Ibn al-Furat

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[pp. 528-547]

IBN AL-FURĀT

(1334-1405 A.D.)

Nāṣir ad-dīn Muḥ. A. Raḥīm al-miṣrī Ibn al-Furāt, An Egyptian Historian.

EI (s.v.); GAL 2, 50 Ta'rīkh ad-duwal wa-l-mulūk

Ed.: C. Ruzayq, Ta'rīkh Ibn al-Furāt, 9 vols., Beirut 1936-42.

Exc.: Mus'ad 258-274.

T.: Beirut A:0


[Stories about the Invasions in Nubia]

Nubia was invaded for the first time in the year 31 H. (652 A.D.). 'Abdalla b. Sa'd carried out the raid with 5,000 cavalry, under the caliphate of 'Uthmān b. 'Affān - may God be pleased with him. In this raid Mu'āwiya b. Hudayj - may God be pleased with him! - and Abraha b. aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ lost an eye each. They nicknamed the Nubians "pupil-smitters". 'Abdalla b. Sa'd made a truce with them (hādana-hum) after he penetrated as far inside the country as Dunqula. The poet described that day with these verses:

[p. 529] "Never did my eye watch a day like Dunqula's.

The horses advanced in the early morning under

heavy breast-plates.

All around me I could see only warriors

As if nobody else existed I".

Yazīd b. Abī Ḥabīb related: The agreement (muwādi'a) made between the Egyptians (ahl Miṣr) and the Nūba is not an agreement of reconciliation (muwādi’a hudna), but a truce of safety (hudnat amān), under which we supply them with a certain quantity of wheat and lentils and they give us slaves (raqīq). They do not mind if they have to purchase the slaves among their own people.

Later on, Nubia was raided in the time of the Commander of the Faithful Hishām (724-743 A.D.), son of the Commander of the Faithful 'Abd al-Malik, son of the Commander of the Faithful Marwān the Omayyad. Nubia was not conquered on that occasion; there was only a fight resulting in plunder and the seizure of prisoners.

Yazīd b. Abī Ḥātim b. Qasayba b. al-Muhallab b. Abī Ṣafra<ref>Governor of Egypt (761-769 A.D.).</ref> sent a raiding expedition led by 'Abd al-A'lā b. Ḥamīd. Then Abū Manṣūr Tekin, the Turk, raided Nubia as well as Barqa, for one year, but did not subdue it.

Later on, Kāfūr the Ikhshīd carried out a raid with an army consisting mainly of Blacks (sūdān), as the poet said:

"When Kāfūr invaded Dunqula in the morning,

he went with an army so large as to cover the earth in length and width ;

The Black (al-Aswad) raided the Blacks (sūdān) in

the brightness of the morning;

When the two armies clashed in battle the earth

became as dark as the night."

[p. 530] Later on, the emir Nāṣir ad-Dawla b. Ḥamdān raided Nubia: he (?) crushed the Blacks (wa-kabasa as-sūdān)<ref>It is not clear from the Arabic text who was the winner and who was the loser. The editor of “Al-Maktaba” notes: “Probably the correct original reading was: ‘fa-kabasa-hu ṣāḥib as-sūdān’ (the Lord of the Sūdān crushed him, i.e. Ibn Ḥamdān. Cf. Nuwayrī’s reading. Also the sentence “he returned as a loser” (khāsir) seems to refer to Ibn Ḥamdān, who did not succeed to conquering Nubia. Yet the historians (e.g. Ibn Muyassar , q.v.) reported that in the year 459 H./1066 A.D. Ibn Ḥamdān vanquished the sūdān in more than one encounter in Lower Egypt and that he moved to Upper Egypt to with a 15,000 men strong army of sūdān. This expedition (to Upper Egypt), however, is not described by the historians as a Turkish raid on Nubia.</ref> (they ?) plundered his army (jaysha-hu), seized all its luggage, took it with him (ma’ a-hu) and he returned defeated (khāsir). That happened in the year 459 H. (1066 A.D.) under the caliphate of al-Mustansir the ‘Ubaydī in Egypt.

