Manasir

Manasir

The Manasir people (Arabic: المناصير‎‎) constitute one of many Sunni Arab riverine tribes of Northern Sudan. They are not to be confused with the Al Manaseer of the Gulf region in the Arabian Peninsula-based mainly in the United Arab Emirates. They inhabit the region of the Fourth Cataract of the Nile and call their homeland Dar al-Manasir. Similar to their neighbouring tribes, the upstream Rubatab (الرباطاب) and the downstream Shaiqiyah (الشايقيّة), the Manasir are an indigenous Nile culture who adapted Islam and became Arabic speakers. Unlike other riverine tribes of the Sudan, a considerable part of their population lives as Bedouins in the adjacent Bayudah Desert. The nomadic life of herding their stock of goats, sheep and camels in desert valleys is however limited for many to the rainy season, coinciding with the annual inundation of the Nile.

Similar to other Arab tribes, the people trace their origins back to one historical ancestor. According to the current oral tradition of many Manasir, this person is called Mansur and belongs to the line of descendants of al-'Abbas, the uncle of Muhammad. According to their self-presentation in a publication by a committee of Manasir responsible for relocation issues resulting from the Merowe Dam, which is going to affect all villages of Dar al-Manasir, multiple explanations of their origin are offered (LAGNAH 2005:2):

Earlier travellers witnessed Beja and Bisharin influences from the Red Sea Hills among the Manasir (INNES 1931:187). Strong similarities of their burial customs with that of the Nubians can still be observed (cf. CAVENDISH 1966, Local beliefs among the Manasir).

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