The Azande (plural, "Zande" in singular) are a tribe of north central Africa. Their number is estimated by various sources at between 1 and 4 million. A world map showing the continent of Africa. ...

They live primarily in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in southwestern Sudan, and in the southeastern Central African Republic. The Congolese Azande live in Orientale Province, specifically along the Uele River; and the Central African Azande live in the districts of Rafaï, Zémio, and Obo. Orientale (also Oriental) (formerly Haute-Zaire) is a province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. ... The Uele River is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Rafaï is a town on the Mbomou River, located in the Central African Republic prefecture of Mbomou at . ... Obo is the capital of Haut-Mbomou, one of the 14 prefectures of the Central African Republic. ...

Language

The Azande speak Zande, which they call Pazande in their language. (Their language is also called Zandi, Azande, Sande, Kizande, Badjange). Zande is an Adamawa-Ubangi language. Zande is an Adamawa-Ubangi language spoken by the Azande, primarily in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and southwestern Sudan, but also in the Central African Republic. ... The Adamawa-Ubangi languages are spoken in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, southern Central African Republic, by a total of about 12 million people. ...

Traditional beliefs

Most Azande traditionally practiced an animist religion but this has been supplanted to large extent by Christianity. Their traditional beliefs revolve mostly around magic, oracles and witchcraft. Witchcraft is believed to be an inherited substance in the belly which lives a fairly autonomous life performing bad magic on the person's enemies. Witches can sometimes be unaware of their powers and can accidentally strike people to whom the witch wishes no evil. Because witchcraft is believed to always be present, there are several rituals connected to protection and cancelling of witchcraft that are performed almost daily.^{[citation needed]} In religion, the term Animism is used in a number of ways. ... This article refers to the magical system of Aleister Crowley and Thelema. ... An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ... Witchcraft, in various historical, religious and mythical contexts, is the use of certain kinds of alleged supernatural or magical powers. ...

Oracles are a way of determining from where the suspected witchcraft is coming and they were for a long time the ultimate legal authority, the one setting the action as how to respond to the threats.

Folklore

E. E. Evans-Pritchard and other anthropologists have paid special attention to Zande stories about Tule, also known as Ture. Tule (pronounced /'tu le/ or "TU lay"), which means "spider" in Zande, is sometimes portrayed as a trickster, similar to Anansi or Br'er Rabbit, and sometimes as a god. Edward Evan (E. E.) Evans-Pritchard (September 21, 1902 - September 11, 1973) was a British anthropologist instrumental in the development of social anthropology in that country. ... Anansi is one of the most important gods of west African lore. ... Brer Rabbit is a fictional character, the hero of the Uncle Remus stories derived from African American folktales of the Southern United States. ...

The name

The word Azande means the people who possess much land, and refers to their history as conquering warriors.

There are many variant spellings of Azande, including: Zande, Zandeh, A-Zandeh, Sandeh, etc.

The name Niam-Niam (or Nyam-Nyam) was frequently used by foreigners to refer to the Azande in the 19th and early 20th century. This name is probably of Dinka origin, and means great eaters in that language (as well as being an onomatopoeia), supposedly referring to cannibalistic propensities. This name for the Azande was in use by other tribes in Sudan, and later adopted by westerners. Naturally, today the name Niam-Niam is considered pejorative, and should not be used. A group of Dinka tribsemen, courtesy National Geographic. ... Look up onomatopoeia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A word or phrase is pejorative if it implies contempt or disapproval. ...

Another tribe called the Niam-Naims were a tribe from ancient legend, said to have short tails.

External links

• Niam-Niam A public domain article from a 1911 encyclopedia.
• Ethnologue entry on Zande language (ZND).