الأحد، 30 نوفمبر 2008
Nuba
Nuba
The Nuba are a society of cultures. They are a congeries of more than sixty African tribes, speaking many languages, and with varying customs, yet living together rather harmoniously in the Nuba Mountains. Unfortunately for them they happen to be in the middle of the political unit called Sudan.
Bilâd as-Sûdân means in Arabic "the lands of the blacks", and the name was applied in medieval times to the whole zone of savanna grasslands across Africa south of the Sahara, all the way from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. The eastern part, along the Nile above Egypt, contained the ancient civilization called Nubia. In the nineteenth century the eastern Sudan was ruled by Egypt; in the first half of the twentieth century it was a joint dominion called the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan; and in 1956 it became the independent republic of Sudan, a country larger than the U.S.A. east of the Mississippi, though with a far thinner population.
From the vast clay plains of central Sudan, in South Kordofan province, more than two hundred miles southwest of Khartoum, rises a scatter of rugged granite mountains. This is Dâr Nuba, "the house of the Nuba".
"Nuba" is not a term in any of the Nuba peoples' own languages. It was a disdainful label applied by Arab conquerors to black people of the hinterland, the outback. It seems to be a memory of the ancient "Nubia", though that applied to a fairly distant region on the other side of Khartoum. The names by which some of the tribes are known, too, are derogatory: Koalib and Mesakin are the Arabic words Kawâlib, "dogs", and Masâkîn, "poor ones" or "beggars".
The Nuba are estimated to number somewhat over a million and a half. In language they are remarkably diverse. There are, by various analyses, six, or ten, or more language groups among them, each including several languages or dialects. Most of the languages form a "Kordofanian" group that is a precious and almost unique relic. Its only, and distant, relatives are the languages of the family that linguists call "Niger-Congo", and that spreads all across western and southern Africa and includes the huge Bantu branch. Indeed, the Kordofanian languages are sometimes called "Bantoid", because they use a noun-class system similar to that of Bantu. In the northern part of the Nuba hills are peoples who speak languages of the Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan family; they came in as refugees from elsewhere, mostly from Nubia proper.
Thus on a linguistic map of Africa the Nuba Mountains stand out as a little whorl of complexity.
In culture, too, the Nuba vary, though in general they are described as vigorous, independent, and strong in their traditions. They farm terraces on the hills, and larger fields on the flat corridors between, growing millet and sorghum, also sesame, okra, watermelons, gourds, cotton, and more recently maize. Besides cattle, sheep, poultry, and other animals, they keep pigs—an unusual holdout against the pig-taboo that has spread with Islam.
Nuba homesteads are rings of round red-clay rooms with conical thatched roofs, linked by walls to form courtyards, and grouped to form villages, which are usually in the hills even if the fields are down in the plains. Kin descent is matrilineal in the south, changing gradually to patrilineal toward the north. Indeed, this is only part of a complex of related cultural features that change step by step across the Nuba area from its southern core to its northern rim, more exposed to influence from other peoples; there is a fascinating analysis of this process in the Nuba chapter of George Murdock's Africa: Its People and Their Culture History.
The Nuba are very black, a tall people of famously fine physique. Men and women traditionally go naked except for some lip plugs, beads, and other decorations; sometimes they paint the whole body in whites and blues. And the Sudanic and one of the Kordofanian tribes (the Otoro) have a custom of knocking out the lower incisors (middle teeth) at puberty—a somewhat severe rite of passage, though far from the cruelty of the female genital mutilation that is so widespread elsewhere in Africa and the Islamic world. Long-legged Nuba girls perform eccentric dances, smeared with sim-sim oil and ocher and wearing a few ornaments. Nuba men go in for wrestling, and you may have seen the well-known photograph of a gigantic champion, clad in nothing but an earring, being carried shoulder-high.
[PICTURE? the wrestler?
"Nuba cultures are vibrant in a way that we had never expected. We spent scarcely a night in the Nuba Mountains without hearing music. Every evening and night there was drumming, singing and dancing, in an astonishing variety of musical styles..." This is from Facing Genocide: the Nuba of Sudan, a book of (alas) 344 pages published in 1995 by the London-based organization African Rights.
The Nuba tribes are remnants of peoples once more widespread. After the last ice age, what is now the Sahara was probably green, and populated by black people, as shown in their beautiful paintings such as those in the caves of Tassili. From a few thousand years ago, the Sahara has become desert, whether through climate change or human pastoralism; fair-skinned peoples from the north, the Berbers and much later the Arabs, spread into it, and Berber and black groups hold out in the mountain islands—Ahaggar, Aïr, Tibesti, Ennedi, and Dar Nuba. The Arabs carrying the new religion of Islam conquered Egypt in 640 A.D. Then as they spread up the Nile, their way was blocked by the Nubian Christian kingdom of Dongola, and then, after that fell, by another called Alwa, in the region of Khartoum; in 1504 that too fell, and the way was open for Arabs to pour into central Sudan. The Bedouin tribes who inundated the plains are known as Baggara ("cattle Arabs"). Other Arabs, coming in from the north as traders, are collectively called Jellaba. Some Nubians remained along the Nile, others took refuge in Dar Nuba, others in the hills of Dar Fur farther west. Thus the situation is roughly that a sea of Arabs surrounds the black peoples of the hills, though there is much intermixture, and several tribes have the race or language of one kind combined with the religion or culture of the other.
The colonial powers used the Arab tribes to help "pacify" the Nuba, and this divide-and-rule policy was continued by the state of Sudan. There is a bitter divide between the north of the country, which is mainly Arab and Muslim, and the south, whose many black tribes are generally described as being a mixture of Christian and "animist". The Islamist military regime based at Khartoum in the north has tried to impose Islamic Shari`a law on the whole country; the south has been in a long rebellion for autonomy. Though the Nuba region is not part of southern Sudan, the government has treated it as being part of the rebellion. Government forces have systematically burned dozens of villages, looted cattle, raped women, kidnapped thousands of civilians, killed others. One government offensive started in June 1996, burning and shelling towns, churches, and mosques; people were killed by land mines, or burned inside their houses which had been set on fire by helicopter gunships.
(Have you ever been a hundred feet under a passing helicopter? The noise is terrifying before the thing is even near enough to be seen; as it thunders overhead you flinch, even though you know what it is and know it isn't coming straight at you with flames and steel.)
It's not easy in dry remote mountains to maintain marginal subsistence, and an ancient culture, even without the attentions of helicopter gunships.
The Nuba are a society of cultures. They are a congeries of more than sixty African tribes, speaking many languages, and with varying customs, yet living together rather harmoniously in the Nuba Mountains. Unfortunately for them they happen to be in the middle of the political unit called Sudan.
Bilâd as-Sûdân means in Arabic "the lands of the blacks", and the name was applied in medieval times to the whole zone of savanna grasslands across Africa south of the Sahara, all the way from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. The eastern part, along the Nile above Egypt, contained the ancient civilization called Nubia. In the nineteenth century the eastern Sudan was ruled by Egypt; in the first half of the twentieth century it was a joint dominion called the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan; and in 1956 it became the independent republic of Sudan, a country larger than the U.S.A. east of the Mississippi, though with a far thinner population.
From the vast clay plains of central Sudan, in South Kordofan province, more than two hundred miles southwest of Khartoum, rises a scatter of rugged granite mountains. This is Dâr Nuba, "the house of the Nuba".
"Nuba" is not a term in any of the Nuba peoples' own languages. It was a disdainful label applied by Arab conquerors to black people of the hinterland, the outback. It seems to be a memory of the ancient "Nubia", though that applied to a fairly distant region on the other side of Khartoum. The names by which some of the tribes are known, too, are derogatory: Koalib and Mesakin are the Arabic words Kawâlib, "dogs", and Masâkîn, "poor ones" or "beggars".
The Nuba are estimated to number somewhat over a million and a half. In language they are remarkably diverse. There are, by various analyses, six, or ten, or more language groups among them, each including several languages or dialects. Most of the languages form a "Kordofanian" group that is a precious and almost unique relic. Its only, and distant, relatives are the languages of the family that linguists call "Niger-Congo", and that spreads all across western and southern Africa and includes the huge Bantu branch. Indeed, the Kordofanian languages are sometimes called "Bantoid", because they use a noun-class system similar to that of Bantu. In the northern part of the Nuba hills are peoples who speak languages of the Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan family; they came in as refugees from elsewhere, mostly from Nubia proper.
Thus on a linguistic map of Africa the Nuba Mountains stand out as a little whorl of complexity.
In culture, too, the Nuba vary, though in general they are described as vigorous, independent, and strong in their traditions. They farm terraces on the hills, and larger fields on the flat corridors between, growing millet and sorghum, also sesame, okra, watermelons, gourds, cotton, and more recently maize. Besides cattle, sheep, poultry, and other animals, they keep pigs—an unusual holdout against the pig-taboo that has spread with Islam.
Nuba homesteads are rings of round red-clay rooms with conical thatched roofs, linked by walls to form courtyards, and grouped to form villages, which are usually in the hills even if the fields are down in the plains. Kin descent is matrilineal in the south, changing gradually to patrilineal toward the north. Indeed, this is only part of a complex of related cultural features that change step by step across the Nuba area from its southern core to its northern rim, more exposed to influence from other peoples; there is a fascinating analysis of this process in the Nuba chapter of George Murdock's Africa: Its People and Their Culture History.
The Nuba are very black, a tall people of famously fine physique. Men and women traditionally go naked except for some lip plugs, beads, and other decorations; sometimes they paint the whole body in whites and blues. And the Sudanic and one of the Kordofanian tribes (the Otoro) have a custom of knocking out the lower incisors (middle teeth) at puberty—a somewhat severe rite of passage, though far from the cruelty of the female genital mutilation that is so widespread elsewhere in Africa and the Islamic world. Long-legged Nuba girls perform eccentric dances, smeared with sim-sim oil and ocher and wearing a few ornaments. Nuba men go in for wrestling, and you may have seen the well-known photograph of a gigantic champion, clad in nothing but an earring, being carried shoulder-high.
[PICTURE? the wrestler?
"Nuba cultures are vibrant in a way that we had never expected. We spent scarcely a night in the Nuba Mountains without hearing music. Every evening and night there was drumming, singing and dancing, in an astonishing variety of musical styles..." This is from Facing Genocide: the Nuba of Sudan, a book of (alas) 344 pages published in 1995 by the London-based organization African Rights.
The Nuba tribes are remnants of peoples once more widespread. After the last ice age, what is now the Sahara was probably green, and populated by black people, as shown in their beautiful paintings such as those in the caves of Tassili. From a few thousand years ago, the Sahara has become desert, whether through climate change or human pastoralism; fair-skinned peoples from the north, the Berbers and much later the Arabs, spread into it, and Berber and black groups hold out in the mountain islands—Ahaggar, Aïr, Tibesti, Ennedi, and Dar Nuba. The Arabs carrying the new religion of Islam conquered Egypt in 640 A.D. Then as they spread up the Nile, their way was blocked by the Nubian Christian kingdom of Dongola, and then, after that fell, by another called Alwa, in the region of Khartoum; in 1504 that too fell, and the way was open for Arabs to pour into central Sudan. The Bedouin tribes who inundated the plains are known as Baggara ("cattle Arabs"). Other Arabs, coming in from the north as traders, are collectively called Jellaba. Some Nubians remained along the Nile, others took refuge in Dar Nuba, others in the hills of Dar Fur farther west. Thus the situation is roughly that a sea of Arabs surrounds the black peoples of the hills, though there is much intermixture, and several tribes have the race or language of one kind combined with the religion or culture of the other.
The colonial powers used the Arab tribes to help "pacify" the Nuba, and this divide-and-rule policy was continued by the state of Sudan. There is a bitter divide between the north of the country, which is mainly Arab and Muslim, and the south, whose many black tribes are generally described as being a mixture of Christian and "animist". The Islamist military regime based at Khartoum in the north has tried to impose Islamic Shari`a law on the whole country; the south has been in a long rebellion for autonomy. Though the Nuba region is not part of southern Sudan, the government has treated it as being part of the rebellion. Government forces have systematically burned dozens of villages, looted cattle, raped women, kidnapped thousands of civilians, killed others. One government offensive started in June 1996, burning and shelling towns, churches, and mosques; people were killed by land mines, or burned inside their houses which had been set on fire by helicopter gunships.
(Have you ever been a hundred feet under a passing helicopter? The noise is terrifying before the thing is even near enough to be seen; as it thunders overhead you flinch, even though you know what it is and know it isn't coming straight at you with flames and steel.)
It's not easy in dry remote mountains to maintain marginal subsistence, and an ancient culture, even without the attentions of helicopter gunships.
السبت، 29 نوفمبر 2008
الصدفة لعبت دورا في حياة رئيسين امريكيين
اعتدال سلامه من برلين: من اغرب البرامج التي عرضتها احدى محطات التلفزة الالمانية ليلة امس ما تعلق باغتيال الرئيس الاميركي الديمقراطي جون كنيدي في تكساس ومازال الفاعل الحقيقي مجهول على الرغم من مرور حوالي 48 سنة .
فالبرنامج لم يحلل ظروف الاغتيال بل ركز على الصدف التي حدثت خلال قتل الرئيسين الاميركين كنيدي ولاسبق ابراهام لنكولن.
فحسب ما ورد فان اعجب الصدف تلك التي ربطت بين قدري ومصيري الرئيسين ، فهما قتلا غدرا وخلال تأيديتهما واجبا رسميا.
