TEDA

also called Toda, Todaga, Todga, Tuda, or Tudaga, people of the eastern and central Sahara (Chad, Niger, and Libya). They speak a language belonging to the Saharan group of the Nilo-Saharan language family. The Teda live either as nomadic herdsmen or as farmers near oases. Dates are a staple, and a variety of grains, legumes, and root crops are cultivated. Cattle, goats, donkeys, camels, and sheep are kept, and caravan trade is an important factor in the economy. Sedentary Teda villagers typically live in palm-thatched, rectangular mud houses or cylindrical huts of mud or stone with conical thatch. The Teda are Islamic in religion, and one tribe has a sultan. Real power typically rests with local herdsmen, who inherit their offices. Descent is reckoned in the father's line. Marriage involves a payment, usually of livestock, from the groom's family to the bride's. Marriage between first cousins is forbidden; polygyny is permitted but is only moderately common. The Teda were estimated to number about 500,000 in the late 20th century.