Early history of Sudan

Three ancient kings of the Kushite kingdomsexisted consecutively in northern Sudan। This region was also known asNubia and Meroë, and these civilizations flourished mainly along the Nile River from the first to the sixth cataracts. The kingdoms were influenced by, and in turn influenced Pharaonic Egypt. when the Napatan Dynasty was founded under Alara and regained independence for the kingdom of Kush. Borders, however, fluctuated greatly. The country's dense population made it a problem however.
Much of the region was converted to Coptic Christianity during the third and fourth centuries AD. Islam was introduced in 640 AD with an influx of Muslim Arabs who had conquered Egypt, although the Christian Kingdoms of Nubia managed to persist until the 15th Century.
A merchant class of Arabs became economically dominant in feudal Sudan. An important kingdom in Nubia was the Makuria, which reached its height in the 8th-9th centuries, and was of the Melkite Christian faith, unlike its Coptic neighbours, Nobatia and Alodia