Gimr / Kimr / Gimir

Gimr / Kimr / Gimir

Gimr or Kimr is an ethnic group in West Darfur in Sudan and Chad. They speak Gimr, a dialect of Tama, a Nilo-Saharan language.

The Kimr of Sudan are numbering 209,000 (Peoplegroups.org, 2024)

Gimr People

The Gimr are one of the seven Tama-speaking peoples of Sudan and Chad. They live on the Sudan side of the Sudanese-Chadian border in a región known as Dar Gimr. It is a bleak area in terms of natural resources—sandy, hilly, and short of rainwater and ground moisture. The only agriculture possible is dry farming, which the Gimr use to produce millet and a few other crops. Because of economic conditions in the región, there has been a steady out- migration of Gimr. Today, thousands of Gimr can atso be found in Southern Darfur Province in Sudan, as well as in the city of Darfur and the Nile Valley. The Gimr have lost the use of their own Tama language and speak Arabic.

 

History

Historically, the Gimr were situated between the Sultanate of Wadai and the Sultanate of Darfur. From the early 1700s to 1874, they were tributaries to the Wadai sultanate. That ended when the Turko-Egyptian Sudan conquered the región in 1874. They then paid tribute to the Turks until 1882 when the Mahdist rebellion deposed them. Between 1880 and 1910, the Gimr suffered at the hands of succeeding armies—the Mahdists, Masalits, Furs, and French. In 1924, negotiations between the French and the British resulted in Dar Gimr becoming part of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The British then incorporated the Gimr ruling families into their own judiciary and administrative structure.

 

Culture

The Kimr engage in dryland farming with crops like millet being commonly cultivated. Some Kimr have opted to migrate to areas like Southern Darfur or the city of Darfur to seek work.

 

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