هزيمة المؤتمر الوطني في شخصية التشادي احمد هارون

Quote: of A'ndobii, those of Shibi, those of Tara—all localities situated in the neighborhood of Wara, and possibly a few others. All those I have mentioned are said to be entirely different sections, while the Kelingen, the Kajanga, the Malanga, and the Kodoyi are the most numerous, the priority of the former consisting in nothing else than the precarious circumstance that the present momo, or queenmother, who in Waday exercises a certain influence, belongs to this tribe. As for that tribe from which the kings of Waday were originally derived, at least with regard to the male issue, these are neither the Kelingen, nor any other of those tribes constituting the group of Dar Maba, but one of an entirely different nationality, namely, the above-mentioned Gemir, to whom, from this reason, and not on account of their power, which is greatly diminished, I assign the second place as distinguished by a peculiar language. I now enumerate the different clans of the ATm" Sharib or A'byi, who, taken collectively, are stated to exceed the whole group of Dar Maba in numbers; but they seem to have so many different dialects among themselves, that one clan is said scarcely to understand the other, and can only make themselves intelligible by means of the Bora Mabang, known to all the respectable persons of the country, to whatever particular tribe they may belong. I first mention the A"bu Sharib Menagon and Mararit, who have one and the same language, of which I have been able to make a select vocabulary, comprising about two hundred words, together with a translation of the Lord's Prayer; and I must rank with them the Tama, who are positively stated to be nearly related to the former, though the seats of these two tribes are widely separated, the Menagon and Mararit being settled about six days south from Wara, while the Tama, as has been stated above, inhabit a mountainous district four days to the northeast of the capital. This warlike tribe, distinguished principally by their ability in using the spear, seem at present to have lost, in some degree at least, their independence, for which they had been fighting for more than two centuries with success; for I'brabim, the chief imposed on them by the present king after they had driven back another person called Bilbildek, whom he had invested, instead of their former independent chief E' Niir, who was executed by him, seems to be really installed in one of their principal dwelling-places, called Nanawa. Indeed, the Tama are said to frequent at present the markets of Waday, while the " Kay Maba," or the people of Maba Proper, do not dare to visit theirs. The Tama possess a good many horses, but only a few cattle. After the Tama I range the A'bii Sharib Gnorga* and Darna, settled to the east of the Menagon and Mararit; the A'bii Sharib Kiibu, settled in Gonanga, close to A'ndabii; the A'bii Sharib Sungdri,t inhabiting a considerable district toward the frontier of Dar-Fur, intermingled with the Masalit: they are principally noted for their fine, tall horses; the A'bii Sharib Shali, close to the Sungtiri; the A'bii Sharib Shokhen, inhabiting principally the well-known place of the same name; the A'bii Sharib Biibala, intimate friends of the Kodoyi, whose eastern neighbors they are; and, finally, the Wela Gemma, belonging likewise to the large group of the A'bii Sharib, but distinguished, as it is asserted, by n peculiar language. After this group I rank the Masalit, who arc said to be the most numerous ETHNOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF WAT>AT. 651 next to the ATm Sharib, and who may probably be found to have some affinity with the Sungori, with whom they are promiscuously intermingled, although the state of barbarism into which they have sunk appears to be of the very lowest description, as they are even said to be guilty of devouring the flesh of human beings, an imputation made chiefly against that section of them established in the place called Nyesere, close to the frontier of Dar-Fur. Having mentioned next in order to the Masali't, on account of the neighborhood of their dwelling-places, the tribe of the 'Ali, I shall retrace my steps, returning to the neighborhood of Wara, where I shall name first the Mimi, a tribe distinguished, it is said, by a peculiar language, and then rank a group comprising several tribes, the degree of whose affinity to each other can only be ascertained after vocabularies of their languages or dialects have been collected. These are the following tribes: the Moe'wo* and the Maria, the Kurunga, or, as they are called by the Arabs, Karinga, and the Kashemere. It seems probable that there is some kind of relation between these tribes and the Masalit. I now enumerate the Kondongo, a tribe formerly of considerable strength, but at present much debilitated by the struggle sustained by them against 'Abd el 'Aziz, and by a famine which befell them in consequence of that struggle. They are principally famous on account of the excellency of their weaving. I now mention as separate tribes or nationalities the Kabagga, to the S.E. of Wara, close to the Kiibu; the Mtibi, on the Bat-ha; theMdrta; the Dermudi or Daramdutu; the Bakka, or Welad el Bakhkha, close to Malam; the Birkit. near the frontiers of Dar-Fur, in which country they are more numerous; the Tala; Kajagse or Kajigase, near the S.S.W. frontier of Waday proper; and not far from them the Tynjur, the remainder of that powerful nation which once ruled over all these countries, at present chiefly settled in Magara, a place belonging to Dar Zoyud. I now mention the Kuka, settled principally along the lower course of the Batha, and in Fittn, where, as far as regards language, they form one group together with the Bulala, separated from the other tribes of Waday as above-mentioned, but intimately connected with the inhabitants of Bagirmi, with whose language, at least with regard to half of the elements of which it is composed, the