The Tora are a semi-legendary culture that existed in Jebel Marra,

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. ...

. In local oral traditions they appear as "white giants" who arrived in Darfur from somewhere in the north, which might be a hint to them originally being

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

. They are credited with the introduction of monumental stone architecture, advanced stone-working techniques and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

techniques like terrace farming,

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

and

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

cultivation. By the 12th century the Tora culture had been succeeded by the Daju.

Architecture

While it is unknown if the Tora existed, the pre-Daju sites ascribed to them are real. The construction methods employed appear to be a local development, different from the architecture of the

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 ...

and

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

region, but still fundamentally African in character. Typical for Tora architecture is the massive masonry which is faced on both sides. Rubble was used to fill the walls, making the structures extremely solid. The largest type of structure are palaces, being as large as 200–400 metres in diameter. They normally consist of stone huts encircled by a wall and were built on hill-tops. The wall could be divided or coupled to present two separate compounds, with two entrances opposite each other. This probably served to separate males from females. The Tora architecture was adopted by the succeeding Daju kingdom and remained in use in modified form during the rule of the Tunjur and early Keira

sultans Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

, but had been replaced by new construction methods including fired bricks by 1700.

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{refend History of Darfur