334 THE RIKABfA III.7.11.

as tax-collectors and minor officials. The headman of the DoAlib at

el Haraza was also recognized as holding an overlordship over the

northern hills, and members of his family to the present day hold

analogous positions at el Haraza and as far west as the Kaga hills.

Ill Other RiKABiA have wandered to other parts of the Sudan: the

people of Wad 'Ishayb, the 'Ishaybab, on the Blue Nile near el Kamlin, for instance, claim descent from a Rikabi feki who settled

there about the beginning of the seventeenth century^ ; but the main body remains in Dongola, and, owing to its alleged nobility of descent and the numerous holy men it has produced^, is regarded with con-

siderable respect. The mere Dongolawi who wishes to represent

himself as of good birth normally chooses to call himself a Rikabi.

^ A biography of 'AH wad 'Ishayb is given in D 3 No. 60. There is a small nomadic group of 'Ishaybdb in Damer district (Berber Province), but they are

said to be a branch of the Um 'ar'ar.

^ See D 3 Tree No. i and references therein.