Muhammad Salih bin Yusuf,known as Dud Murra or Dudmurrah (the lion of Murra),was the last independent ruler,or kolak,of the Wadai Empire. He allied with the Sanusi,powerful traders of the eastern Sahara,and with the Sultan of Darfur to resist French aggression in the eastern Sahel,but was defeated. His sultanate was incorporated in the French military territory of Chad.
Muhammad Salih bin Yusuf,Dud Murra,was the son of Yusuf ibn Muhammad Sharif,who ruled Wadai from his capital of Abéché (Abeshr) from 1874 to 1898. Yusuf's reign was a period of prosperity and stability.[2] In 1898 a force of Anglo-Egyptian troops reconquered the Sudan and defeated the Mahdist forces at Omdurman,near Khartoum. They reestablished the sultanate of Darfur to the east of Wadai under Ali Dinar,a relatively effective ruler.[3] When the Kolak Yusuf of Wadai died in 1898 there was a struggle for the succession in which Dud Murra was the candidate of the Sanusi. However,Ahmad al-Ghazali,sponsored by Ali Dinar,gained the throne.[2]
In November 1901 Dud Murra deposed Ahmed al-Ghazali with the aid of the Sanusi. Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi,the Sanusi leader,died in January 1902,but the Sanusi remained strong in their base of Kufra,midway between Al-Fasher in Darfur and the Mediterranean. Ahmed al-Ghazali was captured in June 1902,blinded and then executed,making Dud Murra the undisputed ruler.[4] Dud Murra rewarded the Sanusiyya by letting them trade freely.[2] It was said of him,"If a merchant is killed the Sultan is sure to revenge him,and should the merchant kill a native the Sultan himself would pay the blood money".[5]
Early in his reign Muhammad Salih Dud Murra had to deal with French aggression from the west.[6] The French had defeated and killed the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr,who had taken control of the former Bornu Empire in the west of the Lake Chad region,in the Battle of Kousséri on 22 April 1900.[7] The French were now advancing eastward.[3] Their goal was to defeat the Sanusiya,powerful traders in the eastern Sahara,and to replace local rulers who opposed them with puppets.[8] The French expanded their military camel corps and launched attacks on the Sanusi zawaya posts.[4]
Loss of Abéché
Wadai sultanate east of Lake Chad around 1890,from an American map
In 1906 the French initiated hostilities against Wadai.[2] The ruler of Dar Sila took advantage of the situation to encroach on the Wadai monopoly of ivory from Dar Kibet. This almost led to war between Dar Sila and Wadai.[9] The French advanced eastward methodically,setting up fortified posts along their route,and were within 100 miles (160km) of Abéchéby 1907.[10] In 1908 there were two battles between the forces of Wadai and the French led by Captain Jérusalemy,one on 29 May at Dokotchi and the other on 16 June at Djoua in which the governors of the Wadai provinces of Mahamid and Debaba were killed.[11] In 1908 the French claimed the sultanates of Dar Tama and Dar Masalit as part of Wadai,and tried to establish friendly relations with the sultanate of Dar Gimr.[12]
Captain Jean-Joseph Fiegenschuh entered Abéchéon 12 June 1909 with a force of 180 men and two cannons. The next day he proclaimed that Wadai was a French territory.[11] The French installed Dud Murra's cousin Adam Asil as puppet sultan.[13] Asil had fled from Abéchébecause Dud Murra meant to blind him in punishment for an attempted coup.[11] The French began to subjugate the Wadai vassal states.[2] The Daju Sultan of Dar Sila sent a letter to Fort Lamy offering his submission directly,in a move to break loose from Wadai. He did this before paying homage to the puppet king Adam Asil and before being visited at his capital of Goz Beida by a French lieutenant. Despite this,the French treated Dar Sila as a Wadai dependency.[9]
Further struggles with the French
Dud Murra moved north to Kapka,where he spent the next ten months gathering a force of loyal subjects and Sanusi allies. The Sanusi gave him their full support.[14] The French made an "inspection tour" into Dar Masalit where they were opposed by the combined followers of Sultan Taj ad-Din of Masalit and of Dud Murra.[8] On 4 January 1910 Fiegenschuh and his force were massacred at Wadi Kadja in Dar Massalit[11] That year Ali Dinar,Dud Murra and Sultan Taj el-Din of Dar Masalit invaded Dar Tama and Dar Gimr and replaced the French puppet rulers with their own.[12][lower-alpha 1]
Ali Dinar was less than wholehearted in supporting Dud Murra,but by April 1910 Dud Murra and Ali Dinar both had powerful armies and planned to act together to defeat the French.