A long time after this, Shams ad-Dawla Tūrānshāh b. Ayyūb Shādhī b. Marwān, the brother of al-Malik an-Nāṣir Saladin Yūsuf b. Najm ad-dīn Ayyūb, raided it, precisely in the year 568 H. (1172 A.D.); he went only as far as Ibrīm. All these (campaigns) were just raids, the real conquest (fatḥ) being that which took place in the time of al-Malik aẓ-Ẓāhir Rukn ad-dīn Baybars as-Sālihī, in this year (1275 A.D.) - which we are going to narrate.

... The cause for the invasion of Nubia, in that year (674 H./1275 A.D.) was that Dāwūd, the Regent (mutamallik) of Nubia had become exceedingly wicked in his deeds: he went on a raid up to near Aswan and burnt the sāqiyas; some time before he had raided 'Aydhāb. The governor (wālī) of Qōs hastened to Aswān, but could not catch him; he, however, defeated his (king Dāwūd's) representative (nā'ib) who bore the title of "Lord of the Mountain",<ref>Ibn al-Furāt’s text consistently has “ṣāḥib al-khayl” (Lord of the Horse), but this is surely a misreading for “ṣāḥib al-jabāl” (Lord of the Mountain).</ref> captured him and his men and sent them to the Citadel. When the Sultan returned from Syria to Egypt he ordered the Lord of the Mountain and his men to be cut in the middle ("quartered").

[p. 531] (Meantime) The son of the sister of the Nubian king MRTSKR (tentative reading Murtashkur),<ref>Cf. Nuwayrī (q.v.).</ref> whom Dāwūd had dispossessed of the kingdom and whose name was MSKD, or, according to others, Sakanda, came (to Cairo) complaining about his cousin (ibn 'amm) Dāwūd. He told the Sultan that (the right of accession to) the kingdom belonged only to him, to the exclusion of anyone else. The Sultan sent the emir Shams ad-din Aqsonqor al-Fāriqānī, the ustād ad-dār, and the emir 'Izz ad-dīn Aybek al-Afram, the emir jandār, with an army consisting of soldiers of the regular army (ʿaskar), soldiers of the fisc (ajnād)<ref>Ajnād = soldiers in charge of levying the tribute.</ref> of the provinces (wilāyāt) and nomads (ʿurbān) of Upper Egypt. He added (a detachment of) grenadiers (zarārīq) artillery (rumāt) and flame-throwers (rijāl al-ḥarārīq), and coats of mail (zardakhānāt), and MSKD to accompany the expedition. The Sultan ordered them, as soon as they conquered the country to hand it over to him (MSKD). They set out on the march on the 1st day of Sha'bān of this year (20 January 1276 A.D.).

At the frontier they were met by the Blacks (sūdān) armed with spears and wearing no other defence than black tunics (aksiya) called dikādik; they came out mounted on dromedaries (nujub aṣ-ṣuhub). The expeditionary force Joined battle and they (sūdān) were defeated: a great number of them were slain and many were made prisoners.

On the 8th of Shawwāl of the same year (24 March 1276 A.D.), a letter was received at the court from emir Shams [p. 532] ad-dīn announcing that the emir ‘Izz ad-dīn al-Afram had stormed the fortress of Daw (qal’at ad-Daw) and killed many and took prisoners; and that the emir Shams ad-dīn followed in his footsteps to suppress the revolt of those who had escaped. He deployed the sailors (rijāl al-baḥr) on land and river with strict orders to kill anyone they came across on land or river. They were given the ... (mawās ?).<ref>Doubtful reading.</ref> The emir Shams ad-dīn landed on the island of Mikā'īl at the head of the cataract of Nubia, which is a place full of rocks rising in the middle of the river. There they slew some men and others they took prisoner: (all these were) the pilots who had escaped from the fortress of Daw (taking on board the Lord of the Mountain) and had sailed through the cataract. The Lord of the Mountain, however, had fled to the islands. The Lord of the Mountains has power over one-half of the Nubian territory; his name is Qamar ad-Dawla Kasī (?)<ref>Illegible in the Ibn al-Furāt. Mufaddal has “Kashī”.</ref>. (King) Dāwūd had appointed him in place of the one whom the Sultan had quartered in the middle in Egypt. The emirs gave him safe-conduct and allowed him to continue in office as nā’ib after he swore allegiance to king MShKD, who was in the expedition, as long as (the king) was loyal to the Sultan. He rendered useful services in bringing back the men (rijāl) of al-Marīs and others to pilot the boats: he proved helpful, indeed.

