The Zaghawa gave their name to the early kingdom of Kanem in the Arabic sources of the ninth to eleventh centuries, but by al-Idrisi's time (1154) they no longer ruled it: they were mostly poor camel nomads, perhaps subjects of the new kings, with a centre six days from Njimi and others at Saghawa (perhaps in southern Wadai) and Shama.
Their later homeland lies on the Ennedi's southern and eastern sides and in northern Darfur; the Bideyat (Beri) of the Ennedi are their kin. This record covers only the ground west of about 22 E; the Nubia sheet writes the Zaghawa further east.
Who holds it
- Title
- clan heads
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
None recorded
How things stand that morning
Self-governing herders between Kanem and Darfur.
Customs
Clan heads; camel and cattle herding.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Al-Idrisi via Lange; later ethnography.
On the map: Rough outline; the Zaghawa ranged far wider.
Sources and studies
- UNESCO General History of Africa III, ch. 15 (Lange and Barkindo), pp. 315, 460, 471: al-Idrisi's Zaghawa camel nomads reaching the Fezzan and Kawar; 'Tubu' as the Kanembu term for the Teda-Daza; royal marriages with the Tomaghra and Tubu
- Wikipedia: Toubou people (Teda and Daza, clans with their own oases, pastures and wells, the derde of the Tumagra, the Aza craft caste, earliest mentions by Ibn Qutayba and al-Khwarizmi)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.