Zaghawa

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Zaghawa (own name Beri ) is a black African ethnic group living in the Wadai region in eastern Chad and in neighboring Darfur in Sudan . The Zaghawa are culturally partly Arabized , they mainly practice agriculture and cattle breeding, smaller groups live nomadically . They speak the Zaghawa (Beria) as their mother tongue and have their own script, the Zaghawa script .

history

The Zaghawa have appeared in the writings of Arab geographers since the 8th century. The name was first mentioned in 730 by Wahb ibn Munabbih . Zaghawa were mentioned by al-Ya'qubi in 872 as a people of Kanem in the area northwest of Lake Chad , where they lived as nomads without permanent settlements in huts. The Zaghawa there are considered to be the founding people of Kanem. In the middle of the 10th century, al-Muhallabi described the Zaghawa farming and livestock farming in a large but sparsely populated area. They were referred to as Muslims when they were first mentioned in writing, but al-Muhallabi describes their religion as the worship of a God-King, whom they believe brings life and death and has unlimited power over his people. They imagined that the king would not eat, and anyone who came near the camels carrying the king's food was killed instantly. The people only dressed in animal skins, while the king apparently wore imported wool and silk. According to al-Muhallabi, one of the largest settlements was called Manan. Manan (or Matan ) could have been the early Zaghawa capital of Kanem. The capital moved to Njimi when the Sefuwa dynasty came to power with the spread of Islam . Until their overthrow by the Sefuwa in 1068, Zaghawa may have been the ruling class of the Kanem Empire, which in the royal chronicle Diwan is referred to as Duguwa . Al-Mas'udi (around 895–957), on the other hand, describes Zaghawa and Kanem as different peoples. This notion of the beginning of the Kanem Empire is supported by the fact that no Zaghawa people are mentioned in local Kanem chronicles. Zaghawa could have been expelled from the Kanembu without having belonged to the Kanem Empire . A third theory uses the Zaghawa designation for a large number of ethnic groups in the area.

Al-Yaqubi and al-Idrisi described the settlement area of ​​the Zaghawa far west of Lake Chad. It was not until the 13th century that the Zaghawa were also localized east of Kanem. It was probably about Zaghawa, who wanted to oppose cultural assimilation into the Islamized Kanem empire and moved east as a reaction. This could explain the high proportion of African beliefs among the Zaghawa. The old name has survived to this day among the ethnic groups living in the border region of Chad and Sudan, and some of them feel historically connected to the “ Bornu ” kingdom . In imparting historical knowledge, Arabs who immigrated on caravan routes from the Nile to the Darfur, Wadai and Kanem areas since the mid-14th century were the most reliable sources.

distribution

The traditional settlement area of ​​the Zaghawa ( Dar Zaghawa or Beri-be ) is in North Darfur in the Kutum district (northwest of al-Faschir ) and an equal part from the border west of Kutum to the Shari River in Chad. The area covers about 40,000 square kilometers in Sudan and 50,000 square kilometers in Chad. In the early 1970s and mid-1980s, numerous Zaghawa fled the drought of the barren hill country and the surrounding semi-desert to South Darfur , where they seized new areas through land grabbing, and to cities such as al-Fashir, Nyala and Omdurman . Berti who settled further north also pushed south. A large part of the livestock died from starvation in 1983-84, especially in North Darfur. The causes of the current Darfur conflict are of an economic nature and lie in this ecologically induced emigration, especially of the Zaghawa, as well as the social and political marginalization of the black African ethnic groups in Darfur as a whole by the Sudanese government. Zaghawa who emigrated to the cities were often more economically successful with small-scale trade than migrants within the rural regions. There have always been conflicts with neighboring peoples, but before the mid-1980s these conflicts were local and less intense.

A strong solidarity within the clans enabled young men willing to leave the country to finance their travel expenses to Arab countries, where many were able to establish themselves. A large part of the economic output is provided by Zaghawa, who live abroad and as traders in the cities. Zaghawa are represented in the markets of all major cities. Midob, who emigrated south at the same time as the Zaghawa in the 1980s, and the neighboring Masalit living in northern Darfur and Chad were less economically successful. More Zaghawa live outside than in Dar Zaghawa proper.

