the boundary line of Aswān to the frontier of 'Alwa. 'Abdalla b.Sa'd b. Abī Sarī gave them security (amān) and truce (ḥudna), valid between them and the neighbouring Muslims of Upper Egypt, as well as the other Muslims and the dhimmī. You, Nubian people, will be safe under the guarantee (amān) of God and His Prophet Moḥammed, that we shall not fight you and shall not wage war upon you, nor shall we carry out raids (on your country), as long as you keep the condition laid down between us and yourselves: that you enter our country in transit only, not for the purpose of settling there; we also shall enter your country in transit without settling there. You must protect any Muslim or anyone who is under our protection (mu'āhid), if he settles in your country or travels through it, until he leaves the same. You must hand back any fugitive slave (ābiq) belonging to the Muslims who seeks shelter in your country: you must deliver him to the country of Islam; you must likewise return any Muslim who fights against the Muslims, you must drive him out of your country (and deliver him) to the country of Islam, without befriending him or without hindering him in any way. You must take care of the mosque (masjad) which the Muslims have built in the enclosure of your town, you must not prevent anyone from praying there, or interfere with any Muslim who goes there or lives close to it, until he goes away. You must keep it swept, and lighted with lamps and respect it. You must give 360 men every year, whom you will hand over to the imām of the Muslims: they must be chosen from slaves (raqīq) of your country, adults, without bodily defects, both male and female, excluding old men, old women and sucklings: you will hand them to the wall of Aswān. The Muslims do not undertake to drive away enemies who (may) attack you, or prevent them from attacking you, from the frontier of ‘Alwa to the territory of Aswān. If you give shelter to any slave of the Muslims, or you kill a Muslim, or an ally, or if you allow any damage to be done to the mosque which the Muslims have built within your town, or you retain any part of the 360 men, the treaty and truce become null and void, and we leave it; all to God to decide (by war), for He is the best Judge. In such a case we take as witness, on our side, God and his Promise (mīthāq). his Protection (dhimma) as well as the protection of his Envoy (Moḥammed); you, on your side, will call as witness in your favour the dearest things of your religion, the protection of Christ (al-Masiḥ), the protection of the Apostles (al-hawwārīyyīn) and the protection of those persons whom you hold in the highest respect in your religion and your community. May God be witness between us and you on this."

This treaty was written by 'Umar b. Sharhabīl, in the month of Ramaḍān of the year 31 H. (April-May 652 A.D.).

The Nūba paid to 'Amrū b. as-'Āṣ what was agreed upon in the baqṭ before they broke it. (In addition) they gave forty slaves as a present, but he would not accept them. He returned the gift to the superintendent of the baqṭ (kahīr al-baqṭ), a man called Saqmūs (Samqus, Nastaqūs). This man bought provisions (jahāz) and wine (khamr) which he sent to them. 'Abdalla, too, sent them such cereals, wheat, barley, lentils, clothing material, and horses according to the promise. This custom (ar-rasm) continued until it became a prescription (rasm) which they still repeat every year when they pay the baqṭ; the forty slaves, who were offered to 'Amrū as a present, are taken by the wālī of Miṣr.

According to Abū Khalīfa Ḥamīd b. Hishām al-Buhturī, the amount fixed in the peace treaty with the Nūba is 360 slaves to the Treasury (fay’) of the Muslims, 40 slaves to the Governor (ṣāḥib) of Egypt; in return, the Muslims pay to the Nūba 1,000 ardab of wheat (qamḥ) and the delegates (of the Nubian king) 300 ardab; the same quantity of barley; 1,000 jugs (aqnīn) for the king, and 300 for his delegates, and two horses of the breed used by the emirs; l00 pieces (thawb) of cloth of (various) kinds (asnāf); 4 pieces of cloth called qabātī for the king and three for his delegates; 8 pieces of the cloth called buqturiyyah; five pieces of the cloth marked (mu'-lama; Wiet reads Mu'allama) a mantle (jibba) of nappy silk (mukhmala, velvet, or wool, fabric) for the king (malik), 10 pieces of the cloth (qums) called Abū Buqtor, 10 pieces of Ahāsī (ahhāsī, ajāsī) which made is a thick fabric. Abū Khalīfa said: - Neither the book of 'Abdal¬la b. Wahb, nor the book of al-Wāqidī contains these details, but I had them from Abū Zakaria who told me: - I heard my father Osman b. Saleh telling this story, and I remember well what I heard. He said: One day I was called to the council (in the presence) of the emir ‘Abdalla b. Tāher, while he was (governor) of Egypt (625-327 A.D.): the emir said to me: ‘Are you Osman b. Saleh whom we have summoned to give information about the document of the baqṭ of the Nūba?’ I said: 'Yes.' Then Maḥfūẓ b. Suleiman drew near and said: - 'What a strange country this is! We sent for the learned people ('ulamā') to ask about something they know, and also (we sent) for this shaykh, and none of them helps us (with the much needed information)!’ I said: 'God save the Commander of the Faithful! The information you want about the Nūba, I have, as they were orally transmitted by the elders (shaykhs) who heard it from the shaykhs who were present there when the truce (ḥudna) and the peace agreement (ṣulḥ) were drawn up.' Then I spoke to them about the Nūba according to what I had heard. (The emir) did not approve the supply of wine. I told him: 'Also 'Abdel 'Azīz b. Marwān disapproved of it.' This council was held in Fusṭāṭ in the year 21 H. (= 626 A.D.), after the peace treaty was signed between him and 'Ubaydalla b. as-Sarī b. al-Ḥakam at-Tamīmī, the emir (who was) his predecessor. Osman b. Ṣaliḥ said: - The emir, sent (someone) to the Chancery (dīwān) which was outside the great mosque (al-masjad al-jāmi') of Miṣr and searched for the document concerning the Nūba and found that it was exactly as I told him: he was therefore very pleased."

Mālik b. Uns said that the peace treaty applied to the (whole) land of Nubia as far as the frontier of ‘Alwa and it was therefore forbidden to buy slaves there; but his contemporaries, such as 'Abdalla b. 'Abd al-Ḥakam and 'Abdalla b. Wahb and al-Layth b. Sa'd, Yazīd b. Abī Habb and other jurists of Egypt held a different opinion.

Al-Layth b. Sa'd said: - We know the land of Nubia better than Mālik b. Uns. Under the peace treaty we have undertaken not to carry out raids into their territory, but not to prevent enemies from attacking them. Whomsoever their king reduces to slavery, or the slaves which they make when they raid each other, can be legally bought; but those whom the Muslims reduce to slavery through abduction (buqhāh) or by stealing (surrāq), are illegal business; some Muslims used to have Nubian slave girls as concubines.

(more to follow)