Eritrea’s Sahel is the extreme eastern part of the Sahel
The Sahel (from Arabic ساحل, sahil, shore, border or coast of the Sahara desert) is the boundary zone in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the more fertile region to the south, known as the Sudan (not to be confused with the country of the same name).
Geography The Sahel is primarily savanna and runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Horn of Africa, changing from semi-arid grasslands to thorn savanna. Over the history of Africa the region has been home to some of the most advanced kingdoms benefiting from trade across the desert. Collectively these states are known as the Sahelian kingdoms.
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In studying West African ethno-history It's important to be aware of some potentially confusing terms. Bilad es Sudan is an Arabic phrase that translates as Land of the Blacks. Bilad meaning land and Sudan from aswad meaning black.
Although of Arabic origin the phrase has stuck as the descriptor of the region of Africa immediately below the Sahara and Egypt but not for the bulk of the continent starting at the forest zone continuing down to the equator and below.
Unless otherwise specified the Sudan refers to a region comprised of:
Mauritania
Senegal
Mali
Burkina Faso
Niger
Chad
Sudan
and the more northern parts of
Nigeria
Cameroun
Central African Republic
(Incidently, this region can be marked by the range of the red fronted gazelle.) Map 1. The swath of the Sudan as delimited by the red fronted gazelle
In studying West African history the peoples of these countries who were in contact with the Arabs and Arabized Imazighen are generally called Sudanese, and very often as Western Sudanese. Another name for the western Sudan region is the Sahel, meaning shore. These lands were seen as the shore of the desert. The savanna is also a part of the western Sudan.
Map 2. Countries (in pale yellow) of the western Sudan a.k.a. the Sahel
The country of Sudan, where flows the Nile, is the Eastern Sudan. Of course its people are Sudanese. The term Sudani is often used to distinguish them from the lump sum category of Sudanese in general, which to the Arabs meant the black peoples of Africa that they were familiar with who were neighboring the Mashreq and the Maghreb. They used Zanj, Swahili (another term for shore or coastal), and Habesh for the Africans along the Mozambique Channel, the Indian Ocean, and the Horn.
Israel Member # 11221
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Takruri,
Salaam brother. I have a question: I have heard that the Fulani people of West Africa have been found as far east as Eriteria: is this the truth?........You are Fula yourself, correct? I thought perhaps that you are because of your name: Takruri........Anyway, the latter question was more personal, and not necessary to answer unless you feel comfortable speaking about it. But the former question is the question I would like to understand. So, if you will kindly sir speak on this. Shukran. Salaam.
Yom Member # 11256
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Not in Eritrea but in Eastern Sudan near the Western border of Ethiopia.
alTakruri Member # 10195
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HalPulaaren are as far east as Saudi Arabia. I don't know how concentrated a population they are there.
Takrur was a general term denoting Sahelian West Africa(ns) to Arabic speakers. Of course at first it only was the name of a specific kingdom straddling the river Senegal and heavily composed of halPulaaren, particularly Tukolor(sp.).
Today Takrir is a specific term applying to the former halPulaaren speakers that Yom apprised us of who have permanently settled in Sudan, Eritrea, and Egypt, now speaking a dialect of Arabic.
The Fulbe are known to drop and pick up different languages. It's been proposed they spoke another language before adopting or initializing Fulfulde. In Nigeria they speak Hausa, very few there know any of their "mother tongue" any more.
Yom Member # 11256
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Hikuptah, actually you are right. I had forgotten, but there are actually some Fulani in Eritrea. Most in the region are in Sudan, but there are a few thousand (literally only 1-2,000) living in Eritrea who settled there on their way to Mecca to make the Hajj.
Israel Member # 11221
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Just as I already said: "I have heard that the Fulani people of West Africa have been found as far east as Eriteria"..........
Have their been any books written about this Pul/Fula people in Eriteria, or Egypt, or wherever else? Salaam
Hikuptah Member # 11131
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I have lived amongst the Beja for almost half of my life and while living in EAstern sudan i noticed that eastern Sudan if u want to say by population and who is who the Kassala Homesh Koreb and most of Eastern Sudan all the way to Suakin Port Sudan is full of Tribes from Eritrea from Beja to there subgroups Beni Amir which has 40 sections and the Tigre Hedareb and Many Habshi. The Takrir that al-takruri is talking about almost look no different than most of the eritreans they the Fulani/Takir can all pass for Jeberti.
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