فلنكولن انتخب عام 1860وكنيدي عام 1960 اي مئة عام بالتمام بين الاثنين، ودعيا الى تطبيق الحقوق المدنية ، و قتلا يوم الجمعة وفي حضور الزوجتين اللتين لم تصابا باي اذى على الرغم من قربهما من الرئيسين وتلوثت ملابسهما بالدماء.
والصدفة الغريبة ايضا ان كنيدي كما لنكولن قتل برصاصة من الخلف اخترقت الرأس. الاول اغتيل في مسرح يحمل اسم فورد،والثاني كان يستقل سيارة مصنوعة في مصنع فورد.والرئيسان تسلما سدة الرئاسة من شخص يحمل نفس الاسم: الاول من اندور جونسون وولد عام 1808 والثاني من ليندون جونسون ولد عام 1908واصبح فيما بعد نائب الرئيس كنيدي ثم رئيسا للجمهورية.
وما يزيد من الاثارة ان قاتل كينيدي كما لنكولن قتلا قبل مثلوهما امام المحكمة.
كما وان قاتل لنكولن اسمه جون ويلكس بووث من مواليد عام 1839 وقاتل كيندي هارفي اوزوالد في عام 1939، اي ان الفارق في تاريخ ولادة المجرمان مئة عاما.
وتزوجت زوجتا لنكولن وكيندي في سن الرابعة والعشرين ورزقت كل واحدة بثلاثة اولاد وفقدت كل واحدة ايضا طفلا اثناء مكوثها في البيت الابيض.
الا ان الفارق بين حياة الرئيسين ان ابراهم لنكولن لم تكن له علاقات مع نساء كثيرات وذلك بعكس خلفه كنيدي بعد مئة عام.
والصدفة الاخرى التي لم تجد لها ماريا شميدت اي تفسير حسب قولها هو عثورها في مكتبة البلدية باحدى قرى ولاية بافاريا على كتاب شدتها تفاصيله. فالقصة عن امرأة اسمها لودميلا شميدت( وهي ايضا من عائلة شميدت) قتلت شهر ايار(مايو)1905 .
وكشفت الشرطة يومها ان القاتل كان جارها وعلى خلاف معها حول قطعة ارض اراد الاستيلاء عليها بطرق غير شرعية، وطعنت ثلاث مرات بصدرها وقلبها.
وما اثار استغراب ماريا التشابه غير الطبيعي بين عمتها التي تسكن في نفس القرية وتحمل اسم شميدت والسيدة التي قتلت قبل مئة عام، ان في تسريحة الشعر او ملامح الوجه والطباع. كما وان الاثنتين لم تتزوجا. ليس هذا فقط فهناك تشابه في البيت القروي الذي عاشت فيه الاولى قبل مئة عام وبيت عمة ماريا.
ونسيت ماريا القصة بعد ذلك الا الرعب تملكها عندما اتصلت بها الشرطة لتبلغها بمقتل عمتها.ففي صباح الاول من شهر ايار( مايو) عام 2005 طلبت منها الشرطة الحضور بسرعة الى منزل عمتها ، وراعها ما شاهدته، ثلاث طعنات في الصدر والقلب. وبعد ساعات قليلة القت الشرطة القبض على الجاني وهو الجار الذي كان يريد شراء قطعة ارض منها ورفضت ذلك فنشب خلاف ادى الى ارتكابه الجريمة النكران.
ولا يملك عالم النفس الالمان غرهادر بول تفسيرا واضحا لهذا الصدفة لكنه يقول كل ما يحدث فوق هذا الكوكب يجري وفقا لضوابط ومقاييس في الحسابات والهندسة، والاحداث ومن يقوم بها مشدودون باواصر غير مرئية لكنها ذات علاقة وثيقة.
وبتقديره قد يكون لكل هذه الصدف عمليات حسابية وكيميائية وفيزيائية وكهرومغناطيسية لم يتمكن العلم من تحليلها وحلها، لذا مازالت غير معروفة ومن اجل حسم الوضع تسمى بالصدفة.
الجمعة، 28 نوفمبر 2008
الخميس، 27 نوفمبر 2008
مندي بنت السلطان عجبنا إمرأة شهد لها التاريخ بالبطولات 00
مندي بنت السلطان عجننا امرأة شهد لها التاريخ بالبطولات
سابل سلاطين
ممزق أنا حينما أعصر سنين العمر وأعود بذاكرتي لقصص أجدادي وعن بطولاتهم ونضالهم المشهود، ودمائهم الممزوجة بتراب الوطن، ومواقفهم التي يرن صداها عبر مدى السنين. تحضرني جبال النوبة، ذاك الإرث المعتق بعبق التاريخ، وتلك الأرض التي أنبتت حضارات وثقافات متأصلة باللون الأفريقي الجميل.
جبال النوبة أنجبت واحدة من أحلي نساء الكون، ومن أكبر المناضلات في تاريخ النضال غفل عنها المؤرخون لا أريد أن أقول قصدا بل سهوا؟؟. إن التاريخ أن لا يغفر لمن دثروا أروع البطولات بثياب النسيان، ولكن ذاكرة الأيام حاضرة تحكي للأجيال ما أندثر.
إن تاريخ الحركة الوطنية في السودان ملئ بالبطولات والتضحيات التي كانت تهدف إلى صون تراب الوطن الغالي. ومن أهم هذه الحركات، ثورات جبال النوبة التي اشتعلت وتفجرت لأسباب عدة. كان أهمها رفض السيطرة والقيود الاستعمارية. ورفض الضرائب الخاصة التي فرضت علي قبائل النوبة (ضريبة الدقنية)، تلك الضريبة التي كان يدفعها الشخص عن نفسه والتي عدت مذلة ومهينة لكرامة الإنسان النوباوي. ومن ناحية أخرى كانت الذاكرة الجماعية لشعوب النوبة تختزن الكثير من المواقف السلبية والتجارب المريرة ذات الصلة بتجارة الرقيق إبان عهد الحكم التركي-المصري، الشئ الذى غرس الشك في النفوس وعزز المقاومة الشعبية لأي شكل من أشكال الغزو الأجنبي، لذلك قاموا بثورات عديد سنوردها سريعاً من خلال المقال.
حفل تاريخ السودان الحديث بشخصيات نسائية ذاع صيتها، ناضلن ونافحن وتركن بصمات واضحة في حياتنا، فمنهن مهيرة بنت عبود في منطقة الشايقية بشمال السودان والتي أطلقت (زغرودة) مجلجلة ألهبت بها حماس الرجال واستثارت في نفوسهم الحمية والإقدام على القتال والتصدي للغزو التركي الغاشم، فكان دورها تعبوياً. وفي كردفان (الغرة أم خيراً جوه وبره) كانت رابحة الكنانية ذات الدور المشهود مع الإمام المهدي. أما في جبال النوبا، فنجد مندي، تلك الشخصية النسائية المتفردة ذات الخصال والسمات الخاصة، امرأة جسورة ومقاتلة من طراز فريد قل أن يجود بمثلها الزمان. امرأة لم ينصفها التاريخ والمؤرخون فلم يرد ذكر لها في كتب تاريخ السودان الحديث.
فليتني ذاكرة تعود بأحداث الزمان إلى الوراء لكي نرى من هي مندي ولكنني أنبش ذاكرتي المتواضعة وأسرد بعض ما سمعته عنها.
مندي هي بنت السلطان عجبنا بن أروجا بن سبا، السلطان الثالث عشر لمنطقة الأما (النيمانغ) بالقرب من مدينة الدلنج التي تضم ثمانية مناطق كبيرة هي : النتل، وكرمتي، وككرة، وتندية، وسلارا، وكلارا، وحجر السلطان، والفوس. وهى ذات المنطقة التي اتخذها السلطان عجبنا مسرحا لعملياته الحربية، فخاض مع رجاله الأشاوس ومن خلفهم الأميرة المناضلة مندي التي كانت تقاتل بضراوة وهى تحمل طفلها الرضيع على ظهرها، جنباً إلى جنب مع فرسان القبائل، معارك ضارية شرسة ضد الغزاة الطامعين من الإنجليز، الأمر الذى أثار حفيظة الحكومة الإنجليزية فيما بعد فحاولت إخضاع منطقة النيمانغ لسيطرتها وتوالت حملاتها إليها.
في عام 1908 دخلت قوات المستعمر في معركة شرسة ضد الزعيم "دارجول" في منطقة الفوس. ولما لم يتمكن المستعمر من سحقه والانتصار عليه، توصل معه إلى اتفاق يقضي بوقف الاعتداء ودفع دارجول بعض التعويضات للإنجليز. لكن ورغم تلك الحملات التعسفية لم يخضع النيمانغ لأوامر الإنجليز وتعليماتهم مما دفع بالأخيرين إلى التفكير الجدي لشن حملات وتوجيه ضربات خاطفة قاضية علي السلطان عجبنا.
في عام 1917 قاد مفتش مركز الدلنج الإنجليزي هتون حملة منظمة ضد منطقتي كرمتي وتندية، غير أنه لم يصمد طويلا ولقي مصرعه قبالة منطقة كرمتي برصاصة أحد الثوار الذين كانوا علي جبل حجر السلطان، ففشلت بذلك مهمة الحملة التي كان الغرض منها إبادة الثوار في تلك المنطقة.
أثار مصرع هذا المفتش غضب السلطات الإنجليزية وقام المستعمر بإعداد حملة كبيرة ومنظمة وذلك في نوفمبر 1917 كانت بمثابة جولة ثانية ضد السلطان عجبنا، كانت عدة هذه الحملة وعتادها كاملاً، تتكون من واحد وثلاثين ضابط بريطاني، ومائة وخمسين من الضباط المصريين والسودانيين، وألفين وثمانمائة سبعة وخمسين جندي، وعدد كبير من الأسلحة النارية قوامها ثمانية مدافع، وثمانية عشر مدفع رشاش، بالإضافة إلى البنادق.
تحركت هذه القوة من منطقة النيمانغ حيث عسكرت القيادة العامة للعمليات بمنطقة النتل تحت إمرة المقدم سميث L.K .SMITH، ومن منطقة النتل تحركت ثلاث وحدات لمحاصرة السلطان عجبنا من ثلاثة مواقع هي:
أولا- منطقة ولال، الواقعة بين منطقة ككرة وحجر السلطان، بقيادة الرائد فان ديلو VANDELEU.
ثانيا- منطقة جبل كلامو، الواقعة بين الفوس وحجر السلطان، بقيادة الرائد جرهام GRAHAM.
ثالثا- منطقة النتل، بقيادة الرائد وثنقتون ويلمر WORTHINGTON WILMER.
بهذه الخطة المحكمة ضرب الحصار تماماً على السلطان عجبنا وتم عزله عن مصادر المياه (الآبار) بخاصة في منطقة سلارا حيث آبار كوديلو بونق.
عندها كان السلطان عجبنا وقواته الثوار يقاومون بأقصى ما لديهم من بسالة، وحمي الوطيس بين قوات المستعمر والثوار إلى درجة أدت لفك الحصار المضروب حولهم.
تسربت الأخبار والمعلومات إلى الأميرة المقاتلة مندي عن تأزم الوضع واستيلاء قوات المستعمر علي مصادر المياه، فضلا عن أن الثوار في أرض المعركة أصبحوا في حاجة إلى تعزيزات ودعم يمكنهم من فك الحصار كاملاً. وفور سماع الأميرة مندي هذا الخبر تحزمت وحملت البندقية قاصدة موقع القتال، فحاول البعض أثناءها عن الذهاب بحجة أن الموقف متأزم وحرج، وأن الطريق ملئ بالمخاطر، وبأن الحصار محكم جداً من كافة الجهات. فغضبت الأميرة وثارت، وقالت: "دعوا سبيلي، فالوقت ليس وقت كلام". واحمرت عيناها وأصبحت كالمرجل يغلي من شدة الغضب بفعل إصرار القوم على منعها، فحملت البخسة (القرع) وضربت بها الأرض حتى تهشمت وقالت للجميع : "أفسحوا لي الطريق"، فأفسحوا لها الطريق. يجدر بنا الإشارة إلى أن تهشيم البخسة "القرع" في ثقافة النمانغ يعني أن الغضب والإصرار على فعل الشئ قد بلغ أوجه وقمته، أي، حد لا تنفع معه الرجاءات ومحاولات المنع.
أسرعت الأميرة المقاتلة مهرولة لكي تنضم إلى صفوف الثوار الذين تجمعوا بقيادة السلطان عجبنا ليصدوا الهجوم الغاشم، وكان التحاقها مع من معها إلى الفوج بقيادة السلطان دفعة معنوية قوية. وبدأ القتال بكل ضراوة وبسالة، حيث تصدى الثوار للهجمات وردوا زحف الأعداء صوناً للأرض من أن تغتصب، وحماية للأهل والعشيرة.
كانت بحق معركة شرف وكرامة سقط فيها الأبطال الأشاوس صناديد ثورة 1917، معطرين تراب الوطن الغالي بدمائهم الطاهرة الشريفة. وتشاء الأقدار أن يتم القبض على السلطان عجبنا وصديقه ورفيق دربه ونضاله "كيلكون"، وحكم عليهما بالإعدام شنقاً. كان ذلك في 27/12/1917 حيث أثبت الاثنان معاً موقفاً بطولياً رائعاً اذ قابلا الموت بشجاعة ورباط جأش وخلدا ملحمة غنائية رائعة يتغنى بها الصغار والكبار.
في فبراير 1917 استسلم بقية المقاتلين بعد أن تم إعدام قيادتهم الروحية والعسكرية التي كانت تمثل نضال جيل اختط على صفحات التاريخ ملحمة رائعة أعطت المستعمر درساً لن ينساه أبد التاريخ.
