ad-Damir

17.5933.96Koordinaten: 17 ° 35 'N, 33 ° 58 ' E

Ad- Damir (Arabic الدامر ad DAMR; alternative spelling Ed Damer or ad Damar ) is the capital of the Sudanese state of Nahr an - Nil. It lies on the right bank of the Nile, some 10 kilometers south of Atbara and approximately 250 kilometers northeast of Khartoum.

Population

For the area of ​​ad- Damir 122 944 inhabitants ( 2012 calculation ) can be specified.

Population development:

History

Ad- Damir is the center of a local Sufi Order. A native of Morocco Sheikh and founder of a brotherhood ( tariqa ) Ahmad ibn Idris ( 1760-1837 ) lived a long time in Mecca. Three of his disciples spread his teachings in each different form in different locations in Sudan. One of them, Muhammad al- Majdhub as- Sughayir (1796-1833), settled in Ad- Damir, where his tomb is still venerated in the city center today. His full name is in a different spelling: Muhammad bin Ahmad al - Dīn Qamer bin Hamad al - al - Saghir Majdhūb. Al- Saghir is called " the Younger ", since the time of the Funj sultanate his grandfather Hamad ibn al - Majdhub (1693-1776) had founded the Majdhubiya called Sufi orders in the area of ad - Damir. Hamad ibn al - Majdhub gained through asceticism, meditation and good relations with the local clan leaders confidence in the population. For Ad- Damir brought the self-government, a reputation as an educational center and as a place to settle disputes among the clans. The leader of the Order rose to become rulers in the area around ad - Damir, their followers remained within the surrounding tribal areas. At the time of the Turkish- Egyptian rule over the Sudan Majdhubiya fought on the side of the Mahdi against the Egyptians and also against cooperating with the Egyptians Brotherhood of Khatmiyya.

The explorer Jean Louis Burckhardt in 1812 came after ad - Damir. Sudan was conquered at this time not of Egyptian rulers. Burckhardt mentioned the positive impact that Muhammad al- Faqir Majdhub as el Kebir (Arabic: " great fakir ", an Islamic scholar and healer, called by Burckhardt " high priest " ) would have on the social morality. In the nearby towns Berber and Shendi he found widespread except for religious men, alcohol and prostitution. Not so in ad- Damir, as a result of this moderating influence of religion he called prosperity in trade and agriculture.

Carl Ritter described in his geographical standard factory of 1822 under the title The priest State Damer summarized: The Great Fakir lived in a square in the center of town in a small square building. Several prestigious Koranic schools ( madrassa ), whose students traveled from far, were set to a large mosque around. There was intensive agriculture with irrigation operated by Göpel - waterwheels ( Sakia ), which were driven by oxen and allowed two crops a year, a duty-free market and thereby stimulate trade.

The most important caravan route led from here eastward through the desert and the mountains on the Red Sea to the port of Suakin. This was also the pilgrimage route to Mecca. Burckhardt took a detour via Shendi and Kassala.

Muhammad Madschdhub ( 1887/88-1976 called: Sheikh Muhammad Jalal al -Din ), another sheik of the Order, came to ad - Damir eight years. He was among the first students who received by the British in Khartoum a Western Erziehnung, his religious teacher was initially a sheikh of the Tijaniyya Order, by his uncle, he was initiated into the Majdhubiya. Muhammad Majdhub taught at the madrasa ( halva ) of ad - Damir. After this school was withdrawn in 1948 in favor of a secular institution of the government's support, he founded his own religious school, which was completed around 1959, but was taken over by the government in mid -1970s.

Economy

The town lies on the railway line and the paved main road from Khartoum to north to the Egyptian border at Wadi Halfa. Instead of the caravan route now turns off a paved road from Atbara to Port Sudan. On the weekly camel market (Saturdays) camel herds are transhipped from the Butana region, which are to be transported to the north. There is a smaller market for sheep, which are sold by Bedscha. The city is also a hub for the date production from the north of the country. There are also some crafts and canning factories mangoes, tomatoes and other agricultural products. The larger market for agricultural products and other goods is in Atbara. Both places are connected by regular daily minibuses.

Cityscape

Ad- Damir is in contrast to other cities preserved a traditional nordsudanesisches cityscape. Located within a rectangular street plan are exclusively single-storey buildings line with typical market area arcaded colonnades and archways. The houses of the vast residential area built from mud bricks. There are several mosques spread throughout the city, and continues to be a Koran school.