Overview

Nubia is a region south of Egypt. Al-Baladhuri mentions that the horses of the Muslims entered it after the conquest of Egypt. They met fierce fighting and a volley of arrows that struck the eyes, so they were named "Dammat al-Hadaq" (those who wound the eyes). Then Abd Allah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh made a truce with them without jizya. ¹

The Nubian Peace

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 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.

Nubia

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The Nubian Peace