Fur People
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The Fur ( Fur: ''fòòrà'',
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: فور ''Fūr'') are an ethnic group predominantly inhabiting
Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...
, the western part of
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
, where they are the largest ethnic group.Gettleman, Jeffrey, "Chaos in Darfur on rise as Arabs fight with Arabs", news article, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', 3 September 2007, pp 1, A7
They speak the Fur language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family.


Overview

The Fur are the largest ethnic group in the Darfur region of western
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
. They are also sometimes referred to by the names Fora, Fordunga, Furawi, Konjara, or Kungara. They are an active agricultural people and may also herd cattle. Some Fur families who have accumulated a substantial cattle herd developed a more nomadic lifestyle like that of their herding neighbors, the Baqqara (Baggara) Arabs. Culturally, those cattle-herding Fur are now considered to be Baqqara. The Fur are nominally Sunni Muslims following the Maliki school of Islamic law. They are a Western Sudanese people who practice sedentary herding and agriculture, mainly the cultivation of
millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
. Their society is a traditional one governed by village elders. They speak Fur, a Nilo-Saharan language, and are
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s, having adopted the religion following the region's conquest by the Kanem-Bornu Empire during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. Some of them have come to speak
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
in recent years. The name of Darfur comes from the name of this ethnic group and means "the home of the Fur". Most of the well known governors of Darfur such as Deriage and Tegani Seisei are members of the Fur. The Fur established the historical Sultanate of Darfur which governed Darfur until 1916 (see History of Darfur). Abdul Wahid al Nur, a leader among the Fur, established the Sudan Liberation Movement and Army. Another leader of the Fur, , is Ahmed Abdelshafi (Toba). The traditional heartland of the Fur is the mountainous region around Jebel Sî and Jebel Marra Wadi Salih and Zaligi; today, however, most of them live in the lower country west and southwest of that area, between 11–14 N and 23–26 E. Some Fur live across the border in
Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
, many of them
refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
. The Furs' lifestyle has led to conflict with the nomadic Baggara, cattle-herders of the region, concerning access to water and grazing land, particularly in Darfur's central Jebel Marra mountains where the best agricultural land is to be found. This has been the source of ethnic tensions for many years, culminating in the Darfur conflict which began in 2003. Many Fur villagers were massacred in the ethnic fighting as and Terjem tribes divided up land they conquered from the Fur, according to a 3 September 2007 ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' account citing United Nations officials and Fur survivors.


Language

The Fur speak the Fur language, which belongs to the
Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...
family. Arabic is also used as a lingua franca and in correspondence with the Sudanese government. There is no written or symbolic script for the Fur language. They recently have been using Arabic or Latin characters to put the language in written form. Most Fur people speak Fur fluently as their mother tongue. Heavy drums are often used while making speeches and other public addresses.


Art


Handmade art

The Fur people make their own handmade art and utensils. These include ''talak'', which is used for cleaning pots (''talak'' looks like a sponge); ''birish'', which is a carpet for sitting; and ''gada'', which is a wood plate or bowl used for important occasions.


Music, stories and entertainment

Among the Fur people, stories are told to keep children safe from the outside world. These stories are designed to keep children close to home. In some stories children are told that if they go out in the morning they will die from the heat of the sun, and in the night they are told if they go out an animal called ''nyama'' will eat them. Fur music is very popular in their culture. The main instruments are drums. The music is played with a heavy drumbeat that accompanies their celebrations. Some popular Fur musicians are; Abdalla Kioka, Marium Amo and Tour Baréé'ng Kwee.


Architecture

A common type of architecture in homes and buildings is called mud architecture. They dig the clay from the ground, break it up, mix it with water, work thoroughly, and also mix other substances like straw. The clay will then pile up while still wet, pressed on to the scaffolds made out of wood, or cast in molds of various sizes into bricks. When the mud dries up in the molded shape, the process is complete. This technique is applied to most architecture in Western Sudan such as farmhouses, barns, outer walls, palaces, and even mosques. Mud is good at absorbing heat, which is advantageous for cold nights. However, because of its low resistance to wind and rain, there is a constant need to repair buildings. Therefore, the mud architecture is no longer practical because of its fragility, as well as cultural changes and foreign influences.


