Dongola

The word Dongola comes from the Nubian word "Doñqal" which means red brick,{{Cite web|title=معنى كلمة دنقلا|url=https://maraga.ahlamontada.com/t1127-topic|access-date=2020-07-01|website=maraga.ahlamontada.com|language=ar}} as most buildings were made of bricks, thus provoking one of ancient Nubia's biggest industries.{{ref needed|date=October 2021}} A more modern use of the word is to describe a strong and hard bulwark,{{clarify|date=October 2021}} that being so Dongola is often called "the Resident of a large Nile castle".

In the medieval period the region was controlled by the Christian kingdom of Makuria, which until the mid-14th century had its capital at Old Dongola further south. Subsequently Old Dongola became the capital of a smaller kingdom which was integrated into the Islamic Funj Sultanate in the 16th century, which ruled the region until the late 18th century.Maciej Wyżgoł, Agata Deptuła (2020). "Living Outside the Wall: the Quarter of Wattle-and-daub Houses in Old Dongola of the Funj Period" in "Journal of African Archaeology". pp.1–2 By the 1820s the town was virtually abandoned.Eduard Rüppel (1829): "Reisen in Nubien, Kordofan und dem peträischen Arabien". Friedrich Wilmans. p. 24

In 1812 the Mamluks arrived in the Dongola region after they were forced out from Egypt by Muhammad Ali Pasha, establishing a small state. As their capital they chose the small town of Maragha. Growing significantly, it came to be known as Dongola Urdu, New Dongola.Emanuel Beška (2020). "Swan Song in the Nile Valley: The Mamluk Statelet in Dongola (1812–1820)" in "Asian and African Studies". pp. 321–322 In 1820 Muhammad Ali Pasha invaded Sudan and the Mamluks, numbering only 300 men, abandoned the town and fled to the south.Emanuel Beška (2020). "Swan Song in the Nile Valley: The Mamluk Statelet in Dongola (1812–1820)" in "Asian and African Studies". p. 326 The Egyptians made Dongola a provincial capital, which it remained until the outbreak of the Mahdist revolt in the 1880s.Emanuel Beška (2020). "Swan Song in the Nile Valley: The Mamluk Statelet in Dongola (1812–1820)" in "Asian and African Studies". pp. 327–328

File:Map showing the British advance upon Dongola. LOC 2012591520.jpg

The Nile Expedition of 1884–1885 to relieve Gordon at Khartoum passed through the area. Regiments were challenged to race up the river by boat, and this gave rise to the English regatta competition of dongola racing.

Dongola was the scene of a victory by General Herbert Kitchener over the indigenous Mahdist Muslim tribes in 1896 who later turned it into a British-Egyptian army base with the objective of collecting and storing weapons, gear and resources. Dongola was a considered an all time base for sending campaign reports to Britain, and the first English press release was issued in the name of Dongola Star, with news of the British-Egyptian army in Sudan.{{Cite web|last=Surri|first=Mohammad|date=2019-06-26|title=محلية دنقلا في السودان|url=https://read.opensooq.com/محلية-دنقلا-في-السودان/|access-date=2020-07-21|website=اقرأ - السوق المفتوح|language=ar}} Kitchener's forces were known for their mercilessness, killing over 15,000 Mahdist troops in the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, and later on proceeded to kill the wounded, raising the overall death toll to over 50,000.{{Cite web|title=Sudanese honour warriors who fell fighting British - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan|url=https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article11447|access-date=2020-07-21|website=www.sudantribune.com}}

Dongola Road and Dongola Avenue in the Bishopston area of Bristol were named after this event; as was Dongola Road in Tottenham, North London which runs next to Kitchener Road. There is also a Dongola Road in Jersey (Channel Islands). There is a Dongola Road, in Plaistow, East London. There is also a Dongola Road in Ayr,{{cite web |title=Dongola Road Ayr |url=https://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/article/26634/Dongola-Road#:~:text=It%20was%20captured%20in%201896%20by%20British%20and,to%20give%20this%20name%20to%20the%20new%20street. |website=South Ayrshire Council |access-date=16 July 2023}} Scotland. In the United States, Dongola, Illinois was established in the 1850s, and named for Dongola.{{Cite web|title=Dongola, IL - Dongola, Illinois Map & Directions - MapQuest|url=http://www.mapquest.com/us/illinois/dongola-il-282023206|access-date=2020-07-01|website=www.mapquest.com|language=en}} There is also a Dongola Lane in Shakopee, Minnesota, and a Dongola Hwy. in Conway, South Carolina.

Dongolawis originate from early indigenous Nubian Sub Saharan African inhabitants{{Cite web|title=قبيلة الدناقلة|url=https://maraga.ahlamontada.com/t216-topic|access-date=2020-07-01|website=maraga.ahlamontada.com|language=ar}} with many taking pride in their mostly non-mixed ancestry; although always faced with criticism this helped preserve the Nilo Saharan Dongolawi Nubian language (sometimes pejoratively referred to as Rotana); however, cultural preferences are slowly changing.

The trans-African automobile route — the Cairo-Cape Town Highway passes through Dongola.

