Chapter One

The Origin of the Shaigiya and Their Lineage and the Borders of the Region

First: The Shaigiya (Land - Population):

A - Borders of the Shaigiya Region:

Members of the Shaigiya tribe - along with a few other ethnic groups in small numbers - inhabit the region between the borders of Umm Kukul west of the Nile and Kaburdi east of the Nile to Amri east and Amri west, which is known today as the Merowe Governorate and falls between longitudes 32.5° – 41.5°, and latitudes 18.0° – 18.5°. The governorate is approximately 195 km long and its area is approximately 125,000 km².

Awad Abd al-Hadi al-Matni mentions that the Shaigiya region includes the territory extending from the end of the Fourth Cataract at Barri Island to Jabal al-Dhubai'a, which some believe is named Jabal al-Dajr and is located on the west bank of the Nile. Jabal al-Dhubai'a is adjacent to Jabal Ain Auf in the Sheikhdom of al-Karabab in the current Arak area, rural Merowe.

B - Origin and Lineage of the Shaigiya:

There are four opinions regarding the origin of the Shaigiya, which are presented as follows: 1/ Trimingham states that the Shaigiya may have been from the Beja, and this opinion is based on what al-Maqrizi narrated from Ibn Salim al-Aswani, that the Zanaj, a group of the Beja, migrated in ancient times to Nubia and settled there.