kingdom · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan
Daju kingdom
Origins
The Daju kingdom is known mainly from oral tradition, a few Arabic references and archaeology, so its history is very uncertain. Darfur traditions name the Daju as the first dynasty to rule the region, from around the 12th century, based in the fertile valleys and slopes of the Jebel Marra massif.
Rule and society
The Daju were a Nilo-Saharan-speaking people who farmed millet and sorghum and kept cattle, ruling over neighbouring peoples through a sacred kingship. Stone-built sites on Jebel Marra may date from their era. The state probably took part in trade routes linking the Nile valley and Christian Nubia with the Lake Chad region.
Decline and legacy
Traditions say the Daju were displaced by the Tunjur around the 14th or 15th century, and Daju groups moved south and west, where Daju-speaking communities still live in Darfur, Kordofan and Chad. The later Darfur Sultanate looked back on them as its forerunners.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
Lineage
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Daju kingdom. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/daju-kingdom
- MLA
- “Daju kingdom.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/daju-kingdom. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Daju kingdom.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/daju-kingdom.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Daju kingdom’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/daju-kingdom (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