II. 2. V. AND THE INVASION OF DONGOLA 157
altogether unsuccessful, for the Nubians paid the tribute (bakt) of
slaves imposed upon them for some years ^.
IV Meanwhile in Egypt 'Amr was busying himself with problems
of administration, his general policy being to accept the pre-existing Roman system as a whole and slightly modify it to suit the change
of circumstances 2. Among the cardinal tenets of Muhammadan
policy in these early days was the prohibiting of the acquisition of
land by the Arabs. This is an important point, and must have largely
affected the emigration question. "The idea was that they should remain soldiers, and not engage in agriculture as settlers^."
Later, however, this restriction became practically inoperative. The Khalifa 'Omar, who being no financier regarded Egypt exactly
as Muhammad 'Ali Pasha at a subsequent epoch regarded the Sudan, soon became dissatisfied with the revenue which was sent him from Egypt and, thinking to augment it, first divided the province into two
halves, giving 'Amr control of the Delta and 'Abdulla ibn Sa'ad of
the long riverain stretch running thence to the first cataract*, and
later appointed 'Abdulla ruler of the whole and recalled 'Amr.
V In 651-2 'Abdulla ibn Sa'ad, as governor of the whole country, made his second expedition against Nubia, in consequence of the
frequent raids made into Egypt. The account of this which is extant we owe to the description of Nubia written between 975 and 996 a.d.^ by 'Abdulla ibn Ahmad ibn Selim (or Sulaym) el Aswani and partly
preserved in extracts by el Makrizi^,
'Abdulla pushed as far south as Dongola, the capital of the king- dom', and bombarded the town with catapults and destroyed the
church. The Nubians then sued for peace, and the terms granted them are sufficiently interesting to be given in full^:
In the name of God, etc....This is a treaty granted by the amir 'Abdulla ibn Sa'ad ibn Abu Sarh to the chief of the Nubians and to all the people of his dominions, a treaty binding on great and small among them, from the frontier of Aswan to the frontier of 'Aiwa. 'Abdulla ibn Sa'ad ordains
security and peace between them and the Muslims, their neighbours in
the Sa'id, as well as all other Muslims and their tributaries. Ye people of Nubia, ye shall dwell in safety under the safeguard of God and his apostle,
^ Lane-Poole (Hist. p. 23). Butler, following Ibn el Athir, thinks that the expedition was a failure.
- Lane-Poole, Hist. p. 18. * Butler, p. 461.
* Lane-Poole, Hist. p. 20.
^ 975-996 are the dates of Al 'Aziz bi'llahi the Fatimite Khalifa for whom
el Aswani wrote his work (see Quatremere, 11, 3).
* See Makrizi (Khetdt), i, vi ; 11, 549, 580 et seq. Cp. Lane-Poole, Hist. pp. 21-23.
' The king's name is translated as I^aliduruth by Bouriant and as " Koleydozo" by Burckhardt.
* As translated by Lane-Poole (Hist. p. 21 et seq.).