Georgios I (also George I; ar, Firaki, script=Latn, italic=no) was a ruler of the

Nubian Nubian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Nubia, a region along the Nile river in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan. *Nubian people *Nubian languages *Anglo-Nubian goat, a breed of goat * Nubian ibex * , several ships of the Britis ...

state of

Makuria Makuria (Old Nubian: , ''Dotawo''; gr, Μακουρία, Makouria; ar, المقرة, al-Muqurra) was a Nubian kingdom located in what is today Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt. Makuria originally covered the area along the Nile River from the ...

(c. AD 860 - 920). The events about the king are preserved in the writings of the Egyptian historians

Al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...

, al-Balawi and

Ibn Taghribirdi Jamal al-Din Yusuf bin al-Amir Sayf al-Din Taghribirdi ( ar, جمال الدين يوسف بن الأمير سيف الدين تغري بردي), or Abū al-Maḥāsin Yūsuf ibn Taghrī-Birdī, or Ibn Taghribirdi (2 February 1411— 5 June 1470; ...

. Their description of the events is not always conclusive and they provide at several points contradictory information, making it difficult for modern historian to reconstruct the events.

Reign

In his youth, his father Zacharias III appointed him co-regent and dispatched him on the long journey to

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

.Derek A. Welsby, ''The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia'', British Museum Press, London 2002, pp. 74 For several years

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

had been wracked by the

Fourth Fitna The Fourth Fitna or Great Abbasid Civil War resulted from the conflict between the brothers al-Amin and al-Ma'mun over the succession to the throne of the Abbasid Caliphate. Their father, Caliph Harun al-Rashid, had named al-Amin as the first suc ...

and Zacharias had halted payments of the ''

baqt The Baqt (or Bakt) (بقط)was a 7th-century CE treaty between the Christian state of Makuria and the new Muslim rulers of Egypt. Lasting almost seven hundred years, it is by some measures the longest-lasting treaty in history. The name comes eith ...

.'' Once

Ibrahim Ibrahim ( ar, إبراهيم, links=no ') is the Arabic name for Abraham, a Biblical patriarch and prophet in Islam. For the Islamic view of Ibrahim, see Abraham in Islam. Ibrahim may also refer to: * Ibrahim (name), a name (and list of people ...

had gained control over Egypt he demanded the ''baqt'' be resumed and the payment of all arrears. In an attempt to reduce these demands, Georgios was sent to meet the Caliph. It is not certain if he traveled all the way to Baghdad or whether he simply went to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

; either way his journey had a major effect, and a new treaty was signed canceling the arrears and changing the terms of the ''baqt'' so that it only needed to be paid once every three years.Welsby, ''The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia'', pp. 73-74 There is another story of Georgios being captured in his youth and brought to Baghdad as a prisoner. It is possible, but unlikely, that he made the journey twice. It is also possible that in this story he was confused with another person. During Georgios' long reign the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

adventurer Abu al-Rahman al-Umari invaded the

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mining area near Abu Haman with his private army. Georgios dispatched his nephew and heir Niuty to battle him, but Niuty rebelled. Georgios sent one of his sons, but he was defeated and forced to flee to

Alodia Alodia, also known as Alwa ( grc-gre, Aρουα, ''Aroua''; ar, علوة, ''ʿAlwa''), was a medieval kingdom in what is now central and southern Sudan. Its capital was the city of Soba, located near modern-day Khartoum at the confluence of ...

. Another son, Zacharias, was dispatched, defeated once by Niuty's forces he allied himself with al-Umari and defeated Niuty. He then turned on al-Umari forcing him back to the north.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgios 01 of Makuria Nubian people Kingdom of Makuria 9th-century monarchs in Africa 10th-century monarchs in Africa 860s births 920 deaths Year of birth uncertain