The Hadjarai are a group of peoples comprising 6.7% of the population of
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
, or more than 150,000 people.
The name is an
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group ...
, literally meaning "
hose
A hose is a flexible hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are also sometimes called '' pipes'' (the word ''pipe'' usually refers to a rigid tube, whereas a hose is usually a flexible one), or more generally ...
of the stones" (i.e. of the mountains). It is used collectively to describe several distinct ethnic groups living in the hilly
Guéra Region Guéra or Guera may refer to:
* Guéra Prefecture, a former first-level administrative division of Chad until 1999
* Guéra Region, a first-level administrative division of Chad since 2002
* Guéra Department, a second level administrative divis ...
.
Subgroups and culture
The fifteen
[ Hadjarai ethnic groups include the Dajus, Kengas, Junkun, Dangaleats, Mogoums, Sokoros, ]Saba Saba may refer to:
Places
* Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea
* Şaba (Romanian for Shabo), a town of the Odesa Oblast, Ukraine
* Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras
* Saba (river), ...
s, Barains, Bidios, Yalnas,[ Bolgos, Koffas and Djongors.][ Most of these are small farmers.][ Over 90% of Hadjarai women have undergone ]female genital cutting
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
.
The Hadjarai groups speak diverse languages mostly belonging to the East Chadic B group, with some belonging to the unrelated Adamawa and Sara-Bongo-Bagirmi groups. However, they also share many cultural traits,
History
Though never united in the past,[ the Hadjarai people share a strong spirit of independence, forged in pre-colonial Chad by their repeated clashes with slave-raiding '' razzias'' in their territory, and supported in particular by the ]Ouaddai Kingdom
The Wadai Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة وداي ''Saltanat Waday'', french: royaume du Ouaddaï, Fur: ''Burgu'' or ''Birgu''; 1501–1912) was an African sultanate located to the east of Lake Chad in present-day Chad and the Central African Repub ...
. This tradition of independence has led to frequent clashes with the central government after Chad gained independence in 1960, at first largely because of attempts to force them to move from the hills to the plains. They were among the staunchest supporters of the rebels during the Chadian Civil War.[
Although the Hadjarai played a crucial role in bringing to power ]Hissène Habré
Hissène Habré (Arabic: ''Ḥusaīn Ḥabrī'', Chadian Arabic: ; ; 13 August 1942 – 24 August 2021), also spelled Hissen Habré, was a Chadian politician and convicted war criminal who served as the 5th president of Chad from 1982 u ...
in 1982, they grew alienated from him after the death of their spokesman Idriss Miskine
Idriss Miskine (15 March 1948 – 7 January 1984) was a Chadian politician and diplomat under Presidents Félix Malloum and Hissène Habré.
Career
Miskine, an ethnic Hadjarai, was the Minister of Transport, Posts, and Telecommunications under ...
. They suffered heavily in 1987, after Habré launched a campaign of terror against them in response to the formation of the MOSANAT rebel movement, and members of the group were arrested and even killed ''en masse''. 840 of those arrested appear to have been immediately killed.
The Hadjarai became important supporters of Idriss Déby's rebellion against the President and contributed to Habré's downfall in 1990. A crisis among Déby and the Hadjarai leadership flared in 1991 after an alleged coup attempt. Countless Hadjarai were incarcerated as fighting spread to the Hadjarai territory, despite efforts by Déby to reassure the local population of Guéra.[S. Nolutshungu, ''Limits of Anarchy'', 249-252]
References
{{Authority control
Ethnic groups in Chad