The Shaigiya (Arabic: الشايقيّة) are one of the three dominant tribes in Northern Sudan, the others being the Ja'Alin and Danagla. The leaders of these three tribes share the key positions in the Sudanese government of national unity (GoNU).
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The Shaigiya are a riverain agricultural people. They claim to descend from Shayig Ibn Humaidan of the greater Ja'Alin of Beni Abbas, who came from Arabia at the time of the conquest of Egypt in the 7th century, but it is more probable they are of mixed Arab and Nubian origin. The Shaigiya and Ja'alin speak Arabic only, unlike the Danagla who often also speak in a language based on Nubian. The Shaiqi Arabic dialect is well known for its "biting off", of the last letter in a word. Traditionally they strongly been represented in the Army, Police, and border guards, while other tribes were involved in occupations such as spinning, weaving and transportation.
The tribe's traditional homeland lies on both banks of the Nile from Kurti down to the Third Cataract, and in portions of the Bayuda Desert. The country is the most fertile along the Nile between Egypt and Khartoum. Many of the villages are well built; some of the houses are fortified. The Merowe Dam, just upstream from this area, is disrupting the local population.[1]
They are known for their bravery, generosity, and enlightenment. "They are the one to hunt the Lion." Freedom-loving and hospitable, they had schools in which all Muslim science was taught, and were rich in corn and cattle. Their fighting men, mounted on horses of the famous Dongola breed, were feared throughout the eastern Sudan. Their chiefs wore coats of mail and carried shields of hippopotamus or crocodile skin. Their arms were lance, sword or javelin. The Shaigiya are divided into twelve sections or sub tribes, each descended from one of the twelve sons of the founder, Shaig. Many jokes involve a shaigiya quarelling with a jayila. Many times the shaigiya is the sharp, and jayila is the stubborn
They have adopted the tribal marking custom of cutting three horizontal lines on the cheeks of their children. This was done with a heated knife but is now a dying custom.
The Shaigiya tribe speaks and writes in Arabic. Some sections living towards the Red Sea area have a language that is akin to what the Hadendowa speak. They have an accent which bites off of the last letter of some words. A common name for a male is Al-sir, which means secret. A common name for a female that hardly anyone uses outside of the tribe is Had-Alraid, which means the most amount of love you can give to someone or something.
There is a special instrument that you hear in every shaigiya tribe music. One is tambour. A tambour kind of guitar that they make by themselves made with wood and rubber or string. Unlike a guitar the tambour has 5 strings instead of 6. The shaigiya tribe is used to make homes from bricks that are made of mud and cow dung as other northern and Arab tribes did. The roof is made of straws to keep their house cool. The main times when a man puts art on the body is when they put henna on their hands only for a wedding. For the women they put henna for their own marriage.
In the rural areas of the various subtribes 'Dars' extended family life features strongly. Its quite common that one will stay in one house (mom, dad, grandfather, grandmother, children aunts, uncles, cousin).Most families in the Shaigiya tribe have extended families. Some men have more than one wife. The person that is in charge of the house is the father. If the father is not in the home then the mother takes over. If the mother has trouble or isn’t strong enough then the uncle takes over. The uncle is usually the father’s brother and has to act like the father. If the uncle can’t then the grand father will take over. The grandfather they will also end up being the fathers’ father too.
The main religion of the Shaigiya tribe is Islam.
Most children attend government school. Women are usually the teachers while the men are farming and planting. All lessons are important, but are most emphasized religion, languages, and math. Religion is considered important because children attend religious schools called Khalawi. A Khalawi is a place where kids go to before they enter a school to learn and memorize the Quran. As every body should know they would have to speak a language so somebody understands them, but they also learn different languages to help them later on in life. Math might be very important because if they are selling something, then they will have to do the math so they don’t get mixed up with money and lose their money.
Children in the Shaigiya tribe like to play a kind of game called "Seega" which is similar to tic-tac-toe. First they draw a big square with 9 small squares inside on the sand, two children play, each has five stones, each stone of a different color. Each tries to align their own stones in a line of 3, while the other blocks and tries to prevent his/her adversary from making a straight line.
The Shaygiya greeting is similar to most other tribal Sudanese greetings or Muslim greetings. When the Shaigiya people meet someone who is older, they say, ”Assalamulaykum haj” or “Marhaba haj”, pat their hands on the left shoulder and then shake hands. If they meet their friend they will say, ”Marhaba” or “Ezayakum”. Ladies hug each other and shake hands.
When there is a wedding, the groom puts on "henna". Henna is a kind of black decoration that people usually put on their hands and feet. Henna is a paste made of a kind of plant’s leaves, people dry the leaves and make it into powder then add some oil and water. After that, they apply the paste over their skin. Brides use it in a decorative manner, usually with floral decorations. If applied once, it takes on a reddish hue, twice will turn it black.
Eating habits are standard almost throughout Sudan, breakfast is around 10am, lunch is at 3pm and dinner at 7pm. The main course will always be a kind of bread called “gurassa” which is made of flour. It is usually dipped into meat curries. They have black tea with milk and sugar after every meal.
When someone dies, funeral rites for the dead are carried out immediately. The families of the dead wear black or white, and the men take the corpse, wash it and cover it with large white sheet and bury it. Widows usually mourn for a stipulated four month period.
When a baby is born, the baby’s mother and the town's women ululate (zagarieet) to announce the baby's arrival, and after 7 days, the family hosts a party to give the newborn baby a name.
