Ethnic diversity and its impact on group identification in Darfur

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32690/SALC57.1

Keywords:

Darfur, tribe, Sudan, Fur, Baggara, Dajo, Rizeigat, Tunjur, Zaghawa, Masalit

Abstract

This study addresses historical and cultural problems of man’s identity and ethnic origin in the Darfur region, famous for its cultural role throughout history. This subject deserves particular academic attention in order to understand the structure and identity of the Darfurian cultural features, their dimensions and characteristics viewed from different perspectives. The article explores the rich and complex centuries-old history of the Darfur region, including the rise and fall of various kingdoms and political entities, as well as the impact of external influences such as Arab immigration and the spread of Islam, besides studying the habitats of different ethnic groups, their culture, language, traditions, and the relationships between them. It shows that the cultural differences and identity based on being a member of a certain tribe are the key factors in shaping history and the complicated situation of Darfur today.

References

Abbakir, ʿA.M. 2017. “Šaʿb ad-dāǧū” [Dajo people]. Dajo civilization. Online: https://dajo- civilization.files.wordpress.com/2017/08 [20.04.2023].

ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm, R.M. (n.d.). Al-ʿurūba wa-l-islām fī dārfūr fī al-ʿuṣūr al-wusṭā [Arabism and Islam in Darfur in the Middle Ages]. Place Unknown: House of Culture for Publication and Distribution. ʿAbd al-Karīm, A. 2006. At-tawzīʿ as-sukānī bi-dārfūr wa-s-sūdān [Population distribution in Darfur and Sudan]. al-Ḫurṭūm: Publisher Unknown.

Abdul-Jalil, M.A. 2014. Retribalisation of the educated elite in Darfur and the phenomenon of tribal Shura Councils (Sudan Working Paper 5). Bergen: University of Bergen, Chr. Michelsen Institute.

Abū Māzin, ʿI. 2021. Ḥikāya “mamlaka ad-dāǧū” fī iqlīm dārfūr [The story of the “Kingdom of Dajo” in the Darfur region]. Online: https://rosaelyoussef.com/808022 [20.04.2023].

Abusharaf, R.M. 2010. “Debating Darfur in the World”. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 632. 67-85.

Abū Zayd, A. 2008. Ḥarb dārfūr: nahr ad-dām wa-nār al-qabā̕il [The Darfur War: The River of Blood and the Fire of the Tribes]. Darfur: Publisher Unknown.

Ādam, N. 2021. “Mamlaka at-Tunǧūr” [Kingdom of Tunjur]. Sudan Journal. Online: www.sudanjournal.com [20.04.2023].

Aḥmad, A.G.M. & L.O. Manger. 2006a. Dārfūr iqlīm al-ʿiḏāb: iškāliyā al-mawqīʿ wa-ṣīra huwiyyāt [Darfur, the region of torment: The problem of location and the conflict of identities]. Holand: Rewaq Publications.

Ahmad, A.G.M. & L.O. Manger. (eds.). 2006b. Understanding the crisis in Darfur: Listening the Sudanese voices. Bergen: BRIC.

Akyeampong, E.K., R.H. Bates, N. Nunn & J.A. Robinson (eds.). 2014. Africa’s develop- ment in historical perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Āl Ḏahab, S. (2007). “Namāziǧ li-t-tʿāyuš al-qabalī fī dārfūr” [Models of tribal coexistence in Darfur]. Sudanese Online: https://sudaneseonline.com/ar/article_10028.shtml [18.06.2023].

ʿAluww, Ḥ. 2007. “Dārfūr… ṣidaʿ sūdānī, bayn-a ẖaṭṭ aṣ-ṣadʿ al-itnī wa-ẖaṭṭ aṣ-ṣadʿ al-ǧyūstrātījī” [Darfur... a Sudanese headache between the ethnic fault line and the geostrategic fault line]. Lebanese National Defence Journal 60. Online: https://www. lebarmy.gov.lb/ar/content/ [16.06.2023].

ʿAmr. 2022. “Aṣl qabīla al-barqid” [The origin of the Bargid tribe]. Fekera. Online: www.fekera.com/218366/ [18.06.2023].

Arbāb, A.A.Q. 1998. Tārīẖ dārfūr ʿibr-a ăl-ʿuṣūr [History of Darfur Through the Ages]. al-Qāhira: Bank al-ġarb al-islāmī.

Arkell, A.J. 1951. “The history of Darfur 1200-1700 AD”. Sudan Notes and Records 32(1). 37-70.

Assal, M. 2006. “Sudan: Identity and conflict over natural resources”. Development 49. 101-105.

Ateem, S.M. & S. Eltigani. 2007. The root causes of conflicts in Sudan and the making of the Darfur tragedy. NEPAD and Regional Integration Division United Nations Eco- nomic Commission for Africa Conflict Prevention and Development Cooperation in Africa: A Policy Workshop. Sussex. 8-11.

al-ʿAwād, S.H. 2007. Al-ẖarīṭa al-dīmuġrāfiyya li-iqlīm dārfūr [Demographic map of Darfur region]. The International Politics 168. No page.

