The Nubians and Egyptians have long been engaged in a series of skirmishes along the border region of the two countries in Upper Egypt.
After the Fatimids were deposed, tensions had risen as Nubian raids against Egyptian border towns have grown bolder, ultimately leading in late 1172-early 1173 to the siege of the valuable city of Aswan by former sub-Saharan Fatimid soldiers.
The governor of Aswan, a former Fatimid loyalist, requests help from Saladin.
Saladin dispatches Turan-Shah with a force of Kurdish troops to relieve Aswan, but the Nubian soldiers had already departed.
Turan-Shah conquers the Nubian town of Ibrim nonetheless, and begins to conduct a series of raids against the Nubians.
His attacks appear to have been highly successful, resulting in the Nubian king based in Dongola requesting an armistice with Turan-Shah.
Apparently eager for conquest, he is unwilling to accept the offer until his own emissary had visited the King of Nubia and reported that the entire country was poor and not worth occupying.
The Ayyubids will be forced to take future actions against the Nubians, but Turan-Shah sets his sights on more lucrative territories.
He manages to acquire considerable wealth in Egypt after his campaign against Nubia, bringing back with him many enslaved Christian Nubians.