The emir 'Izz ad-dīn waded across the river to a tower which he besieged, then he took it and slew 250 enemies. A letter arrived from emir Shams ad-dīn announcing that the army was short of supplies because of [p. 533] the delay of Awlād al-Kanz in piloting the boats; he and the emir ‘Izz ad-dīn had marched forward and caught up with king Dāwūd: there ensued a carnage until all (the soldiers of Dāwūd) were killed. No one survived except those who threw themselves into the river. King Dāwūd took to flight, but his brother Shankū was captured. The emir sent a detachment of the army (al-'askar al-manṣūr) which marched for three days pursuing them with the sword until all were forced to accept obedience to the Sultan. The mother and the sister of King Dāwūd were captured.

The emirs imposed the tribute on King MShKD, - who was in the expedition, - to pay every year: 3 elephants, 3 giraffes, 5 she-leopards, 100 good dromedaries (ṣuhub), 100 unblemished oxen. Also it was decided that the country be divided into two parts: one-half (niṣf) to belong to the Sultan and the other to the local population (ʿimāra) so that they would guard it, for it was feared that some enemy<ref>Probably the much feared Arab nomads of Upper Egypt.</ref> might come to invade it (yaṭruqa-ha); the two provinces of al-'Alī and al-Jabāl - which accounted for one quarter of Nubia - were to belong to the Sultan because of their proximity to Aswān; all the cotton and dates produced in these two provinces should be handed over (to the Sultan) together with any other rights (ḥuqūq), which were reserved to the kings his predecessors, according to the tradition. Then the Nubians were offered a choice: either to embrace Islam, or to be killed, or to pay the jizya at the rate of one dinar per head per year. An oath formula specifying these conditions was drawn up and MShKD swore to it together with (some of) his men. Another formula was drawn up to be sworn to by the population, that they would obey [p. 534] the nā’ib of the Sultan as long as he should remain faithful and that they would pay one dinar per year per adult person.

Their country is the largest of all; it is more powerful because of the number of inhabitants and it is the longest as it stretches across (several) Climates.

The Church of Isūs (? Osus) was pulled down. It was the one about which Dāwūd boasted that it reminded him what he had to do. This Dāwūd had built, with the labour of the Moslems, a place (makan) which he called "'Aydhāb": it consisted of houses, churches and a square in which he had portrayed the Moslems whom he had slain at ‘Aydhāb or taken prisoner at Aswān. These paintings were erased and the walls were pulled down. It was imposed (on MShKD) that he should hand over to the Sultan the private property of king Dāwūd and of his relatives, in slaves (raqīq), and cloth (qumāsh). The emir found some Nubian princes (umarāʾ) who were the seed of the rebellion in the country; they were twenty in number; he had them all mutilated in the nose (jada'a-hum). He freed the prisoners seized at 'Aydhāb and Aswān, accompanied them and helped them to go back home. He also obliged MShKD to free any other prisoner .who had been withheld. Then he crowned MShKD with the crown of the kingdom (tāj al-mamlaka) according to their custom, and enthroned him in place of king Dāwūd. This is the formula of the oath which MShKD took.<ref>There follow the two formulas of oath. As the text is identical with that of Nuwayri (q.v.), they have been omitted here.</ref>

... The above<ref>Mentioned in the oath.</ref> is the tribute imposed on the king on the occasion of the conquest (fatḥ). The baqṭ, which [p. 535] is a fixed amount to be paid by the Nūba every year, was imposed on them long before, in the days of 'Alī b. Aḥmad aṣ-Ṣarfaynī, and consisted of 400 slaves and one giraffe; the slaves were to be distributed as follows: 360 to the Commandant of the Faithful and 40 to the Governor (nā’ib) of Egypt. As counterpart, according to the old tradition, the messengers of the Nubian king received, - on delivery of the whole amount of the baqṭ - 1,300 ardeb of wheat, of which 300 were for them.