Beauregard, E.E. 1987. “Review of Empire on the Nile: The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 1898-1934, by M.W. Daly”. African Studies Review 30(2). 100-102.

Birtū, Ḥ. 2009. “Al-āṯār al-biyyi̕iyya li-l-ḥurūb wa-n-nizāʿāt” [Environmental effects of wars and conflicts]. Afedmag.com. Online: http://www.afedmag.com/web/ala3dadAlSa-biaSections-details.aspx?id=512 [20.04.2023].

Carbone, G. (2017). “Out of Africa. Why people migrate”. Ledizioni. Online: https://doi. org/10.14672/67056699 [18.06.2023].

Choucair, N. 1981. Sudan history. Beirut: Dar Al-Jail.

Delmet, C. 1994. “Sur la route du pèlerinage: Les Peuls au Soudan”. Cahiers d’études Africaines 34(133-135). 473-481.

Faḍl, A. 2021. „Luġāt as-sūdāniyyīn al-maḥalliyat qāwamat al-hiǧrāt wa-l-ḥurūb wa-taẖšā al-indiṯār” [The local languages of the Sudanese have resisted migrations and wars and fear extinction]. Aljazeera. Online: https://www.aljazeera.net/culture/2021/2/24/ [16.06.2023].

Fasi, M. (ed.). 1988. General history of Africa. III: Africa from the seventh to the eleventh century. Paris: UNESCO Heinemann.

Fasi, M., & I. Hrbek. 1988. General history of Africa. UNESCO: Heinemann, University of California Press.

Flint, J. 2010. The other war: Inter-Arab conflict in Darfur. Geneva: Small Arms Survey. Flint, J. & A. de Waal. 2008. Darfur: A short history of a long war. New York: Bloomsbury. Gray, L. & M. Kevane. 2008. “Darfur: Rainfall and conflict”. SSRN Electronic Journal 3. Online: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/3/3/034006/pdf [15.06.2023].

Greenberg, J.H. 1963. The languages of Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University.

al-Ḥalāyqa, Ġ. 2018. “Mā ăl-farq bayn-a ăl-qabīla wa-lʿušayra?” [What is the difference between tribe and clan?]. Online: https://mawdoo3.com/ [16.06.2023].

Harir, S. 1993. Racism in Islamic disguise: Retreating nationalism and upsurging ethnicity in Darfur. Indigenous peoples and the colonial state. Center for Development Studies. Bergen: University of Bergen.

Holt, P.M. 1963. “Funj origins: A critique and new evidence”. The Journal of African History 4(1). 39-55.

Holt, P.M. & M.W. Daly. 2011. A history of the Sudan: From the coming of Islam to the present day. New York: Routledge.

Ibrāhīm, A. 2022. “Ifrīqyā… šuʿūb wa-ṯaqāfāt mustašābiha” [Africa… Similar peoples and cultures]. Al-ʿain. Online: https://al-ain.com/article/africa-similar-peoples-cultures [20.04.2023].

Idrīs, M. E. A. R. 2015. “Ad-dāǧū wa-t-tunǧūr min ašu-šʿūb as-sūdānīya al-qadīma” [The Dajo and the Tunjur are among the ancient Sudanese peoples]. ar-Rākūba. Online: www.alrakoba.net [8.08.2023].

Islamstory. 2007. “Qiṣṣā al-islām, tārīẖ dārfūr” [The story of Islam, Darfur history]. Online: https://islamstory.com/ar/artical/25952/ [16.06.2023].

Ismāʿil, I.H. 2023. Aš-šuʿūb wa-l-qabā’il al-ifriqīyya ǧanub aṣ-ṣahrā’ al-qubrā [African peo- ples and tribes south of the Sahara desert]. Dubai: Maraya.

Karamalla-Gaiballa, N. 2017. Sudan: Konflikt w Darfurze (2003-2011) [Sudan: Conflict in Darfur]. Warszawa: WDR.

Ki-Zerbo, J. (ed.). 1995. General history of Africa. I: Methodology and African prehistory. Berkeley: UNESCO Heinemann.

Lampen, G.D. 1950. “History of Darfur”. Sudan Notes and Records 31(2). 177-209.

MacMichael, H.A. 1922. A history of the Arabs in the Sudan: And some account of the people who preceded them and of the tribes inhabiting Dárfūr. Cambridge: University Press.

MacMichael, M.A. 1913. Brands used by the chief camel-owning tribes of Kordofán (a sup- plement to The tribes of northern and central Kordofán). Cambridge: University Press.

Martin, W.G. 2011. “The rise of African studies (USA) and the transnational study of Africa”. African Studies Review 54(1). 59-83.

