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The old religion of the East African coast followed by The Growth of Islam from North to South.

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Left the Mosque of Shanga on Pate island in Kenya. The older versions under it are differently oriented; showing they were Shia Mosques with later Mosques on top of it Sunni Mosques. The Shia from the Persian Gulf made a small mistake.

 

Abu Zaid al Hassan (916)

Religious speeches (butha) are made in front of these people. (butha really means the homilies on Friday towards the orthodox caliph) You can't find anywhere so many fortune-tellers then there are with these people in this language. The holy men of this country dress themselves with panther hides or monkey skins they hold a stick in the hand and when they approach houses, the people gather immediately. The holly man sometimes stays the whole day, till the evening, standing on his legs, preaching and remembering them about God. He gives examples of those among them that are dead, and what had happened to them.

 

Al Masudi (916)

To come back to the Zanj of Sofala and their kings, the name of the king of the country is Waklimi which means supreme lord; they give this title to their sovereign because he has been chosen to govern them justly. If he becomes tyrannical or strayed from the truth he is killed and his seed excluded from the throne for ever, 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, 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.

 

Buzurg (955)

Soothsayer of the country of the Zinjs.

 

Ibn Salim's al –Asuwani (969) Cited in Maqrizi (1441)

I've had the occasion, to see many people from different tribes in the region of the upper Nile. Most of them recognize a God creature and ask him for help through the intermediary of the moon, sun, or stars. Others do not believe in God and pray to the sun or the fire, others a tree, an animal, everything that fits them.

 

Al Masudi (916)

…….. the island of Qanbalu is found. Among the inhabitants of the island is a community of Muslims, now speaking Zahjiyya (the language of the Zanj) who conquered this island and subjected all the Zanj ……….

…. The sailors of Oman pass by the channel (of Berbera) then go on the sea of the Zanj to reach the island of Qanbalu, as we have mentioned. It has a mixed population of Muslims and Zanj idolater. ….

…. One of these islands, placed one or two days' journey from the coast, has inhabitants who are Muslims (fiha khala'iq min al-Muslimin) who provide the royal family. This is the Qanbalu about which we have written elsewhere in this book. …..  (Taken from: The Arab Geographers and the East African Coast P131 by J. Spencer Trimingham.)

 

Al Biruni; Al-Qanum al Mas'udi (1030)

Soufala of the Zandj; Muslims.

 

Idrissi (1150)

 it is clear that the inhabitants of the settlements on the northern (Zaila’wi) Barabara (Berbera) coast had turned to Islam, but there is no hint that this was true of any of the southern Barabara. Qarfuna, near Cape Guardafui and the country of the Hawiya, and Bazuna (Bazua) north of Maqdishu were pagan. The Hawiya, presumably ancestors of the Somali tribe of that name, were still pagan. The Zanj with the exception of the people of the island of Anjaba/Unquja, were not yet Muslim. He mentioned that Malindi (with its medicine-men called maqanqa, Nyika mganga?) and Mombasa were pagan and referred specifically to pagan practices at al-Banas on the mainland opposite Unquja island. A Jazirat al Zanj (island of the Zanj) with the town of Kahua or Kahuwa, was mentioned. It may be the Kisimani site on Mafia ……  (Taken from: The Arab Geographers and the East African Coast P125 by J. Spencer Trimingham.)

 

A coral stone inscription of 1107 AD is carved in Kufic writings and inserted into the left block of the mihrab of the mosque of Kizimkazi (rural Zanzibar). Dedicated to Sheikh Abu Mussa El Hassan Bin Mohamed who built the Mosque. It reads: "Sheikh Said Abi Amran Mfaume Al Hassan Bin Mohammad. May God grant him long life and destroy his enemy. Ordered the building of this Mosque, in the Day of Sunday, in the Month of Dhul Kaadi, in the Year of 500 H".

 

A second Kufic inscription found reused at Tumbatu from about 1100 is very similar to one known from Kizimkazi. Both might have been carved by the same person who could have learnt his craft either locally or directly from artisans in the Persian Gulf (from Mark Horton 1989.  A preliminary report.  Zanzibar:  Department of Antiquities, Museums and Archives.)

There is a third kufic inscription found at Kioni (near Kilifi).

 

Salma b. Muslim al-Awtabi (+1116)

Basically, it is an Ibadi polemic addressed to two brothers from Kilwa being Ali b. Ali and al-Hasan b. Ali. Except of the polemic there is only this address to the two brothers: We have heard that you have become tashdid fi'l-din (this maybe means that they were actively propagating Ibadism.)

