The Bejawie
man has been described as warrior and brave, which is deep perception in the
books which have been written on them, as well as the poems which glorifies the
Bejawie fighters such as the famous one of Rudyard Kipling called Fuzzy-wuzzy
wrote on the wake of the coastal battles between Mahdia revolutionaries
and Anglo-Egyptian army in the end of the nineteenth century. It also returns back to the incidents brought
by ancient history, which contained in the Egyptian books about the attacks of
the Beja tribes to the urban areas in the upper Egypt, also what mentioned
about the role of Beja tribes in the collapse of Axum Kingdom of Abyssinia.
It’s
rare to find the Bejawie man without weapons. There are different kinds of weapons
are in use such as swords, daggers, sticks, shields. Sometimes these weapons
are carried only for decoration of the men. The weapon’s holding by Bejawi man
does not mean there is tend for fighting, as he does not prefer to resort to
the quarrels without readiness. It’s something quite similar to what so called
balance of powers, which it creates or keeps the peace amongst states. It’s a
realistic and a practical theory, as when your enemy realizes your military
capabilities, will avoid attacking because of his fears about his potential
losses, which lead to the sustainability of peace. Thus, the availability of
arms can be factor for protection against all potential attacks.
It is
noticeable that the word (war) has no equivalent in the Bedawiet language,
where the word (mag) is used which can literally translated to (the bad
thing). The word bears a clear connotation of the ugliness of war, and it
deserves that, as it only causes ruin, destruction, and the losing of loved
ones. As for the word corresponding to the ordinary quarrel, it is the word (Finnab),
which is a distortion of the Arabic word (Fanaa) which means annihilation, and it was accommodated into the Bedawiet
Language to be used in a meaning close to its original one. Linking the
ordinary quarrel with the word annihilation also includes a clear reference to
the ugliness of the results of the quarrel that causes the extinction.
Several
phrases are in the use in the context of the dialogues amongst the Beja people
toward war and fighting, which include: (Ofna Tansaratu Habahun and
Tumigriptu = Oh God, do not make me victorious and not defeated in the fight).
When some young men insist on fighting, the adults always calm them with
the phrase (Tomagnai Hriwi Dorka Marya = meaning that you will find the
way to the bad thing at the time you choose, so do not rush to it) and
the phrase includes references to giving priority to peaceful solutions to
problems instead of resorting to violence.
Although
the Bejawi society accepts the tendency of young people to the quarrels, but does
not accepting that, at all, by elderly men, as this is considered one of the social
blame points on them which decrease their prestige and respect amongst people. The
elderly men are abstaining from carrying clear weapons such as the sword and
thick sticks, and simply are resorting to hold light sticks with a bowed head. They
also avoid mentioning battles and bragging about fighting in their talks.
There is
a popular narration repeatedly told in the local context, that a British
administrator asked a group of local tribal leaders in the Red Sea about the
best thing in life, and they enumerated these things, starting with rain and
going to water, children, camels, money, wellness, and others, and in the end,
they agreed to hear the opinion of one of them, who was famous for his wisdom. He
said that the best thing in the life is peace (Masiq), and they
all agreed on this opinion, considering that money, rain, wellness, and others
cannot be beneficial in the absence of security and lack of peace
Although
the warrior is considered the most important figure in the Bejawi society, and
he is highly respected amongst his group and is considered one of the elements
of tribal pride, the Bejawi people are pessimistic about mentioning the names
of those people in the morning, with pretext that it may bring bad luck for the
rest of the day
At the
level of community leadership, the Bejawie people intentionally avoid assigning
leadership to a person who is characterized by the courage of the fighting,
given that he lacks the endurance, and
that he may leads the group to battles. A simple observation into most of the
tribal leaders’ families will lead to fact that they, at least, are recognized
by their brothers in the same tribe and characterized by two basic
characteristics. First is the endurance (Tarmoum) and the second
is the human responsibility (Diwaaitarrait), this does not giving
the other word ( Dorarrait) which used in the meaning of the supporting
relatives and the tribe’s members, the first term has a broader meaning as it
focuses on the humanity and ethics in general. It is noted that the tendency to
fight is not desirable in leadership, according to the Bejawie cultural
concept. We also note that assigning tribal leadership does not require
numerical dominance or financial capabilities. Sometimes you find leadership in
a small group or in a group that is not well-established belonging to the tribe,
meaning sometimes you find that they belong to the mother tribe, whether
through integration or through relationship of affiliation with the mother’s
kinship. Within the same tribe, you find a customary classification that
distributes its groups to the people of leadership, and some of them are
classified as the people of fighting
Bejawie
greeting’s phrases retain deep connotations referring to peace and security.
