with help and encouragement from Zakaria IbrahimFrom the time of Muhammad Ali’s conquest of the Sudan in 1820 and of Said and Ismail after him, large numbers of Sudanese joined the Egyptian army. Similarly, with the expansion of cotton cultivation and trade in the middle of the nineteenth century, the slave trade also flourished, and caravans coming from Ethiopia and the east coast of Africa and northern and southern Sudan found their way to the slave markets of Egypt.
With the abolition of the slave trade towards the end of the 19th century, large numbers of people of colour had congregated in neighborhoods Egypt .
Today they are to be found in ‘Arayshiyyit el-‘Abid (“the Slave Stockades”) in Ismailiyya and in the Imam el-Shafi’i area of Cairo. In these neighborhoods they practice their various arts. From Ethiopia and southern Sudan came the stringed instrument called the tanbura (a large lyre), used to accompany the zar (an exorcism and healing ritual). Also from southern Sudan came the rango (a type of xylophone) and the stringed gandooh Of course, the simsimiyya (a small lyre), an instrument found in Egypt Egypt since 2000 BC, also quickly found its place in this musical throng.
Despite the relative retreat of the zar ritual in Egypt, the tanbura and zar still have their followers. The gandooh, however, disappeared completely, to be replaced by the rango, only to disappear sometime in the mid-1970’s.
In 1996, with help and encouragement from Zakaria Ibrahim, Hassan Bargamoon, a rango play and devotee who had abandoned the instrument began to put together a band and the two were able to find three rango instruments . Thus, the art of the rango is alive again. The Rango band now performs regularly and has received special mention and praise from many sources. The art of Rango includes dance and is now popular in the weddings of people of color in Cairo and Ismailiyya, calling them to dance to its seductive rhythms.
See the link below to read more information on Rango from the Rango album, Bride of the Zar notes:
More about Rango Upcoming Rango Concerts
With the abolition of the slave trade towards the end of the 19th century, large numbers of people of colour had congregated in neighborhoods Egypt .
Today they are to be found in ‘Arayshiyyit el-‘Abid (“the Slave Stockades”) in Ismailiyya and in the Imam el-Shafi’i area of Cairo. In these neighborhoods they practice their various arts. From Ethiopia and southern Sudan came the stringed instrument called the tanbura (a large lyre), used to accompany the zar (an exorcism and healing ritual). Also from southern Sudan came the rango (a type of xylophone) and the stringed gandooh Of course, the simsimiyya (a small lyre), an instrument found in Egypt Egypt since 2000 BC, also quickly found its place in this musical throng.
Despite the relative retreat of the zar ritual in Egypt, the tanbura and zar still have their followers. The gandooh, however, disappeared completely, to be replaced by the rango, only to disappear sometime in the mid-1970’s.
In 1996, with help and encouragement from Zakaria Ibrahim, Hassan Bargamoon, a rango play and devotee who had abandoned the instrument began to put together a band and the two were able to find three rango instruments . Thus, the art of the rango is alive again. The Rango band now performs regularly and has received special mention and praise from many sources. The art of Rango includes dance and is now popular in the weddings of people of color in Cairo and Ismailiyya, calling them to dance to its seductive rhythms.
See the link below to read more information on Rango from the Rango album, Bride of the Zar notes:
More about Rango Upcoming Rango Concerts
