TheTunjur (orTungur) people are aSunni Muslimethnic group living in easternChad and westernSudan. In the 21st century, their numbers have been estimated at 175,000 people.[1]
Based on linguistic and archaeological evidence, the ethnic ancestry of the Tunjur people has been argued by contemporary archaeologistClaude Rilly to go back toChristian Nubia.[2][3][4] Thus, Rilly claims that the name Tunjur goes back to the town ofDongola (Tungul or Old Dongola, where the Tungur name is derived from Tungul, the old name of Dongola) in Nubia. According to their ownoral traditions and other scholars, they are of Arabdescent, whose ancestors migrated from theArabian Peninsula to central Sudan either by way of North Africa andTunis or by way ofNubia. Thus, the 19th century German explorerGustav Nachtigal claimed they resemble Arabs in features and behaviour,[5] but this impression has been refuted by modern scholars.[2]
Although a minority, the Tunjur became the ruling class ofDarfur andWadai in the 13th century by peacefully taking power from theDaju.[3][6] In the 16th century, they were overthrown by an Arab[citation needed] group that founded theKeira dynasty, and later merged with theFur people. According to the local legends of the Fur people, Shau Dorshid, the last ruler of the Tunjur, was “driven out by his own people because he compelled his subjects to dig wells in the high rocky regions and to undertake the ardeous and useless task of levelling the Mail mountain peak, on the summit of which he wanted to establish his residence."[7] His capital was at the site ofAin Farah, where specimens of Christianiconography were found.[2]
Around the middle of the 17th century, the Tunjur people were expelled from the Islamic Wadai empire by Abd-el-Kerim of theBargo people, and the Bargo controlled the slave supply caravans to the north.[3][4] The Tunjur then migrated west to their current location. Thereafter, they converted toMalikifiqh of Sunni Islam.[3]
The Tunjur are farmers and live closely associated with theFur. Their own Tunjur language has become extinct, they now speakChadian Arabic,Fur, orBari as their first language.[3]
Following theDarfur conflict in February 2003, like the Fur and theZaghawa, many Tunjur have been affected by fighting andpersecution. A number of Tunjur have taken part in the fight against the Sudanese government under the banners of theSudan Liberation Movement (SLM).