Islamization and the Traditional Society and Culture of Jabal Quli (Dar Funj)

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Islamization and the Traditional Society and Culture of Jabal Quli (Dar Funj)
Author:	Delmet, Christian
Year:	1981
Periodical:	Sudan Notes and Records
Volume:	62
Pages:	25-46
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Sudan
Subjects:	customs Arabization Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft
Abstract:	Since the time of the Turkiya (period of Turbo-Egyptian rule in the Sudan, 1820-84) Jabal Quli has been a refuge for numerous groups coming from both the north and south. At the end of the Mahdiya (period of the rule of Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi and his successor, 1884-98) many people left Quli for more prosperous places: the Nile Valley, Jabal Moya etc. With resettlement, Arabization and Islamization have proceeded. The old language of Quli has been supplanted by Arabic. But several features of the ancient culture and social organization of the Funj-Bamaj have been retained. Beside patrilineal ideology and practices and endogamy, an older matrilineal orientation of the kinship system can be found. With regard to ritual, some customs are very similar to those of other Muslim peoples, or to those of the riverain tribes of the Sudan, but there are also local practices, the most interesting being in relation to the Soba stones, still visited by women on the occasions of marriage and death. Notes, ref.