Arabic Material in Zanzibar's National Archive

Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Africa, theMiddleEastandEurope,aswell of ArabiccorrespondencederivingfromthesultansZanzibarwithcontemporariesin itself, fromEastAfrica,OmanaswelltheMiddleEast.Thereisalsoarichcollection Among theseisalargecollectionofArabicmanuscriptsoriginatingfromZanzibar history ( also concreteanddirecthistorical evidenceonarangeofissuespertainingtoEast housed intheZNAprovide not onlyphenomenologicalknowledgeaboutIslam,but in SwahilitheArabicscript. Town ishometoarichcollectionofmaterialinArabicandalsonumberdocuments The ZanzibarNationalArchives(ZNA)intheKilimanidistrictoutsideStone Anne KBang Zanzibar’s National Archive African past:Arabicmaterialin Textual sourcesonanIslamic CHAPTER to beplayedoutpreciselywithinreligiousdiscourse. historical informationgiventhatsocialandpoliticalissues ofthedayfrequentlytended place atacertainpointintime.Secondly, the textsthemselvesdocontainvaluable demonstrate alevelofknowledge,interconnectednessand technologyatacertain out thattextsofareligiousnatureareinthemselveshistorical value,insofarasthey Challenging statementsbyearlierscholarsofIslamicAfrica, ScottReesehaspointed correspondence. manuscripts derivingfromallIslamicsciences,legalhandbooks andrulings,poetry manuscripts anddocumentsisalmostexclusivelyIslamic,thatis,acombinationof wealth ofmaterialasdirectsourcesforhistoricalresearch.Thenaturethe decade, severalresearchers–African,westernandOmanihavestartedtousethis Scientific andCulturalOrganisation’s MemoryoftheWorld Register. collection recentlyledittobenominatedfortheUnitedNationsEducational, and thisisreflectedinthecollectionheldZNA.Therichnessvarietyof and waqf c files. TheIslamicpresenceinEastAfricahasbeenbothextensiveanddiverse, .1800–90) as well as from the period oftheBritishprotectorate(1890–1963). .1800–90) aswellfromtheperiod 24 1 This materialdatesfromtheOmanieraofEastAfrican qadi TEXTUAL SOURCES ON AN ISLAMIC AFRICANPAST:TEXTUAL SOURCESONANISLAMIC ARABICMATERIAL NATIONAL INZANZIBAR'S ARCHIVE ( 3 shari‘a In otherwords,thedocuments ) courtrecords,titledeeds 2 In thepast West Africanmanuscripts. styles varybetweenEastand how muchthecalligraphic 1905. Itisinterestingtonote Arabic manuscriptdated7June AnEastAfrican Opposite: 349 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 350 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU the ZNA,includingsuggestionsforitsimprovement. with referencetothematerial.Finally, anoteisaddedonthestateofpreservationin discuss historicaltopicsandthemesthathavebeenstudiedmaybepursuedfurther This chapterwilloutlinethehistoricalbackgroundtoexistingcollection,and sub-Saharan Africa. managedtopreserveacollectionwhichaddsgreatly theliteraryheritageof odds, of mycolleaguesaswellthatthestaffatZNAwhohave,timesagainstheavy conducted onthenon-colonialrecordsheldatZNA.Idrawworkofseveral What willbepresentedhereisthusabroadoverviewofthecontentandrecentresearch heritage butalsoasubstantialpartoftheEastAfricanliterarycorpus. African society. Finally, asarchivefiles,theyconstitutenotonlyapieceofIslamic copra, tonamebutafew). a tradedepotforthevastrichesofAfricanmainland(slaves,spices,ivoryand also acompletelynewformofdirectOmanirule,whichwasaimedprimarilyatcreating not onlyareactivationofpreviousandlong-standingtradetribalrelations.Itwas Sayyid Sa‘idturnedtoZanzibar, whichhemadehisnewcapitalin1832.Thisshiftwas called uponintimesofdistress,suchasduringthePortugueseera. with theirclansmeninSouthArabiamayhavebeenweakenedbutwerenevertheless form acoastalurbanaristocracy, centredoncitieslikeLamu,MombasaandKilwa.Ties al-Layl hadspreadthroughoutthecoastandmergedwithexistingpopulationto such astheMazruisandNabhanis,alShaykhAbiBakrb.SalimJamal centuries, datingbacktoatleastthetwelfthcentury. ClansofSouthArabianorigin, general SouthArabian)migrationtoEastAfricahadbeenanongoingprocessfor towards EastAfricauponhisascenttopowerin1804.Atthattime,Omani(and The newsultanofOman,SayyidSa‘idb.Sultanal-BuSa‘iditurnedhisattention c Background: theOmani(BuSa‘idi)rulersofEastAfrica, Sa‘id’s sonMajid,whilehisbrotherThwayni becamesultanoftheOmanimainland. Omani Empirein1861.TheEast AfricanpartofthepossessionswereheadedbySayyid Ocean. InternalBuSa‘idirivalryanddirectBritishinvolvement ledtoadivisionofthe chance ofsurvivingtheemergenceGreatBritainasmain navalpowerintheIndian little Despite itsmassivecommercialexpansion,theOmanitransoceanic empirestood of AfricafromGuardafuitoCapeDelgado. of SayyidSa‘idin1856,theOmaniEmpireincludedall Oman,aswellthecoast the MazruiclanofMombasaduring1820sand1830s.Nevertheless, uponthedeath of Omaniorigin–hence,forexample,thelong-standingfeud betweenSayyidSa‘idand coastal towns.DirectOmanioverlordshipwasnotalways welcomed, notevenbyclans Sa‘idis, wasmaritimeandmercantile,abletosubjugatethepreviousleadersof .1830–90 4 The ‘newOman’,asrepresentedbyitsnewrulers,theBu Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za in KiSwahiliandatraditionofIslamiclearningtransmitted inwritingandArabic. has tendedtoemphasiseacombinationoftwostrands:anoral poetictraditiontransmitted mainly afunctionoforaltransmissionwithintheurbanaristocracy, morerecentresearch cannot befound. Rawwahi concerningajourneytoSouthAfrica.Thisisoneofthepublicationsthat Interestingly, theSultanicPressisalsolistedtohavepublishedatravelaccountbyal- young crownprinceinEastAfrica. Rawwahi (d.1920).In1898theSultanicPresspublishedanaccountofatourby was bythe basis oftheholdingsinZanzibar, theonlyworkprintedbyacontemporaryZanzibari Unfortunately, printingceasedafter19volumes.Asfarascanbeascertainedonthe (Book/Dictionary on most ambitiousprojectwastheprintingof90-volume was new-styleplantationowners ratherthanaredistributive,localaristocracy. They locally withinthecommunity. Inaddition,theeconomicpowerbaseof BuSa‘idis on thelocallevel,and appointed favour ofthewritten,Arabic-basedstrandtradition. Bythe1850s,state- The emergenceoftheOmanisultanateinnineteenth centurytippedthescalein While earlierscholarssuchasJSTrimingham The issueofscripturalism:Omaniruleandtheproduction oftext Omani legaltextswritteninNorthAfricaandpreservedasmanuscriptsOman. press wasactivefrom1879andlaunchedanextensiveprogrammeofprintingkey printers, verymuchinspiredbythespiritofreformthencurrentinArabworld.The Last butnotleast,BarghashbroughtaprintingpressfromSyriaalongwithexperienced imported toZanzibaratanunprecedentedrate. endowed by Barghash’s reignsawasteepriseinscholarlyactivities. constructed. Finally, andmostimportantlyfromthepointofviewscripturalheritage, toZanzibarTown,were built,electricityintroduced andwatersupplysystems cultural terms.MaterialinnovationsweremanyduringthereignofBarghash:palaces of theZanzibariBuSa’idisultanate.The‘goldenage’,however, in mustbeunderstood Nevertheless, theeraofSayyidBarghash(r. 1870–88)hasbeencalledthe‘goldenage’ plantation ownerswereinrealitydeeplyindebtedtotheIndianmerchantclass. eventually totheimpoverishmentoflandowners.By1880s,Arab influence