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🇸🇩 Sudan In My DNA 🧬
My genotyped data (represented by the star within the box and indicated by the black arrow) clusters with Central Sudanese groups in the principal component analysis of genome-wide genotyped data from Sudan and South Sudan published by Hollfelder et al. 2017.
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed using the smartPCA program (v13050) from the EIGENSOFT package (https://github.com/DReichLab/EIG). For this plot, I carefully recommend interpreting my data point (red star) representing the smallest sample size on the PCs.
Population descriptors used above are those originally used in the publication by Hollfelder et al. 2017, and they are based on the self-identified ethnicities of the participants collected during sample and questionnaire data collection.
While genetics is a powerful tool, it is not the only lens through which identity can be understood. I value documented genealogy and the depth of oral history as equally meaningful ways of tracing who we are and where we come from. I am fortunate to have been born to parents who both come from Halfayat al-Muluk, a historic city in northern Khartoum renowned for its profound political and cultural heritage.
Halfayat al-Muluk: The History and the People (Arabic: حلفاية الملوك: التاريخ والناس; transliterated: Halfayat Al-Mulūk: al-Tārīkh wa al-Nās) by Prof. Awn Alsharif Qasim, is an invaluable resource that documents the history and heritage of the city and its people. My paternal and maternal family lineages are thoroughly documented in the book, allowing me to trace my lineage back to my fourth great-grandparents.
Paternal Lineages
My paternal grandmother’s lineage is rooted within the Moroccan ethnic community of Halfayat al-Muluk. Prof. Awn explains that the term Ma‘ghariba refers broadly to Bilad al-Maghrib (the land of the Maghreb) rather than to a specific tribe. In our local context, however, the name has long been used as an expression of communal and self-identity.
Maternal Lineages
My maternal grandfather’s lineage traces back to the Hawarra and Honanab ethnic communities of Halfayat al-Muluk.
On a visit to Al Nagaa and Al-Musawwarat as-Sufra, an ancient temple city of the early Meroitic period located in what was historically called the Island of Meroë in northern Sudan.
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