Coptic Orthodox Christianity (from 7th or 8th century)
Government
Monarchy
King
• fl. 651–652
Qalidurut (first known king)
• fl. 1463–1484
Joel (last known king)
History
• Established
5th century
• Royal court fled to Gebel Adda, Dongola abandoned
1365
• Disestablished
1518
Currency
Gold
Solidus
Dircham
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Kush
Banu Kanz
Funj Sultanate
Egypt Eyalet
Today part of
Sudan Egypt
Makuria (Old Nubian: ⲇⲱⲧⲁⲩⲟ, Dotawo; Greek: Μακουρία, romanized: Makouria; Arabic: المقرة, romanized: al-Muqurra) was a medieval Nubian kingdom in what is today northern Sudan and southern Egypt. Its capital was Dongola (Old Nubian: Tungul) in the fertile Dongola Reach, and the kingdom is sometimes known by the name of its capital.
Coming into being after the collapse of the Kingdom of Kush in the 4th century, it originally covered the Nile Valley from the 3rd cataract to somewhere south of Abu Hamed at Mograt Island. The capital of Dongola was founded around 500 and soon after, in the mid-6th century, Makuria converted to Christianity. Probably in the early 7th century Makuria annexed its northern neighbour Nobatia, now sharing a border with Byzantine Egypt.
In 651 an Arab army invaded, but it was repulsed and a treaty known as the Baqt was signed to prevent further Arab invasions in exchange for 360 slaves each year that lasted until the 13th century. The period from the 9th to 11th century saw the peak of Makuria's cultural development: a brisk construction activity resulted in the construction of buildings like the Throne Hall, the great cruciform church (both in Dongola) or the Banganarti monastery, arts like wall paintings and finely crafted and decorated pottery flourished and Nubian grew to become the prevalent written language. Other written languages were Coptic, Greek and Arabic. Makuria also maintained close dynastic ties with the kingdom of Alodia to the south and exerted some influence in Upper Egypt and northern Kordofan.
Increased aggression from Mamluk Egypt, internal discord, Bedouin incursions and possibly the plague and the shift of trade routes led to the state's decline in the 13th and 14th century. In the 1310s and 1320s it was briefly ruled by Muslim kings. Due to a civil war in 1365, the kingdom was reduced to a rump state that lost much of its southern territories, including Dongola. The last recorded king, probably residing in Gebel Adda, lived in the late 15th century. Makuria had finally disappeared by the 1560s, when the Ottomans occupied Lower Nubia. The former Makurian territories south of the 3rd cataract, including Dongola, had been annexed by the Islamic Funj Sultanate by the early 16th century.
^Murray, John (1822). "Kingdom of Makuria". Dorota Dzierzbicka. 22 (22): 663–677.
unifier of Nobatia and Makuria, referred to as the New Constantine by John the Deacon Kyriakos of Makuria, 8th-century king of Makuria. Invaded Egypt to rescue...
rulers. Derek A. Welsby: The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia, British Museum Press, London 2002, pp. 259–61 ISBN 0-7141-1947-4 FARAS. FARAS. Makuria Nubia...
Nobadia and Makuria. It possibly reached its peak during the 9th–12th centuries when records show that it exceeded its northern neighbor, Makuria, with which...
of Egypt and the Christianization of the three Nubian kingdoms Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia in the sixth century. As a result of Christianization, the...
both Crusaders and Mongols, and even managed to subdue the kingdom of Makuria, which was famous for being unconquerable by previous Muslim empire invasion...
Georgios I (also George I; Arabic: Firaki) was a ruler of the Nubian state of Makuria (c. AD 860 – 920). The events about the king are preserved in the writings...
of Aksum and the rise of three Christian kingdoms: Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia. Makuria and Alodia lasted for roughly a millennium. Their eventual decline...
of the kingdom and its dissolution into the three polities of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia, though the Aksumite presence in Meroe was likely short lived...
converted to Christianity in 543. Nobatia was annexed by Makuria in the early 8th century. Makuria was a Nubian kingdom that was based in Dongola and lasted...
Church in the Horn of Africa and the Nubian Church in the Sudan (Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia). With the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the West...
Zakarya ibn-Bahnas) (c. 822 – c. 854) was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. In 833, he ceased paying the Baqt to the rulers of Egypt, and prepared...
the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. During his reign it is believed that the crown of Alodia was also under the control of Makuria. He is mostly known for...
Nubian: Ⲣⲁⲫⲁⲏⲗ, Raphael; c. 1002) was a ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. Contemporary writers, such as Abu al-Makarim in a work attributed to Abu...
oldest known attestation of an Ossetic language. The Old Nubian language of Makuria (modern Sudan) adds three Coptic letters, two letters derived from Meroitic...
Qalidurut was the King of Makuria during 7th Century. He is mostly known for his victories against Rashidun Caliphate in the First and Second Battle of...
antique kingdom in Lower Nubia. Together with the two other Nubian kingdoms, Makuria and Alodia, it succeeded the kingdom of Kush. After its establishment in...
Muslim Rashidun army and the Oriental Orthodox Christian Nubians of the Makuria in 642. The battle, which resulted in a Makurian victory, halted Arab incursions...
Salomo or Solomon (1080 – 1089) was a ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. According to contemporary accounts, Salomo abdicated his throne and went...
- c. 722) was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. Authorities believe that during his reign Makuria absorbed the Nubian kingdom of Nobatia. According...
II (before 887–915/920?) was a ruler of the medieval Nubian kingdom of Makuria. He ascended the throne in 887, after the death of his father Georgios...
Simon (8th century) was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. According to Severus of El Ashmunein, Zacharias declined the kingship when his father...
Markos (8th century) was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. According to Severus of El Ashmunein, Markos ruled for only six months.1 Markos was made...
854) was a ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. He was forced to sue for peace to end the war between Makuria and Egypt that had started in 854.1 E.A...
Abraham (8th century) was ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. According to Severus of El Ashmunein, upon the death of king Simon, Zacharias the son...
fall of Kush, the Nubians formed the three Christian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, most of Sudan was gradually...
Khalil (r. 1290–1293), they conquered the Crusader states, expanded into Makuria (Nubia), Cyrenaica, the Hejaz, and southern Anatolia. The sultanate then...
Christian region. They eventually assumed control of the Nubian Kingdom of Makuria in the early 14th century, but by the early the 15th century, they were...
I (c. 722)[clarification needed] was a ruler of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria. According to Severus of El Ashmunein, Zacharias was the son of his predecessor...
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