wasmountingandtheabolitionofslaveryledtoashortagemanpower decline bythetimeSayyidBarghashb.Sa‘idwaspronouncedsultanin1870.British In politicalandeconomicterms,theBuSa‘idiEmpireofEastAfricawasalreadyin liwali qadi waqf s (appointedexecutiveoflawandorder)madeOmanipower apparent and majorintellectualNasirb.Salim(knownasAbuMuslim)al- funds, scholarsweresupportedandbooksfromoverseas shari‘a qadi wereappointedbythestateratherthanbrought forth s ) bytheOmanischolarJumayyilb.Khamisal-Sa‘idi. 6 tended toviewEastAfricanIslamas TEXTUAL SOURCES ON AN ISLAMIC AFRICANPAST:TEXTUAL SOURCESONANISLAMIC ARABICMATERIAL NATIONAL INZANZIBAR'S ARCHIVE Ribat (religiousschools)were s Kitab qamusal-shar‘iyya 5 Its 7 351 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 352 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU fiqh The collectionincludestreatisesonIslamicdisciplinessuch aslaw, theology, as aseatoflearning. heritage oftheregion,aswellservingademonstration ofZanzibar’s importantrole African provenanceandthusmakeaverysubstantial contribution totheliterary matters ofIslamicscholarship.Themajorityworks, however, are ofOmani/East cases withcommentariesaddedbylocalscholars,thusadding alocalpointofviewon Part ofthecollectionconsistscopiesworksnon-East Africanorigin,insome copying, commentinguponandwritingbooks. collection reflectsthepenchantofEastAfricanscholarlyclassforcollecting, date fromthelate1700s,whilelatestearlytwentiethcentury. The checked, controlledanddebatedaccordingtobooks. Islamic knowledgewasreinterpretedtomeanasetofliterarytenetsthatcouldbe central governmentratherthanbythetraditionalpatricians.Insameprocess, The Omanisultanatealsomeantthataccesstoauthoritycameberegulatedbythe example beingSayyidBarghash’s foundingofaprintingpressinZanzibarTown. could affordtosponsorscholars,establishschoolsandencourageliteracy, theprime gathered undertheauspicesofnowdefunctEacrotonal. In addition,about100itemswereaddedin1999,transferredfromthecollection originally heldbythesultanicpalaceandtransferredfollowingrevolutionof1964. The manuscriptcollectionoftheZNAconsistsabout800manuscripts,majority Books andtreatises oftheArabicmaterial The ZNAcollection:overview evidence intheZanzibararchives. versed inscripturalIslamicscholarship.Thisdevelopment,too,isverymuch from theirMiddleEasternoriginalsandinturncommenteduponbyscholarsfully the Shadhiliyya,Qadiriyyaand‘Alawiyya.Sufimanualspoetrywerecopied linked totheemergenceoforganisedSufismoncoast,associatedwithorders marked bythesameupsurgeinscripturallearning.Thiswasasurgemostdecisively dominant schoolofOman), Although theBarghasherawasmarkedbyastrongemphasisonIbadisect(the century. keptintheZNAisevidenceofthisprocess. ofmaterialtoday Thebody transcended thelocaltoanextentwhichhadnotbeencaseineighteenth literate EastAfricanscholars.Thereemergedanewclassof‘ became known,copiedand,inturn,discussedwritingbythenewcorpsofhighly deriving fromotherpartsoftheIslamicworld(ofallsciences,includingSufism) opened upEastAfricanscripturalIslamtothewiderIslamicworld,insofaraswritings , grammar, poetryandrhetoric.Inaddition, thecollectionincludesvaluableworks 9 the Shafi‘iSunnicommunityofEastAfricawasalso 8 It canbearguedthattheprocess 10 The earliestdocuments ulama whose outlook hadith , Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za TEXTUAL SOURCES ON AN ISLAMIC AFRICANPAST:TEXTUAL SOURCESONANISLAMIC ARABICMATERIAL NATIONAL INZANZIBAR'S ARCHIVE Zanzibar. Hammud alBuSa‘idiin to theSultanSayyid‘Alib. Letter dated10January1911 353 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 354 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU ZNA isalsohometoanumberof deriving fromthepre-colonialBuSa‘idiera.Thereare,however, some exceptions.The system whereallcaseswerekept.Forthisreason,wehave onlyveryfewlegalrecords they weresafeguardedinanticipation oflaterdisputesoverthe In addition, preserved andthesecontaindetailedinformationoneach case,includingitsoutcome. books’ wherebriefsummariesofeachcasewerenoted. Some42bookshavebeen is likelythateach record deedsand as wellbylesser-known authors.Severaloftheworksfamous of termsofauthors,thecollectionincludesmanyOmaniespeciallywithinfield In accounts ( on medicine(herbalandpropheticmedicine),magic,astronomy, navigationandtravel During theBuSa‘idiera,acorpsofspeciallyappointed Legal records, imately half–ofthecollection successors MajidandKhalifa,one-sixthfromSayyidBarghash.Thebulk–approx- Roughly one-sixthofthecollectionderivesfromSayyidSa‘id,his Sayyid Khalifab.Harub. and thereignofSayyidSa‘idb.Sultanlatestto1940s collection consistsofapproximately2600letters,theearliestdatingbackto1840s the eraofBuSa‘idirule,bothbeforeandafterBritishcolonialintervention.The the manuscripts,asatotaltheymakeupcohesiveandsubstantialhistoricalsourcefor Sa‘idi sultansofZanzibar. Althoughthelettersaregenerallydatedmorerecentlythan ofcorrespondence derivingfromtheBu An importantpartofthecollectionisbody The sultaniccorrespondence ‘Abd al-‘Azizb.al-Ghanial-‘Amawi(1832–96) be fullyusedasasourceforhistoricalresearch. It thusconstitutesavitalsourceforbothEastAfricanandOmanihistory. Ithasyetto not least,withrulers,intellectualsandreformersinAfrica,ArabiatheMiddleEast. and landowners,theirsubjects,Indianmoneylenders,familyinOmanand, gives insightintotheBuSa‘idis’relationswiththeirEastAfricancadreofbureaucrats from femalefamilymembers).Allinall,thecollectionisaninvaluablesourcewhich wedding cardsandfamilylettersfromtheOmanibranchof(including on dinnerparties,lettersfromeditorsintheMiddleEast,andnotesplagueto collection isalsothemostvaried,containingeverythingfromdetailsonexpenditure 1896–1911.Thispartofthe son andsuccessor‘Alib.Hammud,thatis,fromtheperiod fiqh . Inaddition,thecollectionincludesoriginalcopiesbyfamousEastAfricanscholars rihlat waqf ). records pre-datingtheBritish Protectoratecanbefoundincaseswhere sijillat waqf qadi accordingtothesystemprevailinginmostIslamicsocieties.It s kept hisownrecordratherthantherebeingacentralstate , deedsand 12 derives fromSayyidHammudb.Muhammadandhis sijillat waqf dating fromthe1880sto1920s,‘record documents 11 are includedinthecollection. qadi wouldhearcasesand s waqf qadi , or reproduced as , orreproduced and QadiriSufi Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za records havebeenthoroughlyindexedandfedintoadatabase. after theestablishmentofBritishWakf Commission. Also for eration isinArabic,atleastuptothe1940sor1950s. this collection,theoutlineofcasesisinEnglishbut of theage?Whatdid‘ wasIslamicreformformulated? Howdiditinteractwithotherreformistmovements How corpus ofdocumentsheldattheZNAconstitutesaveryimportant sourceinthisregard. ducted onthebasisofIslamicwritingsEastAfrica,much stillremainstobedone.The Although, asstatedattheoutsetofthischapter, severalstudieshave nowbeencon- East AfricanIslamincontext emerged. Here,anumberofinterestingissuescanbeexplored. tradition evolvingonthecoastandpoliticalsocial circumstancesinwhichit Rather, ourfocusshouldbeonwhatthesedocumentscantellusabout theintellectual most