A page from his manuscript; Ansab al-ashraf

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Ahmed bin Yahya bin Jabir   also known as
(Al-Baladhuri) (AD 893):  Ansab al-ashraf

(Genealogy of Illustrious Men)
He lived at the court of the Khalifa. (Baghdad)
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Taken from J.C. Wilkinson in African Historical Studies 1981

As far back as Muawiya b. Abi Sufyan's time, a slave community (mostly african) had been established in Bahrayn probably for agricultural purposes, and in 685 AD this was estimated to number 4000 families.

Taken from: Graham W. Irwin; Africans Abroad: A Documentary History of the Black Diaspora in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean during the Age of Slavery

Rawh b. Abd al-Mumin al-Muqri (1) told me that he heard Ali b. nasir al-Jahdami quoting Jarir b. Hazim who was quoting from his uncle as-Sab b. Zayd, say that the Zanj gathered in great numbers by the Euphrates near Basra. When people complained about what the Zanj had brought upon them, (al-Hajjaj) (2) organized a large army and attacked them. They were scattered, and some of them were crucified and killed.
When Abdallah b. al-Jarud (3), together with a group of Iraki notables, rose against al-Hajjaj (2), while the latter was in Rustaqabadh (4) , the Zanj rebelled again. A great many of them gathered by the Euphrates and chose one of themselves, known as Riyah Shirazanji (Lion of the Zanj) (5) as their leader. When al-Hajjaj (2) had completed the destruction of those who had rebelled against him in Rustaqabadh (4) and returned to Basra, he dispatched an army against (the zanj) and killed them.
Rawh b. Abd al-Mumin (1) told me, on the authority of his uncle, ibn Hisham, that Suhaym b. Hafs (6) and others said: The Zanj rebelled by the Euphrates during the governorship of al-Hajjaj (2), when Ziyad b. Amr al-Ataki (7) was the prefect of the Basra police. Ziyad, under orders from al-Hajjaj (2), dispatched an army of Basran fighters under the leadership of his son Hafs to engage them. He fought with them, but they killed him and defeated his followers. The governor of Ubella (8) at that time was Kuraz b. Malik as-Sulami, and then al-Fihri.
Raw b. al-Walid b. Hisham b. Qahdham says: Shirazanji (5) rebelled by the Euphrates, being joined by many of the Zanj as well as by a group of the people of al-Kalla (9), and others, who were white. The governor of Ubulla (9) then was Kuraz as-Sulami; that was when al-Hajjaj went to Rustaqabadh (4). Shirazanji wrote to Kuraz as-Sulami: Now then, the time for Sikka, Mother of the Faithful, to give birth has come. So send your wife to serve as a midwife. Salam. Kuraz fled, abandoning his post, and entered Basra; Ziyad b. Amr al-Ataki (7), prefect of the Basra police during the governorship of al-Hajjaj, dispatched an army under the leadership of his son Hafs to fight Shirazanji. The latter fought Hafs hard, killed him, and defeated his followers. Thus Shirazanji (5) became strong. When al-Hajjaj returned to Basra, he said to the Basrans: Your slaves and workmen, witnessing your disobedience, have followed your example. By God: if you do not fight these dogs and rid me of them, I shall destroy your palm trees and bring upon you what you deserve – the confiscation of your goods and the destruction of your lives. People of every fifth of the fifths of Basra answered his call.
Joining them to a group of soldiers, he appointed Kuraz b. Malik as-Sulami as their leader. Kuraz fought (the zanj) till they came to the desert of Dawraq. He attacked them there, killing Shirazanji and all the Zanj save a few.

He (Rawh b. al-Walid) said: Jarir said of al-Akhtal,
Seek not (noble) maternal uncles in Taghlib (11),
The Zanj have nobler maternal uncles than they.
But Sunayh b. Riyah, client of the Bana Sama b. Luay, opposed this saying:
If you met the Zanj in war,
You would find them leaders and brave men.
They killed ibn Amr when he attacked them;
He learnt that the lances of the Zanj were long (12)
Ibn Ijl, as you know, is one of them;
He outshone other men with his magnanimity and good deeds;
And Banu al-Hubab, too, who are known for their generosity and bravery;
In winter when the wind is blowing from the northward.
And Banu Zabiba; Antar and Harasa;
And Sulayk, who suffers hardships well;
The Prophet has acknowledged the liberality of the Zanj,
And the bravery when they fight the enemy

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Young Azd (13): Sulaiman ibn Azd killed in Balais in the Land of the Zinj.

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Futuhu'l-Buldan (an Arab chronicle)
Taken from: Ingrams; Zanzibar its history and its people.

Ingrams is  the only one attributing this story to Biladhuri; more recent authors have figured out that this story was not written down till the 18th century and in the Omani chronicle by Salil Ibn Razik, and so unreliable.
This story however remains important as Jahiz (d869) also talks about Al Julande going to the land of the Zanj in about 700 AD.

During the reign of the Caliph Abdul Malik (14), when el-Hajjaj (2) was governor in El-Iraq he determined to conquer Oman which still kept its allegiance to the Arabian Caliphate. The fleet landed at Julfar (15) which served from then on as a naval base till the end of the campaign. The army however got defeated by the Azd (13). Then an army 40,000 men strong got send, the camels and horses traveled by land, the army by boots.  The land-force was defeated, but the fleet reached Julfar. The forces of the fleet drove the Azd forces led by Said, the brother of the ruler Sulayman into the mountains. The fleet of 300 boots in the meantime landed at Muscat (16) where Sulayman burned 50 of them and made the others flee to Julfar. Sulayman was then able to attack the main forces and had them flee to Julfar. Here they waited for reinforcements, 5000 cavalry from Syria. With this force they finally were able to subdue the Azd.

Suleiman and Said (the sons of Abbad grandsons of a former chieftain Abel Julanda, who ruled over Oman in the time of the Prophet.) escaped, and immigrated to the land of the Zinj, taking their families and a number of their tribes with them. This would be about the year AD 695, for el-Hajjaj reduced Mecca in 692, and became governor of Iraq in AD 694.