However,Ali Dinar was defeated on 7 April 1910 and Dud Murra was defeated on 19 April 1910 in separate battles.[14]
The submission of Dud Murra on a French newspaper
Dud Murra retreated south into Dar Masalit after his defeat at Kapka,and many refugees from Wadai fled to Darfur.[15] The French mounted punitive expeditions and put down a major rebellion in the east of Wadai.[16] Commander Joseph Édouard Maillard,head of the Chad Territory forces,advanced with 300 men into Massalit. On 8 November 1910 5,000 of Dud Murra's cavalry and troops of Sultan Tadj ed-Din surrounded and defeated Maillard at Dorothe.[11]
The French called on Colonel Victor Emmanuel Largeau,who had commanded in Chad in 1902–04,to retrieve the situation.[11] In January 1911 the French invaded Dar Masalit,where they won several battles and destroyed Darjil,the capital. Ali Dinar took advantage of this distraction to raid and loot Dar Tama.[17] Dud Murra advanced towards Abéchéwith an escort from Masalit,but was defeated by the French at Shekoiung,two days away. He returned to Endoka's base at Mugurni.[18] Afraid that the French would invade Dar Masalit again,the sultan Endoka,son of Abbakr,expelled Dud Murra. Dud Murra surrendered to the French in October 1911.[17] Asil was dethroned by the French in 1911 after a major revolt in Wadai in which he was suspected of conspiracy.[11] The French placed the region under direct colonial rule.[17] Dud Murra was exiled.[8] A 1924 report said that Dud Murra was then a political prisoner at large in Fort-Lamy,and was receiving a French government pension.[18][lower-alpha 2]
Notes
↑ Disputes over the border between the French and British spheres of influence continued until a border settlement was made in 1924.[12]
↑ A report of the Nyala Uprising in southern Darfur in September 1921 notes that Malik Dud Murra, the main leader of the Masalit, was in prison at the time, and this may have been a factor in the willingness of the Masalit to participate in the rising.[19] This appears to be a different person.
The Senusiyya, Senussi or Sanusi are a Muslim political-religious Sufi order and clan in Libya and surrounding regions founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Sanussi, the Algerian Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi. Sanusi was concerned with what he saw as both the decline of Islamic thought and spirituality and the weakening of Muslim political integrity.
Darfur is a region of western Sudan. Dār is an Arabic word meaning "home [of]" – the region was named Dardaju while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë c. 350 AD, and it was renamed Dartunjur when the Tunjur ruled the area. Darfur was an independent sultanate for several hundred years until 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr. The region was later invaded and incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. As an administrative region, Darfur is divided into five federal states: Central Darfur, East Darfur, North Darfur, South Darfur and West Darfur. Because of the War in Darfur between Sudanese government forces and the indigenous population, the region has been in a state of humanitarian emergency and genocide since 2003. The factors include religious and ethnic rivalry, and the rivalry between farmers and herders.
The Masalit are an ethnic group inhabiting western Sudan and eastern Chad. They speak the Masalit language.