Zaghawa are neither a homogeneous ethnic group, nor can they be clearly delimited from the outside. An ethnically pure Dar Zaghawa gave just as little as a demarcated Dar Fur (Arabic "House of Fur"). There are three subgroups, each with several clans: The Kobe mostly live in Chad on the Sudanese border, a few in Darfur around the town of Tina west of al-Faschir. The traditional settlement area of ​​the Wogi lies between Kornoy and al-Faschir. The Wogi can be further divided into six chiefdoms. The Bidayat (also: Toba ) mostly live in Chad in the area of ​​the Ennedi massif. Depending on the point of view, their westernmost group either borders on the Goran or they claim a dual identity, which does not rule out rivalries between different clans of the Bidayat-Goran. Bidayat were distinguished in earlier descriptions as nomads whose land was some distance away from the farming Zaghawa. Bidayat used to be the sum of 50 chiefdoms, corresponding to the individual clans. During the French colonial period they could (for the purpose of better administration) be united to form the two chiefdoms Bilia and Borogat . In the border area between the Fur and Zaghawa settlement areas, the subgroup or clan of the Kaitinga can be assigned to both ethnic groups. The subdivisions down to clan level are of practical importance, because not only everyday disputes over water or pasture land, but also the lines of conflict in the civil war fought with heavy weapons run along clan borders.

According to traditional domains, Zaghawa are divided into: the leading sultanate of Kobe; Kabka in Chad and partly in northwest Darfur; the Dar Galla area in Kornoy west of Tine; Dar Tuer west of Kornoy; the Musbat area , which separated from Dar Tuer in the mid-1990s; the Dar Artag area around Umm Haraz; Dar Suwayni, which lies between Kutum and Umm Haraz; further east Dar Bire with Kutum and Hashaba as centers belonging to the Kaitinga clan and finally Bideyat in Chad.

The Zaghawa speak a Nilo-Saharan language known as Zaghawa or Beria . With the Jebel Marra as the borderline, more Arabic and one's own language are not spoken or only spoken in family circles further east , while mainly Beria to the west.

Agriculture

In rain-fed agriculture , finger millet , sorghum , sesame and watermelon are mainly grown for self- sufficiency , peanuts , acacia-derived gum arabic and karkadeh are exported. A species of goat in Darfur with long drooping ears similar to the Nubian goat that is kept on the Nile is also called "Zaghawa". Of the black African ethnic groups in Darfur, only the Zaghawa operate to a certain extent nomadic cattle breeding with cattle (mainly in the south), goats and sheep. The Zaghawa subgroup of camel nomads in the north is also considered non-Arabic. All other nomadic ethnic groups in Darfur have Arab origins, although the classic dichotomy between black African and Arabic cannot be clearly understood ethnically and is softened by ethnic groups such as Zaghawa, who are culturally partially Arabized. In the three-month rainy season from June to August in the dry grass and thorn bush savanna in the north of the area 80 to 200 mm annual precipitation, further south, in the relatively fertile central hills with blackthorn and Verek acacias fall 200 to 500 mm.

religion

Zaghawa have been all Muslims since the 17th century. They were proselytized by venerated sheikhs ; Arabs from the Nile region, from North Africa or Fulbe from West Africa who taught the faith under the care of the sultans. They are Sunni of the Maliki school of law, but integrated elements of their own religious traditions into the Islamic faith, some of which are still maintained. Sufi traditions did not come to Darfur until the 19th century, later than on the Nile. The Tijaniyah order has spread the most. The greatest influence has recently been exercised by Ibrahim Sidi, who headed a Tijaniya Koran school ( Zawiya ) in al-Faschir until his death in 1999 .