Attire and body art

Clothes among the Fur people are similar to what is worn in Sudan. They wear casual Sudanese clothes like a jalabiya. The jalabiya is a white garment that covers the wearer from head to toe. A long time ago, when the Fur tribe was Arabised, Fur women used to poke their lower lip many times until the lip starts to swell. These dents were considered a sign of beauty.


Society and Religious Customs

Wealth is not considered a primary factor in the social hierarchy of the Fur. Any man, regardless of whether he be rich or poor can enter into a position of leadership. The experience of a man is based primarily on his knowledge of the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
. A man cannot even get married if he does not know a couple pages of this text. The Quran is studied with the help of a hand-held board shaped object known as the lohh and a wooden stylus called a kalam. The Fur tribesman's knowledge of the Quran determines their position on the tribe's hierarchy ladder. For example, a tribesman must know almost the whole book to attain position as chieftain. The Fur people also have their own crafts for entertainment. These include dance-games like "ALLE" (all-eh) and toys like Burajei. Burajei is a small doll-like toy made from a camel's back. It is bound by rope and sewn by thorns.


Social behavior

When greeting each other, a woman and a man have different forms of respect. The woman must kneel down before the man and the man must slow his pace. Different sexes can also dance together but are forbidden to touch or live with each other unless they are family. Men and women usually get married in their late teens to their early twenties. The groom and wife will meet each other and get to know about them, their accomplishments and other important attributes. If everything goes well they will proceed to wed.


Roles of men and women

The men bear the family name. They work to bring money to the family and are responsible for all important decisions related to the family, such as finances and marriages. The women get water, prepare the food and ensure the cleanliness of the home. Daughters normally help their mothers, milk the cows and stay at home. Sons rear and herd cattle along with the domesticated cows. If either of these two misbehave they are similarly punished by their elders. Also, it is disrespectful to look an adult in the eyes.


Eating

Sudan is well known for its Guhwah
coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
served from a ''jebena'', a special Sudanese pot. The coffee beans are roasted in this pot over charcoal, then ground with cloves and other spices. The grounds are steeped in hot water and the coffee is served in tiny cups after straining it through a
grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
sieve. Tea or ''chai'' is also very popular and served in small glasses without milk. Some beverages enjoyed in the non-Islamic areas are Aragi, a clear strong spirit made from dates, merissa, a type of beer and tedj, or wines, made from dates or honey. Sudanese cuisine is as varied as its cultures, especially in the south, but it has certain unique characteristics. Millet porridge and fool medamas, a savory dish of mashed fava beans, are popular breakfast foods in the north. Lamb and chicken are often eaten, but pork is prohibited to Muslims. Wheat and dura sorghum are the staple starches. Breads include the Arabian khubz, and kisra, an omelet-like pancake which is part of the Sudanese dinner. Maschi, a beef and tomato dish, is also typical. Fruits are peeled for dessert and a favorite treat is creme caramel. In the south, dinner is served on a low, bare table. There may be five or six dishes to dip into with large pieces of flatbread. These dishes are accompanied by a salad and shata, a red-hot spice mixture served in small dishes. After the meal, dessert is served, then tea. On special occasions incense may be lit. The ritual of hospitality is important in Sudan.


Economic base

The Fur people have many types of families. Porundia, or nuclear families, are a very common type. They normally have 2 or more children. In a typical Fur family the parents of the groom and wife will be taken care of until they die. In a Fur marriage, the groom's father goes to the bride's father and asks for his son's permission to marry. The bride's father does not give an answer immediately, but then asks the village for its opinion. If everyone approves, the bride's father accepts. The whole village gathers for the announcement of the marriage, and preparations are made. Then the marriage starts in the groom's house. The
Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...
recites words from the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
. The groom and bride hold hands during this time. After the wedding, the family and guests have lunch, then they start a lively dance called firalubia. Then the bride and groom are taken to the bride's house and given food during which everyone says congratulations (''mabrouk'' in Arabic).


Institutions

Islam is the major religion among the Fur people. The schools called (Kalwa) in this region teach the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
. Classes begin at 6–7 years and they continue learning the Quran (though not entirely in school) for the rest of their lives. Normal schooling is also practiced in these schools. The main occupation here is farming. The Fur people are excellent farmers. They grow and harvest wheat, herbs, spices, etc. Wealth is not really important for the Fur people. Only his knowledge of the Quran determines his altitude.


