page_title: Sudan
section_title: Music
hierarchical_section_title: Sudan / Culture / Music
caption_attribution_description: A Sufi dervish drums up the Friday afternoon crowd at the Hamed el-Nil Mosque and Tomb in Omdurman, Sudan.
context_page_description: Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in North-East Africa. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, Libya to the northwest, Chad to the west, the Central African Republic to the southwest, South Sudan to the south, Ethiopia to the southeast, Eritrea to the east, and the Red Sea to the northeast. Sudan has a population of 43 million and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometres, making it Africa's third-largest country and also the third-largest in the Arab world. It was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world by area before the secession of South Sudan in 2011.
  Sudan's history goes back to the Pharaonic period, witnessing the Kingdom of Kerma, the subsequent rule of the Egyptian New Kingdom and the rise of the Kingdom of Kush, which would in turn control Egypt itself for nearly a century. After the fall of Kush, the Nubians formed the three Christian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia, with the latter two lasting until around 1500. Between the 14th and 15th centuries much of Sudan was settled by Arab nomads.
context_section_description: Sudan has a rich and unique musical culture that has been through chronic instability and repression during the modern history of Sudan. Beginning with the imposition of strict Salafi interpretation of sharia law in 1989, many of the country's most prominent poets, like Mahjoub Sharif, were imprisoned while others, like Mohammed el Amin (returned to Sudan in the mid-1990s) and Mohammed Wardi (returned to Sudan 2003), fled to Cairo. Traditional music suffered too, with traditional Zār ceremonies being interrupted and drums confiscated . At the same time European militaries contributed to the development of Sudanese music by introducing new instruments and styles; military bands, especially the Scottish bagpipes, were renowned, and set traditional music to military march music. The march March Shulkawi No 1, is an example, set to the sounds of the Shilluk. Northern Sudan listens to different music than the rest of Sudan. A type of music called Aldlayib uses a musical instrument called the Tambur. The Tambur has five strings and is made from wood and makes music accompanied by the voices of human applause and singing artists. This music has a perfect blend that gives the area of the Northern State a special character.
caption: A Sufi dervish drums up the Friday afternoon crowd in Omdurman.
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