ABSTRACT
The Azande group of tribes dwell in the heart of Africa on the Nile-Congo Divide, and straddle the boundaries of the Equatoria Province of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the Ubangi-Chari Province of French Equatorial Africa, and the Upper and Lower Uele Districts of the Belgian Congo. They are an agglomeration of invading Sudanic and indigenous tribes of different origins, languages and cultures who, during the last two centuries, have been moulded into a more or less common social pattern by the extraordinary military and political domination of the Ambomu conquerors, under the leadership of their ruling clan, the Avungara. Some peoples have been completely absorbed and have lost their distinct identity; their tribal names have degenerated to clan names so that they now consider themselves as Azande. Others, such as the Abarambo, have not been entirely reduced but are rapidly becoming so, their own language being relegated to second place, and the young men often calling themselves Azande.
