First Battle of Dongola

First Battle of Dongola
Part of the Muslim Conquests
Date Summer, 642 Location Near Dongola, Sudan Result Rashidun defeat
Belligerents
Rashidun Caliphate	Kingdom of Makuria
Commanders and leaders
Uqba ibn Nafi	Unknown
Strength
20,000 Cavalry	Unknown number of Archers and Cavalry
Casualties and losses
Heavy including some 150-250 wounded	Unknown

The First Battle of Dongola was a battle between early Arab-Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate and the Nubian-Christian forces of the Kingdom of Makuria in 642. The battle, which resulted in a Makurian victory, temporarily halted Arab incursions into Nubia and set the tone for an atmosphere of hostility between the two cultures until the culmination of the Second Battle of Dongola in 652.

In the 6th century the area that had once been under the domination of the Kingdom of Kush converted to Christianity. It included the kingdoms of Alodia, Makuria and Nobatia, which rested on Egypt's southern border. Over a century later, the religion of Islam united the nomadic Arab tribes into an expanding military and political force by 632. In 640, the military leader 'Amr ibn al-'As conquered Egypt from the Byzantine Empire. To consolidate Muslim control over Egypt, it was inevitable to secure its western and southern borders. Amr accordingly sent expeditions to Byzantine North Africa and Makuria's Nubia.

In 642, 'Amr ibn al-'As sent a column of 20,000 horsemen under his cousin Uqba ibn Nafi against Makuria. They managed to get as far as Dongola, the capital of Makuria. However, in a rare turn of events, the Arab forces were beaten back.

According to historian Al-Baladhuri, the Muslims found that the Nubians fought strongly and met them with showers of arrows. The majority of the Arab forces returned with wounded and blinded eyes. It was thus that the Nubians were called 'the pupil smiters'. Al-Baladhuri also states, quoting from one of his sources that went to Nubia twice during the rule of `Umar ibn al-Khattab.

...
Wikipedia