The Sara society was transformed by this development, both in terms of culture such as French-based education and training, but also socio-economically because of forced labor and conscription to serve the French military during the World Wars.

The French colonial empire entered the ongoing hostilities in the early twentieth century, and the Sara people became a part of the French Equatorial Africa, more specifically as part of the 'le Tchad utile'. The Muslim raiders of what is now Chad were autonomously called 'Bagirmi', and this geo-political conflict between the Kirdi and the Bagirmi continued through the nineteenth century. The local Muslim groups of what is now Chad, referred to the Sara as 'Kirdi', with the term 'Kirdi' denoting a non-Muslim person. īody scarring rituals have long been a part of Sara culture, affirming community solidarity both men and women subscribe to it. Many Sara people have retained their ethnic religion, but some have converted to Christianity and Islam. In summary, the Sara are mostly animists (veneration of nature), with a social order made up of several patrilineal clans formerly united into a single polity with a national language, national identity, and national religion.

Sara oral histories add further details about the people. They are also the largest ethnic group in Chad.

They speak the Sara languages which are a part of the Central Sudanic language family. The Sara people are a Central Sudanic ethnic group native to southern Chad, the northwestern areas of the Central African Republic, and the southern border of North Sudan. The Republic of Chad, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of North SudanĬhristianity, Sara animism ( traditional African religion), Islamīilala people and other Central Sudanic peoples

Sari conji