basicQur’anicschoolstolearnedexegesisamongtheadvancedscholars. mission inthevernaculardidnottakeplace,continuouslyandonalllevels,from could alsobereadoutsidetheregion.Furthermore,itdoesnotmeanthatoraltrans- intellectual developmentsoverseasandabletoexpresstheiropinionsinalanguagethat material ratherillustratesthattheEastAfrican‘ of thescripturalheritageregion.Ashistoricalsources,‘Arabness’ that thetextsareprimarilyinArabicdoesnotdetractfromtheirimportanceasapart least 200-year-old oftextasamediumfortransmission.Thefact traditionofproduction Eastern’), itseemsclearthatthecorpusoftextheldbyZNAdemonstratesanat as‘Middle as‘African’)orscriptural(understood has beenprimarilyoral(understood asidetheacademicdebateastowhethertransmissionofknowledgeinEastAfrica Setting the collectionofZNA:issuesandfieldsstudy The scriptural–literaryheritageofEastAfricaand distribution. evidence incaseswhereproblemsaroseconcerningitsadministrationor cases very different.TheZNAhousesalargecollectionofcriminalandcivil However, aftertheBritishProtectorate,pictureis fromtheperiod sale contracts,about200areincludedinthesultaniccorrespondence. Sultanic PressandarepresentlyheldbytheZNA.Asfortitledeeds substantial for particularly activeperiod waqfiyya 14 that date from the period following thelegalreformof1908.In that datefromtheperiod datingbacktothetimeofSayyidBarghash,whichwasa s waqf waqf 13 records, thecollectionisverysubstantialfromperiod Several suchcasesareheldintheZNA,withoriginal s, endowedbytheZanzibarsultans,werepublished ulama waqf read andwhodidtheyrefer to intheirownwriting? endowments. Someofthemore ulama TEXTUAL SOURCES ON AN ISLAMIC AFRICANPAST:TEXTUAL SOURCESONANISLAMIC ARABICMATERIAL NATIONAL INZANZIBAR'S ARCHIVE of thedaywereconversantwith qadi’ 15 delib- s These 16 between 7and12. for childreninZanzibar aged the openingofpublicschools 27 September1904announcing Public announcementdated 355 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 356 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU surveyed beyondtheirindexentries. Most ofthebooks,however, datefromthemid-to-late1800sand haveyettobe (1776–1847). Itdescribesroots,plantsandherbsusedfor medicineandmagic. treatise waswrittenbytheadviserofSayyidSa‘idb.Sultan, Nasirb.Ja’idal-Kharusi treatiseonmedicine,thecopyinarchivesdatingfrom1936.This locally produced previous knowledge.The manuscript inthearchiveandanexampleofawarenessZanzibarischolars the lattercategory. ThecopyinZanzibardatesbackto1728andisthustheoldest Prophetic MedicineandWisdom) byJalalal-Dinal-Suyuti (d.1505)maybeplacedin remedies, dreaminterpretation)fusedwiththemore wereIslamicpracticesofamorepopularnature(divination,astrology,How spiritpossession known as There arebooksonherbalrecipesandmagic,outliningthetradition documents, whichconstitutearichsourceonthehistoryofmedicinalpractices. medicine inoneformoranother. Littleacademicworkhasbeenconductedonthese A notinsignificantproportionofthemanuscriptsheldbyZNAdealswithissues The studyofEastAfricanmedicinalhistory be foundamongthedocumentsheldinZNA. Corresponding evidenceofintellectualtiesfortheShafi‘iSunnipopulationislikelyto (1820–1914) ofWadi MizabinsouthernAlgeria.Hisworkson of IbadisminthelatenineteenthcenturywasMuhammadb.Yusuf Attafayyish of Ibadischolars,closelyconnectedontheaxisAlgeria–Zanzibar. Thegreatestreformer Zanzibar andotherpartsofIslamicAfrica.Oneexamplecanbefoundinthenetwork demonstrate notonlytheclosetiesbetweenEastAfricaandArabiabutalso The correspondenceoftheZanzibarsultansandoutputSultanicPress Inter-African