SARA PEOPLE

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

Contents

In Chad

In the Central African Republic

Famous Sara people

References

Bibliography

See also

In Chad

The Sara, better known as the descendants of the legendary Sao, are the largest group in Chad, making up to 30% of Chad's southern population. They are a mostly non-Muslim people — about a sixth of them are believed to be Christians, with most practicing traditional faiths — who reside in the central African nation of Chad and neighboring countries.
Located in the southeast, especially in the Moyen-Chari, Logone Oriental, Logone Occidental, and parts of the Tandjile prefectures, 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. Some Sara have exhibited fierce survival skills - the women used to artificially elongate their lips using lip plates to make themselves unattractive to Arab slave raiders .
They are a patrilineal society, who speak a Nilo-Sudanic language and comprise some Twelve tribes or clans. Included among the Sara are the Gambaye, the Mbaye, the Goulay, the Madingaye, the Kaba, the Sarah-Kaba, the Niellim, the Nar, the Dai and Ngana.
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 claim that Sara might mean sons (Sa) of Rais plausible, as in fact, it is believed that the Sara lived in the north-east along the Nile River before they saught refuge in the south against northern Arab slave raids. Most Sara are Traditionalist in religion. 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 . The French often romanticized their tall, physically powerful presence and referred to them as "''La Belle Race"'' (The beautiful race).
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

★ Robert Jaulin, ''La Mort Sara'', Paris, 10/18, 1971 (1967)

See also

★ Demographics of Chad

★ Demographics of the Central African Republic

★ Sara language