في يقين الطرفين دوافع مختلفة حيث قاد المستعمر المعركة بدافع السيطرة والاستعمار بينما قادها الثوار دفاعاً عن الشرف وصونا للأرض مسلحين بالإرادة وعشقهم الدفين للحرية. في هذه المعركة حازت الأميرة مندي على أعجاب فرسان القبيلة لشجاعتها وإقدامها، وخلدوها من خلال الأغاني الشعبية التي يرددها أهل المنطقة وقبائل الدلنج، حيث تم اعتماد أغنية مندي الشعبية وتسجيلها مارشاً عسكرياً بفرقة موسيقى دفاع السودان لرفع الروح المعنوبة للجنود والمقاتلين بالقوات المسلحة.
تعقيب
إن ثورات جبال النوبة التي كانت كقرآن الفجر المشهود، والتي صمت دونها التاريخ بضمير مستريح، وتقاعس عن تدوينها المؤرخون، إن تليت علي آذان التاريخ لصرخ غاضباً علي المؤرخين الذين أجحفوا في صياغته.
عند دخول المستعمر منطقة جبال النوبة سجل الأبطال والثوار من أبنائها أعظم البطولات ورسموا على سجل التاريخ الإنساني أعظم الملاحم التي لا تنسي أبداً أهمها:ثورة بردني في تالودي عام 1908-1917؛ وثورة دقيق 1910-1913؛ وثورة هيبان 1911؛ وثورة تقوي 1910-1911؛ وثورة تير الأخضر 1914-1915؛ وثورة كادقلي؛ وثورة الداير 1904؛ وثورة الليري 1906؛ وثورة حنق حنق 1906؛ وثورة كيلا كاردن 1910؛ وثورة شات الصفية 1904؛ وثورة الميراوي (الفكي علي الميراوي) 1915؛ وثورة المندل 1904-1914؛ وثورة كاندارو (كادرو) 1906؛ وثورة الفندا 1908؛ وثورة كيلا كيدو 1908-1909؛ وثورة تيما 1909-1910؛ وثورة صبي 1914؛ وثورة دلمار 1914؛ وثورة النيمانغ دارجول 1908؛ وثورة النيمانغ سلطان عجبنا 1917؛ وثورة الليري 1929.
أسهمت الحركة الوطنية بجبال النوبة إسهامات قومية بارزة جديرة بأن يؤرخ لها وأن تكتب علي أسطر التاريخ السوداني. فقد هدفت تلك الثورات كغيرها إلى تحرير الإرادة الوطنية من السيطرة الأجنبية.مملكة تقلي..نشأتها واضمحلالها
جبال النوبة أنجبت واحدة من أحلي نساء الكون، ومن أكبر المناضلات في تاريخ النضال غفل عنها المؤرخون لا أريد أن أقول قصدا بل سهوا؟؟. إن التاريخ أن لا يغفر لمن دثروا أروع البطولات بثياب النسيان، ولكن ذاكرة الأيام حاضرة تحكي للأجيال ما أندثر.
إن تاريخ الحركة الوطنية في السودان ملئ بالبطولات والتضحيات التي كانت تهدف إلى صون تراب الوطن الغالي. ومن أهم هذه الحركات، ثورات جبال النوبة التي اشتعلت وتفجرت لأسباب عدة. كان أهمها رفض السيطرة والقيود الاستعمارية. ورفض الضرائب الخاصة التي فرضت علي قبائل النوبة (ضريبة الدقنية)، تلك الضريبة التي كان يدفعها الشخص عن نفسه والتي عدت مذلة ومهينة لكرامة الإنسان النوباوي. ومن ناحية أخرى كانت الذاكرة الجماعية لشعوب النوبة تختزن الكثير من المواقف السلبية والتجارب المريرة ذات الصلة بتجارة الرقيق إبان عهد الحكم التركي-المصري، الشئ الذى غرس الشك في النفوس وعزز المقاومة الشعبية لأي شكل من أشكال الغزو الأجنبي، لذلك قاموا بثورات عديد سنوردها سريعاً من خلال المقال.
حفل تاريخ السودان الحديث بشخصيات نسائية ذاع صيتها، ناضلن ونافحن وتركن بصمات واضحة في حياتنا، فمنهن مهيرة بنت عبود في منطقة الشايقية بشمال السودان والتي أطلقت (زغرودة) مجلجلة ألهبت بها حماس الرجال واستثارت في نفوسهم الحمية والإقدام على القتال والتصدي للغزو التركي الغاشم، فكان دورها تعبوياً. وفي كردفان (الغرة أم خيراً جوه وبره) كانت رابحة الكنانية ذات الدور المشهود مع الإمام المهدي. أما في جبال النوبا، فنجد مندي، تلك الشخصية النسائية المتفردة ذات الخصال والسمات الخاصة، امرأة جسورة ومقاتلة من طراز فريد قل أن يجود بمثلها الزمان. امرأة لم ينصفها التاريخ والمؤرخون فلم يرد ذكر لها في كتب تاريخ السودان الحديث.
فليتني ذاكرة تعود بأحداث الزمان إلى الوراء لكي نرى من هي مندي ولكنني أنبش ذاكرتي المتواضعة وأسرد بعض ما سمعته عنها.
مندي هي بنت السلطان عجبنا بن أروجا بن سبا، السلطان الثالث عشر لمنطقة الأما (النيمانغ) بالقرب من مدينة الدلنج التي تضم ثمانية مناطق كبيرة هي : النتل، وكرمتي، وككرة، وتندية، وسلارا، وكلارا، وحجر السلطان، والفوس. وهى ذات المنطقة التي اتخذها السلطان عجبنا مسرحا لعملياته الحربية، فخاض مع رجاله الأشاوس ومن خلفهم الأميرة المناضلة مندي التي كانت تقاتل بضراوة وهى تحمل طفلها الرضيع على ظهرها، جنباً إلى جنب مع فرسان القبائل، معارك ضارية شرسة ضد الغزاة الطامعين من الإنجليز، الأمر الذى أثار حفيظة الحكومة الإنجليزية فيما بعد فحاولت إخضاع منطقة النيمانغ لسيطرتها وتوالت حملاتها إليها.
في عام 1908 دخلت قوات المستعمر في معركة شرسة ضد الزعيم "دارجول" في منطقة الفوس. ولما لم يتمكن المستعمر من سحقه والانتصار عليه، توصل معه إلى اتفاق يقضي بوقف الاعتداء ودفع دارجول بعض التعويضات للإنجليز. لكن ورغم تلك الحملات التعسفية لم يخضع النيمانغ لأوامر الإنجليز وتعليماتهم مما دفع بالأخيرين إلى التفكير الجدي لشن حملات وتوجيه ضربات خاطفة قاضية علي السلطان عجبنا.
في عام 1917 قاد مفتش مركز الدلنج الإنجليزي هتون حملة منظمة ضد منطقتي كرمتي وتندية، غير أنه لم يصمد طويلا ولقي مصرعه قبالة منطقة كرمتي برصاصة أحد الثوار الذين كانوا علي جبل حجر السلطان، ففشلت بذلك مهمة الحملة التي كان الغرض منها إبادة الثوار في تلك المنطقة.
أثار مصرع هذا المفتش غضب السلطات الإنجليزية وقام المستعمر بإعداد حملة كبيرة ومنظمة وذلك في نوفمبر 1917 كانت بمثابة جولة ثانية ضد السلطان عجبنا، كانت عدة هذه الحملة وعتادها كاملاً، تتكون من واحد وثلاثين ضابط بريطاني، ومائة وخمسين من الضباط المصريين والسودانيين، وألفين وثمانمائة سبعة وخمسين جندي، وعدد كبير من الأسلحة النارية قوامها ثمانية مدافع، وثمانية عشر مدفع رشاش، بالإضافة إلى البنادق.
تحركت هذه القوة من منطقة النيمانغ حيث عسكرت القيادة العامة للعمليات بمنطقة النتل تحت إمرة المقدم سميث L.K .SMITH، ومن منطقة النتل تحركت ثلاث وحدات لمحاصرة السلطان عجبنا من ثلاثة مواقع هي:
أولا- منطقة ولال، الواقعة بين منطقة ككرة وحجر السلطان، بقيادة الرائد فان ديلو VANDELEU.
ثانيا- منطقة جبل كلامو، الواقعة بين الفوس وحجر السلطان، بقيادة الرائد جرهام GRAHAM.
ثالثا- منطقة النتل، بقيادة الرائد وثنقتون ويلمر WORTHINGTON WILMER.
بهذه الخطة المحكمة ضرب الحصار تماماً على السلطان عجبنا وتم عزله عن مصادر المياه (الآبار) بخاصة في منطقة سلارا حيث آبار كوديلو بونق.
عندها كان السلطان عجبنا وقواته الثوار يقاومون بأقصى ما لديهم من بسالة، وحمي الوطيس بين قوات المستعمر والثوار إلى درجة أدت لفك الحصار المضروب حولهم.
تسربت الأخبار والمعلومات إلى الأميرة المقاتلة مندي عن تأزم الوضع واستيلاء قوات المستعمر علي مصادر المياه، فضلا عن أن الثوار في أرض المعركة أصبحوا في حاجة إلى تعزيزات ودعم يمكنهم من فك الحصار كاملاً. وفور سماع الأميرة مندي هذا الخبر تحزمت وحملت البندقية قاصدة موقع القتال، فحاول البعض أثناءها عن الذهاب بحجة أن الموقف متأزم وحرج، وأن الطريق ملئ بالمخاطر، وبأن الحصار محكم جداً من كافة الجهات. فغضبت الأميرة وثارت، وقالت: "دعوا سبيلي، فالوقت ليس وقت كلام". واحمرت عيناها وأصبحت كالمرجل يغلي من شدة الغضب بفعل إصرار القوم على منعها، فحملت البخسة (القرع) وضربت بها الأرض حتى تهشمت وقالت للجميع : "أفسحوا لي الطريق"، فأفسحوا لها الطريق. يجدر بنا الإشارة إلى أن تهشيم البخسة "القرع" في ثقافة النمانغ يعني أن الغضب والإصرار على فعل الشئ قد بلغ أوجه وقمته، أي، حد لا تنفع معه الرجاءات ومحاولات المنع.
أسرعت الأميرة المقاتلة مهرولة لكي تنضم إلى صفوف الثوار الذين تجمعوا بقيادة السلطان عجبنا ليصدوا الهجوم الغاشم، وكان التحاقها مع من معها إلى الفوج بقيادة السلطان دفعة معنوية قوية. وبدأ القتال بكل ضراوة وبسالة، حيث تصدى الثوار للهجمات وردوا زحف الأعداء صوناً للأرض من أن تغتصب، وحماية للأهل والعشيرة.
كانت بحق معركة شرف وكرامة سقط فيها الأبطال الأشاوس صناديد ثورة 1917، معطرين تراب الوطن الغالي بدمائهم الطاهرة الشريفة. وتشاء الأقدار أن يتم القبض على السلطان عجبنا وصديقه ورفيق دربه ونضاله "كيلكون"، وحكم عليهما بالإعدام شنقاً. كان ذلك في 27/12/1917 حيث أثبت الاثنان معاً موقفاً بطولياً رائعاً اذ قابلا الموت بشجاعة ورباط جأش وخلدا ملحمة غنائية رائعة يتغنى بها الصغار والكبار.
في فبراير 1917 استسلم بقية المقاتلين بعد أن تم إعدام قيادتهم الروحية والعسكرية التي كانت تمثل نضال جيل اختط على صفحات التاريخ ملحمة رائعة أعطت المستعمر درساً لن ينساه أبد التاريخ.
في يقين الطرفين دوافع مختلفة حيث قاد المستعمر المعركة بدافع السيطرة والاستعمار بينما قادها الثوار دفاعاً عن الشرف وصونا للأرض مسلحين بالإرادة وعشقهم الدفين للحرية. في هذه المعركة حازت الأميرة مندي على أعجاب فرسان القبيلة لشجاعتها وإقدامها، وخلدوها من خلال الأغاني الشعبية التي يرددها أهل المنطقة وقبائل الدلنج، حيث تم اعتماد أغنية مندي الشعبية وتسجيلها مارشاً عسكرياً بفرقة موسيقى دفاع السودان لرفع الروح المعنوبة للجنود والمقاتلين بالقوات المسلحة.
تعقيب
إن ثورات جبال النوبة التي كانت كقرآن الفجر المشهود، والتي صمت دونها التاريخ بضمير مستريح، وتقاعس عن تدوينها المؤرخون، إن تليت علي آذان التاريخ لصرخ غاضباً علي المؤرخين الذين أجحفوا في صياغته.
عند دخول المستعمر منطقة جبال النوبة سجل الأبطال والثوار من أبنائها أعظم البطولات ورسموا على سجل التاريخ الإنساني أعظم الملاحم التي لا تنسي أبداً أهمها:ثورة بردني في تالودي عام 1908-1917؛ وثورة دقيق 1910-1913؛ وثورة هيبان 1911؛ وثورة تقوي 1910-1911؛ وثورة تير الأخضر 1914-1915؛ وثورة كادقلي؛ وثورة الداير 1904؛ وثورة الليري 1906؛ وثورة حنق حنق 1906؛ وثورة كيلا كاردن 1910؛ وثورة شات الصفية 1904؛ وثورة الميراوي (الفكي علي الميراوي) 1915؛ وثورة المندل 1904-1914؛ وثورة كاندارو (كادرو) 1906؛ وثورة الفندا 1908؛ وثورة كيلا كيدو 1908-1909؛ وثورة تيما 1909-1910؛ وثورة صبي 1914؛ وثورة دلمار 1914؛ وثورة النيمانغ دارجول 1908؛ وثورة النيمانغ سلطان عجبنا 1917؛ وثورة الليري 1929.
