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.
Sultan of Egypt was the status held by the rulers of Egypt after the establishment of the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin in 1174 until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Though the extent of the Egyptian Sultanate ebbed and flowed, it generally included Sham and Hejaz, with the consequence that the Ayyubid and later Mamluk sultans were also regarded as the Sultans of Syria. From 1914, the title was once again used by the heads of the Muhammad Ali dynasty of Egypt and Sudan, later being replaced by the title of King of Egypt and Sudan in 1922.
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.
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.
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 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.
The Invasion of Darfur was the military invasion and occupation of the Sultanate of Darfur by the British Empire and the Sultanate of Egypt from 16 March to 6 November 1916. The sultan of Darfur, Ali Dinar, had been reinstated by the British after their victory in the Mahdist War but during World War I he grew restive, refusing his customary tribute to the Sudanese government and showing partiality to the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
Muhammad Salih bin Yusuf, known as Dud Murra or Dudmurrah, 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.
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.
