The Sudan Handbook

thE WaR in thE WEst 231

seventeenth century, the hakura designates land, generally smaller than

a dar and included inside a dar, that the sultans distributed to individuals

at their leisure: traditional leaders, noblemen, religious men and traders

from elsewhere, of all origins. This gave the owner rights to the wealth

of the hakura and to its inhabitants, notably the collection of taxes. Unlike

the dar, rights in the hakura were clearly individual or familial rights.

Oral tradition and written documents make a distinction between the

owners of hakura and the traditional chiefs in charge of a dar. It seems

that the first were considered to be well and truly land owners, which is

implied in the terms that designate them, such as sahib-al-hakura (master

of the hakura) or sid-al-ard (master of the land). On the contrary, the

traditional chief of a dar is above all sheikh-al-rijal (leader of the people),

administrating the people rather than the land, or sid-al-seif (master of the

sword) which underlines his political and military power. Confusingly

Darfurians today do not always make this distinction. They conflate the

two functions, using the term hakura for dar. Those, notably amongst

the rebels, who call for the restoration of the ‘hakura system’ are in fact

talking about the dar system. They confuse the hawakir system with the

traditional system which has more or less been preserved in the idara

ahliya (Native Admininstration).

The system did not – and does not – allow for an equal sharing of

land between tribes: certain groups have dar and others smaller hawakir

inside these dar, and others have neither dar nor hakura. But in the past

communities without dar or hakura were not deprived of access to land.

It seems that it was impossible for those in authority to forbid anyone

who asked peacefully to live on his land. True nomads such as the Abbala

(camel-owning) Arabs did not possess any land, but they could circulate

freely throughout Darfur, as long as they respected farmers’ fields.

A land tenure map of Darfur as it was when the British took over

administration reflected particular moments in history, the influence

of certain groups, families or individuals, as well as good relationships

with sultans. The system was not egalitarian nor fair, but it was stable

and flexible. ‘Stability’, ‘balance’ and even ‘harmony’ are words, albeit

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors somewhat idealistically, that Darfurians use today to refer to the land

(www.riftvalley.net).