The Tama proper are a subgroup of the Tama, a cluster of several ethnic groups inhabiting the border area between Sudan and Chad (between 21° and 23° east longitude and 13° and 15° north latitude). The Tama live in the mountains of eastern Chad, near the Sudanese border.
The Tama in Chad are in the Guereda/Biltine prefectures. They also live in the Darfor region of Sudan. Many of the latter have fled to other parts of Sudan or into Chad. Famine and war cause frequent exchanges of refugees between Chad and Sudan.
They are surrounded by the Mimi and Zaghawa to the north, the Marari and Marait to the west, the Asungor (Sungor) and Masalit to the south, and the Gimr to the east. The Tama intermarry with all of these groups except the Masalits.
The Tama traditional tribal land is split between Sudan and Chad. The Tama totals 278,000 in 2 countries:The Tama of Chad are numbering 186,000.of Chad andThe Tama of Sudan are numbering 92,000(Peoplegroups.org, 2024)
The Tama are closely related to the Daju peoples.
Many Tama are subsistence farmers who live in permanent settlements and some raise livestock. In the civil war in Chad the Tama were involved in ethnic conflicts with the Zaghawa tribe.
Historically, they were part of the Sultanate of Tama, which still exists. Before independence carne in 1960, the sultanate was under French* colonial rule. After independence, a civil war erupted in Chad in which Muslim rebels attacked the sultanates, including the sultanate of Tama, accusing them of collaborating with the non-Muslim peoples from southern Chad who controlled the central gov- ernment. Most of the other sultanates have disappeared, but the Tama sultanate has survived. Although the Tama today have converted to Islam, they also re- main loyal to many elements of their traditional religión, which was known for its xenophobia and animistic rituals.
The various languages spoken are all dialects of the Tama language. One of the tribes, the Kimr, has also spoken Arabic for a long time. The Tama-speaking peoples are divided into a number of subgroups, which include the:
Of the six tribes listed above, only the Tama and the Kimr have ever formed independent governments. Today, the Tama are citizens of the independent nations of Chad and Sudan. They all inhabit sandy, hilly regions with similar climates, grow the same crops, make their homes in the same manner, and have similar lifestyles.
The ancient Tama capital, Niere, was located in Chad. The ruins of this city can still be seen, and sultans are still being enthroned there. During the 1800's, the Tama were dominated by Turko-Egyptian Sudan. The Turkish authority was replaced by French and British power in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
They built village houses and fences with straw or grass with mud brick constructions normally only seen in towns.
The Tama live in village compounds. Their houses are round, with diameters of 15-20 feet. The walls are made of coarse reed mats, and the cone-shaped roofs are made of thatched reeds. Some homes, however, have lower, more narrow entrances to keep out the lions and hyenas that roam throughout the region. Each village settlement is ruled by its own chief. The chief gives advice to the villagers, handles disputes, and makes important decisions. Each village chief answers to a territorial chief, who, in turn, answers to a higher government official.
The Tama people are a non-Arab (i.e., "Indigenous African") tribe that live in Dar Tama in northeastern Chad and Darfur in western Sudan. They number 200,000–300,000. They speak Tama, a Nilo-Saharan language. Many of the Tama are subsistence farmers who live in permanent settlements and raise millet, beans, cucumbers, gumbo, and sesame. They also raise cattle, camels and goats. The majority of Tama are Muslims, but they also have some animistic beliefs.
The Tama are made up of a number of subgroups: Abu Sharib (approximately 50,000 people), Asungor (60,000), Dagel, Erenga (35,000), Gimr (50,000), Kibet, Marari (20,000), Mileri (9,000), and Tama proper.
The traditional home of the Tama is Dar Tama. All reside in Chad, except the Gimr and the Mileri, who live near Saref Omra and Kebkabiya in Sudan. In 2006, due to violence between the Tama and the Zaghawa, 1,800 Tama refugees fled to Mile and Kounoungo, United Nations-sponsored refugee camps.
The chief of the traditional Tama leaders is a sultan who is based in Guereda. He consults with a council of elders. He also has several Chadian government soldiers under his command. The sultan's successor will be chosen from among his sons.
