INTRODUCTION

I The line of cleavage between the two great Arab groups of descendants of Kahtan on the one hand and of Isma'il and 'Adnan on the other has not been obscured by the lapse of ages, nor by the tremendous unifying force of a common religion, nor by continuous intermarriage, nor by migration to distant lands. The distinction,

still jealously preserved in Arabia i, is, in another form, clearly trace-

able in the Sudan at the present day, and its persistence is due to the unquestioned authority of the Kuran and of certain of the Traditions,

As being a revelation from the very mouth of God the contents of the Kuran are famiUar to the masses and unimpeachable both in doctrinal matters and as a storehouse of historical facts. The best

authenticated traditions carry an almost equal weight.

No one familiar with the historical portions of the Kuran and the

biography of the Prophet could be oblivious of the distinction be-

tween the Kahtanite and the Isma'ilite; and, in the second place, the careful preservation of pedigrees is enjoined by the Kuran and the traditions as an act of piety. The injunction is frequently quoted and to some extent obeyed.

Thus any respectable member of society, and particularly the feM whose concern is immediately with things of religion, must

needs be prepared to produce his pedigree. Some of the links may be faulty — they invariably are so — but the ground is fairly sure in places, and by a system of comparison one obtains certain valuable indications.

II Corresponding to the old division between Kahtanite and Is-

ma'ilite we find in the Sudan a definite line drawn between the two

great groups of tribes claiming descent on the one hand from Gu- HAYNA and on the other from 'Abbas the uncle of the Prophet.

The period from the present day to that of the Ashab is generally shewn as covering about forty generations, and in the case of a typical feki or sheikh of good family one may generally accept the first five or six generations from the present as stated accurately, and

^ See Zwemer, p. 259. "The animosity of these two races to each other is unaccountable but invincible. Like two chemical products which instantly explode when placed in contact, so has it always been found impossible for Yemenite and Maadite \i.e. 'Adnanite] to live quietly together."