ABSTRACT
The medieval Muslim geographers gave the name of Bilad al-Sudan, 'the land of the Blacks', to the belt of African territory to the south of the Sahara Desert. The territories which form the northern Sudan were traversed by a number of trade-routes. The eastern route seems to have developed during the eighteenth century, in consequence of increasing political instability in the riverain territories downstream of Berber. The arabization of the northern Sudan resulted from the penetration of the region by tribes who had already migrated from Arabia to Upper Egypt. The line of the modern railway, between Abu Hamad and Wadi Haifa, is the latest variant in historic route. From Sennar a route ran along the western bank of the Blue Nile through the Gezira to the ancient market-town of Arbaji. The name of Nuba is applied in Arabic both to these people and to the historical Nubians of the main Nile.
