History: Most of their ancestors came from Arabia and intermarried with Beja, Moors, and various other North African tribes. They flourished in the Sudan by roaming over the huge expanse of land to herd their large camel herds. Today, the confederation of tribes that form the Kababish is vague. Affiliations are loose, administrative control is hard to enforce because the territory is so broad, and there is no infrastructure in the area. Ever since the drought in the mid-80s, life for the Kababish has been hard. The camel herds have decreased dramatically, and many clans have moved out of the desert and closer to the cities.

The Kababish is a loosely defined name that describes a group of people who are both Arab and African. These nomadic people herd their camels across the Sahara Desert in search of food and water. They are traditionally Muslim but do not strictly follow the rules of Islam due to their harsh desert lifestyle.

Location: The Kababish territory (Northern Kordofan) is located in Northwestern Sudan, the beginning of the Libyan Desert. Like other nomadic African-Arab tribes, the Kababish live in tents with their camel herds, in search of vegetation and water. They have a complex system of migration, in which different parts of the family move to different places during certain times of the year. Some of the Kababish have become semi-nomadic and live in villages most of the time, which are located to the west of Khartoum, the capital city.

Appearance: The Kababish have darker complexions than traditional Arabs do, but they are lighter than the dark black-skinned tribes of the South. Other Sudanese tribes will say that the Kababish are white-skinned Arabs. Compared to most other tribes, this is a true description. The Kababish women wear brightly colored tobes, which are long pieces of material wrapped all around the body a few times and covering the head. The men wear white gowns, loose pants underneath, and a white hat or turban on their head. Because life in the desert is very dangerous, all of the Kababish men wear sheathed daggers on their left arms. Most carry swords and sometimes even shotguns or rifles.

read more