Sultanate of Darfur

The Sultanate of Darfur was a pre-colonial Nile Valley state in present-day Sudan. It functioned independently from 1603 to October 24, 1874.

Origins

Darfur is composed mostly of semi-arid plains that cannot support a dense population. The one exception is the area in and around the Jebal Marra mountains. It was from bases in these mountains that a series of groups expanded to control the region. The Daju and the 14th century migrants the Tunjur were the earliest powers in Darfur according to written records. The transition of power from the Daju to the Tunjur was facilitated through marriage.

Eventually the Tunjur began marrying amongst the Fur people producing Sultan Dali, a celebrated figure in Darfur histories, who was on his mother's side a Fur, and thus brought the dynasty closer to the people it ruled. Dali divided the country into provinces, and established a penal code, which, under the title of Kitab Dali or Dali's Book, is still preserved, and differs in some respects from Quranic law. His grandson Suleiman (or "Sulayman", usually distinguished by the Fur epithet Solon, meaning "the Arab" or "the Red") reigned from 1603 to 1637, and was a great warrior and a devoted Muslim. Suleiman Solon is considered as the founder of the Keira dynasty and the sultanate of Darfur. During the 17th century, the Keira sultans introduced the feudal hakura system into Darfur.

Darfur

Darfur (Arabic: دار فور‎ Dār Fūr, English: Realm of the Fur) is a region in western Sudan. It was firstly named Dardaju (Arabic: دار داجو‎) when the Daju, who migrated from Meroe c.350 AD, were ruling. Then renamed Dartunjur (Arabic: دار تنجر‎) when the Tunjur were ruling the country and who had been replaced by the Fur recent immigrants from Dar Fartit in the Central Africa. Darfur (Dar in the name means 'place of or land of' the Fur people) was a independent sultanate for several hundred years, incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region 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 since 2003.

Geography

Darfur covers an area of 493,180 square kilometers (190,420 sq mi), approximately the size of Spain. It is largely an arid plateau with the Marrah Mountains (Jebel Marra), a range of volcanic peaks rising up to 3,042 meters (9,980 ft) of topographic prominence, in the center of the region. The region's main towns are Al Fashir and Nyala.

Darfur (film)

Darfur (previously called Janjaweed) is a film directed by Uwe Boll concerning the current conflict in Darfur, starring David O'Hara, Kristanna Loken, Billy Zane and Edward Furlong. The film was also released as Attack On Darfur.

Plot

The plot of Darfur revolves around six Western journalists who visit a small village in Darfur in western Sudan under the escort of a squad of troops of the African Union peacekeeping mission. When they learn the brutal state sponsored militia called the Janjaweed are heading towards the village, they are faced with an impossible decision: leave Sudan and report the atrocities to the world, or risk their own lives and stay in the hopes of averting a certain slaughter.

While most of them flee back to their base, two of the journalists, Freddie Smith, and Theo Schwartz, decide to stay behind along with the Nigerian commander of the AU unit, Captain Jack Tobamke, to try to save the villagers when the Arab Janjaweed enter the village and begin to indiscriminally kill all the Black African men, women, and children. Despite their efforts to save some villagers, Captain Tobamke, Theo, and Freddie are all killed one by one in the subsequent shootout with the Janjaweed, but not after killing or wounding a few dozen of the savage milita. The surviving Janjaweed then burn the village to the ground and move on, presumably to continue their genocide rampage across the Darfur landscape.

Darfur (disambiguation)

Darfur is a region of western Sudan. It may also refer to: