The Shaigiya, Shaiqiya, Shawayga or Shaykia () are an Arab or Arabised Nubian tribe. They are part of the Sudanese Arabs and are also one of the three prominent Sudanese Arabs tribes in North Sudan, along with the Ja'alin and Danagla. The tribe inhabits the region of Dar al-Shayqiya, which stretches along the banks of the Nile River from Jabal al-Dajer to the end of Muscat's fourth waterfall and includes their tribal capital of Korti and parts of the Bayuda desert. Although speaking Sudanese Arabic today, a source claimed that the Shaigiya, like the Ja'alin, have spoken some form of Nubian as late as the 19th century. This language, labelled as Old Shaiqi, was apparently closely related, if not identical to the Nobiin dialect. In the 20th century, Shaiqi tribe are among those along the Nile, who have been affected by the Merowe Dam. Origin and lineage The Shaigiya are a sub-group of Al-Dahamishiy, a branch of the larger Ja'alin tribe. They are divided into different clans, each belonging to the twelve sons of Shaig (the founder). Shaigiya are predominantly Sunni Muslims with small sects of Shia believers. They trace their origin to a Hejazi Arab named Shaig who came from the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century following the Arabian conquest of Egypt. Shaig was a descendant of Abbas (an uncle of prophet Muhammad). He and his family settled in Sudan and intermixed with the local Nubians, creating this tribe. However, historically it seems the tribe has originated in 15th century as a hybrid of various tribes settled in the area. According to Nicholls, at the start of the 20th century, the tribe nobles denied to have Arabic origins and claimed to have always inhabited the same territory as today. History The Shaigiya are first mentioned in 1529, when an Italian visitor to Upper Egypt remarked that pyramids could be found in their country. They were subjects of the Funj Sultanate, which extended as far north as Dongola. From the sixteenth century until colonization, the Shaigiya had many prominent Islamic schools which attracted students from all over Sudan. Around 1690 the tribe broke loose from the Kingdom of Funj, defeating the Abdelab governor, and were the only independent tribe in the region. The first account of the Shaigiya tribesmen was given by the Scottish traveller James Bruce in his book Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile (1790)