Derde

The derde is the title held by the highest religious and political authority among the Toubou Teda of the Tibesti region in north-western Chad. He is elected among the three most prominent families of the Tomagra clan. At the death of the derde the title almost never passes to the son of the deceased, but to a member of the other two families. Although the title has not corresponded to a true position of political power ever since the colonial era, the derde remains a highly esteemed moral authority and has been described as the main unifying factor binding together the Toubou of Chad, Libya and Niger.

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