The Politics of Local Boundaries and Conflict in Sudan. The South Darfur Case

Up to 1994, Darfur region (the present three states of Darfur) had remained a single integrated political and administrative unit since the establishment of the Kaira Kingdom in the 17^th century. Historically, the Kaira Sultanate started at the top of Jebel Merra in Dar Turra in 1605 and then expanded to the North and East. In 1730 the capital of the Kingdom was moved from Kabkabia at the top of the northern hills into the eastern lowland plains of el Fashir. Since that time, el Fashir has remained the seat of political power in Darfur. In 1874, the German traveler Gustav Nachtigal, who arrived at the town from Wadai, was the first to tell us about the administrative organization of the Kingdom. According to him, the country was divided into five administrative areas. These were the Northern Province, Dar Tokunyawi, the southern, Dar Uma, the southwestern, Dar Dima, the eastern Dar Dali and the western province, Dar-el-Ghorb. Each of these provinces, with the exception of Dar el-Ghorb, had a governor with the title of Abo attached to the name of the province. The focus of this study is the southern province of Dar Uma, which was later known as the southern ‘Magdomate’ of Niyala.