أسهمت الحركة الوطنية بجبال النوبة إسهامات قومية بارزة جديرة بأن يؤرخ لها وأن تكتب علي أسطر التاريخ السوداني. فقد هدفت تلك الثورات كغيرها إلى تحرير الإرادة الوطنية من السيطرة الأجنبية.مملكة تقلي..نشأتها واضمحلالها
الثلاثاء، 25 نوفمبر 2008
الاثنين، 24 نوفمبر 2008
افريقيا تتقدم واحد صفر على جارتها العالم العربي ديمقراطيا بعد فوز ايلين جونسون سيرليف
أفريقيا تتقدم واحد صفر على جارتها العالم العربي ديمقراطيا بعد فوز إيلين جونسون سيرليف 03.12.2005
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم ---
أفريقيا تتقدم واحد صفر على جارتها العالم العربي ديمقراطيا بعد فوز إيلين جونسون سيرليف
/عبدالغني بريش اللايمى/أمريكا
الحديث عن افريقيا والوطن العربي دائما يقود الى الحديث عن التخلف الاقتصادي والسياسي والاجتماعي والتعليمي وارتفاع نسبة الأمية وانتشار الانظمة الديكتاتورية والاستبدادية فيهما --لكن هذا الواقع المرير القاسي بدأ يتغير على الاقل بالنسبة لأفريقيا السمراء التي شهدت بلدانها حركة ملحوظة وملموسة في العمليات الديمقراطية --وعلى سبيل المثال جرت انتخابات ديمقراطية نزيهة تشهد لها المنظمات الدولية في كل من السنغال وغانا ونيجيريا وبروندي وكينيا وجنوب افريقيا ---الخ ،لكن الحدث الكبير شهدته دولة ليبيريا التي نظمت انتخابات رئاسية ناجحة واعلان فوز السيدة (ايلين جونسون سيرليف)فيها وبهذا تصبح اول رئيسة منتخبة في القارة السوداء -وقد حصلت المرأة الحديدية على نسبة 59% من اصوات الناخبين،بينما حصل لاعب كرة القدم سابقا السيد جورج" ويا "على نسبة 40% من اصوات الليبيريين وتعتزم السيدة ايلين وهي اقتصادية وسياسية مخضرمة انها ستفعل كل ما في مقدرتها لتوفير اسباب السعادة والرفاه والراحة لليبيريين الذين عاشوا عقودا من الحروبات الاهلية التي دمرت كل البنى التحتية لبلادهم .
لاشك ان يوم فوز "ايلين جونسون" كان يوما تاريخيا عاشته الساحة السياسية والاجتماعية الافريقية بعد المعارضة المتزمتة والمتشددة للرجال الذين سيطروا على الساحة السياسية والاجتماعية والثقافية والاعلامية في عموم القارة المسكونة بالغيبيات والارواح والاشباح والبعاتية والسحرة والكجور ،والذين كانوا لهم الدور الكبير والبارز في شد وجر الحياة بشكل عام للوراء ،وايقائها بعيدة عن تيارات الحداثة والليبرالية التي تعصف بالعالم في ظل ثورة المعلومات والتقنية والفضاء ،وكان لابد من تحقيق الاختراق وذلك عن افصاح المجال للنساء للمساهمة في صنع القرارات السياسية التي لا تختصر فقط على الرجال.
وبالرغم من ضبابية المشهد العام وقتامته اثر فوز المرأة في افريقيا الآ اننا نرجو لها النجاح وان تفلح قوة صوتها برغم انوثتها في تحقيق ما عجزت عنه اصوات الرجال الخشنة قرونا مضت ،والا يكون هذا الفوز الغالي مجرد عقد سياسي يرصع الصدور والنحور في الولائم والاحتفالات الوطنية -- وان يرسل هذا الفوز رسائل لاغموض عليها للدول التي مازالت تنظر مجتمعاتها للمرأة وصوتها السياسي والطبيعي ووجودها برمته كعورة تجب مداراتها والخجل منها والتعتيم عليها وحجبها خلف الستر والقلاع والجدران .
ان انتخاب افريقيا إمرأة على رئاسة الحكومة تعني انها في طريقها الى التخلص من نظرتها الدونية للنساء وساعية ايضا لتحقيق العدالة الشاملة لمواطنيها دون النظر الى الجنس او الدين او العرق --الخ وهي خطوة مقدرة وفي الاتجاه الصحيح واذا كانت افريقيا قد تخطت 50% من عقدتها تجاه الديمقراطية ،لابد من القول ايضا انه بات من الظاهر تماما ان الازدهار والرقي والتمدن حالة عامة وشاملة تعيشها الشعوب والمجتمعات وتنمو بشكل متواز في سياق التطور العام ،فلا يعقل ان يتبوأ شعب من الشعوب مكانة عظيمة وسامية في مجال واحد من المجالات ،ويعيش التخلف والتردي في مختلف المجالات الاخرى ،و لايمكن ايضا ان تحرز أمة مكانة مرموقة في مجال ما وتتربع عليها بين الأمم لكنها تعاني على اصعدة أخرى البؤس والشقاء والانحطاط،وهذا هو السبب الاساسي في عدم لعب افريقيا رغم ضخامة ثرواتها دورا مهما في الخارطة العالمية
ان الولايات المتحدة الامريكية مثلا كانت يوما من الايام متخلفة كالعالم العربي وافريقيا لكنها وبتوفيرها الفرص والأجواء الصحية والتي هي ضرورية في مجال الابداع والابتكار والاختراع، وفي مجال الصحة مثلا وفرت كل اسباب الراحة والسعادة للأطباء الاجانب واصبحوا فقط في غضون خمس سنوات امريكيين الجنسية،وفي مجال التعليم اصبحت الولايات المتحدة الامريكية القبلة المفضلة للعلماء في كل التخصصات،وفي مجال كرة القدم استطاعت أمريكا ان تأسس فريقا لها في اقل من عشرة سنوات كادت ان تفوز بكأس العالم عام 2002 بعد ان كانت لاتعرف هذه الرياضة، اذن التطور عملية متوازية ومتكاملة يجب على المرأة الحديدية" السيدة ايلين جونسون" ادراكها وتقديم ليبيريا كنموزج للأخرين خاصة للعالم العربي الذي حتى الان ينكر ان يكون للنساء دورا في الحياة العامة.
ومن جانب اخر وبينما كانت افريقيا تحتفل بمناسبة فوز اول إمرأة افريقية كرئيسة دولة كان يخيم على العالم العربي الخوف الشديد والهلع من ان تصله عدوى الليبرالية وتحرر النساء وبدأ في تجهيز وتجميع الحجج لمحاربة وصول المرأة وتوليها اي منصب قيادي ---انه موقف غريب ويتنافى حتى مع ابسط مبادئ اسلامنا الحنيف و"الحج"مثلا الذي يأتيه الناس من كل فج عميق حيث يجتمع فيه "النساء والرجال" في مكان واحد كمظهر من مظاهر المساواة والعدل وحقوق الانسان لم يقنع العرب بان الاسلام مليئ بحقوق الانسان(النساء والرجال على حد سواء)وبدأوا بدلا عملية عكسية في البحث عن آيات قرآنية أخرى ليفسرونها وما يؤيد اتجاهاتهم المعادية لحقوق المرأة ويبدوا هذا الواقع المشين للعيان في كل الدول التي تعتنق شعوبها الإسلام .
اننا ندعو كافة الانظمة الافريقية وصاحباتها الحكومات العربية ان تصحى وتحذو حذو دولة ليبيريا وتفتح بلدانها لكافة مواطنيها بدون استثناء لممارسة العملية السياسية وعدم حرمان أي من سكانها من حقوقهم الطبيعية التي منحهم إياها "الله" كحق الحياة ،حق العمل ، حق التمتع بالحرية والتعبير ، حق ممارسة الشعائر الدينية بعيدا عن اسلوب الترهيب والاجبار ،حق ممارسة العمل السياسي بكل حرية وعدم التفرقة بين الناس على أساس الجنس او اللون او الدين -------------الخ .
ان العالم سوف لم ولن ينتظر شعوب المنطقة العربية وشعوب أفريقيا تتعذب أكثر مما تعذبت من ظلم وتهميش نتيجة لإستبدادية وديكتاتورية وعفونة أنظمتها التي اتخذت منهم سجناء لها في هذه البلدان والاوطان التي احتلها واجتاحها واستباحها جحافل الأميين الحمقى الجهلاء من حكامنا ،وكيفما اتجهت ،واينما سكنت وحيثما حللت هناك زنزانة وقلعة وحصن يحفل بالكثير من الرواد والنزلاء من أفراد شعوبنا الجائعة والمتمزقة --- الحقيقة هي ان الديمقراطية رغم كل شئ اقل النظم شرا انها صفقة قديمة بين النبلاء والعامة تتطورت مع مرور الزمن الى صورتها الحالية --- صفقة يحكم فيها الصفوة باختيار العامة مقابل التنازل لهم عن بعض المكاسب وهل ادرك حكامنا في العالم العربي والافريقي هذه الحقيقة وسمح لجميع مواطنيه المشاركة في العملية السياسية؟؟؟ -------------------والسلام bresh22000@yahoo.com
Nuba languages and History
Nuba Vision
Nuba Languages and History:
Who is related to who in and outside of the Nuba Mountains and did they come from anywhere else?
Robin Thelwall, Calgary
A Bit about myself
I first went to the Sudan to take up a post as lecturer in Phonetics in the English Dept at Khartoum University in July 1966 after two years postgraduate studies in this field at Edinburgh.
In my reading up about the languages of the Sudan, which attracted me because there were so many of them, and so many had had hardly any descriptive work done on them, I read about the complexity of the linguistic situation in the Nuba Mountains.
In December 1966 I took a lift, with my wife, with an anthropologist friend, Lewis Hill, who was going by Landrover to Bara and El Obeid, where he would put us on a lorry for Kadugli. One of my students, Abdulla Ibrahim Abdalla Kumodo was in Kadugli and we had arranged to meet him there. We stayed in the government rest house which was quite busy. The weather at that time of the year was fine and the Jebels looked most attractive with good grass and trees in bloom.
I met up with Abdulla and we spent several hours sitting in cafes at the market place. He would try and identify a few of the many people we saw passing. Finally we asked one passerby if he would sit with us and tell me a few words in his language. I had a standard wordlist of 100 items for fieldwork and he turned out to speak a language that he called Logorik. I discovered on returning to Khartoum that this was a variety of what the scholarly literature called Daju and had several related languages in the Mountains. Logorik (also known as Liguri) was spoken to the north east of Kadugli near Hajar el Mek.
It turned out that Abdulla’s family lived in Hajar el Mek and on later visits we stayed with him and his very hospitable family, consisting of his father who ran a sewing machine on the veranda of one of the merchant’s shop in town and his mother and stepmothers and brothers and sisters of whom there always seemed a crowd and always a new youngster crawling around the house.
I pursued further research on Daju and continued by working on varieties spoken near Lagowa and later in Darfur at Nyala and south of Jebel Marra in the Wadi Azum. Also during my work in Darfur I worked on varieties of the Nubian language group (Birgid and later Midob) and did a little work on some "Hill Nubian" languages spoken in the northern Nuba Mountains. I had always been interested in history and later came into regular contact with those archeologists working on the early Sudan. This led me to try and make historical sense of what is known of the languages of the Sudan and their relationships for the understanding to some little degree of the past history of languages in Sudan and perhaps of the past history of the peoples. Unfortunately language history is not exactly the same as ethno-history, but you can’t do the one without some idea of the other, and vice versa.
So what follows is a sketch of what linguists know about the historical relationships of the languages of the Nuba Mountains and what we may infer, and perhaps speculate, about the past of the speakers of those languages. The sources that Suleiman Rahhal mentions in his outline about the Nuba peoples and languages in "The Right to be Nuba" have been superseded over the years since the late 50s and early 60s, but have not been made easily available to the general reader.
A Bit about African language classification
The most significant new account of the relationships of all the languages in Africa was made by the American Joseph Greenberg in a series of articles published after 1945 and collected and revised in a single volume published in 1955 and revised somewhat in 1966. Since that time a large amount of work has been done in the recording and description of languages all over Africa. So, although there are still a large number of languages still almost undescribed (including most of the languages of the Nuba Mountains) we do have just enough material to revise Greenberg’s outline in a number of areas
One of the problems affecting most of the classifications before Greenberg is that many of the fundamental ideas about the different ethnic and linguistic groupings were influenced by old European ideas of race including the use of such terms as Hamitic and Semitic (and even Hamito-Semitic) and Negroid. Greenberg made one crucial change by trying to get away from "ethnic" or racial labels and replacing them with geographical labels which, other things being equal, should be more neutral.
Greenberg proposed four major language families for all of Africa (also called phyla after botanical classifications): Niger-Kordofanian (covering languages spoken from West Africa to East and South Africa including the very numerous Bantu sub-group and some languages of the Nuba Mountains), Afroasiatic (covering Arabic, Berber of North Africa, a large number of languages in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa and a group including Hausa around the Lake Chad area), Khoisan (which includes languages spoken in Namibia and South Africa) Nilo-Saharan (mostly in the Sudan and Chad but also as far west as Mali and into Ethiopia and East Africa, including the very numerous Nilotic sub-group). Within Nilo-Saharan Greenberg proposed a large sub-group - Chari-Nile - which has subsequently been revised out of existence. The model of Nilo-Saharan that I will use here is that developed by M.L. Bender as a result of his own work over the last 35 years and his use of new publications over that time. I will also base my analysis on some of my own work on the Daju language group and the Nubian group. Full references are available to anyone who wishes to contact me.
