In both northern and, particularly, southern Darfur, authority in precolonial pastoralist groups was significantly less centralized than under British (and indeed Turco-Egyptian) colonial rule. Centralized leadership in nomadic societies has been regarded as inherently unstable, often time-limited to deal with specific circumstances, and more limited in scope than in sedentary societies. Khazanov's classic study of nomad societies outlines the various factors which bring about a demand for centralized leadership at specific points in time:

Beyond Darfur, some nomadic societies across Sahelian Africa might have been governed by more institutionalized chiefs, but even here colonial rule brought significant change. Nicolaisen's study of the Tuareg suggests that chiefs in this stratified pastoralist society had both judicial and military powers before French colonial rule. But he also shows that French rule led to the concentration of authority in the hands of individual chiefs over entire federations, whilst the leaders of other drum-groups within those federations faded into insignificance. Similarly, Asad has demonstrated how the Awlad Fadlallah lineage became dominant among the Kababish of Kordofan province, neighbouring Darfur, during the colonial period, thanks to their close relationship with the state.

In Darfur, Sharif Harir suggests that precolonial Zaghawa paramount chiefs were defined mainly by their role in providing defence and security rather than by a judicial role or by the allocation of land. These latter powers must have remained in the hands of individual clan leaders. Whilst there is little direct information on precolonial Baqqara shaykhs, in the absence of stable paramount chiefs, we might surmise that here too lineage or section leaders held a relatively broad range of responsibilities. Perhaps, as among the neighbouring Baqqara Humr in Kordofan, individual men rose to leadership of the tribe for brief periods of time and for specific purposes – particularly in times of conflict – but paramount leadership was never permanently institutionalized.