Pages from the manuscript.
All other pictures on this page are from a manuscript of Qazwini.
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Taken from ; Gabriel Ferrand ; Journal Asiatique
Gabriel Ferrand ; Relations des voyages et textes geographiques...
Youssuf KamaltomeIVfasc2
Aufsätze zur arabischen Wissenschaftsgeschichte By Eilhard Ernst Gustav Wiedemann
Sitzungsberichte der Physikalisch-medicinischen Societät zu Erlangen, Volumes 47-51
Alwaraq.net
The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition: A Compendium of Knowledge ...By Shihab al-Din al-Nuwayri.
كتاب نهاية الأرب في فنون الأدب by النويري al-maktaba.org
Der Neger in der Bildersprache der arabischen Dichter By Manfred Ullmann
Also called: Nuwairi or Al Nouwairi
AL-NUWAYRI, Shihab Al-Din Ahmad ibn Abd Alwahhab al-Bakri al-Tamimi al-Kurashi al-Shafi’i. Egyptian encyclopaedist and historian. Born at Akhmim 1279AD, died in
Cairo on 1333AD, he is the author of one of the four best-known encyclopaedias of the Mamluk period. His family may have originated from a small township of the Egyptian Sa’id, al-Nuwayra, but he
had no direct links with this locality. His father, lived for most of his life in Cairo. He seems to have amassed a small fortune in Syria where he stayed from 1301 to 1303, he possessed no fewer
than ten horses, but an equine epidemic destroyed this resource, leaving him without even a horse for his own use. Back in Egypt he made very fast promotion in 1310 but as he spoke negatively of
his patron the sultan, who denounced him to Ibn Abbada (his patron) and gave the latter permission to punish him as he saw fit. Ibn Abbada did not hesitate to have him flogged and to confiscate
his property; shortly afterwards he was sent away again to Syria. When he returned to Cairo in 1312 he was made responsible for two provinces. He must have written the totality of his work
between 1314 and 1330 since the chronicle finishes in 1331, two years before his dead. His work in many volumes consists of five parts: 1 Description of the Universe; 2+3+4 these three following
parts are a universal history up to 1331AD. 5 Notes taken from day to day personally experienced. Scattered in his work are pieces of information on East Africa. None of them are new. He also has
no knowledge of the Swahili towns.
1.0 The first Book, on the Heavens and the Meteorological Phenomena and the Earth and the Lowermost Localities.
1.1 The Heavens
Vol 1 p70
(citing Abd as Rahim ibn Ali al Baisani called al Qadi al Fadil)
We travelled while flowers bloomed in the garden of heaven, which consisted of the shining (stars), and a flow stream, namely the chamomile flowers, wants to say: the stars mixed, or she was like a zanj, the wounds he had received from a lance, set fire to it.
Vol 1 p91
(citing abu Ahmad abd al aziz ibn Hiyara al Qurtubi, called al Munfatil)
When the night appeared and the flash of lightning flashed, it was as if a zanj had shrugged a gold sword.
Vol 1 p92
(citing abul ala Muhammad ibn Hibat Allah ibn abd al Wahhab al Isfahani called al Imad ibn as Saraf )
When the night was pitch black, a light flash flashed in the tamarisk valley, like a sword blade stained with blood; I compared him, as he shone in the darkness of the night, with the teeth of a zanj that are visible in the smile.
Vol 1 p144
(citing Abul Qasim al Asad ibn Ibrahim ibn Billita)
The camphor grain of morning dawn had penetrated into the musk of darkness; then the darkness disappeared except for a few remnants in the forehead hair. (It was) an early light that flooded while the figure of the night submerged in it, like a Zanj drowning in a river. On a threshold between the two stood a moon, shimmering like an earring between cheek and hair.
Vol 1 p216
(citing Ibrahim ibn Hafaga)
I am thinking of a desert in the darkness in which no star is moving and in which no firmament is spinning. (Only) Sirius flames in which no firmament turns. (Only) Sirius flares up in her, and so it is as it were a gold coin in the hand of the Zanj of darkness.
Note: My reason for adding so much poetry is that it gives a less racist picture then the philosophers give.
1.4 On the earth, mountains, seas, islands, rivers, and springs.
The first clime begins in the east of China and extends to the cities and its gates, which are the rivers that ships enter from the sea to arrive at glorious cities such as Khanju and Khanfu (1). It contains the island of Sarandib (2) and the parts of Yemen to the south of Sana (3), like Zafar (4), Hadramawt (5), and Aden. It contains Dongola (6), from the land of Nubia, and Ghana, in the land of the Sudan. It ends at the Encircling Sea. Its width is from the equator to a latitude of 20°13'. Some have suggested that the habitable world begins at a latitude of 12° from the equator, and that the territory between that latitude and the equator is inhabited by some groups of blacks among the wild animals. Ptolemy counted sixty cities in the countries of this clime. The people of this clime are black, and it is sparsely inhabited because of the intense heat.
The sea of Hind and its islands is to the east of al Sin (china) under the equator. It stretches in westerly direction and passes the region of al-Waq (7) and of Soufala of the Zanj, then the land of the Zandj, to come to the land of the Barbara where it comes to an end.....
And in it from the world of the Islands:
Sharirat island (9). Circumference of a thousand and two hundred miles. It has many cities, the city to which it is called, and from which comes camphor. And Sany Island. Its length is two hundred miles; And its width is less than that. And there are buffaloes and cows without tails. And the island of Anfuja (10)(=Lungudja local name of Zanzibar). Circumference of four hundred miles. Lots of habitation on the island. This piece is followed by a piece Bahr al Sinf (=Sea of China). ………….
