Beja

Beja may refer to:

Beja people

The Beja people (Arabic: البجا‎) are an ethnic group inhabiting Sudan, as well as parts of Eritrea, Egypt, and the Sahara desert. They speak the Beja language as a mother tongue, which belongs to the Afro-Asiatic family.

SIL Ethnologue cites an estimate of a total population of 1.2 million based on information dating to 1982. More recent estimates cite a total population close to 2.5 million.

History

The Beja are a traditionally pastoralist Cushitic people native to the territory in the extreme northeast of Sudan. They were partially Christianised in the 6th century, and the southern Beja were part of the kingdom of Axum in the early medieval period. The Beja were Islamized beginning in the 15th century. The now-Islamic Beja participated in the further Muslim conquest of Sudan, expanding southward. The Hadendowa Beja by the 18th century dominated much of eastern Sudan. In the Mahdist War of the 1880s to 1890s, the Beja fought on either side, the Hadendoa siding with the rebels while the Bisharin and Amarar sided with the British.

Beja State

The Princely State of Beja was a semi-sovereign kingdom of India (Himanchal Pradesh) from the 18th century till 15 April 1948. It was ruled by a cadet branch of the Tomara dynasty (Tunwar) with the title of Thakur.

It is one of the 18 Simla Hill States, situated just below Kasauli to the west and is bordered by Mahlog, Patiala, Kuthar and the Bharauli tract of Simla District around Sabathu. Beja included 45 villages, over an area of 13 km² or 5 mi² with 1,131 subjects.

Beja is one of the original constituent members of the Chamber of Princes, a number of smaller states indirectly represented by 12 princes whom they periodically elected.

References

Coordinates: 30°56′00″N 77°02′00″E / 30.9333°N 77.0333°E / 30.9333; 77.0333