intellectualties number ofthemanuscripts inthecollectiondealwithissuesofastronomyand Not surprisingly, givenEastAfrica’s closedependenceonlong-distanceseafaring,a Astronomy/navigation Egypt andLibya,aswellOman. works wereprintedbytheSultanicPressinZanzibaranddistributedwidelyAlgeria, Barghash himselfandlaterkeptupcloseconnectionswithhissuccessors.Severalof Attafayyishwasfinancially supportedbySayyid intellectual relations.Foraperiod, standing tieswiththeZanzibarisultanatecanbecitedasanexampleofinter-African and literaturewereinfluentialbothinOmanZanzibar. Attafayyish’s long- East Africa. included inthecollection,indicatingthattherewasawarenessandusageofthem tibb nabawwi 19 The book (prophetic medicine).Atleastthreecopiesofclassicsare Kitab al-rahmafial-tibwaal-hikma Shajarat al-arsh 17 (The Tree oftheThrone)isanexamplea shari‘a -based aspectsofthefaith? (Book ontheMercyin tafsir , fiqh , hadith , logic 18 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za preserved inoriginaltheZNA, conservation methods. Inother words, itisimportantthatthesultaniccorrespondence conservation methods. lack ofskillsamongthestaff, suchasknowledgeofArabicandcompetenceinmodern public. Thisisduepartlytoalackoffundsformaterialimprovement andpartlytoa at theZNAisnotpreservedinamanneroptimalforitssafe keeping,orforusebythe Despite beingbothsubstantialandunique,thesultaniccorrespondence collectionheld Special case:thecollectionofsultaniccorrespondence ants, andofbeingsoldtowealthybuyersarrivingfromGulf states. restored. Theyareindangerofrapiddeteriorationdueto exposuretohumidityand Concerning theprivatecollections,itisofsomeurgency thattheseberegisteredand reasons, individualshavebeenreluctanttopartwithoriginalsforstorageinthearchives. mosques orreligiousassociations.Duetomistrustofthegovernmentforother still remainsinprivatehands,ascollectionshomesor It isimportanttonotethatasubstantialproportionoftheArabicmaterialinZanzibar The stateofpreservation attheZNA by missionaryorganisationsworkinginIslamicsocieties. nineteenth century, thedocument(althoughclearlynotinitsoriginalform)wasused around 830byaChristianArabuponaninvitationtoembraceIslam.Inthe ‘The Apologyofal-KindiinFavourChristianityoverIslam’,originallycomposed Mundhiri, intheformofwriting.Thetextitselfisaresponsetodocumentknownas Zanzibar duringthe1880s,‘ Bu Sa‘idisasscholarsand The MundhirifamilywereIbadisofOmanioriginandcloselyconnectedwiththe dating from1891indefenceofIslamby‘Alib.Muhammadal-Mundhiri(1866–1925). Among thedocumentsmostdirectlydealingwithMuslim–Christianrelationsisa and couldnotbedisregarded. Christianity madenumerousconvertsamongtheslave(andlaterex-slave)population sole pointofculturalandcivilisationalreferencefortheeducatedpopulation, missionary expansionintotheBuSa‘ididominions.WhereIslamformerlyhadbeen fromwhichmostofthedocumentsZNAderives wasalsothetimeof The period The studyofMuslim–Christianrelations the materialderivingfromEastAfrica. ofSouthArabia,butmuch hasyettobedoneon navigational poetryandmethodology their workstothistopic.EarlierscholarslikeRBSerjeanthavedonesomeworkonthe navigation. ManyofZanzibar’s mostrenownedIslamicscholarsdevotedatleastoneof arguments ofal-KindibydiscussingsuchtopicsastheTrinity andthedivinityofChrist. Christian tenetsandthehistoricalcontextofgospelsasherefutes qadi s. Whenthemissionarypresencebecameparamountin ulama 21 al-Mundhiri displaysconsiderablefamiliaritywith engaged indebate–bothverballyand,likeal- TEXTUAL SOURCES ON AN ISLAMIC AFRICANPAST:TEXTUAL