And from the famous Islands:
Zang Island. And the diameter it is seven hundred leagues (74), and it is from the Maharaj (51), which is a title given to whoever rules it. And the island of the volcano (11), which is an island in which a mountain throws sparks at night, and thunder and shells during the day, and it is one of the deserted places of the world, …………..
And the islands of Lunjyulwas (=Lungudja local name of Zanzibar) . It is called Lunjyulwas. They are many, and their people are black, distorted images because of their proximity to the equator. It contains iron minerals. This piece is followed by a piece called Bahr Laroy (12), Whole Sea (13), Bahr El Java (14) , and Bahr Fansour (15). Rather, these names coincided with them according to what he passes through from the country and islands. It is a sea that does not has a bottom. And it has about a thousand island of nargil (16)(=coconuts), for its abundance. All of them are full of people. And between the islands the island of Farskhan. There is no better workmanship than the people of the island in all professions. And there are houses were money is deposited.
The sea of Hind.... And lastly a part called sea of Zandj and of Barbara (8) of which the coast is called al-Zandjbar.
And among the following, the countries of Yemen and islands. Including: Daun Island. It is rounded and isle of blacks. And Hortan Island. And Marwan Island. And it has cities inhabited by thieves, which is a match for skilled countries. And Dijabat islands (=Maldive islands). There are many. And its people are black too. And all they have is black, even sugar cane and camphor.
.....and finally the island of al-Qoumr also called island of Malay (17). It is long as four months, and at its widest is more than 20 days. This island is situated opposite Sarandib (2) and has many towns, the most important are Kaydana, Malay, Dahmi, Balyaq, Khafoura, Dali and Qoumriya (18). (and to which the moon is attributed). It is said: This island has a wood, carved into planks from which is made the Shan [type of ship] of sixty cubits (19) long, with a hundred and sixty men on board. As this island became too small for its people, they built on the coast shops and dwell on the foot of a mountain known to them. Including the Nile River [sic].
According to some writers, between the Bahr al Hind and the Bahr al Muhit (the encircling Ocean) there is a connecting Gulf called Sea of Zafti (75) which is 500 farsakhs (20) long.
The islands of Diyab (21), of
which the largest is called Diba (22), are inhabited by Arabs
Nilometer.
Abu al-Faraj Qudamah bin Jaafar said in Kitab al-Kharaj (23): I found nine mountains behind the equator in the south and before the first region: Five of them are of similar magnitudes, their lengths are between four hundred and five hundred miles; a mountain seven hundred miles long; and the mountain of the moon, a thousand miles long; And they made some of it behind the equator, some of them are in the first region; and they made some of it behind the equator, some of them are in the second region.
As for the Nile River Qudaamah ibn Jaafar (23) claims that it starts from the Jebel al Qamar behind the equator, out of which flow 10 rivers, of which each 5 get into a lake (called Btihh). After this come out of each lake 2 rivers and those 4 rivers run to a big lake (Btihh) in the first clime. It is from this lake that the Nile comes. Among these the Batiha River Al Haukal (24) author of the book Nuzhat lets us know: This is a lake called Lake Kuri (25) attributed to a variety of Sudan who live around, savages that eat the people. Most Muslim geographers maintain that after the river leaves this lake, it flows into the country of Kuri, and then into the country of Ninna(?) who are from the Sudan. Then it continues to the country of the Nuba (the Nubians).
1.5 The Natures of Different nations
As for the physical features and manners, one speaks of the ruddiness of the Byzantines, the black skin of the Zanj, the coarseness of the Turks, the churlishness of the Gil (26), the foulness of the Chinese, and the shortness of the people of Gog.(27)
Vol 4 p120
(citing Abu l-Hassan as Sari ibn Ahmad ar-Raffa)
Visitors from India, who appear light and curled to the mind of the contemporaries, have divided his roof among themselves. They are people with a foreign language who enjoy arguing; they are, as it were, busty Zanjiyya who are frightened (at the thought of) a divorce. They were familiar with us like slaves who make themselves popular; in the deepest soul, however, they seek to defraud and escape us.
2.0 The Second Book, on the Human Being and that which relates to him.
And the wonder of Ham the son of Noah (28), India and Sindh (30) and Nuba, and Zinj, and Abyssinia, and the Copts, the Berbers, and Mizraim or Egypt all belong to Ham.
These four things are not known: the generosity of the Romans, and the fulfillment to the Turk, and courage in the Copts, and sadness in Zinj.
(Somewhere else he says:) …… among the characteristics of blacks is tarab (81) and that’s why sadness is not known in al-Zanj. ……
As for what has been said about black skin, specifically that of women: Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Salami (29) wrote: Many a fair-skinned beauty has served me a morning draft of blame and reproach, utterly undrinkable. Do I miss her forelocks or her temple curls, when I'm surrounded by the locks and tresses of my dark-skinned lover? It's as though we were—may God prevent our separation— O Kaba of musk, a falcon on top of a crow.
The pine cones
O snot of a wet sponge, ... I will make you mad in my heart!
Your love from my heart is a place that ... is like a heart
Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Salami (29), the poet of the orphan, may God be pleased with him, said:
O Lord, a white woman shall bow down to me ... of reproach like a lioness, not a
whisper
I miss her face or her temple and with me ... all of them are freckles or sounds!
As if God did not allow our division! ... O jack of musk, O Negro, Zag
Another said:
I love black women for the sake of silence, ... and for her I loved who was black!
He came to me like a musk! And he came to me like the best of the night
Al Askari said:
I turned my hand to the Sudan from the desertion, ... and turned to Rom and not beware!
I became adored by the face and body ... What people love from the eye and hair
If the shadow of the cheek is counted as being cut, ... Look at the foot of the moon's paradise!