…. It is clear that religion and kingship were bound up together in the Zanji coastal centers. The state religion survived a long time in spite of the obvious attractions of Islam to the ruling class of such centers, but when the change took place around 1150, it occurred rapidly and simultaneously in all of these places and was probably associated with a change of leadership which might have been the result of external or internal stimulus. The centers of commerce were receiving influxes of peoples from the southern coast of Arabia and the Persian Gulf, and the old Zanji ruling class was either ousted or changed internally through marriage with immigrants. Thus a class grew up which claimed an Arab and Islamic origin …..(taken from: The Arab Geographers and the East African Coast P1298 by J. Spencer Trimingham.)

 

Yaqut (c. 1220)

………. Islam had been adopted by most of the inhabitants of Unquja island and the neighbouring island of Tumbatu. The Island of Verdure (The green island = Pemba) with its town of mKanbalu (Qanbalu) was Muslim. Farther north, ….. Yaqut and Ibn Sa’id confirmed that Maqdishu and Marka (Merca) were Muslim …… (taken from: The Arab Geographers and the East African Coast P126 by J. Spencer Trimingham.)

Note: Yaqut, reported that the Sultan of Pemba was an Arab who had recently emigrated from Kufa, suggesting that the doctrines of the Ghurabiyya (Shia Arabs; the ones who were also upsetting the Ibadi in Kilwa) (and who were strongly present in Kufa) had also spread to Pemba.

…. Cities are found on Bahr az-Zanj (He is the first to use the word Zandj-bar), the most important being Maqdishu. Their inhabitants are foreigners (ghuraba) who settled on that region. They are Muslims, tribal sections, having no sultan but each clan having a shaikh whose orders they carry out. It (Mogadishu) is situated on the mainland of the Barbar who are a tribe of nomads ……..

……….. Leikhouna, (or Bandjouya or Lendjouya (Unguja), Landschuja) is a big island and the seat of the elected kings in the land of the Zendj where the king lives. Ships from all countries come there for careening and repair. People of the island of Tumbat were Muslim and the people of Lenguja have been forced to flee to Tumbat to escape from their enemies. You find their vines that have fruit three times a year. Each time when a fruit is ripe another one is being formed. ……

 

Chao Ju-Kua (1226)

He puts Ts'ong-pa (Zanzibar) and Pi-p'a-lo (Berbera) in a list of dependencies of the Arabs. Of Zanzibar he even notices: The inhabitants are of Ta-shi (Arab) stock and follow the Ta-shi religion. (so clearly Muslim. Of Tiung-Lji a candidate for Shungwaya) we hear: Among the countries of the Ta-shi (Arabs) this is the only one which produces frankincense. So here also Muslim influence must have been considerable.

 

Ibn-al Mujawir(1232):

…….. Kilwa reverted from the Shafi'yya to the Kharijiyya (Ibadism) school and they remained attached to this legal school until the present day.

…… I have never seen (anyone more shameless, dirtier and more immodest than the Somalis – may God give them no reward for their being Muslims. ….

Note: see my webpages on the Kilwa Sira to be informed about the earlier Shia history of Kilwa. Salma b. Muslim al-Awtabi: (+1116); Muhammad b. Sa'id al-Qalhati (1200).

(Taken from: The Arab Geographers and the East African Coast P128 by J. Spencer Trimingham.)

 

Ibn Said (1250)

……. At the east of Meurka is the Muslim town of Magdachou  (madinat al Islam) celebrated in this region whose name Maqdishu occurs frequently on the lips of travelers.

………. Ibn Sa’id’s account shows that the Barabara coastal towns were all Muslim, but that the Zanji coastal places (including Malindi and Mombasa) were still religiously traditional African, except for a few island settlements. Similarly, the inhabitants of the Sofalan coast were pagan and pagan practices were mentioned in connection with Sayuna. (Taken from: The Arab Geographers and the East African Coast P127-128 by J. Spencer Trimingham.)

…..The Damdam live on the shores of the Nil behind the lands of the Zeng. They are the Mongols of the Sudan. They pull out against them and kill them, like the Mongols do with the Muslims. They are careless in their religion. They have idols and religious ceremonies. In their countries there are giraffes. …..

.... Berbera, (Qa'idat al Barabar) the capital of the berbers, of which Amou-el-Qis described the slaves and horses who are considered really good. Most of those people did become Muslim by now. ….

