Durham E-Theses The Lahawiyin: Identity and History in a Sudanese Arab Tribe AHMED-KHALID-ABDALLA, TAMADOR How to cite: AHMED-KHALID-ABDALLA, TAMADOR (2010) The Lahawiyin: Identity and History in a Sudanese Arab Tribe, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/707/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 The Lahawiyin: Identity and History in a Sudanese Arab Tribe Tamador Ahmed Khalid Abdalla Thesis submitted For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History Durham University December 2010 I The Lahawiyin: Identity and History in a Sudanese Arab Tribe Tamador Ahmed Khalid Abdalla Abstract This thesis is concerned with the Lahawiyin of northern Sudan, and it explores the relationship between identity and history in this Sudanese Arab tribe since the late nineteenth century. The history of the Lahawiyin reveals continuous crossings of borders and boundaries through a period of substantial political and economic change, much of it driven by external forces. The thesis demonstrates that the Lahawiyin Arab identity has been central to the way that Lahawiyin leaders have sought to develop and maintain their authority, and the ways in which ordinary Lahawiyin have tried to maintain a particular way of life and patterns of social relations. Arab identity has been used instrumentally to make claims or assert rights; but it has also shaped the way in which Lahawiyin have understood their interests. The emphasis on Arab identity has been closely linked to the prolonged campaign by some Lahawiyin for a homeland (dar), and in the way that Lahawiyin have negotiated their subordinate status within larger Arab confederations – first the Kababish, then the Shukriyya. It has also shaped Lahawiyin relationships with their own subordinates, particularly slaves. Though the Lahawiyin campaign for a dar has not been successful, and their lifestyle of most Lahawiyin has now changed irrevocably away from pastoralism, Arab identity has continued to be important in current contests over the political status of potential leaders, and the group as a whole. The thesis makes use of a range of archival sources in the UK National Archive, in Sudan Archive at Durham and at the National Records Office in Khartoum. During the fieldwork various academic sources were consulted in Khartoum and Gedarif which form an important aspect of the narratives together with the many stories which were generated from the oral histories told by the Lahawiyin. Using these materials, the thesis discusses how the Lahawiyin, have utilized their Arabness, and the way they present their history, to negotiate their status with a series of regimes, from the Turco-Egyptian state of the nineteenth century to the current regime of the National Congress Party. i Table of Content ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENT ........................................................................................................................................ II ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................................................V GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................................................VI DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................................ VIII STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT .....................................................................................................................IX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................. X DEDICATION.......................................................................................................................................................XII MAP OF SUDAN..................................................................................................................................................... I INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 1 ARGUMENTS IN THE CON TEXT OF LITERATURE ON ARAB GENEALOGY, IDENTITY AND LAND IN SUDAN ........................................................................................................................................ 1 WHY STUDY THE LAHAWIYIN? ................................................................................................................. 1 ARAB IDENTITIES AND HISTORIES IN SUDAN ................................................................................... 5 LAND TENURE SYSTEM IN SUDAN (1405- 1984) .................................................................................16 LAND TENURE FROM THE FUNJ PERIOD (C. 1400- 1820)-TO THE MAHDIST PERIOD (1885-98) ..............17 THE CONDOMINIUM (1899- 1956) ...................................................................................................................20 MECHANIZED FARMING EXPERIMENTS, AND POST -INDEPENDENCE LAND POLICIES ................................24 THE UNREGISTERED LAND ACT 1970.............................................................................................................27 CHAPTER ONE ...................................................................................................................................................31 AN EMERGING IDENTITY: POLITICAL RELATIONS AND MIGRATIONS, ..........................31 1881-1910 ................................................................................................................................................................31 1. STORIES OF LAHAWIYIN MIGRATION ‘FROM ARAB IA’.......................................................34 2. THE LAHAWIYYIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY...............................................................38 3. TURCO-EGYPTIAN RULE AND THE KABABISH: THE LAHA WIYIN AS CLIENT TRIBE......................................................................................................................................................................39 4. HISTORY OF AN ‘ARAB’ IDENTITY ...................................................................................................41 5. THE MAHDIYIA, 1881-1898 ......................................................................................................................44 6. THE MAHDIYYA AND THE KABABISH ............................................................................................49 7. THE FINAL MIGRATION TO THE BUTANA....................................................................................52 CHAPTER TWO ..................................................................................................................................................64 THE LAHAWIYIN UNDER THE CONDOMINIUM 1910-1928: EXTERNAL BOUNDARIES AND INTERNAL DIVISIONS .........................................................................................................................64 1. 1910-18 ...............................................................................................................................................................65 1.1. BECOMING CONFINED TO THE BUTANA, C. 1910-18 .............................................................................65 1.2. LAND POLICY IN THE EARLY CONDOMINIUM .........................................................................................69 1.3 ADMINISTRATIVE RESTRUCTURING, C. 1910-1927.................................................................................71 2. RIVALRY BETWEEN AL IGBA AND AL- ZEIN ..............................................................................77 ii 3. GRAZING BOUNDARIES AND INTER-TRIBAL RELATIONS ..................................................82 4. AL IGBATRIAL 1926-27 .............................................................................................................................87 5. NATIVE ADMINISTRATION CHANGES IN 1928: SHEIKH KHUT AND COURTS.............92 CHAPTER THREE .............................................................................................................................................95 SLAVERY AND LAHAWIYIN IDENTITY AND ECONOMY.............................................................95 1. THE CAMEL AND SLAVE TRADES AND THE EASTERN FRONTIER .................................96 2. SLAVERY, GENDER AND LAHAWIYIN IDENTITY ...................................................................104 3. SLAVES AND SEDENTARISATION ....................................................................................................114