throne was matrilineal: it was the son of the king's sister, not his son who succeeded to the throne. There might be evidence a mobile royal encampment existed, although the translation of the original source, Abu al-Makarim, is not certain. Similar mobile courts are known to have existed in the early Funj sultanate, Ethiopia and Darfur. The kingdom was divided into several provinces under the sovereignty of Soba. It seems delegates of the king governed these provinces. Al-Aswani stated that the governor of the northern al-Abwab province was appointed by the king. This was similar to what Ibn Hawqal recorded for the Gash Delta region, which was ruled by an appointed Arabophone (Arabic speaker). In 1286, Mamluk emissaries were sent to several rulers in central Sudan. It is unclear whether those rulers were actually independent, or if they remained subordinate to the king of Alodia. If the latter was the case, this would provide an understanding of the kingdom's territorial organization. The "Sahib" of al-Abwab seems certain to have been independent. Apart from al-Abwab, the following regions are mentioned: Al-Anag (possibly Fazughli); Ari; Barah; Befal; Danfou; Kedru (possibly after Kadero, a village north of Khartoum); Kersa (the Gezira); and Taka (the region around the Gash Delta). State and church were intertwined in Alodia, with the Alodian kings probably serving as its patrons. Coptic documents observed by Johann Michael Vansleb during the later 17th century list the following bishoprics in the Alodian kingdom: Arodias, Borra, Gagara, Martin, Banazi, and Menkesa. "Arodias" may refer to the bishopric in Soba. The bishops were dependent on the patriarch of Alexandria. Alodia may have had a standing army, in which cavalry likely projected force and symbolized royal authority deep into the provinces. Because of their speed, horses were also important for communication, providing a rapid courier service between the capital and the provinces. Aside from horses, boats also played a central role in transportation infrastructure. Culture Languages While Alodia was polyethnic, and hence polylingual, it was essentially a Nubian state whose majority spoke a Nubian language. Based on a few inscriptions found in Alodian territory it has been suggested that the Alodians spoke a dialect distinct from Old Nobiin of northern Nubia, dubbed as Alwan-Nubian. This assumption rests primarily on the script used in these inscriptions, which, while also being based on the Greek alphabet, differs from that employed in Makuria by making no use