Baqt

The Baqt (or Bakt) (بقط) was a

Greco-Roman term for pact

History

Despite its longevity, not much is clear about the Baqt and almost all the information about it comes from Muslim sources.

The Baqt was signed after the 652

Battle of Dongola and only acceded to the Baqt when they realized that the conquest of the region would be difficult. The treaty was negotiated between Abi Sarh and the Makurian King Qalidurut

.

There is no extant copy of the treaty they signed, and the earliest copies are several centuries after the fact and are quite varied. The treaty might not have been written at all and may have just been an oral agreement. Some sections of the Baqt are clear:

the Arabs would not attack Nubia and the Nubians would not attack Egypt

the citizens of the two nations would be allowed to freely trade and travel between the two states and would be guaranteed safe passage while in the other nation

immigration to and settlement in the other nation's lands was forbidden

fugitives were to be extradited, as were escaped slaves

the Nubians were responsible for maintaining a mosque for Muslim visitors and residents
the Muslims had no obligation to protect the Nubians from attacks by third parties
The most important provision was that 360 slaves per year were to be sent to Egypt in exchange for cargoes of wheat and lentils. These slaves had to be of the highest quality, meaning that the elderly and children were excluded. The slaves sent had to be a mix of male and female. In some reports an extra forty were due which were distributed among notables in Egypt. A tribute of 400 slaves were sent annually from Nubia to Egypt from the 7th-century to the 14th-century; for 700 years.^[1]

Sources

Ibn Abd al-Hakam, one of the first historians to discuss the treaty, gives two different versions of the treaty. The first has only Nubia sending slaves north, thus symbolizing its subservience to Egypt. The second version adds an obligation of the Egyptians to also send goods south including wheat and lentils in exchange for the slaves; this would put the two nations on a more equal footing. The second version is more reliable as it conforms with the Nubian version of treaty and further conforms with the results of the first and second Battles of Dongola.

Context and consequences

This treaty was unprecedented in the history of the

Eastern Roman Empire

sometimes made with its neighbours. It is also unmatched in that it largely blocked the spread of Islam and the Arabs for half a millennium. Spaulding reports that the exchange of goods was a common diplomatic arrangement in Northeast Africa and the Nubians would have had long experience with such agreements.

The Baqt caused some controversy among

Islamic theologians

as there was disagreement over whether it violated the duty to expand the borders of Islam.

History of Enforcement

The Baqt was not always without controversy and conflicts between the neighbours were not unheard of.

Abbasid period

In the 830s, Egypt plunged into turmoil during the

Abbasid government gained firm control of Egypt, the Abbasids demanded resumption of the Baqt and payment of arrears. Unable or unwilling to pay this large sum Zacharias sent his son and heir Georgios on a long journey to Baghdad

in 835 to negotiate directly with the Caliph. This expedition was a great success; the arrears were canceled and the Baqt was altered so that it only had to be paid every three years.