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DARFUR

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 831 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DARFUR , a See also:

country of See also:east central See also:Africa, the westernmost See also:state of the Anglo-See also:Egyptian See also:Sudan. It extends from about zo° N. to 16° N. and from 21° E. to 27° 30' E., has an See also:area of some 150,000 sq. m., and an estimated See also:population of 750,000. It is bounded N. by the Libyan See also:desert, W. by See also:Wadai (See also:French See also:Congo), S. by the See also:Bahr-el-Ghazal and E. by See also:Kordofan. The two last-named districts are mudirias (provinces) of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The greater See also:part of the country is a See also:plateau from 2000 to 3000 ft. above See also:sea-level. A range of mountains of volcanic origin, the See also:Jebel Marra, runs N. and S. about the See also:line of the 24° E. for a distance of over roo m., its highest points attaining from 5000 to 6000 ft. East to See also:west this See also:chain extends about 8o m. Eastward the mountains fall gradually into sandy, See also:bush-covered See also:steppes. See also:North-east of Jebel Marra lies the Jebel Medob (3500 ft. high), a range much distorted by volcanic See also:action, and Bir-el-Melh, an See also:extinct See also:volcano with a See also:crater 150 ft. deep. See also:South of Jebel Marra are the plains of See also:Dar Dima and Dar Uma; S.W. of the Marra the See also:plain is 4000 ft. above the sea. The See also:watershed separating the basins of the See also:Nile and See also:Lake See also:Chad runs north and south through the centre of the country. The mountains are scored by numerous khors, whose See also:lower courses can be traced across the tableland.

The khors formerly contained large See also:

rivers which flowed N.E. and E. to the Nile, W. and S.W. to Lake Chad, S. and S.E. to the Bahr-el-Ghazal. The streams going N.E. drain to the See also:Wadi Melh, a dry See also:river-See also:bed which joins the Nile near Debba, but on reaching the plain the See also:waters sink into the sandy See also:soil and disappear. The torrents flowing directly east towards the Nile also disappear in the sandy deserts. The khors in the W., S.W. and S.,—the most fertile part of Darfur—contain turbulent torrents in the See also:rainy See also:season, when much of the See also:southern See also:district is flooded. Not one of the streams is perennial, but in times of heavy rainfall the waters of some khors reach the Bahrel-Homr tributary of the Bahr-el-Ghazal. (For some 200 M. the Bahr-el-Homr marks the southern frontier of the country.) In the W. and S. See also:water can always be obtained in the dry season by digging 5 or 6 ft. below the See also:surface of the khors. The See also:climate, except in the south, where the rains are heavy and the soil is a See also:damp See also:clay, is healthy except after the rains. The rainy season lasts for three months, from the See also:middle of See also:June to the middle of See also:September. In the neighbourhood of the khors the vegetation is fairly See also:rich. The See also:chief trees are the acacias whence See also:gum is obtained, and See also:baobab (Adansonia digitata); while the sycamore and, in the Marra mountains, the See also:Euphorbia See also:candelabrum are also found. In the S.W. are densely forested regions. See also:Cotton and See also:tobacco are indigenous.

The most fertile See also:

land is found on the slopes of the mountains, where See also:wheat, See also:durra, dukhn (a See also:kind of See also:millet and the See also:staple See also:food of the See also:people) and other grains are grown. Other products are See also:sesame, cotton, cucumbers, water-melons and onions. See also:Copper is obtained from Hofrat-el-Nahas in the S.E., See also:iron is wrought in the S.W.; and there are deposits of See also:rock-See also:salt in various places. The copper mines (in q 48' N. 24° 5' E.) are across the Darfur frontier in the Bahr-el-Ghazal See also:province. The vein runs N.W. and S.E. and in places rises in ridges 2 ft. above the See also:general level of ground. There is an immense quantity of ore, (silicate and carbonate) specimens containing 14% of See also:metal. Camels and See also:cattle are both numerous and of excellent breeds. Some of the Arab tribes, such as the See also:Baggara, breed only cattle, those in the north and east confine themselves to rearing camels. Horses are comparatively rare; they are a small but sturdy breed. See also:Sheep and goats are numerous. The See also:ostrich, See also:common in the eastern steppes, is bred by various Arab tribes, its feathers forming a valuable See also:article of See also:trade.