A Bit of History
Evidence for the history of the Sudan is extremely limited before the 1800s with the major exception of the Nile Valley. We know quite a lot about the Kerma, Napata, Meroe and Nile Nubian civilisations although we do not understand Meroitic and are not sure of its relationship to other present-day language groups of the Sudan or Africa. Reliable scholars have rejected the possibility of Meroitic being related to Afroasiatic languages (the nearest geographically is Beja). Recent attempts to review the situation incline towards it being part of Nilo-Saharan, but this is still unproven. We also know of political states in Aksum in Northern Ethiopia, in Kanem and Bornu in eastern Nigeria; of the Funj state in the Blue Nile and the Daju, Tunjur and Fur "states" in Darfur as well as the relatively recent Kingdom of Taqali in the Rashad area of the Nuba Mountains. The Nuba Mountains only figure in indirect ways - perhaps as illustrations on Egyptian walls of wrestlers or certain hairstyles and facial scarring. Also as slaves in Egypt and other countries outside the Sudan.
A Bit of a Problem!
In scholarly writing there is almost no-one who now confuses Nubia or Nubian with Nuba or Nuba Mountains. In Arabic, and particularly in Sudanese usage the terms seem to get confused. There is no ethnic group in the Nuba Mountains that uses this term for themselves. The problem is that we have almost no archeological evidence or ethnic history for the regions west of the Nile, from Aswan to Malakal, which clearly links to the Nile states. So any claims about links between Nuba (Mts) and Nubia or Nubians (except for the Hill Nubian languages which are discussed below) are speculative.
How to simplify the complexity of the Nuba Mountain Language Situation
Of the about fifty languages spoken in the Nuba Mountains (I am of course talking about the situation that persisted at least until the late 70s) we classify them into members of two or perhaps three language families - Nilo-Saharan and Kordofanian (sub-family of the Niger-Kordofanian family). Of course in addition there is Arabic which could not have been spoken in the area prior to the Muslim invasions of Egypt in the 700s (Common Era) or the first century AH and there are also speakers of Fulani and some other West African languages. All the other languages of the Mountains well predate that period and in most cases were spoken there from time immemorial. The Kordofanian languages consist of four groups: Heiban, Talodi, Rashad and Katla - these names are based on their geographical centres (proposed by Thilo Schadeberg) and differ from names used in previous literature. The Kadugli Group was earlier classified by Greenberg as part of Kordofanian but removedfrom that relationship by Schadeberg and is currently considered probably part of Nilo-Saharan. The Kordofanian sub-groups are located in the southern and eastern areas of the Nuba Mountains. The Kadugli Group is located in the south east central fringe area near Kadugli.
The rest of the Nuba languages are classified as part of a major sub-group of Nilo-Saharan called East Sudanic. Relatives to these languages outside the Mountains include the various Nilotic groups and some smaller groups including Tama of Darfur, Nera of Eritrea and the Jebel groups of the Upper Blue Nile.
The "Hill Nubian" and Daju languages spoken in the Mountains have their major relatives outside the Mountains and we can reconstruct some details of their history and as a result propose that they each came into the Nuba Mountains to settle among the existing Nuba populations.
We are very confident that Nobiin (and later Dongolawi) came to the Nile from a centre of dispersion in Darfur-Kordofan which they occupied and controlled for perhaps 4000 years. We know that there were Nubian speakers on the Nile at least as early as the 500s CE and probably much earlier. The fact that the Hill Nubian languages have words for the days of the week dating back to Christian Nubian indicates that these languages were in contact at least during the Christian Nubian period which probably covers 500 CE - 1400 CE. This does not necessarily mean that the Hill Nubians did more than expand from central Kordofan into the Nuba Mountains during the period of Nubian political dominance from Aswan to Kosti (at least). But given the location of the Hill Nubian speakers (Dair, Dilling, Karko etc) along the NE edge of the Mountains it appears that they were "incomers" settling among the existing Nyima and Temein groups who were there before them, at least.
The Daju-speaking Groups
The Daju Language Group consists of at least six varieties spread out over a wide area from Eastern Chad to the Nuba Mountains.
We know that Southern Darfur was the centre of a Daju state perhaps as early as 1200 CE which was later displaced by the Tunjur and then the Fur who ruled from the Jebel Marra range. There are various traditions of Daju dispersion including a number of myths celebrating Ahmad el-Daj. Whatever the case, it is clear that the Daju controlled the area between southern Jebel Marra and perhaps as far east as the western edges of the Nuba Mountains. The Shatt and Liguri who are now well inside the Nuba Mts and north-east of Kadugli have been separated from the rest of the Daju for a long time (perhaps as much as 2000 years). The Daju of Dar el-Kabira and Lagawa are much more closely related linguistically to the Nyala and then to the Dar Sila Daju. This makes us think that there were two periods of Daju movement east, the first by the Shatt and Liguri and the second and perhaps related to the expansion and dominance by the South Darfur Daju, by the Lagawa Daju.
The arrival of Islam
Again the picture is very incomplete and uncertain. The following proposed "events" are based on the latest summary to be published this year.
639-640 AD Arab Muslim conquest of Egypt led by Amr ibn al ‘As for Khalifa ‘Omar. This begins the first Muslim contacts with Lower Nubians who are forced to pay tribute in slaves and livestock and promise no aggression against Egypt.
641-2 AD Islamic armies of ‘Amr ibn al`As reach the plain north of Dongola but fail to capture it.
646 AD Egyptians attack Nubia.
652 AD A "baqt" treaty established between Nubia and Egypt under Abdallah ibn Sa’ad ibn Abi Sahr. Nubia would provide 360 slaves each year and promise no attacks; Egypt would provide 1300 "kanyr" of wine. Old Dongola is captured for a period; conflicts noted between Makuria and Nobatia
950 AD Some Muslims reported at Soba
1275-1365 Period of warfare between Mamlukes and Nubians
1276 AD Mamluke Egyptians sack Dongola; forced conversion to Islam; King Dawud captured
1289 AD Last Mamluke military campaign against Dongola.
1317 AD Defeat of the last Christian king in Nubia and the first Muslim king Abdullah Barshambu on the throne in Dongola; "baqt" re-established; first mosque is built at Dongola
ISLAM REACHES THE CENTRAL SUDAN: Rise of Funj and Fur Sultanates
1504 AD The fall of Soba, capital of the last Christian kingdom of Alwa; the beginning of the
Islamic Funj Sultanate at Sennar.
Extracted from online draft: Historical Dictionary of the Sudan (3rd Edition) for subsequent Islamic chronology to the present. Forthcoming in Early 2002 by Richard Lobban, Robert Kramer and Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Scarecrow Press
What can we conclude?
We can propose "layers" of the Nuba language groups (and by implication their speakers) in terms of oldest inhabitants to most recent.
Oldest Kordofanian
Nyimang; Temein; Kadugli (perhaps representing and expansion of East Sudanic)
Daju Shatt & Liguri (perhaps as early as 100 BCE)
Hill Nubian (perhaps sometime between 300 and 1400 CE)
Most recent Daju Lagawa (perhaps as late as the 1300s)
The relationship between Kordofanian and the rest of Niger-Kordofanian is still not clear but the family has a time depth of a minimum of 6000 years.
The earliest date for the arrival of Islam in the Nuba Mountains is likely to be after the beginning of the establishment of Sennar, i.e. after 1504 CE
The only two groups for whom presence in the Nuba Mountains is within the last two thousand years are the Lagawa Daju and the "Hill Nubians". All other languages (and by inference people) are likely to have been in the Mountains for at least 2000 years or more.
Sudanic Africa
Text and sources archive: 1
The Nuba Mountains: Who Spoke What in 1976?
by Herman Bell
A Communication presented to the Third Conference on Language in Sudan (Language Situation in Sudan)at theInstitute of African and Asian StudiesUniversity of Khartoum3-5 December 1995
Being a study of the published results from a major project of the Institute of African and Asian Studies:the Language Survey of the Nuba Mountains
This report will focus on a 1976 language survey of the Nuba Mountains. The area is noted for its extreme linguistic diversity. It is located in the geographical centre of the Sudan 200 km west of the White Nile (10 deg.- 12 deg.30'.N, 29 deg.- 31deg.E). The survey will be compared with a parallel study of the Ingassana Mountains in the eastern Sudan (11 deg.20'.N, 34 deg.E).
In early 1976 the Language Survey of the Sudan was conducted in the Nuba Mountains within an area of 50 000 km2. The field work was accomplished by staff members of the Teachers' Training Institute in Dilling under the direction of a team from the Institute of African and Asian Studies of the University of Khartoum. They surveyed 29 localities throughout the Nuba Mountains. A similar sample (# 30) was collected in the Ingassana Mountains. The results from each locality were published individually in 1978 and 1979.
Results from the individual samples have long needed to be compared and assessed as a group. Already in 1979 a report was planned to give comprehensive coverage to the results of the survey (see item A - 4 in the appendix: List of Publications below). The present study is only one step in that direction. The eventual goal will be an integration of the results with a view to providing adequate answers to the questions posed by the survey.
There were seven main topics of inquiry. This report will deal only with the first topic: Languages Spoken.
Languages Spoken: What was the language profile of each community? What were the patterns of multilingualism? To what extent did people use Arabic as a lingua franca?
The remaining six topics raise issues which are integrally related to the information in Languages Spoken. The remaining topics are summarized below.
Languages Needed for Communication: What languages were needed to reach the whole community? Who did not speak Arabic? Old women? Young children?
Inter-ethnic Patterns of Communications: How many people spoke the language of another ethnic group?
Language Dynamics: What evidence was there that certain languages were declining in use or being abandoned?
Context of Languages: Which languages tended to be used more frequently at home? Which were used more frequently in the market place?
Literacy: What proportion of the respondents could read Arabic or other languages?
Languages and Education:
a. Educational Attainment and Mother Tongue: What degree of educational disadvantage confronted children who did not speak Arabic as a mother tongue?
b. Extent of Arabic Spoken by Children Who Were Not Yet Educated: To what extent did children have relevant language skills when they entered primary education?
Magnitude of Survey
The investigators recorded a total of 8453 respondents; 352 of these were in the single sample from Ingassana and the remaining 8101 appeared in the 29 Nuba samples, i.e. an average of 279 respondents per sample in the Nuba Mountains.
The Nuba Mountain survey detected 70 languages; 38 of these were spoken by 2% or more of a sample. In the Ingassana sample only 2 languages were attested in addition to Arabic; all three of these were spoken by more of 2% of the sample.
The results from Ingassana were not strictly comparable with those of the Nuba Mountains. The Ingassana investigator concentrated on rural settlements which were ethnically Ingassana, but the Nuba Mountain investigators were trained to follow procedures which were intended to achieve a representative coverage for the whole geographical area.
Languages Spoken: Monolingualism and Multilingualism
Most of the respondents in the survey spoke at least two languages. This was the normal pattern in the Nuba Mountains and also in Ingassana.
In only 3 of the 30 samples was there a substantial majority of people who spoke only one language. These 3 localities on the northeastern periphery of the Nuba Mountains (### 11, 19 and 22) were inhabited predominately by Arabic monolinguals. The largest proportion of monolinguals in a non-Arabic language was recorded in the Ingassana Hills where one-third of sample # 30 spoke Ingassana alone. There was a similar situation in two localities of the southern Nuba Mountains where over one quarter of sample # 2 spoke Krongo alone and just over one quarter of sample # 1 spoke Masakin alone. Elsewhere the proportion of monolinguals was progressively lower. In localities # 13 and # 30 Arabic monolinguals accounted for only 1% of the sample.
In the vast majority of cases, when a person spoke two or more languages, one of them was Arabic. Occasionally there were individuals who spoke two languages, but not Arabic. These individuals appeared in one quarter of the Nuba Mountain samples and in Ingassana (### 1, 9, 13, 20, 23, 25, 26 and 30), but nowhere did they represent more that 2% of the sample. Only local languages were involved. There did not appear to be any serious rival to Arabic as a lingua franca.
There were many examples of persons speaking three languages. Arabic was always one of the three. The other two were normally African languages, although in two cases the third language was English (# 11 and # 17). Every sample except # 6 yielded evidence suggesting multilingualism in three languages (trilingualism).
As used here, the term 'multilingualism' indicates only that a person has claimed to speak several languages. It does not suggest the degree of proficiency. Patterns of multilingualism are displayed below in the appendix of information sheets entitled '1976 SAMPLE OF LOCALITY'.
Multilingualism has normally been displayed here in terms of three major languages. In one sample only two major languages were available (# 22). Occasionally four languages were present in large numbers and called for a display in terms of four major languages (### 13b, 14b and 21b). In another sample (# 4) the category 'speakers of Arabic' conceals a number of bilinguals in Arabic and Talassa. It might have been preferable to display Talassa there as a fourth major language. Often the category 'speakers of Arabic' conceals a small number of bilinguals who spoke something that was not a major language of the sample. Furthermore, the charts do not indicate extreme situations such as five languages or more being spoken by one individual. Usually, however, the pie chart with three major languages approximates the actual situation and is relatively easy to understand as a graphic display. Multilingualism must be conveyed in a form which is not confusing.