Al-Balādhurī said in his "Kitāb ai-Futūḥāt": "The tribute imposed on the Nūba is four hundred slaves, for which they received foodstuffs, i.e. cereals. The Commandant of the Faithful al-Madhī the Abbasid reduced it to three hundred and sixty slaves and one giraffe."

As for the Beja, their country is contiguous to Nubia; their king, called "al-Ḥadrabī", is recognised as the supreme chief (khalīfa) of the Sūdān. In the time of al-Malik aẓ-Ẓāhir Rukn ad-dīn Baybars the Sultan of Egypt, the Beja king was Bā(?)T(?)KS<ref>No diacritic dots in the original; many different readings are possible.</ref> and was called Ṣārim ad-dīn: he was the khalīfa of the Sūdān, according to what they claim.

The Commandant of the Faithful al-Mutawakkil ‘alā Allah the Abbasid ordered his representative in Egypt to invade the Beja: the army arrived at 'Aydhāb and the boats, too, which were on the Red Sea, landed there; the army marched up to one of the Beja's strongholds (qal’a munāhiḍā). The Beja king (al-bujāwī) went out against them, mounted on camels (ibl) girt with straps. The chief (nā’ib) of the Moslem army noticed that and planned a stratagem: he had bells tied to the necks of the horses. When the camels heard the sound of the bells they [p. 536] fled in utter confusion. The Beja king was killed, the son of his brother took over and asked for a truce (hudna). The Commandant of the Faithful refused saying: I shall not grant it, until he will tread on my carpet. The Beja king went to see him and when he arrived at Surra-man-rā'a a peace treaty was made in the year 241 H. (= 555 A.D.) on condition that the Beja should give the baqṭ. They complied with this condition. Al-Mutawakkil also put among the conditions that the Beja should not prevent the Moslems from working in the gold mine.

The emirs who conquered Nubia in that year (1276 A.D.) and pulled down the church of Sūs (Isus) - as we have already mentioned - found gold crosses and other objects amounting to 4640 1/2 dinars and silver vessels amounting to 8660 dinars. Our author (ṣāḥib) the emir Ṣārim ad-dīn Ibrāhīm, better known as Ibn Duqmāq,<ref>Ibn Duqmāq’s history work is still unpublished.</ref> said: The Nubians who were slain were a great number and those who were made prisoner were an even greater number, so that a slave was sold for three dirhams, and those who remained after the massacre and the sale were ten thousand. This is what he said.

The Egyptian army (al-'askar al-miṣrī) stayed at Dunqula for 17 days until the situation became quiet in that country. The Sultan ordered the army to return to Cairo, the emirs to come by boat taking with them the captives, the soldiers to break into groups (and arrive overland). The emir Shams ad-dīn, the ustād ad-dār, and the emir 'Izz ad-dīn returned and the army arrived safely at Cairo, loaded with spoils. On the 5th Dhū-l-Hijja of that year (21 May 1276 A.D.) the emirs Shams ad-dīn and 'Izz ad-dīn had an audience with the Sultan al-Malik aẓ-Ẓāhir, [p. 537] at which the brother of king Dāwūd, the captive, was present. The Sultan thanked the emirs for their endeavours and bestowed on them robes of honour.

As for the fate of king Dāwūd, our source (ṣāḥib) the emir Ṣārim ad-dīn Ibrāhīm Ibn Duqmāq, related approximately what follows: King Dāwūd, after his defeat by the (Egyptian) emirs, crossed the river to the west bank and escaped during the night to some strongholds (ḥuṣūn); no sooner had the news come to the emir ‘Izz ad-dīn al-Afram and the emir Shams ad-dīn al-Fāriqānī, than they mounted (on horses) together with the soldiers they had with them and marched in pursuit for three days, relentlessly day and night. Dāwūd, feeling that they were on his trail, abandoned his mother, his sister and the children of his brother; he and his son (alone) had a narrow escape. The emirs captured his women and on their return to Dunqula, they remained until they declared ash-Shakanda king (of Nubia) and established him on the throne. They held discussions<ref> Ar. “qarrarū”, which means “compelled (him) to acknowledge” or “they ascertained”, “wrote a statement”.</ref> with Kashi<ref>Cf. note 7.</ref> the lord of the Country of the Mountain to the effect that Daw and Ibrīm - the two strong-holds near Aswān, at seven days’ distance (from Aswān) — belong to the Sultan as private property, and they invested him with the authority of Representative of the Sultan. Then they returned to Cairo.