Traditional ideas include the worship of holy mountains ( ha manda ), holy rocks ( gorbu manda ) and holy trees, to which ritual sacrifices, such as sheep, otherwise flour and water are offered. Islamic morning prayer and sacrifice are compatible for a Zaghawa, in contrast to the Nuba , who settle southeast in the Nuba Mountains . There society has been segmented into Muslims, Christians and followers of traditional beliefs. The Zaghawa did not retain “pre-Islamic” traditions; instead, the dual character of the Zaghawa beliefs should speak of large and small traditions in Islam. Taboos that forged (Arabic: haddad, also used as an insult) concern and Rainmaker ceremonies were and are still partly in the entire Sudan Zone widespread, with either belong like the Zaghawa to religion or, as in the Berti that a fine line between religion and make tradition, be differentiated by language. Because of their outsider role , blacksmiths are viewed as a separate subgroup ( haddahate ).

Political situation

Darfur

While the Zaghawa in Sudan form the center of the insurgency movement against the government in the ongoing Darfur conflict , they dominate the political system in Chad. The rebel group JEM , which has been operating in Darfur since 2003, under its leader Khalil Ibrahim, consists mainly of Zaghawa-Kobe. The second large rebel group of the SLA , founded in February 2003 , initially had two leaders, Abdalwahid Muhammad al-Nur, a fur, and Minni Arcua Minnawi , a Zaghawa-Wogi. Its members are composed of Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit. The National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD) group, consisting of Zaghawa-Kabka, split off from the JEM in 2004 and is said to have received an influx of disappointed officers from the Chadian army from the Zaghawa-Kobera ethnic group. The SLA also split, with SLA / M denoting the Minnawi wing. The other group is called SLA-Unity. It has been the strongest rebel faction since 2007 and consists mainly of Zaghawa-Wogi. In the 1980s, some Zaghawa saw an opportunity to evade their marginalization in turning to the conservative Islam of the National Islamic Front (NIF, a party founded by the Muslim Brotherhood) when it became a ruling party. The head ideologist of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hasan at-Turabi , who has meanwhile been excluded from the government, is suspected of supporting the JEM as part of its fight against the government and to expand the Islamist faith front into Darfur.

Because of the civil war in Darfur from 2003, many Zaghawa fled to refugee camps in Chad or to the Kalma IDP refugee camp , 15 kilometers east of Nyala. This camp was established in February 2004 and the population is estimated at 80,000. The Zaghawa live there in two of eight sectors, separated from the largest group, the Fur , although violent quarrels regularly occur between the two. Even the protection provided by UNAMID soldiers could not prevent attacks by the Sudanese army on the residents of the camp.

Chad

The current President of Chad Idriss Déby belongs to the Bidayat (more precisely: Bilia). Since Déby's takeover in 1990, the Bidayat have consistently formed the inner circle of power in the Chadian government. A large group of Zaghawa from the president's home region in the east of the country has moved to the capital, N'Djamena . After the beginning of the civil war in Darfur, Déby was forced, in order not to lose the backing of his ethnic group, to supply the insurgent Zaghawa on and across the Sudanese border with weapons from 2005. As the Sudanese government began to support rebels against the government in Chad at the same time, a proxy war between the two countries began, which at the end of January 2008 turned into an open war, in which Chadian rebels and invading Sudanese troops attacked N'Djamena and defeated them the President, who was supported by the Sudanese JEM and his Zaghawa, was not able to overthrow the president, who was supported by the Sudanese JEM and his Zaghawa, only because of insufficient armament. President Déby's power rests (within the country) on one (his) Zaghawa faction, with the Zaghawa minority only accounting for one to two percent of the Chadian population. Another Zaghawa faction is believed to be the driving force behind the coup attempt, which wanted to seize the oil industry controlled by Déby. The Zaghawa play the same special role in Chad as in Sudan; they are fragmented, but economically very successful.

