INHABITANTS OF THE WELLE BASIN,The Congo Basin,West Africa

1890s HISTORICAL MAP CHART

NIAM-NIAM (Zandek, A-Zandek), a people of Central Africa, of mixed Negroid descent. With kindred tribes, they stretch from the While Nile above the Sobat confluence to the Shari affluent of Lake Chad, and from the Bahr-el-Arab, about ioN., nearly to the equator. Their political ascendancy, weakened by the incessant attacks of the Arab-Nubian slave-raiders before the rise of the Sudanese mahdi in 1882, was afterwards broken by the forces of the Congo Free State and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The term Niam-Niam appears to be of Dinka origin, meaning in that language " great eaters," with reference, as is supposed, to their cannibalistic propensities. They are called Babungera by the Mangbettu (Monbuttu), A-Madyaka by the Diur, Mundo or Manyanya by the Bongo, Makaraka or Kakaraka by the Mittu. But Niam-Niam has been adopted and generalized by the Sudan and Nubian Mahommedans. Their native name is Zandeh (pi. A-Zandeh), which is current throughout the eastern Niam-Niam domain, a region estimated by Georg Schweinfurth, who visited the country in 1870, at about 48,000 sq. m., with a population of at least two millions. But these by no means constitute a uniform ethnical group, for within this area is the large Madi nation, differing altogether in speech and even in some respects physically from the ordinary Niam-Niam type. Apart also from numerous tribal divisions, the eastern NiamNiam proper form three very distinct branches. The blealt northern highlands bordering east on the Bongo and north on Dar-Fertit are occupied by the Banda Niam-Niam. To the southwards are the more civilized Belanda Niam-Niam, who hold the fertile hilly territory of the Nile-Congo watershed. Very different from either arc the so-called White NiamNiam, neighbors of the Madi of the Makua-Welle river basin. Their complexion is of a lighter bronze tint, and they are distinguished from the other branches of the family by their tall stature, symmetrical figure, long kinky hair and beard and higher social culture. They wear cotton garments, obtained by barter for ivory, copper and iron, and have a tendency to political unity under one chief.

1890s Wood Engraving Antique Map

Approximate Overall Size: 7 X 10 1/2 inches

CONDITION: Book Plate INTEXT MAP - Excellent Condition. Beautiful with excellent detail. There is Text on Front and Back Side.