The word (dabaiwa) which is used extensively can be translated to,
I hope you are preserved, meaning that you are in status of full protection.
When saying goodbye, the word “lap naya” is used, which means “sleep
in peace.”
In
above, we tried to review aspects related to the impression about the Beja
people, which links them to violence, cruelty, and fighting, and about the
actual behavior of the Bejawei man in dealing with issues of peace and war
according to the word’s meanings and the daily behavior, which is not always
consistent with this classification. Of course, the Bejawi society cannot be
described as peaceful in the absolute sense of the word, but it can be said
that the continuation of wars and being affected by their bitterness,
contributed to the development of a culture and societal mechanisms in dealing
with conflicts, addressing them, and avoiding their occurrence or continuity in
the event of their occurrence. These foundations, restrictions and tools are
represented in the customary law of Bejawi (Silif). War,
regardless of its ugliness and the bitterness associated with it, remains a
human behavior that people resort to in their attempts to resolve issues and
disputes. In international relations, war considered a declaration of the
failure of diplomacy and peaceful methods and tools in dealing with disputes. Thus,
the same is happening in relations between people and groups. When they fail to
deal with disputes with civil tools such as litigation and complaints, they
resort to fights and quarrels as an attempt to resolve the issue by dispute.
However, war, quarrels and fights remain difficult and costly paths that rarely
contribute to solve the problem as much as they lead to the creation of other
crises. Realism in dealing with wars led humanity to develop its own laws of
wars and conflicts and their effects, hence the concepts of conflict resolution
and the Geneva Conventions of International Humanitarian Law found their ways
to existence.
Below,
we will try to continue highlighting the behavioral aspects that value peace in
the Beja culture, the customs that regulate the tools of fighting, the tools of
customary arbitration related to fighting, and the value and ethical aspects
related to conflicts.
First:
Accuracy and care in dealing with the tools of the declaration of fighting:
Tools
for declaring tribal war in the Beja culture include martial instrumentals and Nugara (big tambourine musical instruments
used in Sudan). The aforementioned instrumentals are pieces played on the Rababa,
and each tribal group has a specific combat piece, and these instrumentals are
subject to a great deal of restrictions which include the following:
Playing the
specific piece is restricted to the members of the tribe that owns the piece,
and members of other tribes are not allowed to play it in any way, whether for
the purpose of mobilization or even personal pleasure. In the event that a
quarrel occurs as a result of this, the person who performed the instrument
bears his responsibility before the councils of tribal custom by admitting the
mistake, and in this case his tribe does not defend him as he is an infringer
on the moral rights of another tribe.
It’s not
permissible to play it except in cases of mobilization and great anger, such as
assaulting the lands of the tribe or plundering camels from another tribe.
Although the recent decades have witnessed leniency by some tribal leaders in
allowing these pieces to be played on special occasions, this is always met
with great resentment by the elderly and sheikhs, as it is a transgression of
customs, an infringement of the sanctity of these pieces, a distortion of its
mission, and using them in the wrong place.
As for
the Nugara., they are also subject to severe restrictions, even
more stringent than the martial instrumentals, which include:
- The tribe's
Nugara is not hitting except in exceptional cases, which are
cases of extreme danger. In cases of peace, usually buried in the ground or
kept in an isolated place. Some people notice that some groups in Sudan are
lenient in dealing with their Nugaras and tending to show off it
in political celebrations and welcoming guests, but it can be said that the
vast majority of the Beja tribes avoid this and adhere to the restrictions
related to its hitting to the extent that generations of members of these
tribes did not see the their tribal Nugara due to the keenness of
the tribal leaders to hide it, preserve it and bury it in some cases.
