The Nubian Peace

صلح النوبة

c. 645 CE · c. 24 AH† †

† Hijri date derived by computation from the Gregorian/Julian date; it may differ from the transmitted date by a day or two.

In al-Baladhuri via al-Walid ibn Kathir via Yazid ibn Abi Habib via Abu al-Khayr: when the Muslims opened Egypt Amr ibn al-As (may God be pleased with him) sent the cavalry to the villages around it to trample them, sending Uqba ibn Nafi' al-Fihri — Nafi' being al-As's maternal brother; their horses entered Nubia like the Romans' summer raids, the Muslims met fierce fighting and were showered with arrows till most were wounded, returning with many wounds and gouged eyes — called 'eye-bleeders' — until Abdallah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh governed Egypt; they asked him for peace and truce which he granted not on jizya but on a truce of three hundred heads yearly, the Muslims gifting them equal food. A Himyari shaykh who twice witnessed Nubia under Umar: no people sharper in war — one would ask a Muslim 'where would you like me to place my arrow?' and not miss; they lined up one day and shot till eyes were gone — a hundred and fifty gouged eyes counted — so they said nothing better than peace with them, their spoil little and their vexation severe; Umar never made peace with them and kept harassing them until he died, and Abdallah ibn Sa'd made peace with them. At Nubia Mu'awiya ibn Khudayj al-Kindi's eye was lost — he was one-eyed.

Overview

Al-Baladhuri says that al-Nuba was a place of fierce fighting with the Muslims, and then Abd Allah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh made peace with them by a truce, not by poll tax. ¹

The first incursion

When the Muslims conquered Egypt, Amr ibn al-As sent horsemen to the villages around it, and sent Uqba ibn Nafi. The Muslims met fierce fighting at al-Nuba; the Nubians shot them with arrows until most of them were wounded, and many eyes were put out. They were called "the blinded of the eyes". ¹

The peace

The Nubians asked Abd Allah ibn Sa'd for peace and a truce. He agreed to a truce of three hundred heads each year, and on condition that the Muslims give them food in equal measure. The matter is connected with the concept of the baqt. ¹

Account of a shaykh of Himyar

Al-Baladhuri relates from a shaykh of Himyar who fought at al-Nuba twice in the caliphate of Umar that he had not seen a people more fierce in war than them. He says that they shot until a hundred and fifty eyes were counted put out. Umar did not make peace with them; Abd Allah ibn Sa'd made peace with them after him. ¹

At al-Nuba the eye of Mu'awiya ibn Khudayj was lost. The report also mentions the Nuba. The date is derived from Ibn Abi Sarh's governorship of Egypt.

The Founding of Qayrawan

In al-Baladhuri: Mu'awiya ibn Khudayj sent — or, some say, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan gave him the Maghreb — Uqba ibn Nafi' al-Fihri, who raided Ifriqiya with ten thousand Muslims, conquered it, and laid out its Qayrawan, whose site was a thicket of trees and thickets unapproachable for beasts, snakes and deadly vermin; Uqba being a righteous man whose prayer was answered, he prayed to his Lord and all that was removed — till the very beasts carried away their young in flight; and Musa ibn Ali said the first to build it was Uqba ibn Nafi', who laid it out then built — the people building houses and dwellings with him — and built its congregational mosque; and a body of Ifriqiya's people told from their shaykhs that when Uqba wished to make Qayrawan a misr he pondered where its mosque should be, and saw in a dream as though a man gave the call to prayer in the place where its minaret stood — so when morning came he built the minarets in the man's station, then built the mosque. Al-Waqidi said Abdallah ibn Sa'd stayed governor until Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa seized Egypt; then Mu'awiya gave Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari Egypt and the Maghreb, and he gave the Maghreb to his mawla Abu al-Muhajir; when Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ruled he restored Uqba to his office — who raided Sus al-Adna beyond Tangier, roaming unchallenged till he returned; Abu al-Abbas gave Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath al-Khuza'i Ifriqiya — he repaired Qayrawan's city and mosque — then al-Mansur dismissed him and gave his place to Umar ibn Hafs Hazarmard.

The Nubian Peace

At a glance

In time

Overview

The first incursion

The peace

Account of a shaykh of Himyar

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

The Founding of Qayrawan