Men in the Shaigiya tribe are good at hunting animals. Hunting is popular. Most mornings, men work in the fields tending their crops. Wives take care of children and give food to their husbands when they are working in the field. Boys in the Shaigiya tribe help in the field after school. Girls stay at home to help their mothers and make themselves more beautiful(decorate themselves with fancy clothes and other decorations). They are not allowed to go out very much until 15 years old. The leader of a family always is the father, but when troubles come to the leader, the mother or the uncle of this family will lead instead.
The Shaiqiya lived in the north around Karima and Korti. Their origins are still a mystery, as very little of written evidence is found. Around 1690 the tribe broke loose from the Kingdom of Funj, defeating the Abdelab governor and were the only independent tribe in the region. The first account of the Shaigiya tribesmen was given by the Scottish traveller James Bruce in his book "The discovery of the source of Nile", who noticed the tribe migrated from more southern regions to its present homeland around 1772. Still the best early description came from an adventurer and historian John Lewis Burckhardt, who, mesmerised by the Shaigiya, spent some time with the tribe. His accounts of the events were published at 1819 in the "Travels in Nubia". The predatory character of the tribe speaks of change from Bruce's time, "My guide, in constant dread of the Shaiqiya would not allow me to light a fire although the nights were getting very cold"[W.Burckhardt - Travels in Nubia]. Evidently the tribe was ruled by two Mac/s(the title given by the kings of Funj to tribal chiefs), Mac Jaweesh and Mac Zubeir. Military training of the Shaiqiya youth was brutal, and at very early age they were capable of launching spears from a horseback by astonishing precision. Their unexplainable intolerance of other tribes led to raids against their neighbours and beyond. They attacked villages and caravans as far as Wadi Halfa in the north, and Shendi in the south forcing some families of the neighbouring tribes to emigrate westwards (Danagla). Constantly attacking the town of Shendi and killing some of local Mac Nimr's uncles forced the Ja'Alin to seek help from the king of Funj, who at his political decline was too weakened and unable to help. Burckhardt who spent time in Merowe around 1807 gives us more description of the tribe >>"Shaiqiya are continually at war.They all fight on horseback,in coats of Mail.Fire-arms are not common amongst them,their only weapons being Lance,Target and Sabre.They are all mounted on Dongola Stallions and are famous for their horsemanship.Their youth conduct raids sometimes as far as Darfur.The Shaiqiya are perfectly independent people,and possess great wealth in corn and cattle.They are renowned for their hospitality;and the person of their guest,or companion is sacred.If the traveller possesses a friend among them and has been plundered on the road,his property will be recovered,even if it has been taken by the King.Many of them can write and read.Their learned men are held in great respect by them;they have schools,wherein all the sciences are taught,which form the course of the Mohammedan study,Mathematics and Astronomy excepted.Such of the Shaiqiya as are soldiers,indulge in frequent use of wine and spirits made of Dates.The manners of their women are said to be very depraved."<< [W.Burckhardt - Travels in Nubia]. They were challenged around 1811 at Dongola by the Mamelukes, but continued to dominate a considerable part of Nubia. They resisted the Turkish/Egyptian invasion in 1820, at the battle of Korti after refusing to submitt and were defeated due to the use of fire-arms and cannons and retreated southwards. Mac Jaweesh along the majority of his men sought asylum in Shendi in hope to persuade the Ja'Ali chief Mac Nimr to join forces against the much stronger enemy. Mac Nimr declined the offer and the Shaiqiya were handed over to the Turks, who promised to pardon the Shaiqiya warriors and return their land if they accepted the service in Turkish ranks.After the deal was struck Shaiqiya were used during the suppression of the Ja'Alin revolt(1822) and demonstrated astonishing brutality. For their services they obtained lands of the Ja'Alin between Shendi and Khartoum .
In the Mahdist War of 1884/85, General Gordon's first fight was to rescue a few Shaiqiya (still serving with the invader) besieged in a fort at Al Halfaya, just north of Khartoum. The fortress at Al-Ubayyid in 1883, was held by Major Ahmed Hussein Pasha (Suarab Section) and despite Hicks Pasha's attempt to relieve him, the fortress fell to the Mahdi. (Major Hussein escaped to Egypt in 1891 and came back during to the reconquest in 1898. His family still resides in Omdurman Bahri and Hajar al Asal.)His grand children went far as Germany where they go by the name Hussein. In April 1884, Saleh Bey (Saleh Wad el Mek), head of the tribe, and 1400 men surrendered to the Mahdi's forces. Numbers of Shaigiya continued in the service of General Gordon and this led to the proscription of the tribe by the Mahdi. When Khartoum fell, Saleh's sons were sought out and executed by the Dervishes
On the reconquest of the Sudan by the Anglo-Egyptian army (1896/98) it was found that the Shaigiya were reduced to a few hundred families. After this the tribe thrived. They figured prominently in the Egyptian Army and later the Sudan Defence Force. General Ibrahim Abboud, decorated with the MBE for his valour at Keren in 1941, was a Shaiqi from the Onia section and later President of the Sudan in 1964.
Egbal. Mohammed Personal interview. 28 Sept. 2009.
Egbal. Mohammed Personal interview. 4 Oct. 2009
Egbal. Mohammed Personal interview. 10 Oct. 2009
Egbal. Mohammed Personal interview. 14 Oct 2009
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.