An Indian man claims to have established his own kingdom after travelling to a no-man’s land between Egypt and Sudan and declaring it his own. Facebook user, Suyash Dixit crown himself as the “King” of “Kingdom of Dixit”.
Suyash, who hails from Indore, travelled “319km to an unclaimed land of Bir Tawil, an 800 square mile no man’s land between Egypt and Sudan, and declared himself as the ‘king’ of the territory. And not just that, the Indian adventurer is asking interested parties to apply for citizenship.
Suyas, the CEO of Softinator wrote on Facebokk, “I, Suyash Dixit, first of my name and the protector of the realm, declare myself as the king of “Kingdom of Dixit”. I call myself, King Suyash First from today. I declare this unclaimed land of Bir Tawil as my country from now to the eternity of time.” He also wrote that “following the early civilization ethics and rule,” he wants to claim a land where one can grow crops. Following this, he dropped a seed and poured some water on it. “It is mine,” he added.
Read the full Facebook post here:
To all who don’t know, Bir Tawil is legally unclaimed territory, several people have attempted to colonise it over the years, including a Russian amateur radio enthusiast and an American man who wanted to make his daughter a real-life princess. Bir Tawil, meaning ‘deep well’ in Arabic, is situated south of the border between Egypt and Sudan, but neither country wants to lay claim on it. It is said to be the only known land on the earth where humans can live and service but is not a part of any state or country. The discrepancy has meant Bir Tawil has stayed as a de facto ‘no man’s land’ for more than 100 years.
Mr Dixit travelled from his hometown of Indore, India to Bir Tawil to declare himself the ‘first king of Dixit’. While Mr Dixit writes on Facebook that he is going to ‘write an email to the UN’, he may struggle to fulfil his dream – and not only because of other people who already lay claim to Bir Tawil.
The United Nations has four criteria for statehood: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and the ability to enter into relations with another state.
Meanwhile, Suyash is not the first person to claim the land. In 2014, an American travelled to the desert land to make his daughter a princess of the ‘Kingdom of North Sudan’. However, law expert Anthony Arend previously told the Washington Post that under international law, only a state can claim sovereignty over a territory.