After a few days, the Lord of al-Abwāb - which is the country above Nubia - sent king Dāwūd captive to the Sultan, who put him in jail in the Citadel where he died. As regards king Dāwūd, after his country was conquered and he took to flight - as just mentioned - when he arrived at al-Abwāb, king Ador of al-Abwāb fought him, [p. 538] killed his son, seized Dāwūd and sent him to the Sultan.

This is the story of the conquest, about which a poet said: "This is the Conquest, not what you have been told by eye-witnesses, nor what you have heard through chains of oral accounts". About this conquest, the qādī Muḥīy ad-dīn Ibn 'Abd aẓ-Ẓāhir, the biographer of al-Malik aẓ-Ẓāhir, said: "O day of Dunqula, in which its slaves (ʿabīd) were slaughtered on every side and in every place/every Nubian said to his mother: Lament! Because they have struck the nape of the Sūdān!"

The Sultan al-Malik aẓ-Ẓāhir instructed ṣāḥib Baha' ad-dīn b. Ḥannā, his minister (wazīr), to appoint agents to collect the tribute (kharāj) and the jizya at Dunqula and in its districts.

It is also said that the emirs, while they were in Dunqula, compelled king MShKD (Meshked) to take a second oath (yamīn thāniya), by which he undertook to report immediately to the Sultan's court whenever an order reached him, whether in the day time or by night, without no other delay except the time necessary to make the preparations for the journey. He (also undertook) not to allow any Arab nomad (ʿurbān), adult or young, to enter Nubia, and to seize any bedouin he might find on Nubian soil and send him to the Great Sultan - may God make his kingdom last for ever!

[Possessions of Sultan Baybars]

By means of him (Baybars), God Almighty conquered ... Nubia, where the following territories (bilād) are found: the island of Bilāq, Yawī,<ref>Uncertain reading. Cf. Mufaddal, n. 14.</ref> the Country of the Water (?) [p. 539] (arḍ al-māʾ), al-Fatiq (?), Damhīt, Hindū, Dartīn, al-Harya, the region (iqlīm) of al-Burayk, aso called the Seven Villages (sab'a qurā); after which there is the provinces of al-'Alī (‘Alā) which comprises the following villages; Lazima (?), Tamad (7), ad-Daw, Ibrīm, Dandāl, Būharās, the island of Mikā'īl on which there are also villages, the islands of the Cataract, Abkar, Dunqula, the region of Bashwā which is an island with towns ... So that the poet said: "The affairs of the State range from the Palace to Yemen and Iraq, to the land of the Rūm and to the Nubian (an-nūbī)." (Beirut VII, pp. 44 - 51).

[A Biographical Note on:]

Aqsonqor 'Abdalla al-Fāriqānī... Under the Sultan Baybars he was promoted ustād dār. Deputy (to the Sultan) to act during his absence and was also appointed commandant-in-chief of the any.

... As-Dafadī wrote about him: I think he is the one who was sent to raid Nubia and conquered it.

... In the month of Sha'bān, letters arrived from the wālī of Qōs announcing that clashes had taken place in the 'Aydhāb desert between nomads (ʿurbān) of the Juhayna and the Rufā'a tribes, with many casualties on both sides, and that the fighters had sought shelter with the Lord of Sawākin, who, perhaps, aided them to continue the fight. He (Aqsonqor) wrote to the Sharīf 'Alam ad-dīn as-Sam'ānī (?), Lord of Sawākin, to refrain from interferring in that quarrel and to abstain from helping them in any way, so that the desert route night be safe and good for the travellers. (Beirut VII, p. 101).

