Dar fertit

Dar Fertit (also Dar Fartit ) is a historical term for the lowlands of southern Darfur (Dar Fur) in Sudan and the eastern highlands in the east of what is now the Central African Republic , which includes the tributary White Nile .

Dar means "home". As Fertit many ethnicities and language groups in Southern Darfur and Southern Sudan State are collectively Western Bahr el Ghazal understood that not one of the Dinka , Arabs and not to the Luo belong. Since 1840, the region, together with today's South Sudan, has not been claimed by any other state. Not even the Muslim sultans who operated there slave trade claimed the area. In 1873, Egypt annexed the area under the Ottoman Empire and expanded around the White Nile.

history

From 1700 on, Darfur and other Muslim sultanates were often invaded to enslave people or to give them back. The name Fertit , the etymology of which is unknown, was transferred to the population south of Darfur and referred to non-Muslims who are legally not to be enslaved. In the 19th century, black African populations from the west and north fled to Dar Fertit in search of protection from assault or fear of slavery. When Egypt expanded into the south of Sudan, private merchants received a concession that allowed them to mine ivory and subjugate other people as slaves. These merchants operated outside of their fortresses, which they built specifically, called zaribas .

In the mid-19th century, Al-Zubayr Rahma , one of the slave traders, captured Dar Fertit and made it his personal property.

literature

• Edward Lewis: The Kafia Kingi enclave: People, politics and history in the north – south boundary zone of western Sudan . London u. Nairobi: Rift Valley Institute (RVI), 2010.