II. 2. XXVI. AND THE INVASION OF DONGOLA 169

expedition was despatched under Muhammad ibn 'AbduUa el Khazin who captured Ibrim, executed a number of Nubians, and led back

others to Egypt as slaves.

XXV A gap now follows in our knowledge of affairs in Nubia. But

to the north of it important events were taking place.

The Fatimites, supporters of the theory that the divine right of

succession to the Khalifate was inherent in the descendants of the

Imam 'Ali, the husband of the Prophet's daughter Fatima, had con-

solidated their power in Barbary, and with the decline of the Ikhshids came the obvious chance of realizing the persistent ambitions which had already led them half a century before to invade Egypt^. The chance was not wasted. In 969 the heretical Fatimite Khalifa, Abu Tami'm Ma'add el Mu'izz, with an army of Shi'ites entered Fostat

in triumph 2, and in the same year Cairo was founded.

The new dynasty was phlegmatically accepted by the people of

Egypt, and the Sherifs of the Holy Places and the ruler of northern

Syria recognized it^.

An attempt was also made to convert George, the king of Nubia,

but it was unsuccessful*.

XXVI Between 975 and 996 a.d.^ was written Ibn Selim's account

of "Nubia, Mukurra, 'Aloa, the Bega and the Nile." Such informa-

tion as he gives us concerning events that happened before his time

has been already quoted. We may now summarize what he tells us

of the state of affairs in the last decades of the tenth century^.

In the extreme north of Nubia Muhammadan settlers from Egypt had acquired lands and were practically independent. A number of

the Nubians to the south of them, but north of the second cataract, had also been converted.

The chief towns in this northern section were Begrash or Negrash,

i.e. Faras'^, Ibri'm and el Derr (?)^. It was under the control of a powerful official known as the "Lord of the Mountain," the repre-

^ The Shi'a doctrine had been introduced into Africa in 893 by 'Abdulia el

Shi'i, and had been at once adopted by the great Berber tribe of Ketama. From them it spread rapidly among the other Berber-Arab tribes who formed the popu-

lation of north Africa west of Egypt (Lane-Poole, Hist. Ch. iv).

* Lane-Poole, loc. cit. pp. 90, 98. His force consisted largely of Ketama and other Berber tribes. It also contained Greeks, Slavs, etc. (Makrizi, loc. cit. i, 269).

' Lane-Poole, loc. cit. p. 104.

* Ibid. p. 105.

* Quatremere, 11, 3.

* His geography is not very clear and I omit detailed discussion of the many points that arise.

' Arch. Rep. Nubia, 1910, Griffith, p. 19. The site is also that of the ancient Pakh6ras.

* This seems a fairly certain emendation for the "Adwa" ('ji') of some

texts.