Muḥammad, al-Ṣādiq ʻAbd A. A., & Murad, Ḥ. 2017. Tārīẖ at-tunǧūr wa-tsīs as-salṭana al-islāmīyya fī dārfūr: dirāsāt tārīẖīyya wa-ṯayiqīyya [The history of Tunjur and the es- tablishment of the Islamic sultanate in Darfur: A historical and documentary study]. al-Qāhira: al-Ifrīqīya ad-Dawlīyya li-n-Nušir.

Nketia, J.H.K. 1968. “The language problem and the African personality”. Présence Africaine 67. 157-171.

O’Fahey, R.S. 2009. “Ethnic identity in Darfur”. African Arguments. Online: https://africa- narguments.org/2009/04/ethnic-identity-in-darfur/ [20.04.2023].

O’Fahey, R.S. 2008. The Darfur Sultanate: A history. New York: Columbia University Press.

Paul, A. 2011. A history of the Beja tribes of the Sudan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Prunier, G. 2005. “Douglas Johnson: The root cause of Sudan’s civil wars”. Annales d’Éthiopie 21(1). 197-198.

Sangmpam, S.N. 2017. Ethnicities and tribes in Sub-Saharan Africa: Opening old wounds. Syracuse: Palgrave.

Sharkey, H.J. 2008. “Arab identity and ideology in Sudan: The politics of language, ethnicity, and race”. African Affairs 107(426).

Sulaymān, M. 2010. As-sūdān: Ḥurūb al-mawārid wa-l-huwiyya [Sudan: The war of resources and identity]. al-Ḫurṭūm: Dār Azza.

Takana, Y. 2016. Darfur: Struggle of power and resources, 1650-2002: An institutional perspective. Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute.

el-Tigani, M. 2005. “Inside Darfur: Ethnic genocide by a governance crisis”. Sudan Tribune. Online: https://sudantribune.com/article7982/ [20.04.2023].

Totten, S. & E. Markusen. 2010. The Darfur genocide. New York: Routledge.

Tubiana J., V. Tanner & M.A. Abdul-Jalil. 2012. “Traditional authorities’ peacemaking role in Darfur”. Peaceworks. Online: https://www.usip.org/publications/2012/11/tradition- al-authorities-peacemaking-role-darfur [20.04.2023].

Tumblety, J. (ed.). 2013. Memory and history: Understanding memory as source and sub- ject. New York: Routledge.

al-Tūnisī, M. bin ʿU. 1965. Tašḥīḏ al-aḏhān bi-sīrat bilād al-ʿarab wa-s-sūdān [Sharpening the mind of the biography of the Arab countries and Sudan]. Online: https://www.libraryofarabicliterature.org/assets/Davies-In-Darfur-modified-1 [16.06.2023].

Tymowski, M. (ed.). 1996. Historia Afryki do początku XIX wieku [History of Africa until the beginning of 19th century]. Wrocław: Ossolineum.

Uld Šayẖ A.W. 2013. Al-qabīlāt wa-d-dawlāt fī ifriqya [Tribe and state in Africa]. Bayrūt: Arab Scientific Publishers.

Vail, J.R. 1972. “Jebel Marra, a dormant volcano in Darfur province, Western Sudan”. Bulletin Volcanologique 36(1). 251-265.

Vorbrich, R. 2012. Plemienna i postplemienna Afryka: Koncepcje i postaci wspólnoty w dawnej i współczesnej Afryce [Tribal and post-tribal Africa: Conceptions and forms of community in old and contemporary Africa]. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM..

Waal, A. de. 2005. “Who are the Darfurians? Arab and African identities, violence and external engagement”. African Affairs 104(415). 181-205.

Wiley, D. 2013. “Using ‘tribe’ and ‘tribalism’ to misunderstand African societies”. Online: https://www.africa.upenn.edu/K-12/Tribe-and-tribalism-Wiley2013.pdf [20.04.2023].

Young, H. 2006. Livelihoods, migration and remittance flows in times of crisis and conflict: Case studies for Darfur, Sudan. An HPG Background Paper. Online: https://cdn.odi. org/media/documents/404.pdf. [20.04.2023].

Young, H. et al. 2009. Livelihoods, power and choice: The vulnerability of the northern Rizaygat of Darfur, Sudan. Feinstein International Center, Briefing Paper. Online: https:// fic.tufts.edu/assets/Livelihoods-Power-Choice-Brief-Paper-2009.pdf. [15.06.2023].

Ząbek, M. 1998. Arabowie z Dar Hamid. Społeczność w sytuacji zagrożenia ekologicznego [Arabs from Dar Hamid. A community in the situation of ecological endangerment]. Warszawa: Dialog.

Downloads

Published

2023-12-15

How to Cite

Karamalla-Gaiballa, N., & Rubinkowska-Anioł, H. (2023). Ethnic diversity and its impact on group identification in Darfur. Studies in African Languages and Cultures, (57), 9–33. https://doi.org/10.32690/SALC57.1

Issue

Section

Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)