Inhabitants.—The population of Darfur consists of negroes and See also:

Arabs. The See also:negro For, forming quite See also:half the inhabitants, occupy the central See also:highlands and part of the Dar Dima and Dar Uma districts; they speak a See also:special See also:language, and are sub-divided into numerous tribes, of which the most influential are the Masabat, the Kunjara and the Kera. They are of middle height, and have rather irregular features. The For are described as clean and industrious, somewhat fanatical, but generally amenable to See also:civilization, and freedom-loving. The Massalit are a negro tribe which, breaking off from the For some centuries back, have now much Arab See also:blood, and speak Arabic ; while the Tunjur are an Arab tribe which must have arrived in the Sudan at a very See also:early date, as they have incorporated a large For See also:element, and no longer profess Mahommedanism. The See also:Dago (Tago) formerly inhabited Jebel Marra, but they have been driven to the south and west, where they maintain a certain See also:independence in Dar Sula, but are treated as inferiors by the For. The Zaghawa, who inhabit the See also:northern See also:borders, are on the contrary regarded by the For as their equals, and have all the See also:prestige of a See also:race that at one See also:time made its See also:influence See also:felt as far as See also:Bornu. Among other tribes may be mentioned the Berti and Takruri, the Birgirid, the Beraunas, and immigrants from Wadai and See also:Bagirmi, and See also:Fula from west of Lake Chad. Genuine Arab tribes, e.g. the Baggara and Homr, are numerous; and they are partly nomadic and partly settled. The Arabs have not, generally speaking, mixed with the negro tribes. They are See also:great hunters, making expeditions into the desert for five or six days at a time in See also:search of ostriches. Slaves, ostrich feathers, gum and See also:ivory used to be the chief articles of trade, a See also:caravan going annually by the Arbain (" See also:Forty Days ") road to See also:Assiut in See also:Egypt and taking back See also:cloth, See also:fife-arms and other articles.

The slave trade has ceased, but feathers, gum and ivory still constitute the chief exports of the country. The See also:

principal imports are cotton goods, See also:sugar and See also:tea. There is also an active trade in camels and cattle. The See also:internal See also:administration of the country is in the hands of the See also:sultan, who is officially recognized as the See also:agent of the Sudan See also:government. The administrative See also:system resembles that of other See also:Mahommedan countries. Towns.—The See also:capital is El-Fasher, pop. about lo,000, on the western See also:bank of the Wadi Tendelty in an See also:angle formed by the junction of that wadi with the Wadi-el-Kho, one of the streams which flow towards the Bahr-el-Homr. Fasher is the See also:residence of the sultan. There are a few See also:fine buildings, but the See also:town consists mainly of tukls and See also:box-shaped See also:straw sheds. It is 500 M. W.S.W. of See also:Khartum. Dara, a small See also:market town, is 110 m. S. of El-Fasher.

Shakka is in the S.E. of the country near the Bahrel-Homy, and was formerly the headquarters of the slave dealers. See also:

History.—The Dago or Tago negroes, inhabitants of Jebel Marra, appear to have been the dominant race in Darfur in the earliest See also:period to which. the history of the country goes back. How See also:long they ruled is uncertain, little being known of them See also:save a See also:list of See also:kings. According to tradition the Tago See also:dynasty was displaced, and Mahommedanism introduced, about the 14th See also:century, by Tunjur Arabs, who reached Darfur by way of Bornu and Wadai. The first Tunjur See also:king was Ahmed-el-Makur, who married the daughter of the last Tago monarch. Ahmed reduced many unruly chiefs to submission, and under him the country prospered. His great-See also:grandson, the sultan Dali, a celebrated figure in Darfur histories, was on his See also:mother's See also:side a For, and thus was effected a See also:union between the negro and Arab races. Dali divided the country into provinces, and established a penal See also:code, which, under the See also:title of Kitab Dali or Dali's See also:Book, is still preserved, and shows principles essentially different from those of the See also:Koran. His grandson Soleiman (usually distinguished by the Forian epithet See also:Solon, the Arab or the Red) reigned from 1596 to 1637, and was a great See also:warrior and a devoted Mahommedan. Soleiman's grandson, Ahmed Bahr (1682-1722), made See also:Islam the See also:religion of the state, and increased the prosperity of the country by encouraging. See also:immigration from Bornu and Bagirmi. His See also:rule extended east of the Nile as far as the See also:banks of the See also:Atbara. Under succeeding monarchs the country, involved in See also:wars with See also:Sennar and Wadai, declined in importance.

