The Danagla (Arabic: الدناقلة, "People of Dongola") are a Nubian tribe in northern Sudan primarily settling between the third Nile cataract and al Dabbah. Along with Kenzi, Fadicca, Halfawi, Sikot, and Mahas, they form a significant part of the Nubians. They traditionally speak the Nubian Dongolawi or Andaandi language, which in the 19th century was still spoken as far south as Korti and probably even further upstream. Today it is threatened by complete replacement by Arabic as it is only spoken among parts of the population, especially the elders, although there are a lot of initiatives to revive it among the young generations. Due to this some modern scholars count the Danagla to the Nubians instead of the Sudanese Arabs, although many Danagla consider themselves to be a branch of the Arab Ja'alin tribe, who claim to descend from Abbas.
- ⭐ Core Definition: Danagla
- Danagla in the context of Funj people
- Danagla in the context of Dongolawi language
Danagla in the context of Funj people
The Funj are a group of tribes in present-day Sudan. The historical Funj rose south of the Nile confluence (sources differ on their geographic origin) and had overthrown the remnants of the old Christian kingdom of Alodia. In 1504 a Funj leader named Amara Dungus, founded a sultanate at Sinnar (the capital) after defeating the northern Abdallab Sultanate. The resulting kingdom would be known as the Kingdom of Sinnar, the Funj Sultanate, or the Blue Sultanate, and would rule most of modern-day Sudan until the Ottoman conquest in 1821.
The origins of the Funj are debated by scholars. There is only limited evidence for a pre-Arabic Funj language from the Sultanate period. Sources contemporary to the Funj Sultanate and modern Sudanese oral tradition describe them as a 'blue' or dark-skinned African people residing in the mountains of the Blue Nile region, originating further upstream in a place referred to as "Lul". In the 18th-century, the Wad Doleyb manuscript classified them as Nuba, a term applied to non-royal Fur, "Anaj" Danagla, and the peoples west and south of the banks of the White Nile. The 19th-century portion of the Wad Doleyb manuscript, the Funj are said to have been subjects of Abyssinia before gaining power, breaking away, and forming their own kingdom. The authors of the document consider Funj to be sudan ("Blacks") and descendants of Ham son of Noah, but distinct from the Zunj (another branch of Hamites and sudan), a term applied in the document to the "Jangay" (likely the Dinka), Zaghawa, and so-called "Hamaj" (literally "savage") groups. Today, a number of different linguistic groups in southeastern Sudan are described as Funj, most frequently the Berta/Benishangul, who refer to their language as Ndu Alfuñu ("Funj mouth"). Wendy James also found Funj identification and claims of Sinnari origin among Ingessana, southern Burun-speaking peoples, and the people of Jebel Gule.
View the full Wikipedia page for Funj peopleDanagla in the context of Dongolawi language
Dongolawi is a Nubian language of northern Sudan. It is spoken by a minority of the Danagla people in the Nile Valley, from roughly south of Kerma upstream to the bend in the Nile near al Dabbah, Sudan.
Dongolawi is an Arabic term based on the town of Old Dongola, the centre of the historic Christian kingdom of Makuria (6th to 14th century). Today's Dongola was founded during the 19th century on the western side of the Nile. The Dongolawi call their language Andaandi [andaːndi] "the language of our home".
View the full Wikipedia page for Dongolawi language