When we are talking about the Dadjo, we’re usually refering to the Dar Daju Daju, or the Dadjo of central Chad. The word ‘dar’ is an Arabic word. It means the ‘home of’. Thus, Dar Daju Daju really means ‘Daju from the home of the Daju’. In contrast, another Daju people group, the Dar Daju Sila, is translated to ‘Sila from the home of the Daju’ in eastern Chad. Dar Daju Daju can be spelled many different ways, including Dadju, Dajou, Daju, Dajo, Saaronge and Daju Mongo. However, the name ‘Dadjo’ is the one most commonly used by the Dadjo to refer to themselves.
The Dar Daju Daju is part of the Nilo-Saharan phylum of African languages. The Nilo-Saharan language family is further sub-divided, and the Dadjo (Dar Daju Dadu) language is considered part of the Eastern Sudanic family of languages. The Dadjo are part of a grouping of languages which include the Dar Daju Daju, Liguri, Dar Daju Sila, Shatt, Nyala, Njalgulgule and Lagowa that are mostly located in Sudan. The one exception is the Dar Daju Sila which is located in Eastern Chad and crosses into Sudan.
Dadjo History
The Dadjo move into Chad was said to be started by Ahmad el-Daj (Largeau 1913) and eventually extended from the eastern border into what is now known as the town of Mongo in the Guéra region. Having been influenced by Islam in preceding centuries, the Dadjo are almost 100% Muslim, though many continue to practice long-established religious customs which are non-islamic.
The Dadjo are divided into two cantons with the head of ‘Canton Daju I’ based in the town of Mongo and the head of ‘Canton Daju II’ based in the town of Eref. The division of the Dadjo into two cantons occurred in 1951 as a result of the French division of the region into two French sous-préfectures7 (Faris 1994:3). Canton I and canton II are approximately 80 kilometers apart and are separated by a mountain range.
Chadian Arabic is the major language of trade for the Dadjo with almost 100 percent of the adult male population speaking it on a regular basis with members of other ethnic groups. Though Chadian Arabic is the major trade language, the level of proficiency in the language is quite low in places. With some areas showing a French proficiency of less than 15 percent. My personal observation is that the use of Arabic is most greatly felt in the town of Mongo where the intermingling of different ethnic groups is commonplace. In normal village situations the women of the village are mostly monolingual, using only the Dadjo language, and the men almost solely use Dadjo.