Towards the end of the 18th century a sultan named Mahommed Terab led an See also:

army against the See also:Funj, but got no further than See also:Omdurman. Here he was stopped by the Nile, and found no means of getting his army across the river. Unwilling to give up his project, Terab remained at Omdurman for months. He was poisoned by his wife at the instigation of disaffected chiefs, and the army returned to Darfur. The next monarch was Abd-er-Rahman, surnamed el-Raschid or the Just. It was during his reign that See also:Napoleon See also:Bonaparte was campaigning in Egypt; and in 1799 Abd-er-Rahman wrote to congratulate the French general on his defeat of the Mamelukes. To this Bonaparte replied by asking the sultan to send him by the next caravan 2000 See also:black slaves upwards of sixteen years old, strong and vigorous. To Abd-er-Rahman likewise is due the See also:present situation of the Fasher, or royal town-See also:ship. The capital had formerly been at a See also:place called Kobbe. Mahommed-el-Fadhl, his son, was for some time under the See also:control of an energetic See also:eunuch, Mahommed Kurra, but he ultimately made himself See also:independent, and his reign lasted till 1839, when he died of leprosy. He devoted himself largely to the subjection of the semi-independent Arab tribes who lived in the country, notably the Rizighat, thousands of whom he slew. In 1821 he lost the province of Kordofan, which in that See also:year was conquered by the Egyptians.

Of his forty sons, the third, Mahommed Hassin, was appointed his successor. Hassin is described as a religious but avaricious See also:

man. In the later part of his reign he became involved in trouble with the Arab slave raiders who had seized the Bahr-el-Ghazal, looked upon by the Darfurians as their especial " slave preserve." The negroes of Bahr-el-Ghazal paid See also:tribute of ivory and slaves to Darfur, and these were the chief articles of merchandise sold by the Darfurians to the Egyptian traders along the Arbain road to Assiut. The loss of the Bahr-el-Ghazal caused therefore much annoyance to the people of Darfur. Hassin died in 1873, See also:blind and advanced in years, and the See also:succession passed to his youngest son See also:Ibrahim, who soon found himself engaged in a conflict with Zobeir (q.v.), the chief of the Bahr-el-Ghazal slave traders, and with an Egyptian force from Khartum. The See also:war resulted in the destruction of the See also:kingdom. Ibrahim was slain in See also:battle in the autumn of 1874, and his See also:uncle Hassab Alla, who sought to maintain the independence of his country, was captured in 1875 by the troops of the See also:khedive, and removed to See also:Cairo with his See also:family. The Darfurians were restive under Egyptian rule. Various revolts were suppressed, but in 1879 General See also:Gordon (then See also:governor-general of the Sudan) suggested the reinstatement of the See also:ancient royal family. This was not done, and in 1881 Slatim See also:Bey (See also:Sir See also:Rudolf von See also:Slatin) was made governor of the province. Slatin defended the province against the forces of the See also:Mandi, who were led by a Rizighat sheik named Madibbo, but was obliged to surrender (See also:December 1883), and Darfur was incorporated in the Mandi's dominions. The Darfurians found See also:Dervish rule as irk-some as that of the Egyptians had been, and a state of almost See also:constant warfare ended in the See also:gradual retirement of the Dervishes from Darfur.

Following the overthrow of the khalif a at Omdurman hi 1898 the new (Anglo-Egyptian) Sudan government recognized (1899) See also:

Ali Dinar, a grandson of Mahommed-el-Fadhl, as sultan of Darfur, on the See also:payment by that chief of an See also:annual tribute of £500. Under Ali Dinar, who during the Mandia had been kept a prisoner in Omdurman, Darfur enjoyed a period of See also:peace. The first See also:European traveller known to have visited Darfur was See also:William See also:George See also:Browne (q.v.), who spent two years (1793–1795) at Kobbe. Sheik Mahommed-el-Tounsi travelled in 1803 through various regions of Africa, including Darfur, in search of See also:Omar, his See also:father, and afterwards ,gave to the See also:world an See also:account of his wanderings, which was translated into French in 1845 by M. See also:Perron. Gustav See also:Nachtigal in 1873 spent some months in Darfur, and since that time the country has become well known through the journeys of Gordon, Slatin and others. Au'ruoRITIxs.—Browne's account of Darfur will be found in his Travels in Africa, Egypt and See also:Syria (See also:London, 1799); Nachtigal's See also:Sahara and Sudan gives the results of that traveller's observations. The first ten chapters of Slatin See also:Pasha's book See also:Fire and See also:Sword in the Sudan (See also:English edition, London, 1896) contain much See also:information concerning the country, its history, and a full account of the overthrow of Egyptian authority by the Mandi. See also The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (London, 1905), edited by See also:Count See also:Gleichen, and the bibliography given under SUDAN.

End of Article: DARFUR

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