3.0 The Third Book, on the Mute Beasts
3.2.1. On what has been said about the elephant, the rhinoceros, the giraffe, onyx, and deer.
The Elephant:
It is said that the elephant
derives from the buffalo and the pig, and for that reason, one of the authorities on the natures of animals claimed that elephants are aqueous in nature depending upon the amount of buffalo or
pig in their breeding, for one of them lives in water and the other does not. It is said that elephants are of two types: the elephant itself and the species called zandabil (76). In this way
they are analogues to the Bactrian and Arabian camel, the cow and the buffalo, the fine horse and the nag, the mouse and the rat, the ant and the grub. Others say that the elephant is the male
while the zandabil is the female. The trunk of the elephant is its nose, and it uses it to bring food and drink to its mouth. It also fights with it and makes noise. The voice of the elephant is
not in proportion to the size of its body. Its tongue is inverted, with the tip of it inside its mouth and the root of it on the outside.
This is contrary to what is found among all other animals. The Indians claim that were it not for this fact, the elephant would speak. They venerate elephants and honor them above all other animals. Elephants originate in India, Sindh, (30) Zanj, and Sarandib (Sri Lanka). It is the largest animal, growing to a height of ten cubits (19). Its colors include black, white, piebald, and gray. The elephant becomes sexually mature at five years old, and the female gestates for two years.. When she is pregnant, the male will not approach her, nor will he mate with her for three years after she has delivered her young. The male will not mate with more than one female, and he is fiercely jealous. When the female is ready to give birth, she goes into a river and delivers her young in the water, standing up. The male protects her and her young from snakes, for there is an enmity between them. They say that an elephant's testicles are in its body, close to its kidneys. Elephant tusks may be curved or straight. Al-Mas'udi wrote in his Fields of Gold that some tusks may weigh up to 150 mann (almost 3oo pounds), and I myself have seen elephant tusks that were over four cubits (19) and a half in length, and they were curved. I saw them in the city of Qus (31) in the year 697 AH (1297–98 CE). The elephant can attack a sturdy wall with its tusks and destroy it. The kings of Ghazna from Sebuktigin (32) onward used to conquer cities with elephants and destroy fortresses with their assaults. The most famous of them in using this tactic was Yamin al-Dawla Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin (33), as you will read—God willing—in the history of the Ghaznavid State.
(about the elephant)…and the Zanjy catches them with a trick, they have this type of trees, they take poison from the bark and put it in the drinking water of the elephants, after drinking they become drunk, fall on the ground and cannot walk anymore, the Zanjy kill them with spears , and take the tusks and carry them to the country of Oman …
A poet said:
One who sits astride an elephant
Is a blessed rider, borne aloft
By a terrifying majesty ,
A mountain that wanders about
The Giraffe.
The Bedouin Arabs called the giraffe a collection (jama’a), and it was so called because it brought together the attributes of many animals in one form, namely the neck of the camel, and leopard skin, antelope horn, cow teeth, and the head of a stag; some of the spoke in the natures of animals and allegedly generated from the animals, and it is said that the reason for this monster is the meeting and the animals in the extreme heat in the canyons with water, where different species mate and impregnate females by many males, and this creates different images, colors and shapes; and the Persians called giraffe a collection and interpret: camel ; and the interpretation of Kao: a cow; and interpret: hyena; that's OK because the Arabs make it a vehicle of creation of various animals; but Jahiz denies this assertion, he says, it is a very uninformed, does not come from someone who has collected knowledge, because God creates what He wills, a kind of animal-based horse himself and breeds such as qiyaam (34). And what proves this to be the case is that it gives birth to its own young.
This is indisputable, for I saw a giraffe in Cairo that gave birth to another giraffe that looked like it, and it is still alive today.
Umara al Yamani (35) described some giraffes thus:
There were giraffes with necks
As long as banners leading an army
Nubian in origin, with the horns of an
Qryx, and the lips of a seven year camel
They were created with their noses in the sky, admiring themselves
As they appear to walk backward aimlessly
3.4 Venomous Creatures
Vol 10 p304
(citing Abd al-Mumin ibn Hibat Allah al-Isfahani)
When the fleas attack from their hiding place, they dance or pee. And when a musician sings a song to them, they are always particularly eager to drink my blood. They hop here and there as if they are zanj who dance.
3.5 Birds and Fish
The Ostrich
The Ostrich is called a camel bird in Persian. Among its wondrous qualities is that after it lays its eggs, it broods upon them in equal measure they incubate thirty eggs or forty…….
The Bedouin Arabs say that the ostrich is deaf and makes up for in smell what it lacks in hearing, for it uses its beak to ascertain what it cannot hear. A Bedouin saying is: Stupider than an ostrich, because when the hunter finds it, the ostrich puts its head in a heap of sand, believing that it has escaped from him. The ostrich has a high tolerance for thirst and is a strong runner. It runs hardest into the wind, when it stretches its neck against its back, thereby piercing through the wind.
4.0 The Fourth Book, on Plants on Different Kinds of Scents….
4.1 Vegetables and Foodstuffs
Bittich (watermelon) ........ among the cultivated there are three varieties; al hindi, al sini (from China) and al churasani (36). The Indien is called the green one in Egypt, the the Maghrib dalla in the Higaz (37) Habhab and in Syria al Dabasch (38) (al zangi in the Leyden mss).
Left: Watermelon, a plant that originated in East Africa.
4.3 Aromatic Plants
Vol 10 p330
(citing Sihab ad din Mahmud ibn Salman ibn Fahd al Halabi) (d1325) cited in
The stars of the night shone brightly as if they were necklaces placed on a Zanjiyya girl.
