The Sudan Handbook

a shoRt histoRy of sudanEsE PoPulaR musiC 249

The haqiba incorporated the madeih style and was performed by

individual vocalists accompanied by a chorus. The main musical instru-

ment was the tambourine. However, in this particular form of singing

the main emphasis was on the lyrics rather than the tunes. At the begin-

ning, haqiba singers performed mainly at weddings and other social

occasions. With the arrival of the record industry, haqiba songs were

recorded and circulated. The first commercial recording in the Sudan

appeared as early as 1921, when an Egyptian record company opened a

branch in Omdurman. A few years later, two other companies – Audion

and Misiyan – established branches in Omdurman. The production of

phonograph records played a major role in popularizing haqiba songs,

as did the political climate of the early 1920s. Slogans of the White Flag

League and pro-Egyptian groups – such as ‘Unity of the Nile Valley’

became major themes. Among the pioneers of haqiba were Muhammad

Ahmad Sarour and Khalil Farah, a Nubian.

The 1930s saw the instrumental repertoire expanded with the

mandolin, violin, accordion, trumpet, and piano, replacing the vocal

chorus. Pioneers of this new style included Ibrahim al-Kashif, Hassan

Atiyya, Ahmad al-Mustafa, Hassan Sulayman. The Omdurman radio

station, established in 1941, began to play a major role in the dissemina-

tion of music and the haqiba began to lose grounds to new styles.

Music from the Margins: The Emergence of tum tum

The haqiba was decidedly a male domain, but several singing styles emerged

among Sudanese women. One was saira or praise singing, performed

during wedding ceremonies and sometimes to urge men on to fight

in battles. Accompanied by daluka (drum) beats, the saira praised male

courage, chivalry, generosity, and other masculine virtues. In the 1930s

in the urban centres of the north, a distinctive style of women’s singing

called tum tum emerged. The pioneers of the tum tum were two sisters,

Um Bashayer and Um Gabayer, from the Radif quarters in Kosti, on the

White Nile south of Khartoum. Among the most important elements

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors that distinguished the tum tum were its simple lyrics and its danceable

(www.riftvalley.net).