The Keira dynasty were the rulers of the Sultanate of Darfur from the seventeenth century until 1916. Originally the Keira clan were perhaps regional rulers in the Tunjur state, with Sulayman traditionally seen as the founder of the Darfur state. The monarchy was suspended after the Egyptian conquest of the region in 1874, but was revived as a de facto independent state in 1898 after the defeat of the Mahdiyah. The Keira dynasty finally ended in 1916 when the British annexed Darfur to the Sudan.
Geneina is a city in West Darfur, part of the dar Masalit region, in Sudan. It joined British Sudan at the end of 1919 through the Gilani Agreement, signed between the Masalit Sultanate and the United Kingdom, according to which it became a territory.
Ta'isha, or Ta'aisha, or Taaisha, one of a series of Arabic-speaking groups collectively called Baggara "cattle people", who live in Sudan, across southern Kordofan, Darfur, as well as Chad. The Ta'aisha tribal homeland is in the far southwest of Darfur, neighbouring to the east the Habbaniya, with whom they are closely related. The Ta'aisha rose to power when one of the members of their tribe, Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, later known as the Khalifa, became an early follower of Muhammad Ahmad, who would later become the Sudanese Mahdi. During the revolution, 'Abdallahi became the strongman of the movement and was designated as senior Khalifa by the Mahdi. Following the Mahdi's death in June 1885, the Khalifa 'Abdallahi ruled the Mahdist state until its destruction by an Anglo-Egyptian army. The Khalifa during his rule brought his tribe to Central Sudan and he went on to make extensive use of his relatives and other fellow Ta'a'isha as soldiers and administrators. Throughout the Mahdist period there was constant tension between the Ta'aisha leaders and the riverain Sudanese. Several Ta'aisha amirs who survived the Mahdiyya became prominent at the re-established Darfur Sultanate of Ali Dinar, one being Arabi Dafallah, who was appointed commander of the Equatorial province with its headquarters at Rejaf under the Khalifa's rule. Having been forced in 1897 to evacuate Equatoria by Belgians advancing from the Congo, he had made his way into southern Darfur where he faced Anglo-Egyptian forces and friendly tribes sent by Kitchener in pursuit of him. He then settled in the area of the present Central African Republic-Darfur border where he came into contact with encroaching French colonial power. After an unsuccessful attack on French outposts in the region he surrendered to Sultan 'Ali Dinar with his men and their arms in 1902, he subsequently lived in Al-Fashir and took part in many of the Sultan's military expeditions. Another one was 'Ali al-Sanusi, who was a Mahdist amir under Mahmud Ahmad in Atbara and fought at Karari after which he escaped to Darfur to be one of 'Ali Dinar's best generals. Under the British colonial rule, He was appointed Nazir of the Ta'aisha in Darfur and rendered valuable service to the new administration.
The Wadai Sultanate, 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. It emerged in the seventeenth century under the leadership of the first sultan, Abd al-Karim, who overthrew the ruling Tunjur people of the area. It occupied land previously held by the Sultanate of Darfur to the northeast of the Sultanate of Baguirmi.
Ouaddaï or Wadai is a region of Chad, located in the south-east of the country, with its capital at Abéché. Prior to 2002 it was known as Ouaddaï Prefecture; in 2008 the southern portions of Ouaddaï were split off to become the new Sila Region.
Dar Sila is the name of the wandering sultanate of the Dar Sila Daju, a multi-tribal ethnic group in Chad and Sudan. The number of the people in this group exceeds 50,000. They speak the Sila language, a Nilo-Saharan language. Most members of this ethnic group are Muslims.
Kimr or Gimr is an ethnic group in West Darfur in Sudan and Chad. 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.
The Maba, also called Bargo or Wadai people, are a Sunni Muslim ethnic group found primarily in the mountains of Wadai region in eastern Chad and southern Sudan. Their population is estimated to be about 542,000. Other estimates place the total number of Bargo people in Sudan to be about 28,000.