Vol 11 p135
(citing Sulaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Battal al-Andalusi)
By doing this, I send something unusual; however, no poet has adequately described it. (I am sending) an army of Zanj, but it is an army that will be defeated if it encounters the enemy. The yellow bile drives away from you, which they must flee defeated, for the Zanj are the enemies of the sons of the yellow.
4.4 Gum Resins, Mannas, and Saps
Vol 11 p149
(citing Mu’ayyad ad din al Husain ibn ali at Tugrai)
It is as if the clawed foxes of the larks are carrying the grapes. (There are) two nations of Byzantines and Zanj hiding behind the green shields of the vine.
Vol 11 p150
(citing ann)
In the evening we went into a garden that contained all the good things. His grapes were like zanj who had committed theft. Only their heads are hung on high poles.
Vol 11 p150
(citing Abd Allah ibn al Mutazz)
When the August heat cooker rose in the simmering embers of the midday sun, the grapes emerged from a leafy leaf, like Zanj with green loincloths wrapped around them on the ground.
Vol 11 p160
(citing abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Said also called ibn Saraf al Qairawani)
The coward was not welcomed after being dragged in that night over which a belt lay. With a tattered shirt, it seems to us to be the head of a zanj with a sore on it.
Vol 11 p195
(citing Abu Ahmed at Jarrari)
How wonderful are the black roses that look at us from the garden with the pupils of the gazelle. They resemble the cheeks of the Zanj, who dabbed the imam's hand with half gold coins.
Vol 11 p282
(citing Mahmud ibn al Husain ibn as Sindi, called Kusagim)
It is as if the anemones in the garden are carnelian crowns on the heads of Zanj.
4.5 Aromatics, Sexual Medicines and the magical properties of Nature
….very black very burnt, like the people of Zinj because they are bad people with bad manners and mood, they do not have any knowledge nor beauty…
Perfumes for sale containing amber.
(about amber)(72)
……….Al Tamimi (39) reports: Husain Ibn Jazid al Sirafi (40) relates that the Ambra, which reaches the shores of Shihr (41), is thrown up by the waves from the Indian ocean. The best and most excellent is that which comes from the Barbar sea (42), and up to the borders of the countries of the Zang and of the regions on the other site of it, as well as the white round one, and the precious blue one. He says: The people of these regions ride on well-trained camels during the moon lit nights along their shores. These camels knows the Ambra. Sometimes the rider sleeps on them or is inattentive. When the camel sees Ambra on the coast, he kneels down. The rider descends and takes the amber. He says; There is also the amber, which is found floating on the sea in inside the big fishes. He says: after the Ambra from Shihr (41), comes the one from Zang, who is brought from the land of Zang to Aden, is the white amber. Then comes the Ambra al salahati (43)(schalahati); There are various excellent species, the best is the blue salahate, the fat one which contains a great deal of oil, it is the one used in the Galija (44); after the alahti comes al qaquli (45), it is large, of excellent smell, of a beautiful appearance, light; It is a little dry, and is worse than al salahati; it is not used in the Galija (44), nor is it used for perfuming or purifying (Tathir), except when absolutely necessary; It is useful as rinsing aid and similar. (Dara'ir, plural of Darira) and for calcined things. This amber comes from the sea of Qaqula (45) to Aden. After the Ambra of Qaqula (45), comes the one from Hind; it is the one coming from the reentrant coasts of Hind, and they are taken to Basra. After that comes the one from Zang, which is like that of Hind and stands close to it.
Aloes
(about aloes)
These aloe species are close to each other in value. AI Tamimi (39) says there are people who order the aloe species al Sini (from China) differently according to their value like Ahmed Ibn Abi Ja'qub.(46) They say that the best kind of aloe al Sini (from China) is the aloe al qata'i. After her comes al kalahi (47). It is a moist aloe that is chewed; it contains a great sharpness (Za'ara) and is very bitter due to the oil contained in it. Of all the Aloe species, it most firmly attaches to garments; it is also the most stable. After the kalahi (47) comes the alaqi, an aloe from the island of Qulat in the area of Qamarus (?) imported in Hind, it resembles the lawaqini, and Lawaqin is the extreme end of Hind. It comes after this one in smell and value, in the clothes it shows fragrance (Chamara). After the lawaqini comes the mantai which comes from a tree of the island of Manta, has the same price as the lawaqini, it is light and has no nice color. After that comes rajtai from the island of Rajta, it comes in the smell and value after the mantai, it is used in the Mutallatat (certain perfume) and the Barmakijat (certain perfume), and then comes al qund-ali (48), which comes from the area of Kalah, the coast of Zang, which is like the qamari, but it is not as suitable as a fragrance, then comes al-samuli (49), an aloe of a beautiful appearance, with a perfume (chamara), it is persistent in clothes and in fire; it is not praised, but it quickly provides a good odor..... (still very long)
(about sandalwood)
AI Tamimi (39) says that the red sandalwood comes from the naggari (used by the carpenters), it is hard, without smell, it is not used in perfumes, but only for the mentioned carpentry and turnery work because of its hardness and weight. He says: All the mentioned species of sandalwood come from Sufala of India. The yellow fragrant, the maqasiri is used with the damp and dry perfumes for the women, the Barmakija, the Mutallata and the smelling powders. It is also made into necklaces, and it is added to the remedies and patches (vimada) for the liver and the stomach. It is cold and dry and can be absorbed as a solvent for the ulcers.
Left Sandalwood
5.0 The Fifth Book, on History
5.1 On Adam and Eva and those who came after Adam
……. and encamped there, having intercourse with each sister; and had many offspring, and spread over the highlands and on the sea coast, Some Nuba, Zinj, Berbers, India and Sindh (30) and all communities of the Sudan.
