The Abbala people are an Arab

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

group of the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

located in Sudan and Chad. The Abbala are named after their

subsistence A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...

practice of

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...

herding. The term "Abbala" is mostly used in Sudan to distinguish them from the Baggara, a grouping of Arab ethnicities who herd cattle. Although, the two groupings share a common origin from the

Juhayna The Juhaynah ( ar, جهينة, also transliterated as ''Djuhaynah'' and ''Johaynah'') are a nomad tribe of the Arabian Peninsula and the largest clan of Banu Quda'a. They are one of the most powerful Arabian tribes that rule important parts o ...

tribe of the Arabian peninsula and it is a common way to distinguish Rizeigat who herd camels in Northern Darfur and those who herd cows in Southern Darfur. According to Braukämp (1993) some of the Abbala people experienced a cultural change to Baggara culture after being pushed from the Sahel region into the

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

. This resulted in a switch in livestock to cattle, which are better adapted to the savanna environment.

References

Ethnic groups in North Africa Arab diaspora in Africa {{Africa-ethno-group-stub

See also

References