literature

  • Sharif Harir : The Mosque and the Sacred Mountain: Duality of Religious Beliefs among the Zaghawa of Northwestern Sudan. In: Leif O. Manger (Ed.): Muslim Diversity: Local Islam in Global Contexts. Curzon, Richmond 1999, pp. 200-223
  • Fouad Ibrahim: The Zaghawa and the Midob of North Darfur. A comparison of migration behavior. GeoJournal, Vol. 46, October 2, 1998, pp. 135-140
  • Dierk Lange: Chronologie et histoire d'un royaume africain , Wiesbaden 1977 (the historical Zaghawa and the Kanem empire : pp. 113–129)
  • Maike Meerpohl: Camels and Sugar. Trans-Saharan trade between Chad and Libya. (Dissertation) University of Cologne, 2009 ( online )
  • Albert Le Rouvreur: Saheliens et Sahariens du Tschad , Paris 1962 (Zaghawa: pp. 205–217, 350f)
  • Natalie Tobert: The Ethnoarchaeology of the Zaghawa of Darfur (Sudan): Settlement and Transcience. (Cambridge monographs in African archeology) British Archaeological Reports, Oxford 1988, ISBN 0860545741
  • IN Tobin: The Effect of Drought Among the Zaghawa of Northern Darfur. Disaster, 9, 1985, pp. 213-23
  • Marie Joseacute Tubiana, Joseph Tubiana: The Zaghawa from an ecological perspective: food gathering, the pastoral system, tradition and development of the Zaghawa of the Sudan and Chad. AA Balkema, Rotterdam 1977
  • Marie-José Tubiana: Survivances préislamiques en pays zaghawa , Paris 1964

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nehemia Levtzion: Islam in the Bilad al-Sudan to 1800. In: Nehemia Levtzion and Randall L. Pouwels: The History of Islam in Africa. Ohio University Press, Athens (Ohio) 2000, p. 80
  2. ^ John Donnelly Fage , Roland Anthony Oliver (Eds.): The Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York 1979, pp. 287-290. ISBN 0-521-20981-1
  3. ↑ Maike Meerpohl: Kamele und Zucker, 2009, p. 76
  4. ^ Mohamed Suliman: Warfare in Darfur. The Desert versus the Oasis Syndrome. In: G. Bachler, K. Spillmann (Eds.): Environmental Degradation as a Cause War. Ruegger Verlag, Zurich 1996, Table 6: List of “tribal” conflicts in Darfur.
  5. ^ Fouad Ibrahim: Ideas on the Background of the Present Conflict in Darfur. (PDF; 122 kB) University of Bayreuth, May 2004
  6. ↑ Rex Sean O'Fahey, Jérôme Tubiana: Darfur. Historical and Contemporary Aspects. ( Memento of November 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 235 kB) Center for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Bergen
  7. ^ Mohamed Suliman: Warfare in Darfur. The Desert versus the Oasis Syndrome. ( Memento from November 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) In: G. Bachler, K. Spillmann (Ed.): Environmental Degradation as a Cause War. Ruegger Verlag, Zurich 1996
  8. ^ Sharif Harir , p. 201
  9. ↑ Timothy Insoll: The Archeology of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003, p. 133
  10. ↑ Elhadi Adam Elomda: Is the Al-Zaghawa Tribe a Troublemaker or are there Reasons for Its Revolution? Sudaneseonline, May 2, 2006
  11. ^ Jérôme Tubiana: The Chad-Sudan Proxy War and the 'Darfurization' of Chad: Myths and Reality. (PDF; 617 kB) The Small Arms Survey, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, April 2008
  12. ↑ Killing and injuring of civilians on August 25, 2008 by government security forces: Kalma IDP camp, South Darfur, Sudan. (PDF; 424 kB) UNHCHR, January 23, 2009
  13. ^ Gérard Prunier: Standoff in Chad. The epicenter of the Central African crisis is in Khartoum. Le Monde diplomatique, March 14, 2008
  14. ^ Andrew McGregor: Oil Industry at the Heart of the Zaghawa Power Struggle in Chad. Terrorism Monitor Vol. 6, 5, The Jamestown Foundation, March 7, 2008