(also Waddai or Ouaddaï), until the beginning of the 20th century a state in the central Sudan (on the territory of present-day Chad). The Wadai state emerged early in the second millennium A.D. The dominant nationality, the Maba, have been Islamicized since the 17th century. The state was divided into provinces, whose governors kept part of the taxes for their own use. In the 19th century in the districts inhabited by the Maba, feudal-dependent peasants paid a fixed rent, and slave labor was used. On the frontiers populated by non-Muslims, Wadai nobles collected an unlimited tribute. After stubborn resistance (1908-11), the Wadai territory was conquered by the French and was made part of the Ubangi-Chari-Chad colony (French Equatorial Africa).