[p. 540] [The First invasion of Nubia (under Qalāwūn)]

Al-Malik al-Manṣūr Sayf ad-dīn Qalāwūn, Lord of Egypt and Syria, sent on a military expedition the emir ‘Alam ad-dīn Sanjar al-Masrūrī, known as al-Khayyāt, governor of Cairo, and the emir ‘Izz ad-dīn al-Kūrānī (al-Kawrānī) with order to march on Nubia. They left the Court on Monday 6th Dhū-l-Hijja of the year 686 H. (8 January 1288 A.D.). He detailed (to go with them) a company of the soldiers of the fisc (ajnād) of the southern wilāyāt, and the qarāghulāmiyya; he also sent the emir ‘Izz ad-dīn Aydamer as-Sayfī, the silāḥ dār, governor of the provinces of Qōs with his own army (ʿidda) and the Sultan's own white slaves (mamālik) stationed at Qōs under his authority, and more soldiers (ajnād) from the district of Qōs and Arab nomads of that region, i.e. the Awlād Abū Bakr, Awlād ‘Umar, Awlād Sharīf, Awlād Shaybān, Awlād al-Kanz and a number of bedouins (ʿurbān) from al-Burullus and the Banī Hilāl. The emir ‘Alam ad-dīn al-Khayyāt with one half of the army took the way on the west bank, and the emir ‘Izz ad-dīn Aydemer with the other half went on the east bank, on which the town of Dunqula is built.

The regent (mutamallik) of Nubia at that time was one called Simāmūn (Samāmūn), a man more courageous and skilful than his equals. When the army arrived at the Nubian borders, Simāmūn evacuated the country and sent directives to his nā’ib in the island of Mikā’īl and the district or Daw (ʿamal Daw); the title of" the governor of this province (wilāya) in Nubia is "Lord of the Mountain". Simāmūn ordered him to evacuate the country under his jurisdiction as the army advanced. The countrymen withdrew before the army, station after station, until they joined the Regent of Nubia at Dunqula. The Regent stayed there until the arrival of the emir ’Izz ad-dīn [p. 541] with his army; then they fought a field battle in which Simāmūn was defeated and many or his men were killed while, on the Moslem side, only a few died (istashhada) (for God's sake). Simāmūn, beaten on the field, took to flight while the army pursued him for fifteen days beyond Dunqula. The army caught up with Jurays and seized him and the Regent’s cousin (Ibn Khāla = son of the maternal aunt), who was one of the leading princes and had the right of succession to the throne. The emir 'Izz ad-dīn enthroned the son of the king's sister and appointed Jurays as his Representative (nā'ib), and assigned to them a detachment of the regular army to remain with them (as body-guard). Then he fixed the tax (qatī'a) which the two of them were to bring to the Sultan's court every year. The army returned carrying off a booty of slaves, horses, camels and clothes. We shall narrate the remainder of the story later. (Beirut VIII, pp. 52 - 53).

On the 9th of Rajab of this year (10 August 1288 A.D.) the emir 'Alam ad-dīn Sanjar al-Masrūrī and his expeditionary force arrived from Dunqula at the court on the Citadel of Cairo. He brought with him the kings (mulūk) of Nubia, their women (ḥarīm) and their (kings') crowns: it really was a wonderful day! The emir 'Izz ad-dīn briefed the Sultan telling him that they had conquered (malakū) the countries of Daw and Nubia and all those places (amākin), killing or taking prisoner the natives. They (emirs) presented the Sultan with a great number of prisoners; the Sultan took some to send to his private farms and houses, the others he distributed to the emirs. Emirs and soldiers exchanged gifts of prisoners; more prisoners were sold and their price was so cheap that the common people had some of them. The Sultan bestowed on the emir 'Alam ad-dīn Sanjar al-Masrūrī the insignia of [p. 542] wālī Mahmandār<ref>Mahmandār, the officer in charge of receiving the guests.</ref> in place of the emir Sharaf ad-dīn the commander who had been sent to Alexandria as interim governor until a new one was appointed there in place of the emir Ḥisām ad-dīn, son of the emir Shams ad-dīn b. Bākhil, who had been arrested - his property and his women and his retinue being then transferred to Cairo. The foregoing has been referred to the emirs.

As for Simāmūn, king of Nubia, after the army left Nubia - as already mentioned - and after he made sure of the return of the army (to Egypt) he went back to Dunqula, fought the garrison which had been left there and defeated it, and eventually took the kingdom over gain. The king who had been appointed by the Sultan fled to Cairo accompanied by Jurays and the garrison; they told (the Sultan) what Simāmūn had done. The Sultan al-Malik al-Manṣūr was furious: he ordered that a corps of cavalry (jarīda) be ready to march on Nubia - as we shall describe in due time. (Beirut VIII, p. 6S).