language of the Kuka is identical. After the Kuka must be ranked the Dajo, a tribe even at present, though their ancient power is gone, very numerous, and, as far as regards Waday, settled principally to the S.E. of the Kuka, with whom they have some distant affinity. Perhaps those elements in the language of the Kuka which do not harmonize with the language of the Bagirmi people may be identical with the language of the Dajo. As for the relation between the Dajo and the AT>u Telfan, inhabiting a mountainous district two days S.S.W. from Birket Fatima, we are likewise not yet able to decide; at least, as far as regards civilization, the latter seem to occupy a very low stage, and are considered by the people of Waday as " jenakhera," or pagans. They are very rich in horses and cattle. In the province called Dar Zoyiid, on the middle course of the Bat-ha, I have still to mention a separate tribe or clan, namely, the Kaudara, residing in a considerable place called Kfnne, and speaking a peculiar language. - The Dame is written ff* or ^y-0' Before enumerating the tribes inhabiting the outlying provinces to the south, who are only partly subdued, I shall first mention the Zoghawa, or, as the name is pronounced in Waday, the Zokhawa, and the Gur'aan, two of the great divisions of the Tebu or Teda, inhabiting the desert to the north of Waday, who arc very rich in flocks, and have become dependent on and tributary to the ruler of that country. In the provinces to the south there are the Silla, in the mountainous country S.S.W. from Shenini; the Bandala, close to Jeji; the Runga, inhabiting the country to the S.W. from Silla, and fifteen days' march from Wara, and paying tribute as well to Dar-Fur as to Waday; the Daggel, whose capital is Mangara, to the north from Runga and west frem Silla; the Gulla, to the west from Runga, said to be of a fine bodily figure, and some of them copper-colored; the Fana. south of Gulla ; the Birrimbirri, to the S.S.E. of Waday; the Seli, south of Runga ; and the Kutingara. This is rather a dry list of the numerous tribes belonging to the black population of Waday, and nothing but further researches into the interior of the country itself, and the collecting of vocabularies of their languages, can establish the degree of relation or affinity existing between them. As for the other large group, viz., the Arab population of Waday, or the " 'Aramka Dar Mabana," as they are called in the Waday language—for the Waday people never employ the term Shuwa or Shiwa, used in Bagirmi and Burnu—it consists of the following tribes, who have been settled in Waday for about 500 years. First (the most powerful and richest of them all, as well in camels as in small cattle), the Mahamid, settled in the wadiyan to the north of Wara, principally in Wadi 'Oradha, two days' march from that place, but leading a nomadic life like all the others; and near to them the Bern Helba, who are said to have been politically united with the Tynjur; the Shiggegat, partly associated with the Mahamid, partly settled near Jeji; the Sebbcdi; the Sef e' din; and the Beni Hassan. The latter, whom we have met already in Bornu and in Kanem, where they are spread in considerable numbers—also in Waday, are rather miserably off, a great many of them roving about Eastern Sudan in order to gain something by their labor, while the rest wander, in the rainy season, to a place called E tang, situated to the N.E. of Wara, between the Tama and Zoghhawa. While all these tribes roam about to the north of Wara, I now class together those settled, at least part of the year, in the valley of the Bat-ha. These arc the Missiriyc, the third tribe among the Waday Arabs in respect to numbers, and divided into two sections, viz., the Missiriye Zoruk, or the black (dark) ones, and the Missiriye Homr, or the red ones—Domboli is the chief place of residence of the Missiriye; then the Khozam, the next in point of numbers; the Zoyiid, the J'aatena, the Zabbade, and the 'Abidiye; to whom may be added the Nuw'afbe, who keep more to the north of the Bat-ha. Next in order may be named the Sabalat, a rather indigent tribe, who breed cattle for the king, and supply his household with milk. South of the Sungori are the settlements of the Korobat, whose chief place is Tenjing, east of Tjinjung, which is two days from Shenini. On the rich pasture-grounds, fed by a shallow water called the bahr e' Tfni, four days S.E. from Birket Fatima, there are the wandering tribes of the Kolomat and the Terjem; while toward the S.W. extremity of the empire, on the borders of another shallow water, probably without any current, and called after the tribe which I am just about to mention, there are the settlements of the Wclad Rashid, close to the eastern borders of the pagan dependencies of Bagirmi, and part of them settled even in the midst of those pagan tribes, principally among the Biiwa Kiili, with whom they are said even to intermarry, they are particularly rich in horses of small breed, and possess considerable property. Finally, there is another group of Arab tribes, who pasture their cattle near another shallow water, which seems to me to have likewise very little inclination, and is generally called O'm e' Timan, but very often named after the tribes who are settled on its borders. There are toward the east, not far from the Bandala, the Salamat, a rather numerous tribe; to the west of them the Hemad; and, finally, the Sharafa, who occasionally also visit the bahr e' Tini. Besides these, in the western extremity of the empire there are the Duggana or Daghana, who were in former times dependent on Btirnu. With regard to their color, all these Arab tribes may be distributed into two groups, namely, the "Zonik" and the "Homr." To the first group—the darkcolored tribes—belong principally the Missiriye, the Zoruk, and the 'Abidfye; while the Mahamid, the Bashid, the Khozam, the Hamide, and the others mentioned above, constitute the far more numerous group of the Homr