5.4 On the Kings of Ancient Countries
…. these nations that we called, I mean the Turks and Berbers, Zinj, the mountain people, and others, and also somewhat India and Rum to the appearance of these morals in them that overwhelm them. A nation and never her government that fits on the backs of these ethics that are the most demonized evil.
It is surprising what was said in the lineage of Alexander: that he who was born from Dara the elder, and that he is Dara the younger his brother, and that is because Dara the elder, son of Ardashir,(50) married the daughter of the king of Zinj, Hala, and when the selfish Zinj got pregnant from him, he called it fraud, ………….. Then restored her to her family, and a son was born and he was called Alexander.
Alexander's journey to the Land of the West and the war against Qandafa, the queen of Andalusia. Then Alexander counted those who were leaving [with him] to the West. They were 1,600,000 men. Among them there were 800,000 Greeks, 500,000 Persians and 3,000,000 Hindus. He left India, entered Abyssinia and came to a people as black as crows. Their shapes and bodies were large; the plains the mountains, the land and the sea of these regions swarmed with these men who were naked and barefoot. Among them, the strong devoured the weak. They wandered around and ate the fruit. When they saw the multitudes entering their countries, they called each other. About a hundred thousand gathered and all together attacked, as one man, Alexander's army. They killed around 20,000 soldiers. Alexander gathered his companions. They launched themselves against the enemies and made a carnage of them. Routed, the Negroes dispersed and slipped into the caves and lairs they had underground. Then Alexander left their country.
Massoudi (78) said: The land
of India is wide with land and sea and mountains. And they are related to the king of the house of the Kingdom of Zinj Almehraj. (51)
On top and under: The Mountains of the Moon and the sources of the Nile.
(when talking about the ancient kings of Egypt)
He said: Who in the books of the Egyptians, he asked, could introduce him to the beginning of the Nile, so he went and carried it until he sat on the Mountain of the Moon behind the line of the equator on the Black Sea, the pitch, and it showed him how the Nile ran over that sea like black strings until it entered under the mountain of the moon, then it goes out to a Bataha (52) there. And it is said: He made a house of statues (53) there, and he made a frame for the sun. And he returned to Amosus (54) and divided the country between his sons ……………….
Then Anqam (55) the priest reigned after him. And he made justice among them, and made a wonderful city near El-Arish (56), and made it as a guard for them. And it was said: Idris (77), peace be upon him, was raised in his time. He said: And the people of Egypt tell many stories about him that are beyond the normal. And he had seen in his knowledge that the flood was, and he commanded the demons that accompany it to build a place for him behind the equator line so that corruption would not catch up with it so they built for him the palace at the foot of the Mountain of the Moon. It is the copper palace that contains statues, there are eighty-five statues. The water of the Nile comes out of its throats and flows into the Batiha. ………………. And he returned to Egypt, so he was succeeded by his son Arnak (57) and he gave him what he wanted, and that king imitated him. And he returned to that palace and stayed there until he perished there.
He said: When Qaftarim died, his son Al-Boudsir bin Qaftrim (58) reigned after him. And he was arrogant, and he did magic, and was hidden from the eyes. His uncles, Eshmun and Atrib, were kings over their possession, but he overcame them with his might. The remembrance of him was as it was for his father. And it is said: He sent Hermes (59), the Egyptian priest, to the Mountain of the Moon, which brings out the Nile from under it, until he made the copper statues temple there, and adjusted to the batiha, which pours out the water of the Nile.
And he entrusted his son Tadars Bin Sa (60); The king of all districts after his father described him as the king of Egypt …………… .............. He said: at the age of thirty years he became greedy (of the wealth of) the Sudan Zinj and Nubia, and ordered to collect armies and prepared the boats and said to the commander and the captains: Take in three hundred thousand, and put leaders over them, and face the sea with three hundred ships and in each ship a priest to work wonders, and they went out in many armies, which killed the masses of the Sudan and many other lands, and followed them until he arrived to the land of elephants from the country Alzenj. He took several of the Tigers and the Beast and Zllha and brought them with him to Egypt. And he putted on the borders of this country beacons….
And the king of Egypt, Al-Walid bin Dumaa Al-Labiqi (61), he attacked the peoples, took their money, and killed a group of the priests. Then he decided to go out and stand on the source of the Nile and know what were the nations in this part and he invaded them, so he stayed for three years preparing for his departure, and prepared what he needed, and he entrusted the country to an aid and went out with a heavy army and did not pass by a nation without annihilating it. It is said: He stayed on his journey for many years, and he passed by nations from Sudan and overtook them, and he passed over the land of where the gold grows. And he continued to walk until he reached Al-Batiha, to which the Nile water flows from the rivers that come out from under the Mountain of the Moon; Then he walked until he reached the temple of the sun and entered it. And it is said: He was engaged in it. And he walked until he reached the mountain of the moon; It is a high mountain.
Rather, it is called the Mountain of the Moon because the moon does not see it due to its being on the other side of the equator. And he looked at the Nile coming out from under it. From there the good Nile advanced. It is said: Al-Walid (61) entered the palace in which the copper statues were made by Hermes (59) the First at the time of the first Albawdsir Alawwl Ibn Qaftrim (58). It is said: And when just reached the Mountain of the Moon, he saw a high mountain and he climbed over it to see what was behind it, and he overlooked the stinking, black sea. And he looked at the Nile flowing over it like fluffy rivers, and from that sea stench odours came to him, and many of his companions perished from its wind, so he descended quickly after he nearly perished. It is said: Some people mentioned that they did not see a sun or a moon, rather they saw a red light as the sun's setting. Al-Walid remained absented for forty years. As for Aoun, who succeeded him in Egypt, he did in the absence of Al-Walid (61) what we will mention, God Almighty willing.
