Sara people

Sara

A Sara girl
Total population
3 to 4 million
Regions with significant populations
Chad, Central African Republic
Languages
Ngambay, French
Religion
Christianity, Traditional african religion
Related ethnic groups
Nilotic peoples

The Sara are an ethnic group in Central Africa, who reside mostly in Chad, making up approximatively 30% of its southern population.

In Chad

The Sara (kameeni), better known as the descendants of the legendary Sao, are the largest group in Chad, making up to 30% of Chad's population. They are a mostly non-Muslim people — about a sixth of them are believed to be Christians, with most practising traditional faiths — who reside in the central African nation of Chad and neighboring countries.

Located in the south-east, especially in the Moyen-Chari, Logone Oriental, Logone Occidental, and parts of the Tandjile regions, they are Nilotic people who are believed to have migrated to the Chad during the 16th century. Many traditional cultural systems broke down over centuries because of constant riff from the Arab slave raiders. The women used to artificially elongate their lips using lip plates, and some nineteenth century explorers and missionaries suggested that this, like other cosmetic practices of various African peoples, were adopted to make themselves unattractive to Arab slave raiders^{[citation needed]}.

They are a patrilineal society, who speak a Nilo-Sudanic language and comprise some Twelve tribes or clans. Included among the Sara are the Ngambaye, the Mbaye, the Goulay, the Madjingaye, the Kaba, the Sara-Kaba, the Niellim, the Nar, the Dai and Ngama.

The Sara (Sa-Ra) designation appears to have been given to them by the Arabs, meaning the Sons of Ra, the ancient Egyptian Sun-God. The Sara lived in the north-east along the Nile River before they sought refuge in the south against northern Arab slave raids, whom eventually overtook and Arabized North Africa. Most Sara are Traditionalist in religion, some worshipping the Sun. The Sara are agriculturalists; they form the backbone of the Chadian economy, producing cotton, rice, peanuts, corn, millet, sorghum, and cassava. They live in the most productive part of the country.

During the French colonial period, they became targets for recruitment, forced labor, and the military. In fact, during World War II they were the largest number of Africans to fight in the war^{[citation needed]}. The French often romanticized their tall, physically powerful presence and referred to them as "La Belle Race" (The beautiful race)^{[citation needed]}.

The Sara people enthusiastically grasped the meagre educational and religious opportunities offered by the French. They since have mastered most disciplines available and now occupy many positions in the civil service. In the 1970s, François Tombalbaye, the first President of Chad and from Sara origins, introduced in an Africanization aim the yondo initiation rites of the Sara for all those who wanted to obtain positions in the civil service and the army, rites that were seen as anti-Christian.

In the Central African Republic

The Sara, people make up 10% of the Central African Republic, making it the fourth largest ethnic group in the country.

Famous Sara people

• François Tombalbaye, first President of Chad
• Noël Milarew Odingar, who overthrew Tombalbaye during the 1975 coup
• Fidèle Moungar, Prime minister of Chad in 1993, president of Action for Unity and Socialism

References

Bibliography

• René Lemarchand, The Politics of Sara Ethnicity: A Note on the Origins of the Civil War in Chad, in: Cahiers d'Études africaines, Vol. 20, Cahier 80 (1980)
• René Lemarchand, Chad: The Misadventures of the North-South Dialectic, in: African Studies Review, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Sept., 1986)
• Mario Azevedo, The Human Price of Development: The Brazzaville Railroad and the Sara of Chad, in: African Studies Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Mar., 1981)
• Mario Azevedo, Power and Slavery in Central Africa: Chad (1890-1925), in: The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 67, No. 3 (Autumn, 1982)
• Robert Jaulin, La Mort Sara, Paris, 10/18, 1971 (1967)

See also

• Demographics of Chad
• Demographics of the Central African Republic
• Sara languages