Darfur

Darfur (/dɑːrˈfʊər/ dar-FOOR; Arabic: دار فور, romanized: Dār Fūr, lit. 'Realm of the Fur') is a region of western Sudan. Dār is an Arabic word meaning "home [of]" – the region was named Dardaju (Arabic: دار داجو, romanized: Dār Dājū) while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë c. 350 AD, and it was renamed Dartunjur (Arabic: دار تنجر, romanized: Dār Tunjur) when the Tunjur ruled the area. Darfur was an independent sultanate for several hundred years until 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr. The region was later invaded and incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. As an administrative region, Darfur is divided into five federal states: Central Darfur, East Darfur, North Darfur, South Darfur and West Darfur. Because of the War in Darfur between Sudanese government forces and the indigenous population, the region has been in a state of humanitarian emergency and genocide since 2003. The factors include religious and ethnic rivalry, and the rivalry between farmers and herders.

The first historical mention of the word Fur occurs in 1664 in the account by J. M. Vansleb, a German traveler, of a visit to Egypt (Petermann (1862-3). Mitteilungen, Erganzungsband II). It is claimed that, like sūdān, fūr means "blacks", and was the name given by the early light-colored Berber sultans of Darfur to the original inhabitants of the country such as the Binga, Banda, etc. As the historic dynasty's physical appearance became more "Africanized" from intermarriage with black wives and concubines, the appearance of the sultans darkened correspondingly and they became known by the appellation of their subjects, Fūr.