A History of The Baggara

“Baggara” means “cattlemen”

 

    

    The baggara are a confederation of nomadic ethnic “Arab” groups that inhabit Sahel region of Africa. 

They are also sometimes known as “Chadian Arabs” they are of mixed Arab and even Arabized indigenous African ancestry. And they number over 6 million in total

They are nomads of 2 kinds

Camel man & Cattle men 

The camel men typically occupy the southern fringes if the desert 

While the cattle men live relatively south of them 

Nonetheless they all claim distant kinship with each other, as well their genealogies spaning back centuries connecting with the Guheyena. A section of the Himyarites of Southern Arabia from teh days before Prophet Muhammad.

Baggara sub groups? 

• Location 

Their territory include countries like Nigeria, Chad, and Sudan forming an area/territory known as “the Baggara belt”

.

“Baggara” means “cattlemen” 

• Origins

    Nonetheless they all claim distant kinship with each other, as well their genealogies spaning back centuries connecting with the Guheyena. A section of the Himyarites of Southern Arabia from the days before Prophet Muhammad.

While obscure, there are a couple of theories as to how the Baggara came into existence and how theyve come to inhabit their modern territories of today.

One of those therories was after the Arab invasion of Egypt, the people who would later start the Baggara would migrate out West towards Tunisia, and then would’ve migrated south to dominate most of the south across the desert. Other theories suggest that they were among the Arabs who invaded the Nile Valley during the end of the 14th century, possibly indicating a relation to the arabs who invaded Nubia, and conquers the last Nubian Christian kingdom of Alodia in the process.

 

Some say the baggara originated from the Banu judham  tribe in Syria. (Source; Rasta ) 

Expansion




The Baggara of the Sudan like many ethnic groups have also participated in many violent expansion, some of which would eve displace neigboring ethnic groups like the daju. Rcords and oral history document these events in great detail







Other Daju moved eastward eventually settling in what is now South Kurdufan province near Muglad just north of Abyei and west of the Nuba Mountains. Records indicate that they consisted of two distinct Daju groups although it is uncertain if this migration displaced pre-existing non-Daju peoples or if one of the Daju groups was already indigenous to the area. There is one source that indicates that both the Ngok Dinka to the South and the Messiria to the North admit that the Daju were the indigenous people of Muglad.[6] They were eventually displaced by the Messiria pushing down from the north and were forced south into Abyei where they were defeated and again dispersed by the Ngok Dinka. One group was driven westward (possibly the ancestors of the Njalgulgule people) and the other group, consisting of Dar Fur Daju, were driven east into the Nuba Hills settling near Lagowa where they developed their own distinct dialect of the Nyala language.[7]

• Culture  

They are nomads of 2 kinds

Camel man & Cattle men 

• Cattle & Nomadic Ways of Life

    Cattle are regarded as wealth. And for young men to enter into positions of power and influence, they must have cattle. 

Cattle were used for everyday purchase with settled communities, marriages (only a few), & played an important role in the Baggara social culture. 

But in recent times, they have been using cattle less and less frequently, and cash has increasingly been growing as teh preferred method of payment, though at times purchases may be made with both Cash & cow. 

The fact that a lot of most wealth is or was kept in cattle reflects on how the baggara live a nomadic style of life. Tribesmen are typically on the move and do not have settled houses.

• Housing

   

    Tents are typically used as housing. And is usually a light structure made from local procucts. However there are no expensive luxury like you see with Bedouins and their carpets. 

Household are limited to possessions are usually limited to what can be carried on the backs of 2 bulls, who carry les equipment then camels.

• Items

    Household are limited to possessions are usually limited to what can be carried on the backs of 2 bulls, who carry les equipment then camels.

Luxury items are mainly silver and Gold worn by women. All of this to say that the cats value of cattle exceeds that greatly of property. 

