Am Dam

Am Dam occupies a crossroads in the Batha River valley of eastern Chad, about 120 kilometres northwest of Goz-Beida. The settlement's modest size contrasts with its position where routes converge, making it a place through which people and goods pass across a thinly settled interior. The surrounding steppe was home to Dajo, Maba and other peoples who combined farming with herding.

The wider Wadai region was ruled by the Tunjur kingdom, established around the fifteenth century. In 1635 the Maba and other groups rallied to Abd al-Karim, who overthrew the Tunjur and founded the Wadai Sultanate, securing his position through marriage pacts with local dynasties such as the Dajo. Wadai paid tribute to Darfur through much of the seventeenth century before winning its independence. Under Sultan Muhammad Sabun, who reigned from 1804 to about 1815, its rule extended south to Dar Sila, and caravan routes carried slaves, ivory and exotic animals across the Sahel toward Darfur, Bornu and the Mediterranean.

The later city of Goz Beïda lies here.