Kimr or Gimr is an ethnic group in

West Darfur West Darfur State ( Wilāyat Ḡarb Dārfūr), historically Dar Masalit (), is one of the states of Sudan, and one of five comprising the Darfur region. Prior to the creation of two new states in January 2012, it had an area of 79,460 km² ...

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 ...

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 ...

. They speak Gimr, a dialect of Tama, a Nilo-Saharan language. The population of this ethnicity possibly is below 10,000. One 1996 source puts the population at over 50,000.

History

Historically, the Kimr have been located between the

Sultanate of Darfur The Sultanate of Darfur () was a pre-colonial state in present-day Sudan. It existed from the 17th century to 24 October 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur, and was reestablished again from 1898 to 1916, until it ...

and the

Sultanate of Wadai The Wadai Sultanate ( ''Saltanat Waday'', , Fur: ''Burgu'' or ''Birgu''; 1635–1912), sometimes referred to as the Maba Sultanate (), was an African sultanate located to the east of Lake Chad in present-day Chad and the Central African Republic ...

. They became tributaries to Wadai from the early 17th century to 1874. The Ottomans conquered the region in 1874 via Egypt and the Kimr paid tribute to them until 1882. From that time until 1910, the Kimr suffered from the armies of the Masalits,

Furs A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

, the French, and the Mahdists. After the establishment of the

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ') was a condominium (international law), condominium of the United Kingdom and Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day South Sudan and Sudan. Legally, sovereig ...

, the Kimr nobility were incorporated into the new administrative structure.

Culture

The Kimr engage in

dryland farming Drylands are defined by a scarcity of water. Drylands are zones where precipitation is balanced by evaporation from surfaces and by transpiration by plants (evapotranspiration). The United Nations Environment Program defines drylands as tropical ...

with crops like millet being commonly cultivated. Some Kimr have opted to migrate to areas like Southern Darfur or the city of

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. ...

to seek work. The Kimr are Muslims.

References

* {{authority control Ethnic groups in Chad Ethnic groups in Sudan Darfur