Darfur
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a province of central Africa, one of the divisions of the Sudan or "Land of the Blacks," situated approximately in 10° to 16° N. lat., and in 22° to 28° E. lon.; but its limits are not clearly defined. It is hilly in parts, and traversed by a mountainous ridge called Marra, which is the source of numerous streams. Toward the N. it is level, sandy, and almost destitute of water. During the rainy season (June-September) it exhibits a rich vegetation. The principal products produ are wheat, millet, rice, maize, and sesame. Tobacco, which is used by the natives in every form, abounds. Watermelons, also, are abundant during the rainy season. Among the fruits are tamarinds and dates. The chief minerals are copper and iron. The wealth of the inhabitants consists principally in cattle. Horses, sheep, camels, and game abound. Darfur carries on a considerable trade with Egypt, Mecca, and the inland countries of Africa; it was a notorious center of the slave trade. The Fulbes are an intelligent, well-built race, and have long been Mohammedans; their numbers are variously estimated at from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000. Kobbe is the chief trading town. In 1900 Darfur and Kordofan were within the sphere of British influence, by an agreement between Great Britain, Germany, and Italy. See BRIT- ISH EAST AFRICA. COMTE D'ARGENSON ( där - zhon, - MARC son '), a statesman son of the; born Marquis in 1696 d'Argenson; the 1721), who created the ( established the lettres de secret cachet police. . GULF OF SAROS DARDANELLES SEDD-EL-BAHR came war minister in 1743, at a time when the very political existence of France was imperiled, and by his vigor and lucky choice of generals changed the fortunes of the war. After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), he devoted himself to the impr improvement of the military system, and in 1751 established the École
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921 the entry was already out of date: Britain had annexed the sultanate to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1916, after killing the last sultan, Ali Dinar. Darfur passed to independent Sudan in 1956 and became, from 2003, the site of one of the century's most notorious wars, in which government forces and Janjaweed militias killed a widely cited 300,000 people and displaced millions; the International Criminal Court charged President Omar al-Bashir with genocide in 2009, the first sitting head of state so accused. Fighting resumed on a large scale after Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces turned on each other in April 2023, with mass killings reported at El Geneina and El Fasher. The old account's population of "Fulbes" is a misnomer: the region takes its name from the Fur, alongside the Masalit, Zaghawa and Arab pastoralist groups, and the chief towns today are Nyala and El Fasher rather than Kobbe.
Written for this edition, 2026.