Dongola has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) as it is located in the Sahara Desert, one of the hottest, sunniest and driest regions in the world. The temperature is warm or hot year-round, with January, the coolest month, having a mean of {{convert|17.6|C|F}} and an average low of {{convert|8.5|C|F}}. June has the highest average high of {{convert|43.4|C|F}}, while August has the highest average low at {{convert|25.2|C|F}}. On 22 June 2010, Dongola recorded a temperature of {{convert|49.7|C|F}}, which is the highest temperature that has been recorded in Sudan.{{cite web|last=Masters|first=Jeff|title=Bolivia ties its all-time heat record|url=http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1701|work=Weather Underground|publisher=Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog|access-date=23 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124020718/http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1701|archive-date=24 November 2010}} The lowest recorded temperature was {{convert|-2.7|C|F}} in January.{{year needed|date=April 2022}}

Dongola receives only {{convert|12.3|mm}} of precipitation annually because of its arid location. September is the wettest month, receiving {{convert|7.7|mm}} of rain on average. Rainfall is sporadic but more likely to occur in the summer. Six months receive no precipitation at all. Humidity is low year-round, but it is higher in winter. Dongola receives 3813.8 hours of sunshine annually, which is 87% of all possible sunshine. June has the most sunshine and September has the least.

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| location = Dongola (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1961–2020)

| Jan record high C = 39.4

| Feb record high C = 42.4

| Mar record high C = 46.4

| Apr record high C = 47.2

| May record high C = 48.8

| Jun record high C = 49.7

| Jul record high C = 49.0

| Aug record high C = 49.4

| Sep record high C = 48.0

| Oct record high C = 45.0

| Nov record high C = 41.5

| Dec record high C = 37.6

| year record high C = 49.6

| Jan high C = 27.0

| Feb high C = 29.8

| Mar high C = 34.1

| Apr high C = 38.6

| May high C = 42.4

| Jun high C = 43.6

| Jul high C = 43.3

| Aug high C = 43.2

| Sep high C = 42.4

| Oct high C = 39.4

| Nov high C = 32.6

| Dec high C = 28.1

| year high C = 37.0

| Jan mean C = 18.4

| Feb mean C = 20.7

| Mar mean C = 24.8

| Apr mean C = 29.4

| May mean C = 33.5

| Jun mean C = 34.9

| Jul mean C = 35.2

| Aug mean C = 35.7

| Sep mean C = 34.6

| Oct mean C = 31.4

| Nov mean C = 24.4

| Dec mean C = 19.7

| year mean C = 28.6

| Jan low C = 9.9

| Feb low C = 11.7

| Mar low C = 15.4

| Apr low C = 20.1

| May low C = 24.6

| Jun low C = 26.1

| Jul low C = 27.2

| Aug low C = 28.3

| Sep low C = 26.8

| Oct low C = 23.4

| Nov low C = 16.2

| Dec low C = 11.4

| year low C = 20.1

|Jan record low C = -2.7

|Feb record low C = 1.0

|Mar record low C = 4.3

|Apr record low C = 8.4

|May record low C = 12.6

|Jun record low C = 17.3

|Jul record low C = 19.3

|Aug record low C = 18.0

|Sep record low C = 16.6

|Oct record low C = 11.4

|Nov record low C = 6.0

|Dec record low C = 2.1

|year record low C = -2.7

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 0.0

| Feb precipitation mm = 0.0

| Mar precipitation mm = 0.1

| Apr precipitation mm = 0.0

| May precipitation mm = 0.3

| Jun precipitation mm = 0.0

| Jul precipitation mm = 4.9

| Aug precipitation mm = 4.1

| Sep precipitation mm = 1.4

| Oct precipitation mm = 0.4

| Nov precipitation mm = 0.3

| Dec precipitation mm = 0.0

| year precipitation mm = 11.5

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 0.0

| Feb precipitation days = 0.0

| Mar precipitation days = 0.0

| Apr precipitation days = 0.0

| May precipitation days = 0.1

| Jun precipitation days = 0.0

| Jul precipitation days = 0.6

| Aug precipitation days = 0.7

| Sep precipitation days = 0.2

| Oct precipitation days = 0.1

| Nov precipitation days = 0.0

| Dec precipitation days = 0.0

| year precipitation days = 1.8

| Jan humidity = 32

| Feb humidity = 26

| Mar humidity = 20

| Apr humidity = 17

| May humidity = 16

| Jun humidity = 15

| Jul humidity = 20

| Aug humidity = 22

| Sep humidity = 20

| Oct humidity = 22

| Nov humidity = 28

| Dec humidity = 33

| year humidity = 22

| Jan sun = 310.0

| Feb sun = 285.6

| Mar sun = 319.3

| Apr sun = 318.0

| May sun = 325.5

| Jun sun = 330.0

| Jul sun = 334.8

| Aug sun = 288.3

| Sep sun = 273.0

| Oct sun = 310.0

| Nov sun = 312.0

| Dec sun = 316.2

| year sun = 3722.7

| source 1 = NOAA{{cite web

|url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Sudan/CSV/Dongola_62650.csv

|title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Dongola

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|access-date = January 21, 2024}}{{cite web

| url = ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/TABLES/REG__I/SU/62650.TXT

| title = Dongola Climate Normals 1961–1990

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = April 23, 2015}}

}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://archive.org/details/shaikiyaaccounto00nich The Shaikiya. An account of the Shaikiya tribes and of the history of Dongola Province from the XIVth to the XIXth century (1913)]
• [http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/s/SU62650.php "Dongola, Sudan: Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002023720/http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/s/SU62650.php |date=2011-10-02 }}. [http://www.climate-charts.com Climatecharts.com]. Accessed September 2010.
• [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/dong0.htm GCatholic ]

{{coord|19|10|11.37|N|30|28|29.62|E|region:SD_type:city|display=title}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places in Northern State (Sudan)

Category:State capitals in Sudan