Two-fifths of the localities showed a substantial degree of trilingualism, 'substantial' being defined here as 5% of the sample or more (### 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 17, 23, 25, 27 and 28). Trilingualism rose to 16% in sample 23. An astonishing 65% of sample # 5 was identified as trilingual; however, this must be viewed as a questionable result. It was widely out of line with other results and it appeared in a sample which received relatively low marks in a quality control check by Mohamed Yousif Sid Ahmed. On the other hand, the two Nubian languages involved are very closely related Dilling and Dair (Ghulfan). These languages were spoken by a trilingual group representing 14% of sample # 3. Dilling is not so closely related to Nyimang, but these two languages were also spoken together by sizeable trilingual groups (# 23 - 16% and # 27 - 9%). Even with an unrelated language, Hausa, Dilling occurred in a sizeable trilingual group (# 28 - 8%). Could it be said that Dilling was functioning as a minor lingua franca in the shadow of Arabic? If so, this phenomenon may be restricted to areas around the town of Dilling. In an outlying rural area the Wali dialect of Dilling was only involved in a low degree of trilingualism (# 21 - 1% and # 24 - 3%).
Dair and Dilling were not described here as mutually intelligible dialects, but they are certainly very closely related languages. Multilingualism involving Dair and Dilling together would not be surprising. It is more remarkable when multilingualism involves languages which are unrelated or only remotely related to each other as in samples ### 8, 9, 13, 14, 17 and 28. Sample # 17 reveals 10% trilingualism in three unrelated languages: Arabic, English and Koalib.
The pie chart presented below for the locality Keiga (# 14) shows a remarkable and complex pattern of multilingualism involving unrelated or only remotely related languages.
The most remarkable feature here was the 3% multilingualism in four different languages (quadrilingualism): Arabic (Ar), Keiga (Kg), Jirru (Jr) and Dabri (Dr = Dair). Arabic was spoken everywhere. Otherwise every possible combination of these four languages was attested in patterns of trilingualism and bilingualism. Arabic was not genetically related to any of the other languages. Jirru was distantly related to Dabri (Dair). Keiga was so remotely related to Jirru and Dabri (Dair) that this relationship was not generally recognized by linguists at the time of the survey in 1976. A contrasting display of this sample in terms of only three major languages may be seen in the appendix on the information sheet entitled '1976 SAMPLE OF LOCALITY' # 14a.
Map 1: Spoken Arabic
Arabic was prominent in every one of the 30 samples. However, it was less prominent in Ingassana than it was in the Nuba Mountains. Only two-thirds of the Ingassana respondents spoke Arabic (67%). In the Nuba Mountains the two localities with the lowest proportion of Arabic speech were # 2 Krongo: Arabic 72% and # 1 Masakin: Arabic 73%. Elsewhere use of Arabic ranged between 80 and 100%. On Map 1 this information is displayed for all Nuba Mountain localities of the survey together with a special inset for Ingassana.
Map 2: Arabic - Spoken Often
Map 1 by itself could be misleading. No attempt was made there to distinguish between varieties of spoken Arabic and different levels of skill in speaking Arabic. A respondent who spoke a few words of Arabic might be given as much weight as another who was fluent. A partial corrective to this situation was provided by the following survey questions:
Do you speak ..... (this language) 'often' ....? or Do you speak ..... (this language) 'seldom' ....?
The responses to these questions provided clues to how heavily a particular language was used. The results for each of the 30 samples appear in the appendix below on the information sheets designated as '1976 SAMPLE OF LOCALITY'. For instance, sheet # 30 reveals that 67% of the sample from Ingassana spoke Arabic, but only 22% spoke it 'often'.
In many localities, e.g. ## 1, 2 and 30, there was a relatively high proportion of people who spoke the principal non-Arabic language 'often', but a much lower proportion who spoke Arabic 'often'. This would be consistent with the use of Arabic as an occasional lingua franca. It was the non-Arabic language that was used heavily. In other localities, e.g. ## 17 and 19 the opposite pattern may be observed. Here, Arabic had a relatively high proportion of people who spoke it 'often' and the proportion for the principal non-Arabic language was lower. Although this could be variously explained, it would be consistent with a shift away from a Nuba Mountain language into Arabic. This explanation will need be tested by reference to data collected under topic 4 of the survey: Language Dynamics; however, that falls outside the scope of the present report.
Responses to 'often' and 'seldom' were not expected to yield incontrovertible results. The distinction between 'often' and 'seldom' was clearly subject to various interpretations. Also, if an investigator neglected to record different responses to this question, his results would be seriously distorted. This may account for the divergent results in sample # 8 where everyone was ticked as speaking Arabic 'often', although a more carefully executed sample (# 9) in the same area indicated that only 65% spoke Arabic 'often'.
Map 2 is restricted to those who claimed to speak Arabic 'often'. Its purpose is to balance an exaggerated view of the prominence of Arabic speech which was suggested by Map 1.
Map 3 and Profile of Multiplicity: Number of Primary Languages in Each Sample
The proximity of a large number of different languages to each other is an outstanding feature of the Nuba Mountains. This may be observed on Map 3 which gives a geographical display of the number of primary languages in each locality, 'primary' being defined here as 'spoken by at least 5% of their sample'. There were never less than two primary languages in a sample and sometimes as many as 6. The average was 3.9 primary languages per sample.
The first two sheets in the appendix entitled Profile of Multiplicity provide an enumeration of all the languages in each sample and the relative number of speakers for each language. There was an average of 12.6 languages per sample, but the number of languages varied widely from one locality to another. As many as 29 languages were recorded in # 1 and 28 languages in # 17. On the other hand, only 5 languages each were attested in #7, # 22 and #27 and only 3 in the Ingassana Mountains (# 30).
Questions arise. Does the presence of a large number of languages promote a more rapid shift to the lingua franca, Arabic? Conversely, does the presence of a small number of languages support the maintenance of a local language?
Superficially, there seems to be conflicting evidence from the three localities where speakers of Arabic were outnumbered by speakers of a local language, Masakin (# 1), Krongo (# 2) and Ingassana (# 30). In Ingassana a small number of languages were reported -- only 3. However, a particularly large number of languages were present in the other two localities: Krongo -- 17 and Masakin -- 29, which was the maximum number of languages found in any of the samples. Thus, Masakin provides an extreme contrast to the pattern observed for Ingassana.
A full answer to these questions lies outside the scope of this report, but the number of languages in each sample will need to be considered together with data on varying rates of shift to Arabic assembled under topic 4 of the survey: Language Dynamics.
Map 4: Language Families in the Nuba Mountains
A shift to the lingua franca may be facilitated by exposure to Arabic and also by loan words from Arabic in local languages. However, the pattern of language relationships here could be argued not to facilitate shift. Arabic bears no obvious genetic relationship to the indigenous languages of the Nuba Mountains. The Hausa language of West Africa does have a remote relationship with Arabic, but the similarities are too faint to be of any practical value in facilitating a shift to Arabic.
One of the groups with no genetic relationship to Arabic is the Kordofanian group found in the eastern Nuba Mountains. The Kordofanian languages, such as Masakin and Koalib, have a distant relationship with other languages of Africa. Kordofanian noun classes have a recognizable affinity with the noun classes of the Bantu languages of central and southern Africa and also with the noun classes of Fulfulde and Wolof from West Africa. All of these languages have been classified together in a vast trans-African phylum known as Niger-Kordofanian.
A second group of languages appears in the northwestern and central parts of the Nuba Mountains. Languages such as Dilling, Nyimang, Temein and Daju have been classified as Nilo-Saharan, another vast phylum which includes the majority of Sudanese languages such as Nile Nubian, Fur, Dinka and Ingassana as well as others as far away as Songhai in Mali.
In 1976, at the time of the survey, Roland Stevenson held the opinion that the southwestern Nuba Mountain languages known as the Kadugli-Krongo group were related to the Kordofanian languages. Afterwards, he changed his opinion, and it is now widely accepted that Kadugli-Krongo is affiliated to the Nilo-Saharan phylum rather than to Niger- Kordofanian.
Map 4 shows roughly where these various language groups are to be found in the Nuba Mountains with (1) Niger-Kordofanian languages in the east, (2a) Nilo-Saharan languages in the northwestern and central areas and (2b) the Kadugli-Krongo group in the southwest. Arabic represents a completely different phylum of languages variously known as (3) Afro-Asiatic or Hamito-Semitic, and yet it is Arabic which serves over the whole area as the lingua franca.
Map 5: Languages from Countries West of the Sudan
The Nuba Mountains lie across an ancient east-west route for traders and for West African pilgrims on their way to Makkah. The survey recorded a number of languages associated with countries to the west of the Sudan. There were at least traces of these languages in more than two-thirds of the samples. They were absent only in a group of rural Nuba Mountain localities ### 6, 10, 12, 14, 21, 22, 26 and 27 and were also absent in the Ingassana sample (# 30). One-fifth of all samples attested West African languages as primary languages, i.e. spoken by at least 5% of the total (### 3, 15, 18, 19, 20 and 28). More than one-third of sample 28 spoke Hausa. More than half the respondents in samples 15 and 18 spoke either Hausa or Borno (Kanuri). The integration of people of West African origin into Sudanese society is related to the issue of their access to national services, and especially to education, see survey topic 7: Languages and Education. The occurrence of languages from countries west of the Sudan is displayed in Map 5.
Map 6: Spoken English
There were at least traces of English in 26 of the 30 samples. English was absent only in ### 4, 13, 14 and 30. One-fifth of all samples attested English as being used as a primary language, i.e. by at least 5% of the total (### 5, 6, 8, 11, 15 and 17). In two of these localities English has been referred to as one of the three major languages of the sample (# 11: English 9% and # 17: English 13%), but it ranked far below Arabic, since 99-100% of the respondents in these samples spoke Arabic. A geographical display of English use is provided by on Map 6.
Language and Dialect:
In the years around 1976 the survey was able to draw upon the expertise of Roland Stevenson who was a specialist on the languages of the Nuba Mountains. In most cases the survey followed Stevenson's opinions on what might be called distinct languages and what might only be called mutually intelligible dialects of a single language. Stevenson was fully aware of the complexity of the problem and of the difficulty (perhaps impossibility) of reaching satisfactory conclusions.
However, in at least one part of the Nuba Mountains, classification of the languages/dialects seems to have followed local usage rather than Stevenson's opinion. Stevenson considered Koalib and Otoro to be mutually intelligible dialects of a single language. In the survey Koalib and Otoro were generally treated as separate 'languages'.
In fact, Stevenson's earlier publications had referred to Koalib and Otoro as though they were separate entities, probably reflecting local points of view.
The published Sample of Locality # 20: Shwai, Otoro demonstrates the problem. When Koalib and Otoro are considered dialects of a single language, data will be displayed for three languages as in information sheet # 20a in the appendix below. When Koalib and Otoro are treated as separate 'languages', data will be displayed for four languages as in information sheet # 20b below. Even though # 20b represents the form in which the original sample was published in 1979, # 20a is more consistent with the generally preferred treatment of language and dialect data in the Nuba Mountain survey.
Laro has been treated as a separate language in this report, but after further investigation it may well be classified as a dialect of Koalib.
This is a perennial problem. Inconsistencies are inevitable given the fuzziness of the criteria and the state of our knowledge. However, in general, the Nuba Mountain survey aimed to classify its data for analysis in terms of languages rather than dialects.
Considerable effort was given to solving the problem of assigning unusual dialect names to the appropriate language. Field investigators were trained to identify a language by filling in a list of ten diagnostic words when an enigmatic name was given by the respondents. In spite of precautions, there were still problems. The name 'Moro' in this survey probably designates two neighbouring, but distinct Kordofanian languages: (1) 'Moro Hills' closely related to Masakin and (2) 'Moro' more closely related to Tira and Koalib.
Brief Acknowledgement
The survey of the Nuba Mountains was only one phase of the Language Survey of the Sudan. The Language Survey has been a continuing project at the Institute of African and Asian Studies of the University of Khartoum since 1972. I am grateful to the Institute and to the Ford Foundation for their substantial support for the Language Survey of the Sudan. I am also grateful to the University of Bergen for having recently granted me research time to return to this project.
The Nuba Mountain phase benefited particularly from the guidance of Yusuf Fadl Hasan, Sayyid Hamid Hurreiz and Yusuf al-Khalifa Abu Bakr. Scholars who published work in the early stages of the Language Survey are cited below in the appendix on publications. The Nuba Mountain survey followed an earlier phase conducted by Björn Jernudd and Ushari Ahmad Mahmud. When the 1976 results were being prepared for initial publication, a great deal of help was provided by Lilith Haynes. I am grateful to Diego Valle of Bergen for his technical assistance with the maps in the present study. To mention some contributors and not others, however, is unfair to the large team of dedicated students and scholars from inside the Sudan and from abroad. A full acknowledgement of the members of the large team involved has already been published in the Sample of Locality Series (see appendix on publications) and will be published again, it is hoped, when a more extensive analysis of the results of this survey is completed.
Conclusion
This report represents an early step towards the final analysis, but it is not a conclusion. The vast amount of labour contributed by members of the team to the Nuba Mountain survey calls for an appropriate conclusion. Even though everyone in the project was heavily involved with other duties, most of them devoted themselves to the project with diligence. Many serious obstacles arose and had to be overcome. It was a great achievement for the team to have produced the initial publications of 1979, which are the basis of the present work on the Nuba Mountains. Linguistically the Nuba Mountains are one of the most diverse and complex regions on earth and have been characterized as the Caucasus of Africa. The region has recently been subjected to exceptional pressures for change. It is a potential testing ground for contemporary concerns on culturally sensitive development and on the absorption of traditional areas into a global system. Both theoretical and practical considerations call for an adequate conclusion to the project.
