Tunjur people
The Tunjur (or Tungur) people are a
History
Based on linguistic and archaeological evidence, the ethnic ancestry of the Tunjur people has been argued by contemporary archaeologist Claude Rilly to go back to Christian Nubia.[2][3][4] Thus, Rilly claims that the name Tunjur goes back to the town of Dongola (Tungul or Old Dongola, where the Tungur name is derived from Tungul, the old name of Dongola) in Nubia. According to their own oral traditions and other scholars, they are of Arab descent, whose ancestors migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to central Sudan either by way of North Africa and Tunis or by way of Nubia. Thus, the 19th century German explorer Gustav Nachtigal claimed they resemble Arabs in features and behaviour,[5] but this impression has been refuted by modern scholars.[2]
Although a minority, the Tunjur became the ruling class of
Around the middle of the 17th century, the Tunjur people were expelled from the Islamic Wadai empire by Abd-el-Kerim of the Bargo people, and the Bargo controlled the slave supply caravans to the north.[3][4] The Tunjur then migrated west to their current location. Thereafter, they converted to Maliki fiqh of Sunni Islam.[3]
Society
The Tunjur are farmers and live closely associated with the Fur. Their own Tunjur language has become extinct, they now speak Chadian Arabic, Fur, or Bari as their first language.[3]
Contemporary issues
Following the
See also
- History of Darfur
- Ouaddai Empire
- Tunjur kingdom
References
- ^ Nave, Ari (2010). Tunjur. In Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Kwame Anthony Appiah (eds.) Encyclopedia of Africa. Oxford University Press.
- ^ OCLC 1298202018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-517055-9.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-32111-5.
- ^ Nachtigal/Fisher, Sahara, II, 257/ III, 13.
- ISBN 978-0-521-20981-6.
- ^ Nachtigal/Fisher, Sahara, III, 361/IV, 276.
- Bibliography
- Arkell, A. J. "A History of Darfur. Part II: The Tunjur etc.", Sudan Notes and Records, 32, 2 (1951), 207-238.
- Balfour Paul, H. G. 1955. History and Antiquities of Darfur. Khartoum, Sudan Antiquities Service.
- Braukämper, Ulrich: Migration und ethnischer Wandel, Stuttgart, 1992.
- Fuchs, Peter: "The Arab origin of the Tunjur, in: A. Rouand (ed.), Les orientalistes sont des aventuriers, Saint-Maur, 1999, 235-9.
- Godlewski, Włodzimierz (2013b). Dongola-ancient Tungul. Archaeological guide (PDF). Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw. ISBN 978-83-903796-6-1.
- Lange, Dierk: “Abwanderung der assyrischen tamkāru nach Nubien, Darfur und ins Tschadseegebiet“, in: Bronislaw Nowak et al. (eds.), Europejczycy Afrykanie Inni: Studia ofiarowane Profesorowi Michalowi Tymowskiemu, Warzawa 2011, 199-226.
- Nachtigal, Gustav, transl. H. Fisher, Sahara and Sudan, vol. IV (vol. III, 1889), London 1971.
- Nave, Ari (2010). Tunjur. In Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Kwame Anthony Appiah (eds.) Encyclopedia of Africa. Oxford University Press.
- O'Fahey, R. S. The Tunjur: a central Sudanic mystery. Sudan Notes and Records, vol. 61 (1980), pp. 47-60
- O'Fahey, R. S. The Darfur Sultanate: A History, London 2008.