…. on the seacoast is found Marka whose inhabitants are Muslim. ….

…. At the east of Meurka is the Muslim town of Magdachou (madinat al Islam) celebrated in this region whose name Maqdishu occurs frequently on the lips of travelers....

 

Note: Ibn Said (1250) also mentions an important Muslim settlement on Madagascar: ‘One of the towns in this section, who are on the island of al-Qoumr ….. is Lirana. Ibn Fatima says he visited it and that it is from the Muslims as Maqdachou. Its people come of all places. It is a place for loading and off-loading; its nobles who make up the government are under the king of Malay …….. Abulfida (1331) acknowledges they are Muslims. According to Gill Shepherd (The Making of the Swahili: A View From the Southern End; Paideuma, 1982) Lirana is ‘al-Iharana’ also known as Vohemar, harbour in Northern Madagascar.

 

Note: The Medieval Foundations of East African Islam by Randall L. Pouwels in The International Journal of African Historical Studies Vol. 11, No. 2 (1978), pp. 201-226.

Except of the Kizimkazi mosque (1107) on Zanzibar there were (known in 1978) in the thirteenth century only two other stone mosques on Mafia, four in Mogadishu and one in Kilwa. This shows that before 1300 there were only few places with enough wealthy Muslims to build a mosque in stone; and that Mogadishu and Mafia must have been more involved in international trade and have more Muslims then Kilwa must have been before 1300.

 

Aladua Ralakatibu (1250) (found in Madagascar)

0 pillar of heaven and earth, O Allah, O Creator of souls, o compassionate, it's you who's generosity, the generous 0 Allah, the compassionate, O light, O light of Allah! You drive in the (good) path to victory in the wars against the infidels Zendjs. 0 my God, let me (with your help) to repel evil (as I do with) the Zendj which are among the tyrants, Somebody son of Somebody, his tribe, his army and his followers. Interpose yourself between us and them, for thou art powerful over everything. 0 our Lord, give us complete consistency, strengthen our steps, make us winners (in our fighting) against the infidels and put them to flight with the permission of God Most High. I ask you, O Allah…

 

Starting from here the quality of the work of the geographers (and those using their work deteriorates); Most entries found are repetitions. With Ibn Madjid, a pilot (1460 and later) new abundant information reaches us.

 

Ibn al Jawzi (d1257)

……….. the sea of Zing, in this sea, is Qanbalu is fully populated, and the people are Muslim but speak the language of the Zanji. They defeated the people of the island around the time of the extinction of the dynasty of Umayyad and the beginning of the Abbasid state ……….

 

Qutb al-Din al-Chirazi (1311)

The Barbari gulf forms a triangle….. on the western leg of the triangle are situated the countries of the Habacha infidels, part of the Zandj, and towards the east the land of the Habacha Muslims….. the side of the continent, a part of the lands of the Zandj and the Habacha, here is situated Maqdichou opposite Zafar or al-chihr …. Then the islands of the Zandj, which are very numerous, like the island of Qanbalu situated at 1 or 2 days distance of the Zandj coast; its people are Muslims who settled there in the beginning of the Abbasid period.

 

Rashid al-Din Fazlallah (d1318)

… from here the road goes to Mukadisu (Mogodishu) and the coast of Ethiopia, the Zengi and the Berber and the Sudan-al-Arab. Between them is a horrifying dept (canal) of Kanbayat, where many ships perish. The people there speak Arab. They became Muslim in 660 AH and they do not have a common king. In everyplace is a Sheik the headman and ruler. And is as such recognized by everybody. Amber, Ivory, Ebony, the skins of Berber-leopards and other precious materials are imported from there. On its islands are many elephants. From there one reaches the land of the Zengi, the Ethiopans, to Kumairah and the islands of Sab.

Note: They became Muslim in 660 AH (1262AD): This date is close to the change of the Shirazi dynasty to the Mahdali dynasty in Kilwa (1277).

al – Mahdali: This is the name of one branch of Hadrami sharifs. Most historians agree that here the Shirazi dynasty (=Persian and in origin Shia) is replaced by the Mahdali dynasty (=Arab and in origin Sunni).

 

Al-Dimashqi (1325)

The island of Berbera is populated by Muslim Negroes, who belong to the Zeidite sect and Shafiite. (The Zayadite are Shia Muslims and the Shafiite are Sunni).

………… Maqdashou the red one and the land of Kalbeh, inhabited by Zendj Muslims, ……….

