kingdom · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan

Kingdom of Dotawo

1365 CE – 1484 CE (approx.) · capital Gebel Adda

The last Christian Nubian kingdom on the Nile, a rump of Makuria centred at Gebel Adda and Qasr Ibrim that survived into the late 15th century.

Origins

Dotawo was the Old Nubian name used in documents for the realm of Makuria. After Dongola was abandoned around 1365 amid Mamluk interventions and Arab raids, the surviving court moved north to Daw, generally identified with Gebel Adda in Lower Nubia, and the reduced kingdom is known by this name.

Rule and society

The kingdom is known mainly from Old Nubian letters and legal documents found at Qasr Ibrim and from scattered Arabic notices. It kept the Nubian Church with its bishops, Greek and Old Nubian liturgy, and a court with eparchs and officials in the tradition of Makuria, but its territory and resources were small.

Decline and legacy

The last known king, Joel, is attested in 1484. Dotawo then disappears from the record, probably absorbed during the spread of Islam and Arab tribes and the rise of the Funj Sultanate, which ended Christian Nubia.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Makuria 450 CE – 1365 CEKingdom of Dotawo

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Dotawo. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-dotawo
MLA
“Kingdom of Dotawo.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-dotawo. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Dotawo.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-dotawo.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Dotawo’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-dotawo (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