The military history of Sudan, includes wars, fighting, the rise of states of power, and the resistance of forces along the Nile, the Red Sea coast, the Sahel and the southern frontiers. Its beginning lies in traces of fighting at Jebel Sahaba, then Kerma, Kush, Meroë, Medieval Nubia, the Funj, Darfur, Turco-Egyptian rule, the Mahdiyya, British conquest and modern Sudan.
Pre Kerma
The military history of Sudan begins in the Northern State, at Jebel Sahaba, where numerous bodies with marks of blows from small stones were found, dating back more than eleven thousand years. This may have been a mass battle between two groups of the Qadan culture. In any case, it is among the earliest known evidence of warfare in Sudan and Northeast Africa and the World. Evidence of a large-scale war is not found until the advent of writing and historical records.
When the first Egyptian state arose, skirmishes began between them and the people of the Middle Nile, culminating in the Egyptian king Djer's invasion of Nubia by Nile boats. He subdued its inhabitants and crippled their trade and financial power. After him, Sneferu marched into Lower Nubia, not only for wealth but also for captivity, enslavement and plunder. His victory was recorded on the famous Palermo Stone, and from that time onward, Nubia became a military and economic target for the Egyptian state.
During the reign of Senusret, the raids transformed into garrisons and border fortifications. The Egyptians established fortresses along the Nile and prohibited Nubian boats from operating without the Egyptian emperor's permission. Then Senusret III marched south until he reached the Dal Cataract, pursuing groups believed to be descendants of the Kingdom of Kerma. He defeated and drove them back, subjugating the societies of Lower Nubia and subjecting them to the authority of the Egyptian kingdom.
Kerma
When the Middle Kingdom of Egypt weakened, the Kingdom of Kerma arose. The fall of the fortress of Buhen marked the first breach of this Egyptian control, as Kerma's cavalry occupied the fortress and drove the Egyptians north. Their raids then reached Upper Egypt, where they captured the city of Elkab around 1575 BC. At that time, Egypt was torn apart between the Hyksos and the rival pharaohs.
When Ahmose defeated the Hyksos and unified Egypt, he began a war against Kerma. The campaigns continued until Kerma retreated and disappeared. Then came Thutmose I, who razed it to the ground and broke its power He recorded his victories on the Tombos Stela found in lower Nubia. Thutmose III then marched with the Egyptian army until he reached the Fourth Cataract. From that time onward, Nubia became like a part of Egypt to the Egyptians, who called it Kush. It remained under their rule until Egypt weakened and the Kushite kingdom arose.
Kush When the Egyptian-Libyan kingdom collapsed, the Kushites took advantage of this. Piye marched from the south, besieged Hermopolis (Ashmunein) and humiliated its ruler, Nimlot, by subjecting him to the abject rituals of the pharaohs. He then used the Nile as a route to attack Memphis. He seized the ships and led his army to the river walls, capturing the city without a long siege. Within a year, Egypt was subject to this southern conqueror and the Twenty-fifth Dynasty was established.
Then Taharqa and Tantamani tried to preserve the Kushite kingdom in Egypt, but they were unsuccessful. The armies of the conquering Assyrians advanced upon them, driving them out of Egypt and destroying Thebes in 663 BC, plundering its temples and wealth. Psamtik II then led a campaign to Napata, the Kushite capital, accompanied by Greek and Carian mercenaries. He struck at their heartland and humiliated them, forcing them to retreat south to Meroe.
Meroe
They settled in Meroe, and their wars intensified and multiplied, eastward, northward and southward. Meroe transformed from a bronze culture to an iron culture. This transformation made Meroe much more militaristic. One of the most remarkable stories recounts is that Nastasin, the Kushite king, repelled an attack on Egypt during the Persian period, capturing wealth, livestock, boats and prisoners from the invaders, then inscribing this victory on a stone. Then they remained in a state of alternating war and peace with those who ruled Egypt, until the Romans came and conquered Egypt, making it a province of theirs.
At that time, Amanirenas, a woman from Meroe known as the Kandake, launched an attack on the Romans on the borders of Egypt. She fought them and attacked the cities of Siena, Elephantine and Philae. Petronius responded with a Roman force, defeating the Kandake's army and marching south, capturing the city of Pelusium. The Romans described the Kushites as poorly organized and well-armed. However, the Kandake did not surrender. She returned and attacked the fortress of Qasr Ibrim. The matter ended with a peace treaty concluded on the island of Samos. The Romans withdrew from Qasr Ibrim and the Kingdom of Meroe pledged not to invade The Roman Province of Egypt. A long peace ensued between them.
After losng many of its elites the kingdom of Meroe was subjected to long instability and became poorer after Aksumites developed their own red sea trade, its condition changed drastically. Its capital was plundered and destroyed at the hands of the Christian Abyssinians and their allies, around the year 350 AD. The Axumites, who were Christians, invaded them, along with the Blemmyes from the east and the Nodas calavry from the west. They utterly destroyed Meroe, demolishing its palaces and temples, leaving only tombs and graves standing. This event marked the end of the Kushite kingdom after it had lasted for nearly 1400 years. During these campaigns, Ezana ravaged the land of the Butana region of Meroe, destroying it and plundering its livestock and wealth. This occurred on his way to Meroe, where he had defeated the whom he called Red and Black Nobas. After Meroe was emptied of its inhabitants, the Nubian horsemen migrated to those lands, settled there and took possession of them.
