Darfur’s people are a complex mosaic of between 40 and 90 ethnic
groups, some of ‘African’ origin (mostly settled farmers), some
Arabs. All Darfurians are Muslim. The Arabs began arriving in
the 14th century and established themselves as mainly nomadic
cattle and camel herders. Peaceful coexistence has been the
norm, with inevitable disputes over resources between fixed and
migratory communities resolved through the mediation of local
leaders. For much of its history, the division between ‘Arab’
and ‘African’ has been blurred at best, with so much
intermarriage that all Darfurians can claim mixed ancestry.
Identities have been defined in different ways at different
times, based on race, speech, appearance or way of life. An
Independent Sultanate At the heart of Darfur is an extinct
volcano in a mountainous area called Jebel Marra. Around it the
land is famously fertile, and it was here that the earliest
known inhabitants of Darfur lived – the Daju. Very little is
known about them. The recorded history of Darf