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Ibn al-Nadim: (987) Baghdad.Kitab al-Fihrist (catalogue)
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Taken from: Youssouf KamaltomIIIfasc2

Left; The title page of the Manuscript

Full name: Abu'l Faraj Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Abi Ya'qub Ibn an-Nadim
He mentions the Nubians, Abyssinians, Beja, different varieties of the Zanj, the Al-Marawa, the al-Astan.

Notice about the Soudan; as to the people of the Soudan like the Nuba the Boudja (1) the Zaghawa (2) the Marawa (3) the Istan the Barbar and the different kinds of Zandj –with the exception of Hind (4), who write in Hindi language to understand each other – they do not have a known written language nor written literature. Only al Djahiz (7) in his kitab al Bayan (8) says that among the Zandj one can find a kind of rhetorique and eloquence that is their own and in their own language. Somebody who had witnessed this said: When they are in a difficult situation like war, an orator from among them sits down on a higher place, puts his eyes down and starts talking in a language that resembles a murmur, which is understandable for the others; the same informer continues: as a result of this a decision is made among them on how to react, and accordingly they go to action (6), but God knows best.

Al Jahiz was a client (mawla) of the Banu-Kinana (5), and his grandfather was black.
Note; this is also found in Al-Khatib; Ta'rikh vol XII