Qualla: Makuria https://qualla.com/makuria en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/e/j/z/makuria-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Makuria https://qualla.com/makuria Makuria: Introduction https://qualla.com/makuria/ Photo credit Henri Gauthier, Public domain. In 651 CE, a Muslim Arab army arrived outside the walled citadel of Dongola expecting another swift conquest. The previous decade had seen Islamic forces sweep across Egypt and much of the Byzantine Near East. But the Nubian archers who defended this Christian kingdom shot so accurately that Arab chroniclers remembered them as the Pupil-Smiters -- men who reportedly aimed for the eyes. The catapults bombarding the citadel did damage without breaking through. When the siege ended, the two sides did something unusual: they negotiated. The Baqt treaty that emerged would govern peaceful coexistence between Christian Makuria and Muslim Egypt for more than six centuries. Few African kingdoms lasted as long, and none engaged the Islamic world on such extended terms of equality.

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Image: Henri Gauthier | Public domain

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/e/j/z/makuria-wp/sejz-makuria-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Makuria: Rising from Kush https://qualla.com/makuria/ Photo credit AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain. The kingdom emerged from the long decline of the Kushite empire at Meroe. By the late fifth century, one of Makuria's earliest kings had moved his power base from Napata down the Nile to Dongola, founding what would become one of medieval Africa's great urban centers. Contacts wi...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/e/j/z/makuria-wp/sejz-makuria-rising-from-kush.mp3 0:06 2 full Makuria: The Baqt and the Long Peace https://qualla.com/makuria/ Photo credit Udimu, CC BY-SA 3.0. The treaty that followed the failed Arab siege was unusual even by medieval standards. Muslim Egypt agreed to supply grain, wheat, textiles, and wine. Makuria agreed to supply 360 enslaved persons per year. The exchange was understood as trade between equals, not tribute from a d...

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Image: Udimu | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/e/j/z/makuria-wp/sejz-makuria-the-baqt-and-the-long-peace.mp3 0:06 3 full Makuria: The Golden Centuries https://qualla.com/makuria/ Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. Between the ninth and eleventh centuries Makuria flourished. Scribes produced manuscripts in Old Nubian written in a Greek-based alphabet expanded with Coptic and indigenous symbols. Painters filled church walls at Faras with saints whose faces survive still, some rescued from th...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/e/j/z/makuria-wp/sejz-makuria-the-golden-centuries.mp3 0:06 4 full Makuria: The Mamluks Arrive https://qualla.com/makuria/ Photo credit C. M. Firth, Public domain. The balance held until the Mamluks seized power in Cairo in 1260. King David of Makuria responded by sacking the Red Sea port of Aidhab in 1272, a critical station on the Muslim pilgrimage route to Mecca. Mamluk retaliation was swift and catastrophic. Armies marched south in 1276...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/e/j/z/makuria-wp/sejz-makuria-the-mamluks-arrive.mp3 0:06 5 full Makuria: A Long Fading https://qualla.com/makuria/ Photo credit Udimu, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1365 civil war broke the kingdom. A royal nephew allied with the Banu Ja'd tribe, killed his uncle in battle, then turned on his allies. The Mamluks intervened, drove off Bedouin incursions at the Second Cataract, and left. Dongola was abandoned as a capital. What remained of ...

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Image: Udimu | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/e/j/z/makuria-wp/sejz-makuria-a-long-fading.mp3 0:06 6 full