The Wadai War, also known as the Ouaddai War, was waged by France and its African allies against the Wadai Empire and its allies from 1906 to 1912. Located in what today would be eastern Chad and western Sudan, Wadai fiercely resisted the French invasion. Regardless, much of Wadai including its capital Abéché fell to the invaders in 1909, forcing the empire's ruler Dud Murra to continue his resistance from outlying provinces and allied states. He managed to gain the support of the Sultanate of Darfur and Dar Masalit, and used these areas as rear bases during his attempts to oust the French. Doing so, he enjoyed some success, and inflicted several defeats on French-led forces. In order to legitimize their intervention, the French installed Dud Murra's relative Adam Asil as puppet ruler in Wadai. After losing most of his forces and allies, Dud Murra was forced to surrender in 1911. Regardless, unrest initially continued: a major anti-French revolt broke out soon after Dud Murra's defeat, and an anti-European conspiracy was allegedly organized with the support of Adam Asil. The last effective anti-French resistance in Wadai was suppressed by 1912 and the region remained a part of French colonial empire until 1960.
Tama are a non-Arab, African ethnic group of people who live in eastern Chad and western Sudan. They speak Tama, a Nilo-Saharan language. The population is 200,000–300,000 people and they practice Islam. Many Tama are subsistence farmers who live in permanent settlements and some raise livestock. In the civil war in Chad the Tama were involved in ethnic conflicts with the Zaghawa tribe.
Throughout its history, Darfur has been the home to several cultures and kingdoms, such as the Daju and Tunjur kingdoms. The recorded history of Darfur begins in the seventeenth century, with the foundation of the Fur Sultanate by the Keira dynasty. In 1875, the Anglo-Egyptian condominium in Khartoum ended the dynasty. The British allowed Darfur a measure of autonomy until formal annexation in 1916. However, the region remained underdeveloped through the period of colonial rule and after independence in 1956. The majority of national resources were directed toward the riverine Arabs clustered along the Nile near Khartoum. This pattern of structural inequality and overly underdevelopment resulted in increasing restiveness among Darfuris. The influence of regional geopolitics and war by proxy, coupled with economic hardship and environmental degradation, from soon after independence led to sporadic armed resistance from the mid-1980s. The continued violence culminated in an armed resistance movement around 2003.
The Daju people are a group of seven distinct ethnicities speaking related languages living on both sides of the Chad-Sudan border and in the Nuba Mountains. Separated by distance and speaking different languages, at present, they generally have little cultural affinity to each other.
The Sultanate of Darfur was a pre-colonial state in present-day Sudan. It existed from 1603 to 24 October 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr, and again from 1898 to 1916, when it was occupied by the British and the Egyptians and was integrated into Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. At its peak in the late 18th and early 19th century it stretched all the way from Darfur in the west to Kordofan and the western banks of the White Nile in the east, giving it the size of present-day Nigeria.
Ali Dinar was the last sultan of Darfur and ruler from the Keira dynasty.
Sulayman Solong was the first historical sultan of Darfur. According to several sources, he ruled the Sultanate of Darfur from 1596 to 1637. However, because of the lack of contemporary references, estimates of his reign dates diverge widely, with some modern scholars stating that he probably reigned between 1660 and 1680.
Muhammad 'Abd al-Karim Sabun was (Sultan) of Wadai, a Muslim state in what is now eastern Chad, from 1804 to 1815. He pursued an expansionist policy, and was the greatest of the rulers of Wadai.
Sanin Husain was a religious and military leader who served the Mahdist State. Even after the Mahdists had been completely defeated by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1899, Sanin refused to surrender and continued to maintain a Mahdist holdout at Kabkabiya in Darfur. From there, he resisted the reestablished Sultanate of Darfur, repeatedly defeating the armies of Sultan Ali Dinar. Sanin Husain was finally killed by Ali Dinar's forces in a siege of Kabkabiya lasting 17 to 18 months.
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