Medival Nubia
Remarkably, the oldest known cemetery for the sheikhs and warriors of those tribes was found in a place called Balana and Qustul, dating from between 300 and 400 AD. This cemetery marked the beginning of the Nubian kingdoms in the Middle Ages. Subsequently, four Nubian kingdoms arose alongside the kingdom of the Blemmyes. Around 500 AD, Seku, king of the kingdom of Nobatia, fought the Blemmyes around the city of Talmis, which the Romans called Kalabsha, south of Aswan. Seku defeated the Blemmyes twice, then annexed those regions to his kingdom, strengthening his power.
Between 537 and 537 CE, Justinan the Roman emperor, ordered the closure of the Philae temple in Lower Nubia and forced the priests to abandon the worship of Amun and the idols. In 543 CE, the Nubian king Seku converted to Christianity, specifically the Coptic Orthodox faith and built temples with Greek assistance.
Rashidun Caliphate Roman Egypt soon fell to the Rashidun Caliphate at the hands of the Arab conquerors. The Amir of Egypt Amr bin Al as dispatched Uqba ibn Nafi to Upper Egypt, his troops entered Lower Nubia, reaching as far as Dongola. There, the first battle between the Muslims and the Nubians took place, resulting in a Muslim defeat. This defeat was due to the Nubians' skill in long-range archery, coupled with the heavy casualties suffered by the Muslim army. Then, ten years later, during the reign of The Caliph Othman, he dispatched Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh against the Nubians, employing powerful catapults that bombarded the city with stones. When the Nubians realized they could not withstand this onslaught, they sought peace and security. A treaty was agreed upon, later known as the Baqt Treaty. The Kingdom of Makuria remained somewhat independent, providing security for the Muslims and guaranteeing freedom of trade and religion for any Arabs who wished to bypass through their lands.
Umayyad Caliphate Then, in the seventh century CE, the Umayyad Caliphate expanded, conquering the Red Sea coast and securing it from bandits and raids by the Blemmyes and Abyssinians. During the caliphate of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, 97 AH (715-717 CE), the Muslim armies seized the Dahlak Islands in the Red Sea, establishing them as a forward outpost to protect against African raids. When the Beja raids on the Muslim borders increased, The Caliph sent Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab sent army against them, which quelled their aggression and subdued them.
As the Umayyad Caliphate fell and the Abbasids rose, the Copts rose up in protest against their taxation and the imprisonment of Pope MichaelI of Alexandria. The Nubian king Cyriacus then marched into Egypt with an army implausibly said to number 100,000 men. As the Nubians approached the provincial capital of Fustat (now Cairo), the Umayyad governor released Michael and Cyriacus's own imprisoned envoy, successfully negotiating the Nubians' return south without a fight.History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria.
Abbasid Caliphate As for the Beja, they first broke their treaty in the year 226 AH (820 CE), attacking Upper Egypt, capturing hundreds of people and then fleeing. Then, in the year 236 AH (831 CE), Caliph al-Ma'mun dispatched a campaign against them, led by Abdullah ibn al-Jahm, as recounted by al-Maqrizi. They were defeated and their king, Kanun, was captured. Al-Ma'mun stipulated that they pay tribute, protect Muslims in their lands, and that the lands of the Beja, from Aswan to the borders of Dahlak and Badi', would be a crown subject to the Abbasids. When they submitted to these terms, he facilitated the entry of Arab merchants and adventurers into their territory. Among these were those seeking gold from the mines of al-'Alaqi and the Bayuda Desert, located between the lands of the Beja and Makuria. The kingdom of Makuria was displeased with this arrangement and waged war against these adventurers, most notably al-'Umari, who encamped near Abu Hamad. The Makurians fought him over the gold mines.
Then, in the year 254 AH (854 CE), the Beja broke the treaty a second time, refusing to pay tribute from the gold mines and killing the workers and adventurers in the Nubian Desert. Caliph al-Mutawakkil dispatched his commander, Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Qummi, from Upper Egypt, who launched a land and sea campaign against them. He devised a ruse involving bells, which confused the Beja on their camels, causing their defeat. Their king, Ali Baba (or Awlbab), was captured and al-Qummi forced them to pay tribute for four years. He then took the king prisoner to Samarra to force him to acknowledge Abbasid authority.
In the ninth century CE, the Rabi'a entered the gold mines of al-Alaqi and Aydhab, intermarrying with Beja leaders. This alliance disrupted the balance of power in the desert, strengthening the Beja through the Rabi'a, and vice versa, against their rivals. The historian al-Mas'udi, said: "Rabi'ah ibn Nizar settled in Ma'din al-Dhahab, al-'Alaqi, and 'Aydhab, and their power grew. They intermarried with the Beja, so the Beja were strengthened by Rabi'ah, and Rabi'ah was strengthened by the Beja against their common enemies."
In 943 AD the Arab-Bejan Banu Kanz monarchy was established bordering the arid yet full of gold region from Aswan to Wadi Allaqi.
Then King George II invaded Egypt during the Ikhshidid era in the year 556 AH (956 CE), killing a number of Muslims. Kafur al-Ikhshidi then dispatched an army against him under the command of Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Khazin, who marched to Ibrim in the year 563 AH (963 CE), but he was unable to subdue the Nubians. Then in the year 568 AH 968 CE, the armies of Makuria advanced northward, controlling parts of Upper Egypt and even reaching Akhmim.
Fatimid Caliphate