
Location of Dongola within Sudan
:''You may be looking for the
U.S. town of
Dongola, Illinois.''
'Dongola' (also spelled 'Dunqulah' or 'Dunqula' and formerly sometimes known as 'Al 'Urdi') is the capital of the state of
Northern in
Sudan, on the banks of the
Nile. It should not be confused with
Old Dongola, an ancient city located 80 km upstream on the opposite bank.
Dongola was also a province of Upper
Nubia on both sides of the
Nile and a centre for Nubian civilisations as manifested by its many archaeological remains from the
Makurian,
Orthodox and
Islamic periods. The remains of the revered
Baqt Treaty are to found in Dongola. The province of Dongola was part of the
Makuria kingdom, which later became part of
Egypt after
Muhammad Ali Pasha ordered for the invasion and occupation of
Sudan in 1820 after which it was designated as a seat of a
pasha.
Dongola is a small, multicultural town, which has given its name to numerous other towns, particularly in the
USA.
It was the scene of a victory by General
Herbert Kitchener over the indigenous
Mahdist tribes in
1896. Dongola Road in the Bishopston area of Bristol was named after this event. So was Dongola Road in Tottenham, North London which runs next to Kitchener Road.