 

Abulfida (1331)

island of Qanbalu, the island occupied by the Zendjs, and where there are Muslims.

Berbera: Since the 13th century the town of Berbera is completely Muslim; that is why Ibn Said says this place offers so few slaves to the Muslim places.

Leirana: The people are Muslims. According to Gill Shepherd (The Making of the Swahili: A View From the Southern End; Paideuma, 1982) Lirana is ‘al-Iharana’ also known as Vohemar, harbour in Northern Madagascar.

Sofala: the inhabitants are Muslims.

Marka: Its people are Muslims.

Macdaschou: Its people are Muslims.

 

Ibn Battuta (1331)

from Zayla to Maqdashaw ………… most people are rejecters (Shiite people who rejected the first three caliphs.)

 

Ibn al-Dawadari (1335)

……. the Sea of Zinj in this sea is the island Qanbalu which is an island full of people who are Muslims but speak a Negro language. The Muslims overwhelmed the people of this island around the time of the extinction of the king of the Umayyad and beginning of the Abbasid state ………

 

Safi al din al Baghdadi (1338)

Leikhouna, (or Bandjouya or Lendjouya (Unguja), Landschuja) is a big island and the seat of the elected kings in the land of the Zendj where the king lives. Ships from all countries come there for careening and repair. People of the island of Tumbat were Muslim and the people of Lenguja have been forced to flee to Tumbat to escape from their enemies.

 

Al Umari (1349)

And the Land of Zinj: and the town Barawa and the city people are infidel people who do not believe anything, and their foods are malignant such as ants, frogs, mice and lizards and so on. And in their city of Malindih its people magicians who are hunting the beasts with magic, so they do not harm anyone but those who they want to be harmed, and lions and tigers do not attack them because of the magic, and the name of the magician in their language (almuqanaqana), and the city of Menbash, where they abstract iron, and their red dogs who fight off lions and tigers, and their lives the king of Zinj. And the city of Al Bais which is small like a village, and its people worship the Most Merciful, a large drum is found there whose sound is tremendous and heard for about three miles, and the Arabs are feared in the hearts of the Zinj, and when they see an Arab, whether a merchant or other he kneels for him and allows him all judgment.

 

Khajavi Kermani (1352)

In the rural country a thousand infidel Zanj are idolaters

Mahmud al Amuli (d1352)

…..on the right hand are the people of Maqdashv who were the first in the area to become muslims….

 

Al malik al Afdal al-Abbas (1372)

Sufala of the Zang; The population consists of white skin Muslims.

 

Ibn Khaldun (1406)

Besides them one finds the Barbara, of which the poet Imru'u-l-Qays speaks in his verses. Islam is nowadays very extended among them. They have a town on the Indian ocean called Mogadishu, which is often visited by Muslim merchants.

 

Ibn Imad al-Din Aqfahsi (1407)

……….. the Sea of the Zinges, which is the Sea of Qinlwa (Qanbalu). An island full of Muslims, but their language is Negro, they overcame this island, and carried away those who were from Zinj…..

 

Al Qalqashandi (d1418)

Said Al-Sharif Al Idrisi: the mountains of al Shwahq are in the neighborhood of the q.nbal.w island, and said of qnbalh; an island in the sea of Zing. Its measurements are: The length of fifty-two degrees, and in the south, three degrees. Idrissi said: and the people are Muslims. …………

…………. From this divides the Nile in three arms, one arm takes its course to the east and come to the land of Makdaschü in Habash and Muslims countries on the coast of the Indian Ocean, opposite Yemen; ………….

..... the capital is Soufala of the Zandj situated south of the equator.... Ibn Said says: At 50 deg longitude and 2 deg latitude south.... It is said that its people are Muslims.

 

Hafiz I Abru (1420)

Zanzibar is dry and provincial, small agricultural habitation and total black barren land, and the coast of the Sea of Aden channel. Leopard skin and red donkey and giraffe skin. Most people in those places will be in war with the Muslims.

 

al Maqrizi (1441)

North of the Zendj and the Abyssins are the tribes of the Beja who are Christian or Muslim, and who possess the island of Souakin. …………..

………….. Mekdho is at the shore of the Indian Ocean, its people are Muslims. ………….

…… south of the equator. Sofala is in the land of the Zanj. According to the author of the canon, the inhabitants are Muslims. ……………

 

Ibn Al Wardi (about 1456) Kharidat

…………. the land of the Demadem. It is situated on the Nile, bordering on the Zinji. The inhabitants are infidels, and the tartars among the blacks, consisting of savage tribes of freebooters, they go out all the time and kill and capture and loot and they are negligent in the order of their religions and in their country are many giraffes, ……………….

