Kimr or Gimr is an ethnic group in
West Darfur
West Darfur State ( Wilāyat Ḡarb Dārfūr) is one of the states of Sudan, and one of five comprising the Darfur region. Prior to the creation of two new states in January 2012, it had an area of 79,460 km² and an estimated population of ...
in
Sudan and
Chad. They speak Gimr, a dialect of
Tama, a Nilo-Saharan language. The population of this ethnicity possibly is below 10,000. One 1996 source puts the population at over 50,000.
History
Historically, the Kimr have been located between the
Sultanate of Darfur
The Sultanate of Darfur was a pre-colonial state in present-day Sudan. It existed from 1603 to October 24, 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr and again from 1898 to 1916, when it was conquered by the British and integr ...
and the
Sultanate of Wadai. They became tributaries to Wadai from the early 17th century to the 1874. The Ottomans conquered the region in 1874 via Egypt and the Kimr paid tribute to them until 1882. From that time until 1910, the Kimr suffered from armies of
Masalits,
Furs
Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...
, the French, and the
Mahdists. After the establishment of the
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ar, السودان الإنجليزي المصري ') was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day ...
, the Kimr nobility were incorporated into the new administrative structure.
Culture
The Kimr engage in
dryland farming with crops like millet being commonly cultivated. Some Kimr have opted to migrate to areas like
Southern Darfur or the city of
Darfur to seek work.
The Kimr are Muslims.
References
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Ethnic groups in Chad
Ethnic groups in Sudan
Darfur