Organization of the Data Display
Maps
Map 1: Spoken ArabicMap 2: Arabic - Spoken OftenMap 3: Number of Primary Languages in Each SampleMap 4: Language Families in the Nuba MountainsMap 5: Languages from Countries West of the SudanMap 6: Spoken English
Appendixes
The data sheets supporting this report are arranged below as follows:
I. Profile of Multiplicity II. Information Sheets on Each Sample (# 1 - # 30) Entitled '1976 SAMPLE OF LOCALITY'III. Languages of Survey & AbbreviationsIV. List of Publications of the Language Survey of the Sudan as of 1979
The Long Walk for Water.
The Linguistic Settlement of the Nuba Mountains
Robin Thelwall, The New University of Ulster and Thilo C. Schadeberg, Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden
From: Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 5 (1983) 219-231
I. Introduction
The linguistic complexity of the Nuba Mountains (Southern Kordofan province, Sudan) has been known for over seventy years (Seligman 1910/11). Recent research into the detailed relationships of the forty-odd languages of this region has made it possible to speculate, with a lesser degree of uncertainty, on the patterns or migration and the time sequence implied by present distribution. Hypothesizing about the past situation in the Nuba Mountains involves balancing logical possibilities with circumstantial evidence.
An apparently elementary problem dogs the discussion at its outset: the name Nuba and its relationship to Nubia. Arkell (1955.177-78) still provides the most succinct discussion:
"The earliest occurrence of the name Nubia or Nuba is in the Greek writer Eratosthenes c. 200 BC, who mentions the Nuba as being on the west of the Nile 'as far as the bends of the river'. This should mean as far as the Dongola Reach… The name of the Nuba apparently comes, like so many other tribal names in the Sudan (Berti, Berta, Burgu, etc-) from a word in their own language which means 'slaves'; and it is not impossible that the ancient Egyptian word nub for 'gold' arose from the fact that this metal came to them first from their southern neighbours whom they looked on as slaves…
The name Nuba today usually implies an inhabitant of the Nuba Mountains in southern Kordofan inhabited by remnants of peoples of varying language and race, the majority of whom are now negroid. The Nuba Mountains were probably so called after the Brown race of Nubian-speaking immigrants from the steppe country further north, from which they were displaced by nomad Arabs about the 14C AD. The name 'Kordofan' for this steppe country probably comes from a Nubian word kurta meaning 'man' -"
It should be noted that even today people in the Nuba Mountains use "Kordofan" to refer to El Obeid and the country round it and not to refer to the Mountains.
The ethnically and linguistically fragmented situation indicates that the Nuba Mountains have in all probability served as a retreat area. This may have happened at various times in history for basically two reasons. The first would be climatological: the desiccation of the Sahara has certainly time and again impelled people to migrate in search of more abundant water, either to remaining rivers and lakes, or just more generally southwards. In a more close-up perspective the driving forces are on the whole politico-economical. Looking at the map it is not difficult to find the areas of power concentrations from which people might have found it expedient to seek refuge. To the north, the Sahel empires have succeeded each other for centuries. The period of intensive slave-raids over a century ago was a severe threat and a bitter experience for the southern neighbours of Kordofan (i.e., El Obeid). South of the Nuba Mountains, the large and compact area occupied by Dinka and Nuer speakers also has the appearance of a relatively recent centre of expansion. Therefore, we should not overlook the possibility that some present-day inhabitants of the Nuba Mountains came there from the south.
2. The Evidence
The ten language groups established by the MacDiarmids (1931) can serve us well as a point of departure. They are lexicostatistically definable as having an internal cohesion of not less than 45%, based on a 100-word list. The groups and their internal distances (rounded off to multiples of five) are:
1. Heiban45% 6. Kadugli60%
2. Narrow Talodi65% 7. Nyimang60%
3. Tegem (=Lafofa)- 8. Temein60%
4. Rashad55% 9. Daju60%
5. Katla 50% 10. Nubian85%
Stevenson (1956-57) summarizes all significant research on Nuba Mountain language to that date, and is also based on his immense collection of manuscript data, largely unpublished, though summary extracts form the main basis for the relevant sections in Tucker and Bryan (1956, 1966). Those publications also contain detailed maps of distribution on which our Map 1 is based. Thelwall (1978, 1981a,b) and Schadeberg (1981a,b) provide subclassifications of most language groups, which will be summarized further on.
The first eight groups listed above are confined to the Nuba Mountains; Daju and Nubian are the only ones that have close connections outside. Our argumentation makes critical use of such information. However, the fact that Nyimang, Temein, Daju and Nubian have all been classified - together with Nilotic and several other language groups - as Eastern Sudanic has no consequence in our present context. Different branches of Eastern Sudanic are very distant from each other; they generally share less than 20% in lexicostatistic terms. Since there are no indications that the Nuba Mountains were the original home of Eastern Sudanic such distant genetic links are judged to be unconnected with the appearance of those four language groups in the Nuba Mountains.
The affiliation of Kadugli is presently open (see Schadebert 1981c). Again, nothing in our argumentation depends on remote possible links with Nilo-Saharan. On the other hand, the fact that groups (1) through (5) may be classified as Kordofanian, and that all Kordofanian languages are spoken exclusively within the Nuba Mountains is certainly relevant. Our hypotheses about the relative chronology of the influx of the various groups are based on these three types of clues about each language group: (i) internal diversity, (ii) immediate external genetic links, and (iii) geographical distribution. Naturally, other evidence such as loanwords and historical traditions should be taken into account as they become available.
3. Hill Nubian
Nubian is a language group which presently spreads from Darfur to the Nile (see Map 2). The most prudent interpretation of our lexicostatistical data (Thelwall 1978, 1981a) leads to the sub-classification shown in figure 1.
Figure 1: Sub-classification of Nubian
We can propose with some confidence that the centre of gravity and hence centre of dispersion lies outside the Nuba Mountains, perhaps in the Darfur-Kordofan boundary region. We have documents in Old Nubian from the Nile region south of the first cataract (Aswan) dating from perhaps the 7C AD and good reason for relating the Old Nubian of these documents more closely to present-day Nobiin (Mahas) than to any other present variety of Nubian. Behrens (1981) has even proposed a date as much as two thousand years earlier for the presence of Nubian speakers in this area, based on proposed Nubian loans in Egyptian. We also know that the late medieval Nubian kingdom of Alwa was in control of the Nile south of Soba (10 km south of Khartoum on the Blue Nile). Place name evidence (based on Survey Department maps made from observations at the beginning of this century) shows that Nubian names occur on the Nile and nearby as far south as Kosti, but how far back this presence goes is an open question. We can be confident it predates the Arabization of the Gezira, and so is probably not less than 500 years, but it may weIl be over 2000.
The indications mentioned above would point to a movement of pre-Nobiin speakers across the Bayuda desert to the Nile as long ago as 2000 years, and perhaps a parallel movement to the Nile around Kosti of pre-Dongolawi speakers, with their subsequent spread north to later link up with the Nobiin. The tribal map of the present day marks "Nubawi" over the area east and northeast of El Obeid, and it may be that Nubian speech has only disappeared in this area in the last hundred years (see Bell 1973).
We may thus assume a large zone from Darfur in the West to the Nile in the East in which Nubian was present during a long period. From this area some Nubians must have come to settle on the northern Nuba Mountains. Whether this occurred due to pressure from Arab nomads as Arkell (1955) proposes, or whether an earlier date should be assumed is not clear. The relative closeness of the Hi1l Nubian dialects to each other does not suggest the presence of isolated Nubian communities in these hills for several millennia.
Likewise, the linguistic sub-classification of Nubian lends no support to the belief that Hill Nubians are refugees from the former Christian Nubian empire on the Nile. This theory derives some of its popularity from the fact that it appears to lend part of the age-old prestige of the Nile civilizations to present-day hill dwellers. The presence of Christian words for the days of the week in Hill Nubian could be explained by assuming past contacts between Christian Nubia and the Hill Nubians.
4. Daju
For the Daju also we have good linguistic evidence and scanty but cogent historical tradition. Languages of the Daju group are presently spoken in Wadai, Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and Bahr el Ghazal (see Map 2). The subclassification in Figure 2 emerges from the work of Thelwall (1978, 1981a,b).
Figure 2: Sub-classification of Daju
Thus, the focal point of Daju prehistory appears to lie in Darfur. It is known that the Daju ruled in Darfur before the Fur and Tunjur, i.e. perhaps as early as the 14C AD. The centre of their kingdom seems to have been the southern part of the Marra range, but there are traces of them much further north. The Meidob Nubians have a clan that is supposed to be descended from Daju slaves. They may of course represent groups that were assimilated into the Nubians much earlier than the rise of Daju power, when the Nubians were almost certainly dominant in the area where the Birgid are today, which is next to the Daju. But both possibilities should be considered.
The explanation of the presence of three TJaju groups in the Nuba Mountains is affected by the linguistic subgrouping, which shows a clear division between Shatt and Liguri on the one hand and the remainder of Daju including Lagawa on the other. The Lagawa, and their close linguistic kin the Nyolge or Nyalgulgule of Bahr el Ghazal seem clearly to have moved to their present positions from southeast Darfur, most likely as a result of the decline of the Daju kingdom, i.e., after the rise of the Tunjur perhaps in the 14C. (For a succinct summary of Darfur history at this period see Balfour-Paul 1955 and O'I'ahey and Spaulding 1974).
The Shatt and Liguri, however, because of a number of distinct lexical, phonological and grammatical features (see Thelwall 1981 b), must be assumed to have separated from the rest of Daju much earlier than the Lagawa. Furthermore, their considerable distance from each other leads us to propose a migration into the Nuba Mountains predating not only the Lagawa (and Nyolge) but probably also the Nubian arrival in this area.
5. Nyimang; Temein; Kadugli
Nyimang and Temein are two small language families, each consisting of two or three languages, all spoken exclusively in the Nuba Mountains. They have been classified as two (out of ten) branches of Eastern Sudanic. Genetic relationships within Eastern Sudanic are too distant - and too uncertain - as to permit any inferences about migration at the time depth with which we are here concerned. We can only note that both groups show an internal divergence of about 60% (see Figure 3). The data are taken from Thelwall (1981a).
Figure 3: Sub-classification of Nyimang and Temein
The Kadugli group shows a very similar internal diversification. It consists of at least six languages (and several more dialects), and it is also not represented outside the Nuba Mountains. The sub-classification in Figure 4 is based on a preliminary lexicostatistic hierarchical cluster analysis of nine wordlists (92 items). The proposed tree holds equally for all clustering methods including Nearest and Furthest Neighbour; the absolute height of branching follows the Branch Average figures.
Figure 4: Sub-classification of Kadugli
Note that Stevenson's division into Eastern, Central and Western Kadugli is only in part borne out by this calculation; in particular, his Eastern division consisting of Keiga, Kamdang and Kanga/Kufa appears to be non-coherent.
AIl three groups here discussed have a reasonably compact distribution within the Nuba Mountains: Kadugli along the southwestern edge, Temein to the West, and Nyimang to the north. This suggests outside origins and immigration from these respective directions. Assuming that equal internal diversity corresponds to some roughly consistent time depth we may argue that at this particular time in history conditions prevailed in the Nuba Mountains which resulted in population scattering and reduced inter-group communication. As it is more likely that such conditions originated outside the refuge area we may further speculate that migration to the Nuba Mountains and diversification occurred in close historical union.
6. Kordofanian
This leaves us with the five groups representing four branches of Kordofanian (see Figure 5).¹
Figure 5: The major branches of Kordofanian
The outside relations of Kordofanian are too distant to be relevant in the present context. The whole Kordofanian language family is located within the Nuba Mountains where it occupies the most central and most widespread geographical position (see Map 1). There appears to be a continuous history of branching, beginning with a (presently assumed) four-way split into Katla, Heiban, Talodi and Rashad. This primary split must have preceded the subsequent split of Talodi into Tegem and Narrow Talodi (25%). On the basis of this evidence it is clearly indicated that the development of Kordofanian occurred in the Nuba Mountains, and that Kordofanian has the longest linguistic history in this area.
The resulting hypothesis regarding the relative chronology of the linguistic settlement of the Nuba Mountains is then:
1. Kordofanian
2. Nyimang; Temein; Kadugli
3. Daju I: Shatt, Liguri
4. Hill Nubian
5. Daju II: Lagawa
Map 1: Language distribution in the Nuba Mountains
Map 2: The distribution of the Nubian and Daju language groups
FOOTNOTES
The present article arose out of a paper by the first author and a critical reply to it by the second author, both presented at the Second Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Conference at Coleraine, Northern Ireland in July, 1983.
The internal cohesion of Kordofanian as well as its relatedness to Niger-Congo are presently almost universally accepted. A number of noun class prefixes of Kordofanian have clear cognates in several branches of Niger-Congo, thus providing evidence for the genetic relatedness of the two language families. (These two statements were part of my contribution "Kordofanisch" to Lexikon der Afrikanistik, ed. by H. Jungraithmayr and W.J.G. Möhlig, Berlin 1983, though they do not appear in full in the published version. TCS.)
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Schadeberg, Thilo C.
-1981a. A Survey of Kordofanian. Vol. 1: The Heiban Group. (Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika, Beiheft 1.) Hamburg.
-1981b. A Survey of Kordofanian. Vol. 2: The Talodi Group. (Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika, Beiheft 2.) Hamburg.
-1981c. 'The classification of the Kadugli language group', in Nilo-Saharan, ed. by Th.C. Schadeberg and M.L. Bender, pp. 291-305. Dordrecht.
Seligman(n), Brenda Z. 1910/11. 'Note on the language of the Nubas of Southern Kordofan', Zeitschrift fur
Kolonialsprachen 1:167-88.
Stevenson, Roland C. 1956-57. 'A survey of the phonetics and grammatical structure of the Nuba Mountain
languages, with particular reference to Otoro, Katcha and Nyimang', Afrika und Ubersee 40:73-84, 93-115; 41:27-65, 117-52, 171-96.