 

Ibn Majid (1462): Kitab al-Fawa'id

Zanzibar. The seventh island is that of Zanzibar, extending from the coast of Zanj, covered with trees and containing rivers. In it are 40 districts which are governed by Muslim Sultans, but on the coast of the mainland above it they are infidel. It is an unhealthy island and the ancients say in their works of history that there are two unhealthy islands one in the extreme south which is this island and one in the extreme north which is Bahrain ……………..

 

Ibn Madjid (1470) Sufaliyya

Most of the coast of East Africa is Muslim. Only in the deep south infidels are appearing.

 

(Folio 91 verso)

…………….. When Suhail will be about 9 fingers, that is an indication for Sindjadi (or Singagi/ must have been close to Porto Amelia in Northern Mozambique). Its population is Muslim, dominated by infidels. More to the South of it is a long, continental reef. It is the place for silver and amber………..

…………… (the sea-lane) can bring you down to Kuvama (or Kwama), land of the infidels. Therefore, inform you on the trips. If it is necessary, to disembark here (at Kwama), before the day, be a watchman. (Kuvama; Kwama bay: Rio Cuama the main mouth of the Zambezi river. (Tibbetts))

 

(Folio 92 verso)

…………………. I mention Mulbaiuni and its outskirts, in the bay of Moma (or Muma). There are Muslim inhabitants, but at 7 fingers of Nach live the infidels who have come to Kuvama; follow the information.

This bay is long, its originates in the Egypt- Nile valley. - Here at that distance. The majority of those living between Sofala and Kilva (or Kagalwah) are infidels, who are called to arms, according to the name of Muna-batur, a great king whose will is followed by the infidels. He owns the center of Sofala, because he governs the eastern part of this region.

Salt’s map of E. Africa (1816) mentions a name Molembo as the bay immediately to the south of Mulbaiuni: Mozambique island (modern Mocombo); this might be it. (Tibbetts)

Moma: two deg. south of Mozambique island. The Rio and Banco of Moma on the map of Salt (1816). This is also the most southern place where Muslims are found; Kuwama being infidel.  (Tibbetts)

 

(Folio 93 recto)

You see there the dwelling of the infidels (between Kilwa and Sofala), its borders here. (the king) governs here, from Ahvar until Zanzibar, as much the lands as the seas. He possesses pure gold mines which are found in the region of the infidels with their remote inhabitants.

Ahvar (or al-Ahwar): The whole coast from Mozambique island to Beira is known as Al Akhwar (the estuaries). (Tibbetts)

 

(Folio 93 verso)

And in front of Satawah, o adolescent, live the native infidels, understand what you read! (Tir is) 6 (degrees) in Sofala, 5 in the islands called Satuvah (Satawah): accept this information!

Satawah: Satwa. If read as Sabuh, these should be the islands at the mouth of the Sabi or Savi river. (southern part of Mozambique) (Tibbetts).

 

(Folio 94 verso)

One has left them, o careful man, in truth, towards the Muna-Musavi empire. The mine of the gold - accept this complement of information - is more to the South than Sofala; It is called Vadihuria (Wadigra).  To sail for it, the last city is called Saiha (Siha). To the mine from this city one month is necessary, in the northwest direction; its inhabitants are infidels. In these lands the naked savages do not know the Takrur (language) properly.

Saiha (Siha): Tibbetts has Singa as the last place of Sofala and this would be Massinga.

Al Takrur: at the border between Senegal and Mauretania. Already mentioned by al Bakri in 1067. Mistakenly thought to stretch to the south of Africa.

 

Abd-el-Mo'al (15th?)

The city of Macdofcho is before reaching the equator and inhabited by Muslims who came to live there during the days of the caliphs of Egypt. …………..

About Sofala: the people of that town are Muslims, ………….

Taken from : L’ile de Sanje ya Kati (Kilwa, Tanzanie): un mythe Shirazi bien réel Stéphane Pradines

 

The north-northwest orientation of the mosque of Shanga and the great mosques of Gedi and Manda, was due to the fact that the builders were certainly of a different ethnic origin and faith, since we go from Shiites from the shores of the Persian Gulf to Sunnis, mainly Hadramis. This change occurs in the 13th century.

 

Left; Gedi the Great Mosque.