Even the
members of the tribe are not allowed to hit the Nugra, and that
duty is limited only to the family of the tribal leadership, given that they
are authorized to declare the tribal war.
-
In the event
that there is a need to remove the Nugara for purposes such as
maintenance, then this requires a ransom, as some young men volunteer to wounding
themselves to extract blood and sprinkle it on the surface of the Nugara
before hiding it again, and this is to keep the prestige and sanctity of this
tool.
Second:
Avoiding the glorification of the fighting:
Beja
poetry is not devoid of the glorification, but it is subject to restrictions,
especially in the pride associated with battles and quarrels that provoke the
ire of other tribes. I have noticed that many tribes avoid repeating poems that
glorify their members in battles, and these poems are often passed down in a
secret manner. Despite the positiveness of this behavior and the value and
moral aspect of it, such as taking into account the feelings of the defeated
party in the battles and ensuring the sustainability of peace, it caused the
loss of many stories of Bedjawi history, including a number of harsh battles
that took place in eastern Sudan during and before the Mahdia periods between
the tribes.
Third:
Resorting to arbitration and tribal custom councils:
Al-Bajawi
resorts to tribal reconciliation councils in the event of conflicts, quarrels,
and murder cases. Often, members of other tribes who are not parties to the
conflict volunteer to put forward the initiative to stop hostilities and
reconcile in the event of conflicts or quarrels. Specific tactics are used in
these councils, including but not limited to:
Galad:
It means the mutual commitment to cease hostilities, and it does not mean
reconciliation as much as it means a truce to stop hostilities, but its
advantage is it is open, meaning that it has no time limitations in most cases.
Galad contributes to defusing the crisis and ensuring a climate
conducive to peace. Its strength relies on the extraordinary commitment of the
Bejawi person to the obligations, and therefore this commitment is not breached
in any way, and if this is happened, it is considered one of the great mistakes
that require greater kind of blame which is not forgiven and requires absolute
social isolation. The Galad is often initiated by groups not
involved in the conflict and tribal and religious leaders. The Galad
has a short form that begins by mentioning the name of God and ends with a
verbal oath of non-aggression. Often, the leader of the tribe or family repeats
these phrases in front of witnesses in the event of conflicts between groups,
as well as the parties to the conflict in the event of a bilateral quarrel. The
Galad is subject to other conditions, including avoiding direct
contact in the pasture and dwelling, stopping social courtesies, and stopping hostile
expressions.
Wajab:
It means setting up an appointment to consider the issue under dispute. This tradition
contributes in mitigating the crises and gives the parties of the conflict a
period to reconsider their positions. It contributes in resolving issues by
virtue of the fact that the passage of time since the event or incident leads
to a reduction in tension and the tendency to clash, and then the parties will
become more ready to dialogue and logic. A well-known phrase in the Bedawiet
language is said here, which is (Tohsiyai Amita), meaning that
anger is like inflammation of a wound, meaning that the passage of time
contributes to its healing.
In the
event of a quarrel or fight, the victorious does not take a pride about his
victory or continue the assault. Instead of this aggressive behavior, the victorious
takes the initiative to ask for Galad. In the tribal
reconciliation councils, the victorious, the aggressor, is not allowed to speak
and is asked to remain silent and not justify his positions and actions, while
the other party who is attacked is allowed to express himself, and the
customary council bears the force of his expression and the violence of his
words. In urban societies, the family or tribe of the aggressor hands over the
person who committed the crime or the offence to the police as a gesture of
declaring the desire to peace and asking for Galad. They also do
not ask a lawyer to take over the case as a gesture of not using the legal tools
in the case. In the rural areas, the aggressor handed over to the concerned
head of the Popular/ tribal administration, whether he is Nazir, mayor, or
otherwise, and sometimes to the religious leaders, to live in a safe host, and the
custom forbids assaulting him while he is under the protection of the great men.
