Dec 3, 2022·edited Dec 3, 2022Liked by Imam of the Oppressed
Thank you for this thorough insight. I also come from ‘Mahas Khartoum’ and Tuti, - our people are in Burri, Hilad Hamad, and Gezira- we’re told our ancestor Arbab Alagaayed ((Idris) founded Khartoum, we grew up w that pride and the Hamad Alrayyah song and everything-but no one has been able to tell me where or who we were before that. I’d meet Mahas girls at college who shamed me as not ‘real Mahasiya if you don’t speak rutaana’. Yet my last name is Baba- which they told us meant ‘the big house of generosity’, but hmmm..
I also once spoke w Prof Yusuf Fadl for a story I did on Tuti, I learned alot from him, but still- seems there’s a point beyond which nobody really knows how to connect us to actual Nubia.
Now that I am raising curious American kids for whom identity is a crucial issue, I find myself wanting answers for them.
Maskagro, Hana! Great to hear from another Blue Nile Mahasi(ya). Your comment is very insightful - which Hamad Alrayyah song are you referring to? I don't think I'm familiar. Very insightful comments on Yusuf Fadl Hassan as well. I've noticed the same with the issue of the broken connection: personally, I find following geography helps, and tried to model that a little bit here. In a lot of writing about the Blue Nile Mahas, there's a tendency to act as though they're wholly separate from the Mahas of the north, but this fails to take into account the narratives of the Blue Nile Mahas. In el-Gezira, there's a Mahas village called "an-Nuba" (Nubia), as well as "Sawarda" (named for the Nubian town of Sawarda).
Regarding the idea that non-Nobiin speaking Mahas are not real Mahas, I've experienced the same in Nubian circles among Halfawis and northern Mahas. Many non-Nobiin speaking Mahas, in fact, reinforce this idea as many desire to distance themselves from the Nobiin-speakers for one reason or another. Personally, I think it all comes down to what you think Nubianness is. For the modern Nubian community that reside in Nubia and speak Nubian languages, their lifestyle, geographical location, and indigenous languages are markers of the Nubian identity. This is accentuated by the oppression Nubians have faced since the rise of Arab nationalism in Northeast Africa, the epitome of which is the flooding of Wadi Halfa by Jamal Abdelnasser and Ibrahim Abboud.
With this in mind, the fact that Blue Nile Mahasis no longer reside in Mahas or speak Mahasi Nobiin sets them apart quite heavily! They also have not experienced the oppression of Nobiin-speakers, that said, I don't think it's accurate to say the Blue Nile Mahas have no "actual" connection to Nubia. Their recollection of Nubian geographical origins and continued participation in Nile-based agriculture, as well as their continued insistence that they are distinct from their Ja'aliyyin and Shawayga neighbors, indicates some attachment to "Nubianness." That said, it's an idea of Nubianness that might have more in common with pre-colonial Sudani ideas of Nubianness: as not so much linguistic as perhaps a matter of class, lifestyle, naming practices (as you pointed out!), and perhaps even religious outlook?
That said, confusingly, I've met several Nubians, be they Danagla, Mattokki, or Fadicca from the Egyptian-side of Nubia, who do indeed consider me Nubian, despite the fact I'm Blue Nile Mahasi! So it's not a simple matter by any means.
Would love to hear more of your insights in the future! Identity is a crucial issue for many Mahas-Americans, if there are any topics you think it would be helpful for me to dive into, let me know.
Thank you for this thorough insight. I also come from ‘Mahas Khartoum’ and Tuti, - our people are in Burri, Hilad Hamad, and Gezira- we’re told our ancestor Arbab Alagaayed ((Idris) founded Khartoum, we grew up w that pride and the Hamad Alrayyah song and everything-but no one has been able to tell me where or who we were before that. I’d meet Mahas girls at college who shamed me as not ‘real Mahasiya if you don’t speak rutaana’. Yet my last name is Baba- which they told us meant ‘the big house of generosity’, but hmmm..
I also once spoke w Prof Yusuf Fadl for a story I did on Tuti, I learned alot from him, but still- seems there’s a point beyond which nobody really knows how to connect us to actual Nubia.
Now that I am raising curious American kids for whom identity is a crucial issue, I find myself wanting answers for them.
Thanks for digging in to all of this.
Hana
Maskagro, Hana! Great to hear from another Blue Nile Mahasi(ya). Your comment is very insightful - which Hamad Alrayyah song are you referring to? I don't think I'm familiar. Very insightful comments on Yusuf Fadl Hassan as well. I've noticed the same with the issue of the broken connection: personally, I find following geography helps, and tried to model that a little bit here. In a lot of writing about the Blue Nile Mahas, there's a tendency to act as though they're wholly separate from the Mahas of the north, but this fails to take into account the narratives of the Blue Nile Mahas. In el-Gezira, there's a Mahas village called "an-Nuba" (Nubia), as well as "Sawarda" (named for the Nubian town of Sawarda).
Regarding the idea that non-Nobiin speaking Mahas are not real Mahas, I've experienced the same in Nubian circles among Halfawis and northern Mahas. Many non-Nobiin speaking Mahas, in fact, reinforce this idea as many desire to distance themselves from the Nobiin-speakers for one reason or another. Personally, I think it all comes down to what you think Nubianness is. For the modern Nubian community that reside in Nubia and speak Nubian languages, their lifestyle, geographical location, and indigenous languages are markers of the Nubian identity. This is accentuated by the oppression Nubians have faced since the rise of Arab nationalism in Northeast Africa, the epitome of which is the flooding of Wadi Halfa by Jamal Abdelnasser and Ibrahim Abboud.
With this in mind, the fact that Blue Nile Mahasis no longer reside in Mahas or speak Mahasi Nobiin sets them apart quite heavily! They also have not experienced the oppression of Nobiin-speakers, that said, I don't think it's accurate to say the Blue Nile Mahas have no "actual" connection to Nubia. Their recollection of Nubian geographical origins and continued participation in Nile-based agriculture, as well as their continued insistence that they are distinct from their Ja'aliyyin and Shawayga neighbors, indicates some attachment to "Nubianness." That said, it's an idea of Nubianness that might have more in common with pre-colonial Sudani ideas of Nubianness: as not so much linguistic as perhaps a matter of class, lifestyle, naming practices (as you pointed out!), and perhaps even religious outlook?
That said, confusingly, I've met several Nubians, be they Danagla, Mattokki, or Fadicca from the Egyptian-side of Nubia, who do indeed consider me Nubian, despite the fact I'm Blue Nile Mahasi! So it's not a simple matter by any means.
Would love to hear more of your insights in the future! Identity is a crucial issue for many Mahas-Americans, if there are any topics you think it would be helpful for me to dive into, let me know.
Thank you,
Mahasi Imam
The song is a hamaasa song about the people of Tuti standing their ground when the floods came and refusing to leave. Sandbagging the island.
They invoke Shawoosh and Al Arbab.
He says نحن فوق عزنا و الارباب جدنا
Song is called عجبوني الليله جو
Wonderful! Thank you so much. I'll say, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw this song on the Sounds of Sudan YouTube channel someday in the future...