Shaigiya tribe

The Shaigiya, Shaiqiya, Shawayga or Shaykia (Arabic: الشايقيّة) are an Arabized 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 Korti to the end of 4th Nile cataract and includes their tribal capital of Merowe Sheriq and parts of the Bayuda desert.

Although speaking Sudanese Arabic today it was reported by various 19th-century sources that the Shaiqiya were bilingual in Arabic and Dongolawi, a Nubian language. Some modern authors proposed that the Shaiqiya spoke Nobiin rather than Dongolawi.

In the 20th century, Shaiqi tribe are among those along the Nile, who have been affected by the Merowe Dam.