(when talking about the tribes of the Sudan) (62)
Communities of the Sudan and what Massoudi (78) said about them: When the offspring of Noah dispersed… There separated a group of them walking to the Orient, they are the Nubia, Ethiopia and Zinj. And walked a group of them to the Maghreb, they are of many kinds: the Zaghawa (63) and Alcanm (64) and Mrnk (65), Coco (66), Alhma, Ghana, and other types of Al-Habash and Damadem (67), then parted those between the east and the Maghreb, they became the Zinj of Almkmin and Almesku and Dbara and other types of Zinj.
He said (Al Masudi (916)): and their cities, a city of Berbera on the Gulf from the sea called the Gulf of barbaric Abyssinia, five hundred miles long and wide a hundred miles.
He said: This is not the Barbara attributed to the barbarians who are from the Maghreb from the land of Africa. He said: they cloth in skins that resemble the tiger of the Zinj, they carry large amounts of skins from their land to the Muslim countries. He said: The ends of the country of Alzenj are the country's Sofala and Wakwak (79) country, a land of lots of gold and many wonders and lush, and warm. And it has been taken over by the House of the Zinj Kingdom and a regional king reigned over them, ….He said: and the king of all the regional-kings in Zinj has three hundred thousand warriors, mounted on cows, and not on horse or mule and wagons are not know, but riding on a cow with saddles and bits, and that are fighting with it as it were horses…. He Said: Zinj is not a cold country. He said: Some of the people eat each other. He said: The houses of the Zinj start on the Gulf coming from the top of the Nile to the country of Sofala and Wakwak (79), and the space in which they live in length and width is seven hundred leagues: consisting of valleys, mountains and sand.
Massoudi (78) said: The meaning of the title of the King of Kings of the Zinj is Son of God the Great, because he is hand-picked to be their king (by God), and bring justice, when he fails to deliver on this they kill him and deprive his offspring of the right to succeed him…. for they claim that in thus conducting himself he ceases to be the son of the Master, that is to say of the king of heaven and earth. They call God by the name of Maklandjalu (80), which means supreme Master (er-rabb el-kebir)...
The Zanj speak elegantly, and they have orators in their own language. Often an ascetic (zahid) man of the country, will get up and address a large crowd exhorting them to draw near to their god and render him obedience; frightening them with his punishment and authority, recalling them to the example of their former kings and ancestors. They have no revealed law to turn to but the customs of their kings (73).
The Zanj eat bananas, which are as abundant with them as in India, but the basis of their food is dhurra (sorghum), a plant called al-kalari (jams) which they take from the ground like a truffle. It is plentiful in Aden and the neighboring part of Yemen near to the town. It is like the cucumber of Egypt and Syria. They also have honey and meat. Each worships what he pleases, a plant, an animal, a mineral. They possess a great number of islands where the coconut grows.
5.5 History of the Islamic Community
In sixty-nine and five hundred (68) Malik al Nassir (69) equipped (an army and send) his brother Malik Qaboos bin Shams al Dawlat Turanchah to Yemen, …..
After Zabid (70) had surrendered the army went to Aden….which is in connection with India and Zinj and Abyssinia, Oman, Kerman (71), Persia, etc., which is on the mainland of the country and impregnable…
(1) Khanju and Khanfu: now Quanzhou and Guangzhou in China
(2) Sarandib: Sri Lanca.
(3) Sana: capital of Yemen.
(4) Zafar: or Dhafar is an ancient Himyarite site situated in Yemen, some 130 km south-south-east of today's capital, Sana'a.
(5) Hadramawt; Hadramaut: eastern part of Yemen.
(6) Dongola: Old Dongola is a deserted town in what is now Northern State, Sudan.
(7) the region of al-Waq: : in the books three different places are called Waqwaq: in South-East Africa; in Indonesia; around Japan. Here East Africa is meant.
(8) Barbara: here the Berbera coast north of Mogadishu.
(9) Sharirat island: because of the camphor most probably in Indonesia.
(10) Anfuja (=Lungudja local name of Zanzibar) or Anfudja: island of the Comores.
Andjuba (Anjouan-Johanna), Unguja (El Anfoudja); Lunjuya (Unguja) = Zanzibar. According to Marcel Devic; Anggoudja is the Swahili word for ‘wait’, what makes it for him a waiting place for ships. The modern word in Swahili is ‘ngoja’ but the pronunciation remains unchanged. Dimashqi 1325 speaks a lot about Anfoudja; for him it’s a huge nearly deserted island.
(11) the island of the volcano: Al Idrisi (1150); Jazirat min az Zanj, with Jabal an-Nar: with a volcano; Ibn Said al Maghribi (1250) island of the Vulcan (Djeziret-el-Beurkan); Al Qazwini (1283) puts the volcano on : The island Eddanda (or Ed-Douda)(island of the loud noise); Qadi Ibn Sasri Al-Shafi’I (1300); Nuwayri (1333). The Zanj island with a volcano is on the Comoros. Ngazija (Grande Comoro, = has Volcano).
(12) Bahr Laroy: Bahr Lamery.
(13) Whole Sea: Bahr Mohit, the all encircling ocean.
(14) Bahr El Java: around the island Java.
(15) Bahr Fansour; Fansur was a place in Indonesia.
(16) thousand island of nargil (=coconuts): Maldives.
(17) island of al-Qoumr also called island of Malay: his description resembles Idrisi (1150); Ibn Said (1250); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Nuwayri (1331); Al Maqrizi (1441); Al Himyari (1461).
(18) Kaydana, Malay, Dahmi, Balyaq, Khafoura, Dali and Qoumriya: His list of towns resembles closely Al-Dimashqi (1325) who has: Loqmeraneh, Malai, Dahma, Khafour, Balik, Daglah, Qoumariah
(19) Cubits : Distance from fingers to elbow (45cm).
