Ancient history

Darfur | historical region and former province, Sudan

Darfur (Arabic:"Country of fur ") is also called indicates western Darfur , the historical region of the Billād al-Sūdān (Arabic:"Land of the Blacks") and roughly corresponds to the westernmost Part of the present Sudan . It lay between Kordofan to the east and Wadai to the west, and extended south to the flow Al-Ghazāl (Gazelle) and north to Libyan desert .

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Geography

Darfur consists of a giant roll level , which has an area of ​​approximately 170,000 square miles (440,000 km square). The volcanic highlands of The Marrah Mountains dominates the central part of this layer. The Marrah Mountains have an average elevation of 2,200 meters, with the highest peak. Mount Marrah rises to 3,088 meters. Elsewhere, the sparsely populated plains of Darfur are relatively odd and arid, particularly in the north where they meet the Libyan desert. Soils that are generally rocky or sandy support seasonal grass and low thorny shrubs with tropical maquis vegetation. The Marrah Highlands receive heavier rainfall than other parts of Darfur, and a number of large wadis (seasonal watercourses) rise in the mountains and flow south across the plains.

Arabs have been for a long time exists the majority of the population in the northern part of Darfur, while Arabs and Fur dominated in the southern part. Other ethnic groups were the races Beja , Zaghawa, Nubian, and Daju. Heavy rainfall in the Marrah Highlands allows for the intensive cultivation of grain, rice and fruit. Crops grown elsewhere in southern Darfur include sorghum, millet, sesame, peanuts, other root crops and vegetables. Camels, sheep and goats are raised in the arid north. Traditional handicrafts include leatherwork, wood carving and carpet weaving. Nyala and Al-Fāshir are the capitals.

History

In prehistoric times, the northern inhabitants of Darfur were related to the predynastic peoples of the Nile Valley. From about 2500 v. B.C. Darfur probably in the sphere of Egyptian caravans trading south from Aswān. Its first traditional rulers, the Daju (Dagu), may have been associated with antiquity Egypt and trade undoubtedly grew from Darfur both with Egypt during the New Kingdom and with the cities Napata and Meroe in the kingdom Kush (Cush; now in North Sudan). The rule of the Daju in Darfur was eventually followed by that of the Tunjur or Tungur.

The Christian period, which probably lasted from 900 to 1200 in Darfur, was interrupted by the eastward advance of Islam from the Realm of ends Kanem-Bornu (centered on Lake Chad). Around 1240, the king of Kanem claimed control of a trade route with Egypt that extended eastward to Sai, and from that date Kanem and Bornu influence was waning Darfur probably. Indeed Darfur was at one time or another a province of Kanem or Bornu during its heyday.

The Keira, a mainly with the fur connected Clan , ruled Darfur from about 1640 to 1916. The first historical mention of the name Fur occurred in 1664. During this period, the kings of the Keira Sultanate of Darfur apparently used the term fur to refer to the region's black residents who accepted both their Islamic religion and rule. As the Keira Dynasty intermarried themselves, its members also became known as Fur. The people of Darfur were fully Islamized under the rule of the Keira Sultans. The sultans at times fought with the Wadai- kingdom and also attempted to subdue the semi-independent Arab tribes inhabiting the country.

Darfur came under Egyptian rule in the 1870s and was granted provincial status. Various revolts were suppressed by the Egyptians and 1881 Rudolf Karl Slatin was appointed governor. Although he defended the province against's forces al-Mahdī , a religious reformer and Sudanese political leader, was eventually forced to surrender to him in December 1883. Darfur was then incorporated into the rule of al-Mahdī. After al- fell Mahdis successor to the Khalīfah (Caliphs) ʿAbd Allah , in 1898 the new (Anglo-Egyptian) government of Sudan ʿ recognized Ali Dīnār as Sultan from Darfur (1899). A rebellion led by ʿAli Dīnār in 1915 provoked the British to launch a punitive expedition in which he was killed (November 1916). Thereafter Darfur became a province (and later three provinces) of Sudan.

Ethnic tensions, long rife between nomadic Arab herders and sedentary fur and other farmers, began in the late 1980s erupt in armed conflict. While the violence was bloody, it was generally sporadic until 2003, when rebels among farmers attacked government facilities to protest the Sudanese disregard for the western region and its non-Arab people to protest government. The government in Khartoum responded by creating an Arabic Militia which became known as Janjaweed (also Jingaweit or Janjawid) - which started attacking the sedentary groups in Darfur. Within a year tens of thousands of people (mostly fur and other farmers) had been killed and hundreds of thousands had headed west in Refugee camp in neighboring Chad escaped . many others remained internally distributed. Despite a 2004 ceasefire and the subsequent presence of troops the African Union (AU) by 2007, the conflict and resulting humanitarian crisis had grown and had killed hundreds of thousands of people and more than two millions displaced. July 31, 2007 approved of Security Council the United Nations a joint peacekeeping mission the United Nations and the AU (UNAMID) as a replacement for the AU mission, although the deployment of UNAMID troops only began in 2008.

In July 2008 an International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor sought a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, alleging that he bore criminal responsibility for the crisis in Darfur and accusing him of orchestrating the genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity occurring in the region. The Sudanese government rejected the allegations and proclaimed Bashir's innocence. On March 4, 2009, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir, charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity but not with genocide; a second warrant for that charge was later issued on July 12, 2010.

In spite of the presence of UNAMID troops, conflict in Darfur was not eliminated. It intensified after the Sudanese government launched its “Decisive Summer” military campaign against rebellions throughout the country beginning in late 2013. The campaign, which reached Darfur in 2014, saw the use of a new government security unit known as the Rapid Support Force (RSF ), which many compared to the Janjaweed in terms of lawlessness of tactics—perhaps not surprising, since the RSF appeared to have many former Janjaweed fighters among its ranks. In 2014 the UN noted that more than 3,000 villages in Darfur had been burned to the ground, and widespread sexual violence against Darfur civilians was reported. The ongoing conflict led to a worsening humanitarian crisis, which was further exacerbated by the government of Sudan's restrictions on humanitarian aid groups.