History

The Fur people came from Central Africa, specifically the
Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...
and
Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
to the northwest of Sudan, where they settled in Darfur. They had 36 sultanates. The Fur were also one of the first people from other ethnic groups in the country who were picked to build the wall covering and mosque surrounding the
Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...
. Moreover, they managed to send conveys informs of aid every year to Makkah.


Political situation

Until 1916, the Fur were ruled by an independent sultanate and were oriented politically to peoples in Chad. Though the ruling dynasty before that time, as well as the common people, had long been Muslims, they have not been Arabized. They are now incorporated into the Sudan political system. The Fur had been basically independent from the 17th century. After British reconquest in 1899, the British approved the re-establishment of the Fur Sultanate, assumed by Ali Dinar when the Mahdist movement crumbled.
Mahdi The Mahdi () is a figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, and will appear shortly before Jesu ...
st revolts continued to break out in Sudan until 1916. The fall of Darfur was decided when Ali Dinar declared loyalty to the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The British abolished the Fur Sultanate in 1916 after Dinar died in battle. During World War I, Darfur made a bid for independence by allying with
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
against the British. The British conquered Darfur in 1916, and since then it has been part of Sudan. Since the 1970s, the Darfur area has suffered some of the effects of the northern Arab war prosecuted in the south against Southern ethnic groups who wanted to secede from the Sudan. War and conflict have ravaged the Darfur region in recent decades. A civil war lasted about 20 years until the end of the 20th Century. Conflict in the region arose again in 2003, deriving from earlier disputes surrounding water and land use between the Fur and other sedentary agricultural populations and Arab nomadic groups who had historically inhabited the region. The Sudanese military, in alliance with a proxy Arab nomadic
militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
known as the
Janjaweed The Janjaweed () are an Sudanese Arabs, Arab nomad militia group operating in the Sahel, Sahel region, specifically in Sudan, particularly in Darfur and eastern Chad. They have also been speculated to be active in Yemen. According to the United ...
, orchestrated a concerted, scorched earth campaign in Darfur against the Fur and other historically sedentary groups. Forces would move from village to village, burning nearly everything in many places and carrying out a campaign of mass
sexual violence Sexual violence is any harmful or unwanted Human sexual activity, sexual act, an attempt to obtain a sexual act through violence or coercion, or an act directed against a person's sexuality without their consent, by any individual regardless of ...
against civilians, including children. This resulted in the deaths of upwards of 200 to 300,000 civilians from 2003-2005. The Darfur region has remained a bastion for forces of the RSF, an outgrowth of earlier Janjaweed militias, amid the ongoing Sudanese Civil War, with violence against Fur inhabitants and other targeted and displaced groups increasing at a rapid, concentrated pace. Many human rights observers have described the RSF's campaign in the region and in its siege of the North Darfurian capital of Al-Fashir, as constituting crimes against humanity, and, at its greatest extremes, genocide.


Genetics

Analysis of classic genetic markers and DNA polymorphisms by Tay and Saha (1988) found that the Fur are most closely related to the Hawazma of Sudan. Both populations have gene frequencies intermediate between those of the
Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...
-speaking Beja, Gaalin and Gulf Arab populations and those of the local
Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...
-speaking
Nuba The Nuba people are indigenous inhabitants of southern Sudan. The Nuba are made up of 50 various indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, South Kordofan state in Sudan, encompassing multiple distinct people that ...
and Nilotes. According to Hassan et al. (2008), around 59.4% of Fur are carriers of the E1b1b paternal haplogroup. Of these, 68.4% bear the V32 subclade. Approximately 6.3% also belong to the haplogroup J1. This points to significant patrilineal gene flow from neighboring
Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...
-speaking populations. The remaining Fur individuals are primarily carriers of the A3b2 lineage (31.3%), which is instead common among Nilotes. Maternally, the Fur entirely belong to African-based derivatives of the macrohaplogroup L according to Hassan (2010). Of these mtDNA clades, the L0a1 (15.3%) and L1c (11.5%) lineages are most frequent. This altogether suggests that the genetic introgression into the Fur's ancestral population was asymmetrical, occurring primarily through Afro-Asiatic-speaking males rather than females.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fur People Ethnic groups in Chad Ethnic groups in Sudan Darfur Society of Sudan African diaspora Muslim communities in Africa