Azande
Encyclopedia
- Niam-Niam redirects here. Niam-Niam can also refer to a MancalaMancalaMancala is a family of board games played around the world, sometimes called "sowing" games, or "count-and-capture" games, which describes the game-play. Mancala games play a role in many African and some Asian societies comparable to that of chess in the West, or the game of Go in Eastern Asia...
game with a 2×8 and stores.
The Azande ("Zande" as an adjective) are a tribe of north Central Africa
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
. Their number is estimated by various sources at between 1 and 4 million.
They live primarily in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, in South Sudan
South Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...
, and in southeastern Central African Republic
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
. The Congolese Azande live in Orientale Province, specifically along the Uele River
Uele River
The Uele River, also spelled Welle River, is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It originates in the mountains near Lake Albert and flows west for about to join the Mbomou River at Yakoma....
; and the Central African Azande live in the districts of Rafaï
Rafaï
Rafaï is a town on the Mbomou River, located in the Central African Republic prefecture of Mbomou at . Its estimated population is about 14,000 people.Rafaï has a small civil airport with an unpaved 4,200 feet runway....
, Zémio
Zemio
Zemio is a town and sub-prefecture in the Haut-Mbomou Prefecture of the south-eastern Central African Republic.-Transport:The town is served by Zemio Airport....
, and Obo
Obo
Obo is the capital of Haut-Mbomou, one of the 14 prefectures of the Central African Republic. According to data used within Google Earth, the population is 12,787. It is close to the African Pole of Inaccessibility....
.
Language
The Azande speak ZandeZande language
Zande is an Ubangian language spoken by the Azande, primarily in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and western South Sudan, but also in the eastern part of the Central African Republic.-External links:****...
, which they call Pazande. (Their language is also called Zandi, Azande, Sande, Kizande, Badjange). Zande is an Adamawa-Ubangi language.
Population
The Zande population is spread over three countries, namely South SudanSouth Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...
, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
—the effect of colonial borders. In most cases, people use the estimate in Sudan to determine the total Zande population, an approach that does not show correct estimates.
Agriculture
The Azande are mainly small-scale farmers. Crops include maize, rice, groundnuts (also known as peanuts), sesame, cassava and sweet potatoes. Fruits grown in the area include mangos, oranges, bananas, pineapples, and also sugar cane. Zande land is also full of oil palms and sesame.From 1998 to 2001, Zande agriculture was boosted since World Vision International
World Vision International
World Vision International, founded in the USA in 1977, is an evangelical relief and development umbrella organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good...
was buying agricultural produce. The Azande managed to supply enough maize, soya beans, sesame, sorghum and groundnuts to feed the whole population of southern Sudan.
History and traditional beliefs
Most Azande traditionally practiced an animist religionAnimism
Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....
, but this has been supplanted to a large extent by Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Other traditional beliefs include magic
Magic
Magic may refer to:* Magic , the art of appearing to perform supernatural feats using sleight of hand or other methods* Magic , the use of paranormal methods to manipulate natural forces, such as witchcraft...
and witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. Among the Azande, witchcraft is believed to be an inherited substance in the belly which lives a fairly autonomous life, including performing bad magic on one's enemies. Witches can sometimes be unaware of their powers, and can accidentally strike people to whom the witch wishes no evil. Because witchcraft is believed to always be present, there are several rituals connected to protection from and cancelling of witchcraft that are performed almost daily. When something out of the ordinary occurs, usually something unfortunate, to an individual, the Azande may blame witchcraft, just as non-Zande people might blame "bad luck".
Oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
s are a way of determining from where the suspected witchcraft is coming, and were for a long time the ultimate legal authority and the main determining factor in how one would respond to the threats.
Military
The weaponry of the Zande was showcased on the cable television show, Deadliest WarriorDeadliest Warrior
Deadliest Warrior is a television program in which information on historical or modern warriors and their weapons are used to determine which of them is the "deadliest" based upon tests performed during each episode...
. The Zande were renowned for their military prowess, using a mix of Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
and Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
weapons to great effect on raids to gain new resources, including the makraka, a sickle
Sickle
A sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock . Sickles have also been used as weapons, either in their original form or in various derivations.The diversity of sickles that...
-bladed weapon capable of decapitation and the makrigga, a seven foot spear with backwards facing hooks effective at inflicting massive ripping trauma upon being pulled out of a wound. The iron kpinga
Hunga Munga
The mambele is a bladed weapon used by African cultures south of Lake Chad. It consists of an iron blade with a curved back section and rearward spike. It can be used in close combat, or more typically thrown....
throwing knife functioned much like a scaled up shuriken
Shuriken
A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...
, with cutting edges protruding from almost every angle and the ability to inflict deep stabbing wounds from a distance, as well as functioning as an effective close up stabbing and slashing weapon. They used bows with the arrows dipped in a mix including strychnine
Strychnine
Strychnine is a highly toxic , colorless crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine causes muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia or sheer exhaustion...
, which is used in rat poison, capable of inducing severe pain, muscle spasms, and death in those hit.
The Zande used intimidation as a weapon, filing their teeth to take on a frightening appearance and using a distinctive chant of "nyam-nyam", an adaptation of the name "great eaters" given to them by other tribes.
Folklore
E. E. Evans-Pritchard and other anthropologists have paid special attention to Zande stories about Tule, also known as Ture. Tule , which means "spider" in Zande, is sometimes portrayed as a trickster, similar to AnansiAnansi
Anansi the trickster is a spider, and is one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore.He is also known as Ananse, Kwaku Ananse, and Anancy; and in the Southern United States he has evolved into Aunt Nancy. He is a spider, but often acts and appears as a man...
or Br'er Rabbit
Br'er Rabbit
Br'er Rabbit is a central figure in the Uncle Remus stories of the Southern United States. He is a trickster character who succeeds by his wits rather than by brawn, tweaking authority figures and bending social mores as he sees fit...
.
The name
The word Azande means the people who possess much land, and refers to their history as conquering warriors.There are many variant spellings of Azande, including: Zande, Zandeh, A-Zandeh, Sandeh, etc.
The name Niam-Niam (or Nyam-Nyam) was frequently used by foreigners to refer to the Azande in the 19th and early 20th century. This name is probably of Dinka
Dinka
The Dinka is an ethnic group inhabiting the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Nile basin, Jonglei and parts of southern Kordufan and Upper Nile regions. They are mainly agro-pastoral people, relying on cattle herding at riverside camps in the dry season and growing millet and other varieties of grains ...
origin, and means great eaters in that language (as well as being an onomatopoeia), supposedly referring to cannibalistic propensities. This name for the Azande was in use by other tribes in South Sudan, and later adopted by westerners. Naturally, today the name Niam-Niam is considered pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
.
Another tribe called the Niam-Niams were a tribe from ancient legend, said to have short tails.
External links
- Equatorians Abroad
- Ethnologue entry on the Zande language.
- http://www.spike.com/full-episode/aztec-jaguar-vs/38375, includes interviews with experts on Zande military practices and weaponry and demonstration on simulated human bodies.