Mathiang Yak Anek was a 19th-century female

Dinka The Dinka people () are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of three provinces that were formerly part of southern ...

chief and escaped slave. Born in the 1860s, she was enslaved as a child by Turkish-Egyptian traders. She escaped during the advance of British colonial troops and returned to her home in Pathiong Gok (now part of

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

). She became the chief of her people. Following a dispute with a rival leader, she was removed from her position by colonial officials.

Early life and enslavement

Mathiang Yak Anek was born in the 1860s to a

family in the Pagok Pathiong Gok community of

Turkish Sudan Turco-Egyptian Sudan (), also known as Turkish Sudan or Turkiyya (, ''at-Turkiyyah''), describes the rule of the Eyalet and later Khedivate of Egypt over what is now Sudan and South Sudan. It lasted from 1820, when Muhammad Ali Pasha started h ...

(now

). As a child, she was abducted from her village by Turkish-Egyptian traders and taken as a slave to the regional slaving post of

Tonj Tonj is a town located in Warrap State, in the Bahr el Ghazal region of South Sudan. It is known by various names, including ''Kalkuel, Genanyuon, Jurkatac, Madiera, Genngeu, and Tonjdit''. The town is bordered by Rumbek, Cueibet, Yambio, B ...

. Anek was sold and then taken north to

Omdurman Omdurman () is a major city in Sudan. It is the second most populous city in the country, located in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the capital city of Khartoum. The city acts ...

, the capital of the

Mahdist State The Mahdist State, also known as Mahdist Sudan or the Sudanese Mahdiyya, was a state based on a religious and political movement launched in 1881 by Muammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah (later Muhammad Mahdi, al-Mahdi) against ...

, where she was resold. She was forced to undergo

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...

, a common experience for female slaves. For three years, she worked as a slave near Buri. She learned 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 ...

and was informally married to a man in Northern Sudan.

Escape from slavery and return to South Sudan

Following the turbulence caused by the advance and the victories of the British colonial troops during the

Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan The Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan in 1896–1899 was a reconquest of territory lost by the Khedives of Egypt in 1884–1885 during the Mahdist War. The British had failed to organise an orderly withdrawal of the Egyptian Army from Sudan, and t ...

, Anek escaped from slavery and returned to her home in Pathiong Gok where she resumed a traditional lifestyle. She married a man named Dahl Marol. Anek gradually acquired stature among the Dinka of Pathiong Gok, convincing them of the worth of her knowledge of Arabic and her aggressive nature. She was eventually made a female chief and established residence in

Rumbek Rumbek () is the capital of Lakes State in the Bahr el Ghazal region of South Sudan. Location Rumbek is approximately by road northwest of Juba, the capital and largest city in the country. Its coordinates are and its elevation is abov ...

, which had become a regional headquarters of the Anglo-Egyptian colonial administration. Anek initiated contact with colonial administrators and acted as a mediator between her people and agents of the foreign occupation. She was awarded a golden sword by a British officer for "keeping the peace" among the Gok Dinka. Anek clashed with Wuol Athian, a rival military leader and traditional priest of the Dinka community of Agar who had allied with the Nuer to attack the Turko-Egyptian garrison at Rumbek in 1883. At a gathering of the region's chiefs, Anek debated Athian, successfully made a public case against him, and was awarded a gray cow as recompense. The incident was considered dishonourable for Athian. At the next annual gathering of chiefs before the British colonial officials, a charge was made against Anek claiming that she had slapped Athian on his buttocks. The charges were likely false, but considered a "grave offense". It was said that Athian was mobilising a war force to attack the Pathiong Gok. To resolve the situation, colonial officials stripped Anek of her chieftainship and appointed a man to be her successor. Afterwards, Anek abandoned her house in the city and moved to the countryside. Following her rule, Gok had a higher rate of female chieftains than most groups of Dinka people.

Early life and enslavement

Escape from slavery and return to South Sudan

See also

References

Further reading