[The Second Expedition of the Army to Nubia under Qalāwūn]

We have already mentioned that the king of Nubia, after he had made sure of the return of the Egyptian army, to Cairo, went back to Dunqula, expelled the king enthroned by the emir ‘Alam ad-dīn al-Khayyāt and recaptured the whole country. The king who had been appointee by the Sultan came to the Court for talks with the Sultan.

In this year (688 H./1289 A.D.) al-Malik al-Manṣūr despatched to Nubia the emir ’Izz ad-dīn Aybek al-Afram, [p. 543] the emir Jandār, with an expeditionary force which consisted of (troops of) the emir Sayf ad-dīn Qipjāq al-Manṣūrī, the emir Sayf ad-dīn Boktemer the Jūkandār and the emir 'Izz ad-dīn Aydemer governor of Qōs. He also gave them some corps (atlāb) chosen from the troops of the emirs: a corps (ṭilb) of the emir Zayn ad-dīn Ketbogha al-Manṣūrī, one from the emir Sayf ad-dīn Bahāder the chief of the jamdāriyya guards (nawba), one from the emir 'Alā' ad-dīn aṭ-Ṭaybarsī, one from the emir Shams ad-dīn Sonqor aṭ-Ṭawīl and the remainder from the soldiers (ajnād) of the southern districts and the deputy-governors (nuwwāb al-wulāt). He added a force of forty thousand foot soldiers, taken from the bedouin troops in Egypt, both North and South. The regent of Nubia and his nā’ib Jurays joined this expedition. The army left the court of Cairo on Tuesday 8 Shawwāl 668 (25 October 1289 A.D.). More than five hundred boats, small and large, including flame-throwing boats (ḥarārīq), and transport boats loaded with coats of mail, supplies and equipment, sailed with the expeditionary force. When the army arrived at the frontier town of Aswān, the Regent of Nubia, sent by al-Malik al-Manṣūr to accompany the army, died and was buried at Aswān. The emir ‘Izz ad-dīn Afram informed the Sultan, who sent one of the sons of king Dāwūd's sister - a man who was- at the Sultan's court - and nominated him King of Nubia. This man took post horses and reached the army before it left Aswān. After his arrival there, the army divided, as usual, into two expeditionary forces. The emir 'Izz ad-dīn al-Afram with the emir Sayf ad-dīn Qipjāq and one half of the army and one half of the Arabs marched along the west bank, the emir 'Izz ad-dīn Aydemer, governor of Qōs with the emir Sayf ad-dīn Boktemer al-Jūkandār and the other half of the army and Arabs, along the east bank. [p. 544] They directed al-Jurays, the nā’ib of Nubia, to go ahead of them, station by station, accompanied by Awlād al-Kanz emir of Aswan, in order to restore the confidence of the population, give them safe-conduct and prepare the halting places for the army. Whenever the army arrived at a village (balad), the old men (mashā'ikh) and the prominent villagers (a'yān) came to meet them, kissed the ground before the emirs and were given safe-conduct, after which they settled in the village. This was done in all villages between Daw and the inlands of Mikā'īl- which is the territory under the jurisdiction of Jurays the Lord of the Mountain. In the rest of the country, which was not under the jurisdiction of Jurays, the population fled in obedience to the order of the Regent of Nubia. There the array plundered whatever they could carry off, killed all the natives who had remained behind, pastured the horses in the cultivated fields, burnt the sāqiyas and the houses as far as Dunqula. Here they realized that the king had left and had also evacuated the population. The emirs found only one old man and an old woman whom they questioned about the king. They answered: "He has gone to an island fifteen days from Dunqula the island itself is three days' journey in width." The emir ‘Izz ad-dīn governor of Qōs with his men immediately left for the said island, but no ḥarrāqa boat, nor any other boat accompanied him because of the many rocks in the river. We shall describe the rest of the story later. (Beirut VIII, p. 82).

