370 THE NATIVE MANUSCRIPTS iv.dt lxxxix.

LXXXIX When Sheikh Nasir had established himself in the Gezi'ra he summoned Badi walad Mismar,the brother of Sheikh el Amin, and made him Sheikh in the place of his brother,

XC This was in 1 198^ ; and when Sheikh el Amin learnt that it was the people of Arbagi by whose influence his brother Badi had been

appointed, he betook himself to the Shukri'a and enlisted their aid, and with them attacked the town of Arbagi and put its fighting men

and such as were scattered in diflE"erent parts to the sword, and razed it to the ground and left it desert, though it had been the fairest town in the Gezira, populous and prosperous in trade, with fine buildings and schools of learning and religion, inhabited by men of wealth and well stocked with provisions. But from that day forward it lay waste until now.

XCI While all this was happening Sheikh Ragab was in Kordofan,

and his brother Ibrahim, who was known as "Walad Salatin," at Sennar with the king, acting for his brother, in charge of all his possessions.

XCII Then 'Adlan bethought himself of how the Hamag had treated his father the Mek Isma'il and his grandfather the Mek Badi, and sent for Sheikh el Amin and the Av/lad Nimr; and they came before him, and he mustered his courage and arrested Ibrahim walad Muhammad by their advice, for when he had sought their alliance

they had said to him "We will not agree unless you arrest Ibrahim." XCIII So he arrested him and the Hamag v/ho were with him and

Sheikh Ahmad walad 'Ali and el Zayn walad Harun and el Amin walad Tiktak and Walad Kandalawi and slew them all in the

fdsher, that is in the market-place (suk).

XCIV Then he fetched out the daughters of Sheikh Muhammad and distributed them to the chiefs of the troops as slaves. This was in

1199^. Now el Na'isan, the famous poet, was living at Sennar at this time, and the king designed to put him to death because of his inclination towards the children of Abu el Kaylak, and menaced him with angry words; and he, seeing his death was intended, fled away to Kordofan ; and so soon as he saw Sheikh Ragab he wept and sobbed

and recited a number of woeful elegies wherein he described the slay-

ing of Ibrahim and the enslavement of the daughters of IVIuhammad. XCV And when Sheikh Ragab heard of the murder of his brother and learnt how he had been dishonoured, he set forth straightway

with his troops; and there were with him the Malik Sa'ad ibn el Mek Idris walad el Fahl and el Hag Mahmud el Magdhiib, the worker of miracles.

^ 1784 A.D. 2 jy3^ AD.