Shaigiya tribe
Shaigiya الشايقية | |
---|---|
Ethnicity | Sudanese Arabs |
Location |
|
Population | 1,128,000[1] |
Demonym | Shaiqi or Shaigi |
Language | Sudanese Arabic |
Religion | Sunni Islam |
The Shaigiya, Shaiqiya, Shawayga or Shaykia (
Although speaking
In the 20th century, Shaiqi tribe are among those along the Nile, who have been affected by the Merowe Dam.[11]
Origin and lineage
Despite claims to Abbasid descent, the Shaigiya have been classified as Arabised Nubians.[12] They claim descent from a Hejazi Arab named Shaig, a descendant of Abbas (an uncle of Muhammad) who came from the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century following the Arab conquest of Egypt.[13] Allegedly, he and his family settled in Sudan and intermixed with the local Nubians, creating this tribe. However, historically it seems the tribe has originated in 15th century as a hybrid of various tribes settled in the area.[14] According to Nicholls, at the start of the 20th century, the tribe nobles denied to have Arab origins and said that they were indigenous to Sudan and that they have always inhabited the same territory as today.[15]
Although speaking
History
During the medieval period Dar Shaiqiya was part of the heartland of the Christian Nubian kingdom of
Still the best early description came from an adventurer and historian
In the
In April 1884, Saleh Bey (Saleh Wad el Mek), head of the tribe, and 1,400 men surrendered to the Mahdi's forces. Numbers of Shaigiya continued in the service of General Gordon, and this led to the proscription of the tribe by the Mahdi. When Khartoum fell, Saleh's sons were sought out and executed by the
On the reconquest of the Sudan by the Anglo-Egyptian army (1896/98), it was found that the Shaigiya were reduced to a few hundred families.[27] After this, the tribe thrived. They figured prominently in the Egyptian Army and later the Sudan Defence Force. General Ibrahim Abboud, decorated with the MBE for his valour at Keren in 1941, was a Shaiqi from the Onia section and later President of the Sudan in 1964.
Culture
They are known for their bravery, generosity, and enlightenment. "They are the one to hunt the Lion."[
They have adopted the tribal marking custom of cutting three horizontal lines on the cheeks of their children. This was done with a heated knife, but is now a dying custom.
Communication
Members of the Shaigiya tribe speak and write in Arabic. Some sections living towards the Red Sea area have a language that is akin to what the
Art forms
There is a special instrument that can be heard in Shaigi tribal music: the tambour, or
Institutions
Family
In the rural areas of the various sub-tribes (or Dars), extended family life features strongly. It is quite common that multiple generations will stay in one house (mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, children, aunts, uncles, cousins). Most households in the Shaigiya tribe consist of extended families. Some men have more than one wife. The head of the house is the father. If the father is not in the home then the mother is the head. If the mother is incapable, then the uncle takes over. The uncle is usually the father’s brother and must act as the father. If the uncle cannot fulfil the role, then the grandfather will take over.
Religion
The main religion of the Shaigiya tribe is Sunni Islam.
Schooling
Most children attend government school. Women are usually the teachers, while the men are farming and planting. All lessons are important, but most emphasized are religion, languages, and mathematics. Religion is considered important, and for this, many children attend traditional religious schools, called khalwa in Sudan. This is a place, where kids go to before they enter a public school to learn classical Arabic and memorize the Quran.
Social behavior
Children in the Shaigiya tribe like to play a kind of game called seega, which is similar to tic-tac-toe. First they draw a big square with 9 small squares inside on the sand, two children play, each has five stones, each stone of a different color. Each tries to align their own stones in a line of 3, while the other blocks and tries to prevent his/her adversary from making a straight line.
The Shaygiya greeting is similar to most other tribal Sudanese greetings or Muslim greetings. When the Shaigiya people meet someone who is older, they say, “As-salamu alaykum ya haj” or “Marhaban ya haj”, pat their hands on the left shoulder and then shake hands. If they meet their friend, they would say “Marhaban" or “Ezayakum”. Ladies hug each other and shake hands.
When there is a wedding, the groom applies henna, a kind of black decoration that people usually put on their hands and feet. Henna is applied as a paste made of dried and powdered Lawsonia leaves, with added oil and water. Brides use it in a decorative manner, usually with floral decorations. If applied once, it takes on a reddish hue, twice will turn it black.
Eating habits are typical almost throughout Sudan: breakfast is around 10am, lunch is at 3pm and dinner at 7pm. The main course will always be a kind of bread called gurrasa, which is made of flour. It is usually dipped into meat curries. They have black tea with sugar after every meal.
When someone dies, funeral rites for the dead are carried out immediately. The families of the dead wear black or white, and the men take the corpse, wash it and cover it with large white sheet and bury it. Widows usually mourn for a stipulated four-month and ten day period.
When a baby is born, the baby’s mother and the town's women ululate (zaghareed) to announce the baby's arrival, and after 7 days, the family hosts a party to give the newborn baby a name.
