e 16th century numbers of Bosnians, whose
descendants ruled the district, paying but a nominal allegiance to the
Porte. At Ibrim, Mahass, and elsewhere along the banks and in the
islands of the Nile, they built castles, now in ruins. South of Hannek
the kings of Sennar became overlords of the country. As the power of the
Sennari declined, the nomad Shagia (or Shaikiyeh) attained pre-eminence
in the Dongola district.

About 1812 Mamelukes fleeing from Mehemet Ali, the pasha of Egypt, made
themselves masters of part of the country, destroying the old capital
and building a new one lower down the Nile. In 1820 both Mamelukes and
Shagia were conquered by the Egyptians, and the Dongola province annexed
to Egypt. In consequence of the rising of the Dervishes Egypt evacuated
Dongola in 1886. The attempt to set up an independent government failed,
and the Dervishes held the town until September 1896, when it was
reoccupied by an Egyptian force.

See J. L. Burckhardt, _Travels in Nubia_ (London, 1819); Naum Bey
Shucair, The _History and Geography of the Sudan_ (in Arabic, 3 vols.,
Cairo, 1903); E. A. Wallis Budge, _The Egyptian Sudan_ (2 vols.,
London, 1907).

DONGOLA, a town of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, which gives its name to a
mudiria. It is situated on the W. bank of the Nile, about 45 m. above
the 3rd cataract, in 19 deg. 10' N., 30 deg. 29' E. Pop. about 10,000.
It is 1082 m. S. of Cairo by river and 638 m. N. of Khartum by the same
route. Its commerical outlet, however, is Port Sudan, on the Red Sea,
600 m. E.S.E. by steamer and railway. It is a thriving, well-built town;
an important agricultural and trading centre. Lignite is found on the
east bank of the Nile opposite the town. Founded c. 1812 by Mamelukes
who fled to Nubia from the persecutions of Mehemet Ali, the town is
called Dongola Makara (New Dongola) to distinguish it from Dongola Agusa
(Old Dongola), which it supplanted. It is also called El Ordi (the
barracks), a reminiscence of the buildings erected by the Egyptians
after their occupation of the town in 1820. The Mahdi Mahommed Ahmed was
a native of Dongola. In 1884-1885 the town was the base of the British
troops in their advance on Khartum.

Dongola Agusa, 75 m. upstream from New Dongola, now a heap of ruins, was
the capital of the Nubian state usually called the Christian kingdom of
Dongola. An Arab historian of the 11th century describes it as a large
city with many churches, fine house