Historical region of the Billād al-Sūdān (Arabic: “Land of the Blacks”)
It covers an area of 493,180 square kilometers (190,420 sq mi), approximately the size of mainland Spain.
Khormusan industry was a Paleolithic archeological industry in Nubia dated at 42,000 to 18,000 BP.
Developed tools from stone, animal bones, and hematite, a common iron oxide compound found in rocks and soils. They also developed small arrow heads resembling but no bows have been found.
The end of the Khormusan industry came around 18,000 BP, and was succeeded by the Halfan culture.
The Halfan seem to have appeared in northern Sudan around 25,000 BC to 20,000 BC in Nubia. The Halfan is in the north of Sudan, and the Kubbaniyan, its Egyptian counterpart, is in all respects similar.
The Halfan industry is characterized by three main tools: Halfa flakes (flints), backed microflakes, and backed microblades (the creation and use of small stone blades produced by chipping silica-rich stones like quartz or obsidian).
Succeeded by:
The Qadan culture (13000-9000 BCE): an ancient culture that originated in Nubia approximately 15,000 years ago and persisted for approximately 4,000 years.
Characterized by hunting and a unique approach to food gathering that incorporated the preparation and consumption of wild grasses and grains. Systematic efforts were made by the Qadan people to water, care for, and harvest local plant life, but grains were not planted in ordered rows.
Tora are a semi-legendary culture that existed in Darfur. In local oral traditions they appear as "white giants" who arrived in Darfur from somewhere in the north, hinting that the were originally Berbers.
The region was named Dardaju while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë c. 350 AD, and it was renamed Dartunjur when the Tunjur ruled the area.
In the 12th century the Daju people, succeeded the Tora culture and created the first historical attestable kingdom in the Marrah Mountains of Darfur. The Marrah Mountains being the only area in Darfur that has a temperate climate and thus could support large populations.
The Daju people are a group of seven distinct ethnicities speaking related languages living on both sides of the Chad-Sudan border. Separated by distance and speaking different languages, at present, they generally have little cultural affinity to each other.
Accounts refer their origins to Shendi, a small city in northern Sudan about 150 km northeast of Khartoum. First they settled in Wadi al-Malik, Wadi Howar and Jebel Midob. In 3000 B.C. Due to climate change they migrated to the Nile valley and Egypt where they ruled under the name of Libyan Pharaohs.
(Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a river valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs.)
The Daju had migrated originally from the Nile valley in the aftermath of the invasion of Kingdom of Meroe around the middle of the fourth century A.D.
After several generations, they annexed the land now called Dar Fur and beyond. Historians attribute this later expansion to the war between the Daju kingdom and the Kingdom of Dongola in 1100 AD.
Traditional handicrafts include leatherwork, wood carving, and carpet weaving.
The Tunjur (or Tungur) people, a Sunni Muslim ethnic group that replaced the Daju in the fourteenth century.
They live in eastern Chad and western Sudan.
The Tunjur sultans intermarried with the Fur and sultan Musa Sulayman (reigned c. 1667 – c. 1695) is considered the founder of the Keira dynasty.
Although a minority, the Tunjur became the ruling class of Darfur and Wadai in the 13th century by peacefully taking power from the Daju.
In the 16th century, they were overthrown by an Arab group that founded the Keira dynasty which became a great power of the Sahel, and later merged with the Fur people.
Around the middle of the 17th century, the Christian Tunjur people were expelled by the islamist Bargo people, and migrated west to their current location. Thereafter, they converted to Sunni Islam.
The Maba, also called Bargo or Wadai people, are a Sunni Muslim ethnic group found primarily in the mountains of Wadai region in eastern Chad and southern Sudan.
An African people, traditionally pastoral and farmers who are clan-oriented
Their Bargo language was the state language of the Islamic Wadai Empire, and continued to be an important language when the Islamic Bornu Empire conquered these lands. Many Bargo people also speak Arabic, as their traditional trade language
Ubangi-Shari: a French colony in central Africa, part of French Equatorial Africa. Established on 29 December 1903. Renamed the Central African Republic (CAR) on 1 December 1958; and received independence on 13 August 1960.
The Fur are an ethnic group inhabiting Darfur and are the largest ethnic group. A traditional society governed by village elders.
They are agricultural people (growing mainly millet) and also herd cattle. Some Fur families have accumulated a substantial cattle herd have developed a more nomadic lifestyle. Culturally, those cattle-herding Fur are now considered to be Baqqara.
The Fur established the historical Sultanate of Darfur in 1603 and Islam wss declared the state religion. It existed until 1624, and again from 1898 to 1916, when it was occupied by the British and Egyptians and integrated into Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
The Masalit are primarily subsistence farmers who cultivate peanuts and millet, and also some sorghum.
The Masalit are Muslim and their religious practices incorporate traditional beliefs and customs.
Before 1874, the Masalit were divided between multiple polities in the region such as the Wadai Sultanate and the Sultanate of Darfur.
Masalit tradition traces their origins to Tunisia. After migrating through Chad, they eventually settled in present-day Sudan.
In 1895 the Masalit Sultanate was invaded by the Mahdist State. Which fell in 1898 and did not bring peace to western Darfur.
Darfur has a long history of independence, amid various other groups seeking control of all of Sudan. Darfur was an independent sultanate for several hundred years until 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr. #Africa
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