Social structure
Most mornings, men work in the fields tending their crops. Hunting is also popular. Wives take care of children and give food to their husbands when they are working in the field. Boys in the Shaigiya tribe help in the field after school. Girls stay at home to help their mothers and make themselves more beautiful (decorate themselves with fancy clothes and other decorations). They are not allowed to go out very much until they are 15 years old. The leader of a family always is the father, but when troubles come to the leader, the mother or the uncle of this family will lead instead.
Notes
- ^ "Shaigiya in Sudan". Joshua Project. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ O'Fahey 1996, p. 406: "Despite claims to Abbasid descent, the Shaykiyya are undoubtedly Arabised and Islamised Nubians".
- ^ Thelwall 1982, p. 50.
- ^ Kramer, Lobban & Fluehr-Lobban 2013, p. 382.
- ^ Adams 1977, pp. 557–558, 562.
- ^ Werner 2013, p. 29.
- ^ a b Gerhards 2023, pp. 139–140.
- ^ Spaulding 1990, p. 288.
- ^ Bechhaus-Gerst 1996, pp. 25–26.
- ^ Gerhards 2023, p. 140.
- ^ "Tide of censure for African dams". Retrieved May 14, 2021.
- ^ O'Fahey, R. S. (2012-04-24), "S̲h̲āyḳiyya", Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Brill, retrieved 2023-07-12
- ^ Nicholls, W. (May 14, 1913). The Shaikiya. An account of the Shaikiya tribes and of the history of Dongola Province from the XIVth to the XIXth century. Dublin : Hodges. Retrieved May 14, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- ISBN 978-1108010252.
- ISBN 978-0267726547. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ O'Fahey & Spaulding 1974, pp. 28–29.
- ^ Spaulding 1990, pp. 287–288.
- ^ Shinnie 1984, p. 176.
- ^ Gerhards 2023, pp. 144–145.
- ^ Gerhards 2023, p. 139.
- ^ West 1918, p. 28.
- ^ Gerhards 2023, p. 147.
- ^ a b O'Fahey 1996, p. 406.
- ^ a b O'Fahey & Spaulding 1974, p. 28.
- ^ Karrar 1992, pp. 16–19.
- ^ W. Burckhardt, Travels in Nubia, 1819
- ^ a b c d e f public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Shagīa". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 769. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
References
- The discovery of the source of Nile, J. Bruce 1790
- Travels in Nubia, 1819 W. Burckhardt
- Adams, William Y. (1977). Nubia. Corridor to Africa. Princeton University. ISBN 0691093709.
- Bechhaus-Gerst, Marianne (1996). Sprachwandel durch Sprachkontakt am Beispiel des Nubischen im Niltal (in German). Köppe. ISBN 3-927620-26-2.
- Gerhards, Gabriel (2023). "Präarabische Sprachen der Ja'aliyin und Ababde in der europäischen Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts". Der Antike Sudan (in German). 34. Sudanarchäologische Gesellschaft zu Berlin e.V: 135–152.
- Karrar, Ali Sahih (1992). The Sufi Brotherhoods in the Sudan. C. Hurst & Company. ISBN 1-85065-111-6.
- Kramer, Robert S.; Lobban, Richard A. Jr.; Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn (2013). Historical Dictionary of the Sudan. The Scarecrow. ISBN 978-0810861800.
- O'Fahey, R.S.; Spaulding, Jay L. (1974). Kingdoms of the Sudan. Methuen Young Books. ISBN 0416774504.
- O'Fahey, R.S. (1996). "Shaykiyya". The Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. IX. Brill. p. 406. ISBN 978-90-04-10422-8.
- Shinnie, P.L. (1984). "Life and Language in Mahas today". Rivista degli studi orientali. 58, 1/4: 173–178.
- Spaulding, Jay (1990). "The Old Shaiqi Language in Historical Perspective". History in Africa. 17. Cambridge University: 283–292. S2CID 153767706.
- Thelwall, Robin (1982). "Linguistic Aspects of Greater Nubian History". In Christopher Ehret; Merrick Posnansky (eds.). The Archaeological and Linguistic Reconstruction of African History. University of California. pp. 39–52. ISBN 0520045939.
- Werner, Roland (2013). Das Christentum in Nubien. Geschichte und Gestalt einer afrikanischen Kirche (in German). Lit.
- West, Louis C. (1918). "Dongola Province of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan". Sudan Notes and Records. 5, 1: 22–37.
Further reading
- Ibrahim, Hayder (1979). The Shaiqiya: The cultural and social change of a Northern Sudanese riverain people. Steiner. ISBN 3515029079.
- The Shaikiya. An account of the Shaikiya tribes and of the history of Dongola Province from the XIVth to the XIXth century (1913)
- The Making of the Modern Sudan, KDD Henderson 1953, Faber and Faber
- History of Sudan, P.M. Holt and M.W. Daly 1981
- Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, edited by Count Gleichen (London, 1905)
- Ethnology of the Egyptian Sudan, A. H. Keane, (London, 1884)
- The Shaikiya of the Northern Sudan, Nicholls, 1903, Dublin