ound under that heading. According to
Wilson, in his _Glossary of Indian Terms_, the Baghelas, who give their
name to this tract of country, are a branch of the Sisodhyia Rajputs who
migrated eastward and once ruled in Gujarat.

BAGG[=A]RA ("Cowherds"), African "Arabs" of Semitic origin, so called
because they are great cattle owners and breeders. They occupy the country
west of the White Nile between the Shilluk territory and Dar Nuba, being
found principally in Kordofan. They are true nomad Arabs, having
intermarried little with the Nuba, and have preserved most of their
national characteristics. The date of their arrival in the Sudan is
uncertain: they appear to have drifted up the Nile valley and to have
dispossessed the original Nuba population. A purely pastoral people, they
move from pasture to pasture, as food becomes deficient. The true
Bagg[=a]ra tribesmen employ oxen as saddle and pack animals, carry no
shield, and though many possess firearms the customary weapons are lance
and sword. They have always had the reputation of being resolute fighters.
Engaged from the earliest times in the slave trade, they were among the
first, as they were certainly the most fervent, supporters of the mahdi
when he rose in revolt against the Egyptians (1882). They constituted his
real fighting force, and to their fanatical courage his victories were due.
Their decision to follow him out of their own country to Khartum brought
about the fall of that city. The mahdi's successor, the khalifa Abdullah,
was a Bagg[=a]ra, and throughout his rule the tribe held the first place in
his favour. They have been described as "men who look the fiends they
really are--of most sinister expression, with murder and every crime
speaking from their savage eyes. Courage is their only good quality." They
are famous, too, as hunters of big game, attacking even elephants with
sword and spear. G. A. Schweinfurth declares them the best-looking of the
Nile nomads, and the men are types of physical beauty, with fine heads,
erect athletic bodies and sinewy limbs. There is little that is Semitic in
their appearance. Their skins vary in colour from a dark red-brown to a
deep black; but their features are regular and free of negro
characteristics. In mental power they are much superior to the indigenous
races around them. They have a passion for fine clothes and ornaments,
tricking themselves out with glass trinkets, rings and articles of ivory
and horn. Thei