(20) Farsakhs; Parasang: 1 parasangs or farsakhs = 2.8 nautical miles/ about 5km.
(21) islands of Diyab : Maldives.
(22) Diba: Sanskrit for island.
(23) Abu al-Faraj Qudamah bin Jaafar said in Kitab al-Kharaj: see my webpage Qadama (930).
(24) Al Haukal: see my webpage ibn Hawqal (970)
(25) Lake Kuri: although many Arab geographers mention this lake the one that treads it the most is Ibn Said (1250). He mistakenly identifies the third lake of the Nile with it and with lake Chad.
(26) the people of Gil: maybe the Persian inhabitants of Gilan, or their ancient predecessors the Gelae.
(27) the people of Gog: Gog and Magog: high North of the globe.
(28) Ham the son of Noah, India and Sindh and Nuba, and Zinj, and Abyssinia, and the Copts, the Berbers, and Mizraim or Egypt all belong to Ham: Ham one of the three children of Noa. He was the ancestor of all the dark skinned people.
(29) Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Salami: Poet from Baghdad (947-1002).
(30) Sindh: now in Pakistan.
(31) city of Qus: Kus; Qus; Caus : mentioned as being south of Egypt (Ancient kingdom of Kush); A different Qus is a town in the central part of Egypt on the Nile. Repeated by: al-Zayyat (1058); Al Zuhri : (1137); Nuwayri (1333); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Salamanca translator (1420).
(32) kings of Ghazna from Sebuktigin: Sebüktigin, a Turkish slave, (ca 942 – 997) who became ruler of Ghazna and established the Ghaznavid dynasty. Ghazna, is a city in southeastern Afghanistan.
(33) Yamin al-Dawla Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin: Mahmud of Ghazni ( 971 – 1030) was the first independent ruler dynasty of Ghaznavids, ruling from 998 to 1030. He build the empire which extended from northwestern Iran to the Punjab in the India, Khwarazm in Transoxiana, and Makran.
(34) Qiyaam: literally standing strait up.
(35) Umara al Yamani: was a historian, jurist and poet of Yemen (1121-1174).
(36) al hindi, al sini and al churasani: the one from India, China and from Kurasan.
(37) Higaz; Hijaz: the province of Mecca.
(38) Dabasch: should be Habash (Ethiopian).
(39) Al Tamimi: see my webpage Sa'id al-Tamimi (980).
(40) Husain Ibn Jazid al Sirafi: see my webpage: Abu Zaid al Hassan(916); The correct name of this author is: Abu Zayd Hasan Ibn Yazid Al Sirafi.
(41) Shihr: coastal town in Hadhramaut in eastern Yemen.
(42) Barbar sea: Sea between Somalia and Yemen.
(43) Ambra al salahati (schalahati) : that was imported from the region of Sofala(India). Ambra al schalahati: salahat ambergris; a good quality. Also found in: Ibn Masawaih (857); Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi (d897); Sa'id al-Tamimi (980); Abu al Mutahhar al Azdi (1010); Ismail Gorgani (1110); Nuwayri (1333).
(44) Galija: perfume.
(45) al qaquli: in Indonesia.
(46) Ahmed Ibn Abi Ja'qub: see my webpage Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi (d897)
(47) Kalahi aloe: from Kalah in Malaysia.
(48) al qund-ali, which comes from the area of Kalah : from Kalah in Malaysia.
(49) al-samuli: from pahlava (=Parthian).
(50) Ardashir: Ardeshir-ibn-Babek: Ardashir I (l. c. 180-241 CE, r. 224-240 CE) was the founder of the Persian Sassanian Empire, which lasted from 226 A.C to 652 A.C.. He was the son of prince Babak. Also mentioned in Japheth ben Ali ha-Levi (10th); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Nuwayri (1333); Maqrizi (1441).
-Japheth ben Ali ha-Levi (10th): Ardashir who reigned from India unto the land of al-Zanj.
-Al-Dimashqi (1325): Ardeshir-ibn-Babek divided the Earth into four parts, one belonging to the Turks, the other to the Arabs, the third to the Persians, the fourth to the Negroes.
- Nuwayri (1333); Dara the elder, son of Ardashir,(50) married the daughter of the king of Zinj.
- Maqrizi (1441): Ardechir ben Tabek says that the Earth consists of four parts, one of which belongs to the Turks, the other to the Arabs, the third to Persia, and the last to the Negroes.
(51) the Kingdom of Zinj Almehraj: Although Massoudi talks a lot about the Maharajah this expression I only found in: Al-Khwarizmi (997); Nuwayri (1333).
(52) Bataha: Batiha; swamp
(53) a house of statues: the 85 copper or bronze statues build at the source of the Nile by Hermes. They are mentioned by the following authors: Maslamah ibn Ahmad Majriti (1050); Wasif Shah (1209); Murtada Ibn al-Afif (1237); Picatrix: (1256); Nuwayri (1333); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); al Maqrizi (1441); Ibn al Wardi (1456); Dhikr Kalam al-Nas fi Manba’ al-Nil (15th); Suyuti (d1505).
(54) Amosus: several Pharaohs had the name Ahmose. Wasif Shah (1209) writes: “There was in old Misr, whose name was then Amsus ….” so it should have been an old name for Egypt. Murtada Ibn al-Afif (d1237) has Emsos; Nuwayri (1333): Amosus; al Maqrizi (1441): Amsus Amsous; Assus in Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th); Suyuti (1505): Amsous.
(55) Anqam the priest: this legend in repeated by Wasif Shah (1209); Nuwayri : Nihayat al-Arab (1333) and Murtada Ibn al-Afif (d1237) has Gancam; Ibn al-Dawadari (1335) and Makrizi (1441) have Eiqam; Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th) has Am Kaam.