The
Bejawi custom includes traditions to compensate the aggrieved party, where a
material or moral compensation are used to resolve issues and disputes, and we
find words such as (Kilaat & Laanait). The first is a material
compensation for a wound or a sensory assault, and the second is a material
compensation for a moral damage. There are tools to evaluate the value of blood
in cases of wounds and loss of human organs or serious harm to them. There are
also tools for civil compensation based on public apology and the provision of
a financial or non-financial value in return for reparation for the damage. The
Bejawi tribes are also have the tradition of what so called the savings as in certain
case a tribe can decide that its rights in certain case can be kept as a
customary debt under the testimony of witnesses, meaning that one of members of
certain tribe has suffered harm from one from other tribe and the first tribe
decide to waive its right to the compensation, provided that this is an advance
for the future that is considered in the event of a similar case between the
two tribes.
The customary
law includes traditions of disconnecting between the conflicting groups,
including the Doboiet tradition, which means preservation or
protection, where the concerned tribe or family gathers its members in a
specific space and not allow them to directly interfere with the areas
inhabited by the opponent group or the wells used by them until the crisis is defused.
Tribal leaders also ask individuals belonging to a specific tribe involved in a
dispute to join their larger groups and not living or having contact with
members of a group that has a conflict with their mother group so as to protect
them from any kind of revenge.
Fourth:
Commitment to ethical limitation and restrictions in combating:
Humanity
in all its societies, including the society of eastern Sudan, committed on
traditions that restricts cases of aggression and the rules of behavior in the
conflicts and dealing with opponents. These traditions are built on moral,
religious and ethical foundations and references. The Bejawi customary law
includes a number of such restrictions that control hostility and prevent it
from going further beyond the morals. Adherence to these rules contributes to
mitigating hostility, while violating them leads to fueling hatred and impeding
reconciliation and communal peace initiatives. I will try to list some of these
traditions:
The
Bejawi custom prohibits physical or verbal abuse against women. All tribal
wars, were devoid of actions such as rape, captivity, or the killing of women.
The Bejawi custom also prohibits the abuse of children. In the cases of harsh
tribal wars that took place in the Beja regions in previous periods, the weak
women and children who had lost their fathers and men used to seek refuge in another
tribe linked to them by distant roots and merge with it. It is also forbidden
by custom for a young man to attack an old man, or for a group to attack an
isolated individual. One of the customs that draws attention and respect in
Bejawi customary law is the power that women have to stop any quarrel by
exposing the hair of the head and entering between the combatants in order to
prevent fighting. This behavior indicates respect for women in the first place,
and appreciation of the pain that women suffer as a result of wars and
conflicts, such as the loss of children, husbands, and relatives. One of the
British administrators expressed his great admiration for this custom after
witnessing a quarrel between two tribes in the city of Port Sudan, which only
ended with the entry of a woman between the two parties, which led to the
cessation and disengagement of the quarrel, a task that the government
struggles to achieve, and I have read on the Internet about the existence of similar
customs in the history of the region of the Balkan.
The
Bejawi customary law prohibits assaulting tribal leaders, heads of families,
leaders of any tribe, and all the elderly in the event of conflicts, and they
are safe from assault.
The
Bejawi custom prohibits the assault on small animals such as sheep, given that
they are always the property of families and women, and the assault goes
against camels and the rest of the properties.
The
Bejawi custom prohibits the transgression of the blocking phrases of announcing
the unwillingness to fight by the abused, which is either a pronouncing a
certain phrase (Allah ba fraa) which means (do not transcend God),
which it is accompanied in some cases by a rapid sensory movement in which the abused
person turns back towards three jumps and draws with a stick or sword three
lines on the ground, while these limits mean that you do not exceed them on me
and that I do not wish to fight you. In this case, if the aggressor insisted on
fighting, this would deduct a lot of his rights to defending from his tribe in
the tribal customary meetings. The custom also prohibits assaulting a
surrendered person who admits his defeat.
The
initiator of the assault shall bear any harm that may befall on him as a
response by the abused person. The start of attack causes a decline in the
aggressor's tribe's support for him in the tribal customary meetings, and he is
called (Shaquinay), meaning the initiator of the mistake
(aggression).
