The Formation of a Racialized State

The history of state formation and the making of racial and ethnic identities in the Nile Valley, particularly in Sudan, can be traced to the entanglement of local slavery and the colonial state- building policy of define and rule. The construction of a racialized state in Sudan began not with the British conquest in 1898 but with local ideas and policies of those who embraced Islam and Arab identity in the precolonial era. Ideas about the importance of religious beliefs, genealogy, and place of origin in determining the social status of individuals were prevalent in precolonial Sudan and widely accepted by the population. Those customary practices of Islam and Arabic language were instrumental in mapping and arranging precolonial Sudanese societies and assigning status and privilege to those who claimed connections to Islam and the Middle East.