Secondly: The lineage of the Hamdhab:
The Hamdhab consider themselves the most pure of the Shadhia, who have not been subjected to mixing. They are, as they call themselves, unlike their Shadhia brethren of the Lower Nile. They have not been subjected to mixing or intermingling, and they say about their Shadhia heritage that it is inherited by force. They claim this is because they remained in a region that was difficult to access and difficult to remain and live in. Their region is extremely harsh and rugged, with few vast and dominant agricultural lands. They have also remained mixed with some Shadhia tribal customs, among which is the practice of scarification on only one type of facial scarification, which is the scarification that relies on both sides of the face in a manner of three lines. This is unlike the Shadhia of the Lower Nile, who were forced to change the way they scarified their faces for cultural reasons later on. Their society fought for them in councils in the middle of the last century to scarify their faces with three parallel vertical lines on both sides of the face, resembling a sword on a whetstone. The Shadhia who deal with the north are generous towards the sick from migrations and displacements to their regions. They also retreated with others. Many groups from the Badr, Al-Hams, Al-Sawari, Al-Harays, and others have migrated to their regions. Most of the Badr families in the Shadhia regions of the Lower Nile are not Shadhia, as we see in the families of Al-Kawair, whose origin is from Al-Majmousa, and Al-Durayriyah in Duwaim and Damaj in Nuri are from Al-Durayriyah, and Al-Tasibiyat in Abu Ratat are from Al-Sawari and Al-Jund, and others.
As for the claim of the residents of Hamdhab that their lineage is almost devoid of outsiders who are not Shadhia, this is incorrect and rejected by sound reasoning. All of Sudan's land is naturally and inherently intermingled with tribes and mixed.
20 Youssef Fadl Hassan, Scarification: Its Origin and Function in the Middle Nile Valley of Sudan, 2nd ed., Khartoum: Khartoum University Press, 1989, pp. 57, 57. There are many families of non-Shadhia who have migrated to the Hamdhab region and settled there. Among these is the family of Al-Muhtaj Muhammad, who lives in Diya Hassan in Western Hamdhab, and he is from the Mahas. Their migration appears to have been ancient because they own land in that region. There is also the Al-Majid family, who may have originated from Ninla and settled near Hilla Al-Qafra in Western Hamdhab. There is also the family.
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