Thelwall, Robin.
-1978.'Lexicostatistical relations between Nubian, Daju and Dinka', in Etudes Nubiennes: Colloque de ChantiLLy, 2-6 Juillet 1975, pp. 265-86.
-1981a. 'Lexicostatistical subgrouping and lexical reconstruction of the Daju group', in Nilo-Saharan, ed. by Th.C. Schadeberg and M.L. Bender, pp. 167-84. Dordrecht.
-The Daju Language Group: Systematic Phonetics, Lexicostatistics and Lexical Reconstruction. D. Phil. diss., New university of Ulster. Coleraine.
Tucker, A.N., and M.A. Bryan.
-1956. The Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa. London.
-1966. Linguistic Analyses: The Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa. London.
1976 PATTERNS OF MULTILINGUALISM
TotalSample
Locality # 25
Languages (Otoro is merged with Koalib)
#
%
Shwai, Umm Heitan
1
Ar+Koalib
91
198
46
2
Ar+Shwai
34
198
17
3
Ar+Kl+Sh
10
198
5
4
Arabic
47
198
24
5
Shwai
11
198
6
6
Koalib (including one La+Kl bilingual
2
198
1
7
Moro
2
198
1
8
Laro
1
198
1
Umm Heitan & Hadra = Koalib
Patterns of Multilingualism in the Three Major Languages of the Sample
Chart exploded to highlight speakers of Arabic
Profile of sample # 25 by language: * ........
Largest number: 182 Arabic 92% (Only 119 or 60% of total sample spoke Arabic often.) Next largest: 103 Koalib 48% (95 or 46% - often)Next largest: 55 Shwai 28% (49 or 25% - often)* Next: 19 Laro 10% (14 or 7% - often)Next: 12 Moro 6% (10 or 5% - often)
... Languages spoken by less than 2% of the Sample - Nuba Mountains: Miri (Kadugli), Heiban & Nyimang; Southern Sudan: Lotuho; Western Sudan: Masalit; Countries West of the Sudan: Bargu (Maba); Eastern Sudan: Burun; Europe: English.
1976 PATTERNS OF MULTILINGUALISM
TotalSample
Locality # 26
Languages
#
%
Nyimang.C
1
Ar+Ny+Dl
9
224
4
2
Ar+Dilling
30
224
13
3
Arabic
5
224
2
4
Nyimang+Dilling
4
224
2
5
Nyimang
4
224
2
6
Ar+Nyimang
171
224
76
7
Dilling
1
224
0
Fanda, Karko, Kujuriya & Kasha =
Dilling
Patterns of Multilingualism in the Three Major Languages of the Sample
Chart exploded to highlight speakers of Arabic
Profile of sample # 26 by language: ...
Largest number: 215 Arabic 96% (Only 88 or 39% of total sample spoke Arabic often.) Next largest: 188 Nyimang 84% (154 or 69% - often)Next: 44 Dilling 20% (31 or 14% - often).Next: 5 English 2% (3 or 1% - often), 5 Ghulfan (Dair) 2% (0 or 0% - often).
... Languages spoken by less than 2% of the Sample - Nuba Mountains: Katla; Southern Sudan: Yulu-Binga & Kresh.
1976 PATTERNS OF MULTILINGUALISM
TotalSample
Locality # 27
Languages
#
%
Nyimang.D
1
Ar+Dilling
36
158
23
2
Ar+Ny+Dl
15
158
9
3
Arabic
4
158
3
4
Dilling
1
158
1
5
Ar+Nyimang
102
158
65
Fanda, Karko, Kujuriya & Kasha =
Dilling
Patterns of Multilingualism in the Three Major Languages of the Sample
Chart exploded to highlight speakers of Arabic
Profile of sample # 27 by language: ..
Largest number: 157 Arabic 99% (Only 95 or 60% of total spoke Arabic often.) Next largest: 117 Nyimang 74% (99 or 63% - often)Next: 52 Dilling 33% (33 or 21% - often)
... Languages spoken by less than 2% of the Sample - Nuba Mountains: Dair; Europe: English.
1976 PATTERNS OF MULTILINGUALISM
TotalSample
Locality # 28
Languages
#
%
Tukma
1
Ar+Dilling
109
253
43
2
Ar+Hausa
72
253
28
3
Ar+Dl+Hs
20
253
8
4
Arabic
51
253
20
5
Temein
1
253
0
Wali = Dilling
Patterns of Multilingualism in the Three Major Languages of the Sample
Profile of sample # 28 by language: * ....
Largest number: 252 Arabic 100% (Only 171 or 68% of total spoke Arabic often.) Next largest: 129 Dilling 51% (40 or 16% - often)Next largest: 92 Hausa 36% (90 or 36% - often)* Next: 34 Ghulfan (Dair) 13% (3 or 1% - often)Next: 22 Temein 9% (15 or 6% - often) Next: 11 Nyimang 4% (0 or 0% - often), 9 Fulfulde 4% (4 or 2% - often), 8 Katla 3% (5 or 2% - often), 5 Koalib 2% (0 or 0% - often)
... Languages spoken by less than 2% of the Sample - Nuba Mountains: Kadugli; Southern Sudan: Dinka; Countries West of the Sudan: Borno (Kanuri); Europe: English.
1976 PATTERNS OF MULTILINGUALISM
TotalSample
Locality # 29
Languages
#
%
Miri
1
Ar+Kadugli
393
421
93
2
Ar+Krongo
2
421
0
3
Ar+Kd+Kr
13
421
3
4
Arabic
10
421
2
5
Kadugli
3
421
1
Kanga & Miri = Kadugli
Patterns of Multilingualism in the Three Major Languages of the Sample
Chart exploded to highlight speakers of Arabic
Profile of sample # 29 by language: ............
Largest number: 418 Arabic 99% (391 or 93% of total sample spoke Arabic often.) Next largest: 409 Kanga/Miri (Kadugli) 97% (171 or 41% - often)Next: 15 Krongo 4% (3 or 1% - often), 10 Fulfulde 2% (2 or 0% - often), 9 Englih 2% (0 or 0% - often)
... Languages spoken by less than 2% of the Sample - Nuba Mountains: Keiga, Heiban, Shatt, Daju & Dilling; Southern Sudan: Dinka; Western Sudan: Masalit; Countries West of the Sudan: Bargu (Maba), Borno (Kanuri) & Hausa; Eastern Sudan: Beja; Europe: French.
1976 PATTERNS OF MULTILINGUALISM
TotalSample
Locality # 30
Languages
#
%
Ingassana
1
Arabic
3
352
1
2
Ar+Ingassana
226
352
64
3
Ar+ In+Br
6
352
2
4
Ingassana+Berta
5
352
1
5
Ingassana
112
352
32
Patterns of Multilingualism in the Three Major Languages of the Sample
Chart exploded to highlight speakers of Arabic
Profile of sample # 30 by language:
Largest number: 349 Ingassana 99% (347 or 99% of total sample spoke Ingassana often.) Next largest: 235 Arabic 67% (78 or 22% of total sample spoke Arabic often.)Next: 11 Berta 3% (3 or 1% - often)
Languages of survey
Abbreviations Used for Principal Languages of Survey with Indication of Genetic Affiliation
****
*********************
**
---
**
*********************
****
Ar
Arabic
AA
Kr
Krongo
KK(NS)
Bg
Bargu
NS
Lf
Lafofa
NK
Br
Berta
NS
Lr
Laro
NK
Dr
Dair
NS
Lg
Liguri
NS
Dj
Daju
NS
Ms
Masakin
NK
Dl
Dilling
NS
Ml
Masalit
NS
Dk
Dinik
NS
Mr
Moro
NK
Dn
Dinka
NS
Nu
Nuer
NS
El
Eliri
NK
Ny
Nyimang
NS
En
English
IE
Sk
Shilluk
NS
Fr
French
IE
Sh
Shwai
NK
Fl
Fulfulde
NK
Su
Sungor
NS
Hs
Hausa
AA
Ta
Tagoi
NK
In
Ingassana
NS
Ts
Talassa
KK(NS)
Jr
Jirru
NS
Tx
Tama
NS
Kd
Kadugli
KK(NS)
Tg
Tegali
NK
Kn
Kanuri
NS
Tm
Temein
NS
Kt
Katla
KK(NS)
Ty
Tima
KK(NS)
Kg
Keiga
KK(NS)
Tr
Tira
NK
Kl
Koalib
NK
Tl
Tulishi
KK(NS)
Key to Claimed Affiliations
Afro- Asiatic (Hamito-Semitic): AA
Indo-European: IE
Niger-Kordofanian: NK
Nilo-Sahelian: NS
Kadugli-Krongo (Nilo-Saharan): KK(NS)
Key to Following Table: Languages of Survey - All
Dialects are assigned to the relevant language, e.g. Ghulfan => Dair language.
Alternate names are given for certain languages, e.g. Maba = Bargu.
Dialects and alternate names are in plain print.
Languages accounting for less than 2% of a sample are in plain print.
Languages accounting for 2% of a sample or more are in bold print.
**********************************
**********************************
Acoli
Keiga
Afitti = Dinik
Koalib
Al-Sibai => Nyimang
Kresh
Amharic
Krongo
Anuak
Kudr => Dilling
Arabic
Kujuriya => Dilling
Avukaya
Kunjara => Fur
Bagirmi
Lafofa
Baka
Laro
Balanda Bor
Latuho
Bangala
Latuko = Latuho
Bargu
Liguri
Bari
Maba = Bargu
Beja
Mandal => Nyimang
Berta
Masakin
Borno = Kanuri
Masalit
Burun
Mimi
Dabri => Dair
Miri => Kadugli
Dair
Moro
Daju
Mundu
Daju of Western Kordofan = Daju
Murta => Kadugli
Dilling
Ndogo-Sere
Dinik
Nuer
Dinka
Nyimang
Dongolawi
Otoro => Koalib
Eliri
Sango
English
Shatt
Fanda => Dilling
Shilluk
French
Shwai
Fulfulde
Sungor
Fur
Swahili
German
Tagoi
Ghulfan => Dair
Talassa
Gur'an
Talodi
Habila => Dilling
Tama
Hadra => Koalib
Tegali
Hausa
Temein
Heiban => Koalib
Tesei => Jirru
Ingassana
Tigrinya
Italian
Tima
Jirru
Tira
Julud => Katla
Tubu = Gur'an
Jur Lwo
Tulishi
Kadaru => Dair
Tumma
Kadugli
Tumtum => Talassa
Kamdang => Tulishi
Umm Danab => Jirru
Kanga => Kadugli
Umm Heitan => Koalib
Kanuri
Wali => Dilling
Karko => Dilling
Wolof
Kasha => Dilling
Yulu-Binga
Katcha => Kadugli
Zaghawa
Katla
Zande
List of Publications of the Language Survey of the Sudan as of 1979
Institute of African and Asian Studies, University of Khartoum,P.O. Box 321, Khartoum, Sudan
A. Language Survey Series
Ismail, Sara Yousif and Ushari Ahmad Mahmud. Language Survey Studies. 1978
Ismail, Sara Yousif. The Language Situation in Heiban 1978
Kilpatrick Eileen, The Use of Arabic in the Krongo Jebels and at Tabanya. 1978
Bell, Herman. The Nuba Mountains: a Preliminary Analysis. (forthcoming)
Bell, Herman. Language Survey Tabulation Manual. 1978
Royal, Anne. A Preliminary Report on the Survey of Ingassana. 1979
Jernudd, Björn and Sayyid Hamid Hurreiz. Language Survey of Sudan, an Interim Report.& Jernudd, Björn. Report on the First Phase of the Language Survey of Sudan. 1978
B. Sample of Locality Series
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Masakin. 1978
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Krongo. 1978
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Habila, Kadaru. 1978
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Eliri. 1978
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Kudr, Angarko. 1978
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Umm Dorein, Murta. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Dair: Sidra, Farla. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Lagawa. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Lagawa. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Liguri, Tesei Umm Danab. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Al-'Abbasiya, Tegali. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Nyimang. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Keiga, Debri. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Keiga. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Al-Goz. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Dair: Sidra, Kundukur. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Delami, Abri. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Al-Goz. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Umm Barumbeita, Faid Umm Abdullah. 1978
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Shwai, Otoro. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Wali, Julud, Temein. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Dair: Al-'Ain. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Nyimang. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Wali, Julud. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Shwai, Umm Heitan. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Nyimang. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Nyimang. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Tukma. 1979
Southern Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains, Miri. 1979
Other Publications Related to the Survey
Hurreiz, Sayyid Hamid. Linguistic Diversity and Language Planning in the Sudan. African Studies Seminar, No. 5. 1968
Jernudd, Björn. 'List of People Working on Languages of Sudan'. Sudan Research Information Bulletin, No. 5. 1975
Jernudd, Björn. 'Teachers and Language in Sudan, a Questionnaire Survey of Teachers in Junior Secondary Schools' in Hurreiz and Bell (1975)
Bell, Herman. 'A Data Bank for Sudanese Languages' in Hurreiz and Bell (1975)
Hurreiz, Sayyid Hamid and Herman Bell. Directions in Sudanese Linguistics and Folklore. Sudan Studies Library, No. 4. 1975
Bell, Herman. Language Survey Questionnaire Manual. 1976
Sid Ahmed, Mohamed Yousif. An Analysis of the Nuba Mountain Language Survey: a Comparative Study of Language Usage in Dair, Angarko and Habila. Unpublished dissertation. Institute of African and Asian Studies, University of Khartoum. March 1979
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