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King's Order (Side B). Credit: M. Rekłajtis/PCMA in Barański et al. 2026
A recent study published in Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa explores new historical evidence of one of pre-colonial Dongola's earliest rulers. Previously considered semi-legendary, the discovery of a document in which orders were issued in the name of King Qashqash provides evidence of his existence and details his social interactions, rulership, and the Arabization of Dongola in the Funj period.
History of Old Dongola's Dark Ages
Old Dongola was once the capital of Makuria, a Christian Kingdom located in modern-day Northern Sudan. However, by the mid-14th century, it entered what is known as "the Dark Ages" in Sudanese history, no longer serving as the capital of Makuria. Very little is known about the succeeding three centuries and the gradual period of Arabization and Islamization of ancient Nubia.
As lead author Tomasz Barański explains, however, this transformation was far from sudden. "Nubia was not a marginal or isolated region of the Nile Valley, but a pivotal corridor connecting the Mediterranean world to sub-Saharan Africa. Rather than a civilizational dead end, Nubia functioned for millennia as a dynamic zone of movement for people, goods, and ideas. Through Nubia passed commodities such as gold, ivory, and enslaved people, but it also enabled the exchange of less tangible elements: technologies, religious beliefs, and political models.
"Moreover, Nubian communities were not passive recipients of outside influence; they actively shaped and adapted the flows passing through this corridor. This long history of exchange helps us understand later cultural transformations in the region, including Arabization and Islamization. These were not sudden ruptures, but part of a much older pattern of interaction, negotiation, and adaptation that has characterized Sudan throughout history."
King's order (Side A) Credit: M. Rekłajtis/PCMA in Barański et al. 2026
However, as Dongola entered the "Dark Ages," it gradually shrank in size until it encompassed only the central citadel and its immediate surroundings. A few mentions of the city and its rulers are made, including fragmentary references to a man named Qashqash, who, according to the Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt, a 19th-century bibliographical dictionary compiled from oral stories about Sudanese holy men, is said to be the great-grandfather Sheikh Ḥilālī, the son of Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā Suwār al-Dhahab ("Golden Bracelet"), one of the most important holy figures in Sudan, even today.
From King Qashqash to Khidr
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