DINKA (called by the Arabs Jange)

This article appears in Volume V08, Page 277 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: DEM-DIO

DINKA (called by the Arabs Jange) , a widely spread negro people dwelling on the right bank of the White Nile to about 12 N., around the mouth of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, along the right bank of that river and on the banks of the lower

Sobat

SOBAT

. Like the Shilluk, they were greatly harried from the north by Nuba-Arabic tribes, but remained comparatively free owing to the vast extent of their country, estimated to cover 40,000 sq. m., and their energy in defending themselves. They are a tall race with skins of almost blue black. The men

wear

WEAR

practically no clothes, married women having a short apron, and unmarried girls a fringe of iron cones round the waist. They

tattoo

TATTOO

themselves with tribal marks, and extract the lower incisors; they also pierce the ears and lip for the attachment of ornaments, and

wear

WEAR

a variety of feather, iron, ivory and brass ornaments. Nearly all shave the head, but some give the

hair

HAIR (a word common to Teutonic languages)

a reddish colour by moistening it with animal matter.

Polygamy

POLYGAMY, (Gr. nabs, many, and yayos,
marriage
- MARRIAGE
)

is general; some headmen have as many as thirty or more wives; but six is the average number. They are great cattle and sheep breeders; the men tend their beasts with great devotion, despising agriculture,
which is left to the women; the cattle are called by means of drums. Save under stress of

famine

FAMINE (Lat. fames, hunger)

cattle are never killed for food, the people subsisting largely on durra. The Dinkas reverence the cow, and

snakes

SNAKES

, which they

call

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

" brothers." Their folklore recognizes a good and evil deity; one of the two wives of the good deity created man, and the dead go to live with him in a great park filled with animals of enormous size. The evil deity created cripples. The Dinka came, in 1899, under the

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

of the Sudan government, justice being administered as far as possible in accord with tribal custom. A compendium of Dinka laws was compiled by Captain H. D. E. O'Sullivan.
See G. A. Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa (1874); W. Junker, Travels in Africa, Eng. edit. (London, 18901892) ; The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, edited by Count Gleichen (London, 1905).

End of Article: DINKA (called by the Arabs Jange)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/DEM_DIO/DINKA_called_by_the_Arabs_Jang.html">
DINKA (called by the Arabs Jange)
</a>

(Previous)
DINGWALL

(Next)
DINKELSBUHL

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email