The Kingdom of Bazin was an early medieval

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

centered in

Northeast Africa Northeast Africa, or ''Northeastern Africa'' or Northern East Africa as it was known in the past, is a geographic regional term used to refer to the countries of Africa situated in and around the Red Sea. The region is intermediate between North ...

. According to

Al-Yaqubi ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer and perhaps the first historian of world cult ...

, it was one of six Beja polities that existed in the region during the 9th century. The kingdom's territory was located between

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...

and Massawa. Most of the population were the native Kunama people, called "Bazin" (or sometimes Baden, Bazen etc.), who practiced a traditional religion. The Bazin people were under the protection of the

Abyssinian Empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

. This was made clear in the so-called

Ezana Stone The Ezana Stone is an ancient stele still standing in modern day Axum in Ethiopia, the centre of the ancient Kingdom of Aksum. This stone monument, that probably dates from the 4th century of the Christian era, documents the conversion of King Ez ...

, wherein an unnamed Aksumite Emperor is said to have defended the Bazin from invading

Noba Noba is a term found in a number of historical sources discussing ancient and Medieval Nubia. Its exact meaning is uncertain, with ancient sources themselves seeming confused about the region south of Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially ...

. With the collapse of the Kingdom of Aksum around the year 700 CE, Beja clans invaded and established several kingdoms in present-day Eritrea, including Bazin.

Notes

Former sultanates in the medieval Horn of Africa {{Sudan-stub

See also

Notes