[p. 545] [An Account of What Happened to the Egyptian Army in Nubia; The Enthronement of the Son of the Sister of Dāwūd and Other Events After the Return of the Army to Egypt]

We have previously mentioned that the Sultan al-Malik al-Manṣūr had despatched an expeditionary force to Nubia and that on their arrival to Dunqula they found that Simāmūn, the king of Nubia, had fled to an island in the middle of the Nile and they pursued him there.

When they arrived opposite the island, they noticed many Nubian boats and a crowd of people. They enquired from them about the king. The Nubians answered that he actually was on the said island. They sent proposals to the king to make allegiance and to come out, and offered him safe-conduct in exchange, but he refused. The army remained there three days. They (Nubians) hinted (to the king) that the army had sent for the ḥarārīq to come in order to cross to the island and attack him. He then withdrew from the island towards al-Abwāb, three days' distance from the island and out of the territory of his kingdom.

The sawākira - as the princes are called in Nubia - abandoned him; so did also the bishop (usquf) and the priests (qusūs) who parted from him taking with them the silver cross which is held over the head of the king, and the coronation crown (tāj al-mamlaka); they asked for safe-conduct and swore allegiance. 'Izz ad-dīn gave them safe-conduct and presented the most prominent (akābir) of them with robes of honour; then they went back with him to Dunqula accompanied by a great multitude. When they arrived there the emir 'Izz ad-dīn al-Afram and the emir Sayf ad-dīn Qipjāq crossed the river to the east bank, without their soldiers and held a meeting of emirs in Dunqula. The soldiers put on the battle uniform and [p. 546] paraded on both banks: the ḥarārīq boats were decorated on the river and the zarrāqūn gave a firework display with naphtha. All the brother emirs (al-umarā’ al-Ikhwān)<ref>Probably the emirs (princes) of the Nubian royal house were attending the banquet.</ref> held a banquet in the church of Isūs (Osus), which is the largest church of Dunqula. After the banquet was over, they proclaimed as king the one who had been sent from the Sultan's court and crowned him with the crown. They had him take an oath of allegiance to the Sultan al-Malik al-Manṣūr Sayf ad-dīn Qalāwūn al-Alfī as-Sālihī an-Najmī, Lord of Egypt and Syria; the population, too, was compelled to swear allegiance to him (the king). The baqṭ, i.e. the customary tribute, was renewed. A garrison from the army was seconded to the Nubian king as bodyguard, under the command of Rukn ad-dīn Baybars al-'Azzī, one of the mamālīk of the emir 'Izz ad-dīn the governor of Qōs. Then the Egyptian army went home after it had been away for six month since the day it left Aswān until its return there. They carried off a great booty and arrived at Cairo in the month of Jumadā al-Wulā of the year 689 H. (May 1290 A.D.). This is the story about the emirs.

We shall now tell about the newly established king (malik mutawallī) and the deposed (ma’zūl) king, Simāmūn. After the Egyptian army returned from Dunqula, as already mentioned, Simāmūn went back to Dunqula during the night, knocked at the door of every Sawkarī - i.e. the princes - and asked them to come out; as soon as they saw him, kissed the ground before him and swore allegiance to him. Before sunrise, all the Nubian army (al-ʿaskar an-nūbī) had joined him. He went to the residence of the king who had usurped the Nubian kingdom and allowed Rukn ad-dīn al-'Azzī to go back to his Master, '[p. 547] in order to avoid clashes with him. Rukn ad-dīn and his men left for Qōs and Simāmūn settled in Dunqula. He seized the king who had been enthroned by the army, stripped him of his garments, slaughtered a bull and cut its skin into strips; then he fastened the king with the strips still raw and tied him to a log; when the strips dried, he died. Simāmūn also executed Jurays, then he wrote to the Sultan al-Malik al-Manṣūr Sayf ad-dīn Qalāwūn asking to be reconciled with him; he asked his pardon and promised to pay the regular baqṭ every year - and even more. He sent a big present of slaves and other gifts, which arrived towards the end of the life of al-Manṣūr. But, by this time, the Sultan began being worried over other things than the Nubian affair. Simāmūn remained in possession of the kingdom until the time of al-Malik al-Adil Zayn ad-dīn Ketbogha al-Manṣūrī (1290-1293 A.D.). (Beirut VIII, pp. 91 - 92).

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