Anqam , son of Aram : Aram was a son of Shem son of Nun, and the father of Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash.
(56) El-Arish: largest city of the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt.
(57) his son Arnak: Wasif Shah (1209) has Arbaq; Nuwayri (1333) has Arnak; and Murtada Ibn al-Afif (d1237) has Gariac.
(58) Al-Boudsir bin Qaftrim: Wasif Shah (1209) has al-Budashir, and Qofṭarim his father who reigned 400 years. Also found in Ibn al-Dawadari (1335) : literally meaning form the Red House. Nuwayri (1333) has Al-Boudsir, Ibn Khaldun (1406) Al-Boudashir Ibn Qubt; al Maqrizi (1441) has Budchir; Annon: Dhikr Kalam (15th) has Berdashir; Suyuti (1505) has Budchir
(59) Hermes: : The first Hermes, was a "civilizing hero", an initiator into the mysteries of the divine science and wisdom that animate the world. Hermes is here a legendary Hellenistic figure that originated as a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth in the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt.
(60) Tadars Bin Sa: Sa is according to Makrizi (1441) a Pharaoh in the dynasty of Ashmun.
(61) Al-Walid: Ar-Rayyan ibn al-Walid ibn Dauma was an Amalekite king of Misr during the time of Prophet Yusuf (=Joseph).
Walid is mentioned in the following books: Al-Mas'udi: (916) Kitab al-Ausat; Ibn Babawayh (991); Maslamah ibn Ahmad Majriti (1050); Katib Marrakesh (12th); Wasif Shah (1209); Ibn al-Dawadari (1335); Nuwayri (1333); Maqrizi (1441) (Oualid); Ibn Abd'essalem al-Menoufi (15th); Suyuti (1505).
(62) (when talking about the tribes of the Sudan): all except the first paragraph is copied from Masudi (916)
(63) Zaghawa: also called Beri or Zakhawa, are a Sahelian Muslim ethnic group primarily residing in Fezzan North-eastern Chad, and western Sudan, including Darfur.
(64) Alcanm; Kanem in West Africa.
(65) Mrnk; Mirka: here the Merca of Abu Ubayd Al Bakri (1067); a people in West Africa. Also found as Mirka in Ibn al Jawzi (1257); Nuwayri (1333) has Mrnk; Al Umari (1349) Merka; Maqrizi (1441) Marka.
(66) Coco: kuku : people of West Africa also found in al-Zayyat 1058; Ibn al Jawzi 1257; Al-Dimashqi 1325; Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi (d897) has Qaqu; Yakut 1220 Koko.
(67) Dendema or Demdems: According to Ibn Said (1250) these are the once who invaded Nubia and Abyssunie around 1220 AD (when the Mongols invaded Persia)
Dendemes, Dendemeh; Dandama: East African people living in the interior, close to the sources of the Nile; also mentioned by Al Masudi (916); Al Idrisi (1150); Ibn Said (1250); Ibn al Jawzi (1257); Harrani (1300); Qadi Ibn Sasri Al-Shafi’I (1300); Al-Dimashqi (1325); Abulfida (1331); Nuwayri (1333); Cowar el-aqalim (1347); Said Abd al Aziz al Dairini (d1385); Ibn Khaldun (1406); Al Qalqashandi (d1418) and Ibn al Wardi (1456) speaks about Demadam; al Himyari (1461).
(68) sixty-nine and five hundred : 1174 the year the Ayyubid forces led by Turanshah, a brother of Sultan Saladin of Egypt concurred Yemen .
(69) Malik al Nassir: better known as Saladin.
(70) Zabid: town on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen.
(71) Kerman: known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran.
(72) His account on ambergris: The earliest source in which this information is found is Ibn Masawaih (857), others who repeated it are: Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi (d897), Ibn Rosteh (903), al Masudi (916), Ibn Serapion (950), al Tamimi (980), Abu al Mutahhar al Azdi (1010); Ibn Butlan (1066); Ibn al-Wafid (1074); Nuwayri (1333); Musa Ud-Damiri (1405); Al Qalqashandi (1418). Off course much was added and discarded on the way. The most extensive article on ambergris is from Musa Ud-Damiri (1405).
(73) literary language in their own tongue, see on this: Al-Jahiz (869); Abu Zaid al Hassan(916); Al Masudi (916); Ibn al-Nadim: (987); Ibn al Jawzi (1200); Wasif Shah (1209); Dimashqi (1325); Nuwayri (1333).
(74) Leagues: any of several European units of measurement ranging from 2.4 to 4.6 statute miles (3.9 to 7.4 km).
(75) Idrissi (1150) and Ibn Said (1250) however define the Sea of Zafti as the Sea of Japan.
(76) zandabil reproduces Persian lzanda ptl: huge, terrible elephant. Most of this paragraph is also found with Musa Ud-Damiri (d1405)
(77) Idris is an ancient prophet mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition has identified Idris with the biblical Enoch, although many Muslim scholars of the classical and medieval periods also held that Idris and Hermes Trismegistus were the same person.
(78) see my webpage Al Masudi (916).
(79) see nr. (7)
(80) Among the Zanj God is called: Al Masudi (916): Maklandjalu; Nuwairi (1333) Maklandjalu; Ibn al-Fakih al Hamadhani (903): Lamaklujlu; Abou'l Maali (1092): Falkouy Halouy; Abu Nasr Mutahhar al-Maqdisi (966): Malalori and Djahr; Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1209): Malakira Jalawa;
(81) Tarab refers to an exuberant person who is quickly and ecstatically engaged with music/singing/dancing. This is considered a distasteful feature and is often attributed to blacks.