• Lineage & family structure

Lineage plays a very important part in their culture 

 

Lineages are associated with certain camps or “Surras”, but 

A camp of ideal circumstances consist the men of 1 surra, & those who depend on them (women & children?). They camp, move, & look after herd together. 

In lineage system exist things like inheritance as power, which in later periods where integrated even into the sudanese government at times.

Each segmentary lineage has its own leader, however, the power of that leader may be challenged at times, and with integration into the sudanese government, power of some lieanges can be legitimized or recognized fr lack of a better term. 

• Historical Acomplishements 

Historically inhabited politically important places in the Sudan 

• Mahdist 

    The mahadist revolution was a movement against the British and ottoman control over what is now known as sudan. It was initiated by the self proclaimed “Mahadi” Muhammad Ahmad, and during the peak of this revolution, the state controlled much of the vast regions of Sudan & South Sudan 

The Mahdi in Sudan refers to Muhammad Ahmad, a religious and political leader who led a successful uprising against Anglo-Egyptian rule in the late 19th century, establishing an Islamic state before his death in 1885

The army for this state was made up and localized from local tribes from many of the different areas of the sudan, including the baggara who were often described as the backbone of teh Mahdist movement. 

As this movement was gaining its momentum eventually lead to the death and behading of  british general General Charles Gordon at the Governors General Palace, located in sundan’s capital, Khartoum in 1885. He was then decapitated and his head was paraded around the streets of the city & shown to Slatin, another general who worked in Darfur. 

After this incident, only a hand full of places in all of Sudan remained under Anglo Egyptian control. They then destroyed then destroyed ottoman Khartoum & began to build a new one accrues the river at Omdurman. 

6 months later the Mahadi then died, it is suggested that he died of Typhus in June of 1885, 

 One of the most notable of them being Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, who was the khalifa of the mahadi. And after the death of the self proclaimed mahadi, he took over. He attempted to create a kingdom but was ultimately defeated by British and Ottoman forces in a series of battles, fled south, and then was killed. As he found it hard. to unite the former mahadist flowers against a common enemy & was too illiterate to be represented as another profet. Things further worsened after an attempted and failed invasion of Egypt, & the introduction of taxes which was generally unpopular amongst the locals who wanted to avoid a centralized oppressive givenerment. 

During teh 1890s the British & Ottoman Egypt made a reconquest of sudan, recapturing many cities of Nubia, and finally, the Mahadist capital at Omdurman, where the Khlifa made his last stand & was defeated. 

Interaction & involvement with historical Kingdoms 

Relations that the baggara had with neighboring sultanates  like the darker sultanate and funj were described as “opportunistic” at times when certain alliances where made, and then fighting would break out between them as well

Sometimes baggara tribesmen would be given land grants by neigoiring sultanates like that one of Darfur 

At times when these pastoral tribes would feel under pressure from teh islamic sultans they’d seek  refuge in the pastoralist societies of teh southern Sudan like the dinka 

The baggara weren’t very keen on paying tribute but depended on merchants from the sultans for certain goods

Beside theses things, sultans also loved to you Baggara horsemen in the wars, which teh baggara didn’t mind seeing this as an opportunity to sees and capture booty, but again, were less keen on paying tribute, lol. 

Other things baggragas have din in history include serving important roles in the African kingdom of Bornu. 

With Baaggra individuals such as 

Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi

• Was an islamic scholar & religious/ political leader 

He also established the Sayfawa dynasty of the Kenam Bornu Empire, a large and influential empire of the Sahel region, covering modern day countries such as Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, & Libya. 

 Umar of Borno 

- serving as kings in the kingdom of Bruno 

- was the son of  Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi

Though he lacked much of the vitality that his father had he had let his advisors do most of the "running an empire work" and even had his throne taken from him by his brother, he eventually reconquered his throne, but then things would unfortunately continue to go downhill until he was eventual defeated by an army to the east lead by Rabi az Zubayr. A man who lead rulled his own "slave kingdom" but that s a story for another day.