Wad Madani ( ar, ود مدني, Wad Madanī) or Madani is the capital of the
Al Jazirah state in east-central
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
.
[
"Wad Madani" (population), Microsoft Encarta, Online Encyclopedia 2001.
] Wad Madani lies on the west bank of the
Blue Nile
The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...
, nearly 85 miles (136 km) southeast of
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
. It is linked by
rail
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
to Khartoum and is the center of a
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
-growing region. The city is also the center of local trade in
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
s,
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
, and
livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...
. It is also headquarters of the Irrigation Service.
[ In 2008, its population was 345,290.][ It is the home of the Al Jazirah University, the second biggest public university in Sudan. Further, there is Wad Medani Ahlia University, a private university.
]
History
In the early 19th century, a district governor of Wad Madani (Madani) was Daf ʿAllah Muhammad, who was married to the Funj noblewoman Nasra bint ʿAdlan
Nasra bint ʿAdlan, Arabic: نصرة بنت عدلان (fl.1800s - 1850s) was a Sudanese noblewoman, power-broker, estate manager and enslaver, whose court was visited by Karl Richard Lepsius.
Biography
Bint 'Adlan was born in the early 1800s, ...
; they built a palace close to Madani, with a village called Suriba. It became a small Turko-Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
ian outpost, which grew rapidly following the 1925 Gezira Scheme
The Gezira Scheme ( ar, مشروع الجزيرة) is one of the largest irrigation projects in the world. It is centered on the Sudanese States of Sudan, state of Al Jazirah (state), Al Jazirah, just southeast of the confluence of the Blue Nile ...
of irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
to stimulate local economic development.[
"Wad Madani" (description),
Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, webpage:
]
EB-WM
Wad Madani is a commercial centre of the Gezira agricultural district and is mostly residential. Wad Madani has lively commercial activities with well-stocked souqs.
The river banks of Wad Madani lie East the Blue Nile
The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...
, which flows into Sudan from Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. The city's facilities are more modern than most places in Sudan, except in the Khartoum area.
Famous people from Wad Madani include the popular Sudanese singers Insaf Madani, Abdel Aziz El Mubarak
Abdel Aziz El Mubarak ( ar, عبد العزيز المبارك; 1951 – 9 February 2020) was a popular Sudanese singer, born in Wad Madani. He was known for his popular love songs, pleasing tenor voice and his large band. Especially from the 19 ...
, Mohammed Al Ameen
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...
and Ibrahim Al Kashif. Further, the renowned human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
lawyer and President of the Sudan Human Rights Monitor, Dr. Amin Mekki Medani
Amin Mekki Medani (2 February 1939 – 31 August 2018) (Arabic: د. ٱمين مكي مدني) was a Sudanese lawyer, diplomat, human rights and political activist. He was the president of the Confederation of Sudanese Civil Society, Vice Pres ...
, and the Chairman of the National Consensus Forces
The National Consensus Forces (NCF, ''Ij’maa'') is a coalition of political parties in Sudan that opposed the rule of the National Congress Party, and was initially formed to stand against the NCP in the 2010 Sudanese elections. Farouk Abu I ...
, Farouk Abu Issa
Farouk Abu Issa ( ar, فاروق أبو عيسى; 12 August 1933 – 12 April 2020) was a Sudanese politician and the Chairman of the National Consensus Forces.
Abu Issa attended Hantoub Secondary School and was involved in activism from a you ...
. The center of the town is made up of the souq, Al Daraga, Al Gism Al Awal, Wad Azrag and the Sudanese District (formerly known as the British District).
Geography
Climate
Wad Madani has a hot arid climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''BWh''), despite receiving over of rain per year, owing to the exceedingly high potential evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transpira ...
.
Education
Wad Madani provides for a range of educational institutions on four levels of education. Starting from kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
and day-care centres, on to primary or elementary schools, and until secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
s. For higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
, there are two universities, the University of Gezira and Wad Medani Ahlia University.
Cultural life
In an article about the rise and decline of cinema in the city of Wad Madani, the popularity of "going to the movies" was explained in terms of its importance for public cultural life, providing a "fresh breath of freedom in light of the country’s independence." For many urban dwellers, movie shows were the only public forms of entertainment at the time. This applied both to educated and less educated people, as well as to women and girls, who were admitted as families in the company of their male relatives.
In a provincial town like Wad Madani, film shows started in the early 1950s in the form of mobile cinema
A mobile cinema is a movie theater, cinema on wheels.
An example is the Screen machine Mobile Cinema of Scotland, which provides conventional up-to-date 35mm screenings of recent movies, with full digital surround sound, air conditioning, comfort ...
s. This type of film show was presented in different neighbourhoods by the Ministry of Information by means of automobiles that could provide for a screen and a projector, managed by a specialised projectionist
A projectionist is a person who operates a movie projector, particularly as an employee of a movie theater. Projectionists are also known as "operators".
Historical background
N.B. The dates given in the subject headings are approximate.
Early ...
. Later, dedicated outdoor cinema An outdoor cinema consists of a digital or analog movie projector, scaffolded construction or inflatable movie screen, and sound system.
History
Outdoor cinemas first began at around 1916 in Berlin, Germany. During the 1920s, many "rooftop theatr ...
s were built for regular shows, and in the 1970s, there were six such cinemas in Wad Madani. The films included Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
, Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
and other foreign films, for example " Guess who’s Coming to Dinner" or "War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
" and chosen by the 'Sudanese Cinema Institution' under the Ministry of Information. Also, international news broadcasts
News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...
, for example by the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, were included.
was exercised by special committees in order to protect social cultural values, but still with respect to the plot and artistic character of the films. Such evenings spent at the cinema "sparked heated discussions about the films being screened that carried on long after the film ended, in social occasions that brought communities together."
and, more importantly, new taxes and restrictive laws, introduced in September 1983 by the Islamist government under
and followed by stricter censorship, led to the decline of cinemas that became gradually abandoned and derelict. Frequent cinema goers turned away from the films that could still be shown, as these performances no longer provided "a space for their rebellion against issues afflicting internal and external societies such as