The clan of the sultan, the Oroguk, claim to be descended from the prophet Mohammed and to originate in Iraq. The rest of the Tama clans have originated in the vicinity of Nyere (a mountain which is considered sacred and is between Guereda and Am Zoer).
The Assangori people claim to have come originally from Yemen. In general, both the current Sultan and his father before him, as well as others to whom we have spoken, seem very open to development projects.
Lack of water for people and animals is a real problem in the area. During a good rainy season, however, many of the roads in the region become impassable. Even the major road between Guereda and Abeche requires 4-6 hours to travel its 164kms in the dry season, often longer in the wet. There are some Tama villages accessible only by foot or by donkey, not by vehicle.
Most Tama are sedentary and cultivate small fields, mainly millet but some sorghum, peanuts and beans. Some own mango or guava trees or cultivate gardens of tomatoes, onions and garlic. Some have cattle, sheep and goats but many of these have been stolen in recent years. The Tama rely on farming and breeding cattle for their livelihood. The Sungor, the Abu Sharib and the Mararit, however, are mostly settled shepherds, and plant only small-scale gardens. Since these groups own the most livestock, they have the most manure fertilizer, which makes their annual crop yield higher than the other groups. Their main crops include millet, sorghum, sesame, peanuts, okra, onions, chilies, watermelons, and various other vegetables.
Because of the sandy, hilly topography and the shortage of rainwater and ground moisture in Sudan, the only agriculture possible for those groups is dry farming. Their livestock includes camels, cattle, goats, and sheep. These provide milk and other dairy products, along with wool and leather. These tribes also hunt guinea, fowl, and gazelles for meat. One of their main dishes is millet served with various sauces, especially goat meat, okra, and onions.
The women gather products from the forests on a regular basis, particularly during the rainy season. The products include wild grasses, berries, and honey, along with useful tool-making or building materials. Women also help work in the field; engage in basketry, pottery, and other crafts; and brew beer from millet, both for consumption and sell or trade. The men do most of the field work and trade at the local markets. They may also work as craftsmen or merchants.
For centuries, the Tama were governed by sultans. Many of these were believed to be of Dadjo origin. In the 1800s they were a warlike tribe who was known for their use of the spear, who had maintained their independence for the previous two centuries. On at least two occasions, they resisted the invasions from other tribes.
At various times they have been subjected to the sultans of Wadai on the west and Darfur on the east, but have always had their own sultan. For example, they were part of the Sultanate of Darfur in the early 1800s.Turkish-Egyptian Sudan governed the area in the late 1800s. During the French colonial period, France really only governed southern Chad, and therefore not the Dar Tama region, but a figurehead sultan was put in place to govern the area.
During the Sahelian drought of the 1980s, the Zaghawa migrated to Dar Tama and displaced some of the Tama.
With the migration of the Zaghawas, armed horsemen began to raid the Tama livestock and commit robberies and murders, a situation that worsened after the rise to power of Déby, who favored his ethnic group in high government and police positions in Dar Tama. The new Zaghawa elite did little to protect Tama civilians from the looting and raiding of these bandits, and even took part in them. This abuse of power was the main reason that led to the establishment of the National Resistance Alliance (ANR) in 1994, an armed organization from which the FUC would later split.
At the time of the Chadian civil war the rebel group United Front for Democratic Change (FUC) largely consisted of Tama. The Zaghawa felt the Tama supported this rebel group that opposed the Chadian government, which was led by President Idriss Déby, a member of the Zaghawa tribe, though there was little activity of any rebel group on the community level.
A 2006 robbery of a Tama man and an ensuing gunfight that caused 20 deaths and 9 serious injuries was cited as the event that triggered increased violence. After that, the Zaghawa increased the frequency and violence of their theft of Tama cattle. In 2006, dozens of Tama were killed by Zaghawa militants and thousands of Tama were displaced after Zaghawa attacks on Tama villages.
In August 2006, 3,300 Tama civilians fled from Dar Tama to Sudan because some Zaghawa accused a Tama man of raping one of their women. In October, 1,800 refugees fled to Mile and Kounoungo, UN-sponsored refugee camps. Human Rights Watch could not corroborate allegations of Tama attacks on Zaghawa civilians. The Chadian government and police did little to investigate or condemn the increasing violence.
Sources: