7th century – 12th century
Central Sahara and central Sudan
The Zaghawa were a Tubu-related people whose historical communities occupied areas around Kanem, Kawar, Tibesti, Borku, Ennedi, and territories north of Wadai and northwest of Darfur. Medieval Arabic writers used the name broadly for branches of the Tubu, while distinguishing some groups such as the Goran and certain nomads. Zaghawa communities practiced pastoralism and agriculture, founded or inhabited Kanem, and became involved in trans-Saharan trade.
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The Story
The Zaghawa belonged to the broad Tubu or Teda-Daza world described across the central Sahara and central Sudan. Their communities occupied the southern fringe of Fezzan, the Djado plateau, Tibesti, Borku, the Bodélé basin, Bahr al-Ghazal, Ennedi, and areas north of Wadai and northwest of Darfur. The excerpt emphasizes that the name Zaghawa had a broad and shifting usage among medieval Arab geographers.
The name appears in early Arabic references alongside other Sudanese peoples. Wahb ibn Munabbih, writing before 728, mentioned the Zaghawa and the Goran, while al-Khwarizmi later included Zaghawa among Sudanese toponyms. Al-Yaqubi reported that Zaghawa were among the enslaved people exported from Zawila and also described them as inhabitants of Kanem, where they lived in reed huts and founded a kingdom.
Medieval descriptions distinguish between Zaghawa branches and their political centres. Al-Muhallabi placed a large Zaghawa state south of the Maghrib and near Nubia. Al-Idrisi described a Zaghawa centre near Andjimi and noted camel-breeding branches around it, while also naming Saghawa and Shama as other centres. Some Zaghawa groups were likely independent of the king of Kanem, even though the northern frontier of Kanem was said to reach Bilma and al-Kasaba in Kawar.
The Zaghawa economy combined pastoralism and cultivation. Communities in Saghawa and Shama lived from the milk, butter, and meat of their herds and also cultivated sorghum. The Sadrata, a Berber group living among them, were nomads whose way of life resembled that of the Zaghawa and who were described as undergoing assimilation into the Teda-Daza-Zaghawa population.
7th century – 12th century
Central Sahara and central Sudan
The Zaghawa were a Tubu-related people whose historical communities occupied areas around Kanem, Kawar, Tibesti, Borku, Ennedi, and territories north of Wadai and northwest of Darfur. Medieval Arabic writers used the name broadly for branches of the Tubu, while distinguishing some groups such as the Goran and certain nomads. Zaghawa communities practiced pastoralism and agriculture, founded or inhabited Kanem, and became involved in trans-Saharan trade.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Zaghawa belonged to the broad Tubu or Teda-Daza world described across the central Sahara and central Sudan. Their communities occupied the southern fringe of Fezzan, the Djado plateau, Tibesti, Borku, the Bodélé basin, Bahr al-Ghazal, Ennedi, and areas north of Wadai and northwest of Darfur. The excerpt emphasizes that the name Zaghawa had a broad and shifting usage among medieval Arab geographers.
The name appears in early Arabic references alongside other Sudanese peoples. Wahb ibn Munabbih, writing before 728, mentioned the Zaghawa and the Goran, while al-Khwarizmi later included Zaghawa among Sudanese toponyms. Al-Yaqubi reported that Zaghawa were among the enslaved people exported from Zawila and also described them as inhabitants of Kanem, where they lived in reed huts and founded a kingdom.
Medieval descriptions distinguish between Zaghawa branches and their political centres. Al-Muhallabi placed a large Zaghawa state south of the Maghrib and near Nubia. Al-Idrisi described a Zaghawa centre near Andjimi and noted camel-breeding branches around it, while also naming Saghawa and Shama as other centres. Some Zaghawa groups were likely independent of the king of Kanem, even though the northern frontier of Kanem was said to reach Bilma and al-Kasaba in Kawar.
The Zaghawa economy combined pastoralism and cultivation. Communities in Saghawa and Shama lived from the milk, butter, and meat of their herds and also cultivated sorghum. The Sadrata, a Berber group living among them, were nomads whose way of life resembled that of the Zaghawa and who were described as undergoing assimilation into the Teda-Daza-Zaghawa population.
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