SOURCESONANISLAMIC ARABICMATERIAL NATIONAL INZANZIBAR'S ARCHIVE 20 In hisresponse,whichis waqf property in risala 357 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 358 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU scanners, digitalcamerasandcomputerssufficientlypoweredtorunalargedatabase. Finally, thetechnologynecessaryforprojectwouldhavetobeprovided,including characters. Inordertocreateanindexusefulresearchers,thisisabsolutelyessential. are unlikelytobefamiliarwiththeprocessoftransliterationArabicscriptintoLatin because althoughthepersonmaybeconversantinArabic,SwahiliandEnglish,they sible forindexingreceivetrainingineitherKhartoumorBergen.Thisisnecessary from eitherIndiaorEurope.Itisalsoproposedthatoneofthestaffmembersrespon- fromanexpert receive in-housetrainingonthemostrecentconservationmethods not receivedtraininginconservationsincethe1980s.Itisthusproposedthatthey knowledgeable inallthreelanguages.Secondly, theconservationstaffatZNAhave or fromprivatecollegessuchastheMuslimAcademy, candidates whichproduces funding couldbefound,staffrecruitedfromtheStateUniversityofZanzibar At present,thearchivesdonothavestaffqualifiedinArabic,SwahiliandEnglish.If the partofarchivestaff. such aprojectwouldhavetoincludecompetence-raisingcomponents,especiallyon the indexing,scanningandmaterialconservationofcorrespondence.Inaddition, the documentsfromwearandtearofhandling.Anurgentprojectwouldthusbe and accessibleonline,eitheron-siteorfromanywhereintheworld.Thiswouldsave documents), itshouldideallybestoredasadatabasewherethedocumentsarescanned Given thefinitesizeofcollectionanditsnature(mostlyone-ortwo-page vation aswelleffortstoraiseskillsamongthestaff. fully functionalresearchcollection.Thiseffortshouldincludebothmaterialconser- collection attheZNAbecataloguedandconservedinsuchamannerthatitmay sadsiciebac fIlm h bdyatae t ot oteKaiiy eesoit feryIlm fromwhich theIbadiyyatracesitsrootstoKharijiyyasecessionists ofearlyIslam, AsadistinctivebranchofIslam, 9 especiallyforrecentarrivalsfrom Arabia whowere Thisprocessalsoopenedup newavenuesofsocialmobility, 8 Purpura(1997)hasargued thatthetwostrandsofEast African intellectualtraditionformedpartofanintegrated 7 Trimingham (1964). 6 seeSadgrove(2004). OntheimpactofMatba’a al-Sultaniyya(SultanicPress)foundedbyBarghash, 5 seeSharif(1987). Fortheeconomicbackground totheOmaniexpansion, 4 Reese(2004). 3 Seehttp://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=12543&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload= 1062662650. 2 itsformer itsdirectorHamadiOmar, GratitudeforinformationpresentedinthischapterisduetothestaffofZNA, 1 NOTES mn azbr(n,b xeso,teOaiB aiisrt fEs fia,southern Algeria andpocketsofLibya. theOmani/BuSa‘idistrataofEast Africa), byextension, Zanzibar(and, Oman, themainareasofIbadism were Bythenineteenthcentury, marked byatendencytowardstolerance ofothersects. As the foundingelementofOmaniimamate–andlaterBuSa‘ididynastyithas been it eventuallybrokein685. qadi Aclearexampleofthiswasthescholarand already fluentin traditionofIslam. Arabic andconversant withtheliterary anoraloneassociatedwithKiSwahiliand awrittenoneassociatedwiththeOmanistate. split intotwodistinctparts: didthetradition sheargues, Onlythen, whole untiltheemergenceofOmanisultanateinnineteenthcentury. of whomhaveworkedextensivelyonthecollection. both thanksareextendedtoLorenzoDeclichandFriedhelmHartwig, Furthermore, Zanzibar. Department ofMuseums, Directorofthe andtoProfessor Abdul Sharif, senior archivistKhamisSandits Arabic readerOmarShehe, ha .Smy,portrayedinBang(2003). Sumayt, Ahmad b. Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za elc 20)TeAai aucit fteZnia ainlAcie:SourcesforthestudyofpopularIslamin Declich L(2001) The Arabic manuscriptsoftheZanzibarNational Archives: (2003) AK Bang REFERENCES ‘Abdal-‘Azizal-‘Amawiwasappointed OriginallyhailingfromBrawa, 11 Seetheoriginalchecklistof Eastern African CentreforResearchonOral Traditions and African NationalLanguages. 10 Farsy AS (1989) Farsy AS InSReese(Ed.) Somenineteenth-century Arabic writingsonhealing. Declich L(2004)Zanzibar: apparentlyincomplete. accordingto V Hoffmann, TheversionheldbytheZNAis316pageslongbut, ZA8/10. 21 SeealsoO’Fahey& Vikør (1996). seeHoffmann(2004). backgroundontheal-Kindi apologyandal-Mundhiri’s For response, 20 2004). Declich(2001, 19 2004). OneexceptionisDeclich(2001, 18 seeSadgrove(2004). of Foranoverview Attafayyish’s worksprintedatZanzibar, 17 ourmostdirectsourceonthelifeofEast African ‘ AbdallahSalehFarsy(1989), 16 RecordsindicatedasHD. 15 RecordsindicatedasHC. 14 Thisisthereasonwhytextsoforiginal 13 and AA5/9. FilesAA5/8 12 Trimingham JS(1964) (1987) Sharif A In S Reese(Ed.) Zanzibar’s scholarly links. Sadgrove P(2004)From Wadi MizabtoUnguja: In SReese(Ed.) challengingtheperceivedwisdom. Islamin Africa: Reese S(2004)Introduction. CityUnive PhDthesis, ThesocialrelationsofIslamicexpertiseinZanzibar Town. P(1997)Knowledgeand agency: Purpura O’Fahey S& Vikør K(1996) A Zanzibari InBS Amoretti (Ed.) Khamis KS(2001) The ZanzibarNational Archives. SanFrancisco MESA, Unpublishedpaper, Hoffmann V (2004)al-MundhirandthedefenceofIbadisminZanzibar. saddrn h 9hcnuy InBS Amoretti (Ed.) island duringthe19thcentury. in Islamic Africa Islamic Africa in Islamic Africa of New York III Series, A hagiographicalaccount. years there, he returned to Zanzibar where he served as hereturnedtoZanzibarwhereserved years there, Archaeology). Oralhistory, Manuscriptsand Written HistoricalSources, seeKhamis(2001)(Archives, tonal collection, oftheEacro- Foranoverview willbeclearoncethecollectionisfullyindexedwithinZNA. however, This, transfer. some30ofthemanuscriptswerelostbeforeorduring Apparently, Eacrotonal collectioncompletedin1988. of ZA-HD3/12. waqf His endowmentsweresubjecttotheeffortsofBritish-established Wakf Commissiontoregulateproceedsfromthe USA. UniversityofChampagne-Urbana, al-‘Aziz ispresentlybeingpreparedbyProfessor Valerie Hoffmann, court. He was a close companion of Sayyid Barghash who endowed a number of very substantial HewasaclosecompanionofSayyidBarghashwhoendowednumbervery court. tafsir ,adi hscs h rgnldcmnswr erdcdadaekp ihtecutrcrs ZA-HD6/55and andinthiscasetheoriginaldocumentswerereproducedarekeptwithcourtrecords: s, t.takingplaceorallyinthevariousclassesofshaykhs. etc. , Slaves, spices and ivory inZanzibar spicesandivory Slaves, ui n coaso h e,familynetworksinEast Africa Sufis andscholarsofthesea, edn Brill Leiden: . adiy aayn aksaiw ahrk aArk/h hf’ lm fEs fia ca.1830–1970: Baadhi yawanavyoniwakishafimashariki Afrika/The Shafi’iUlamaofEast Africa, edn Brill Leiden: . edn Brill Leiden: . Islam inEast Africa Translated, edited and annotated by RL Pouwels. University of Wisconsin, African Primary AfricanPrimary Text Universityof Wisconsin, editedandannotatedbyRLPouwels. Translated, waqf . New York: Books for Libraries for Books NewYork: . of books: The library oftheMundhirifamily. Thelibrary of books: waqfiyya odn JamesCurrey London: . sa nEs fia Newsources Islam inEast Africa: fSyi amdb Ahmadal-BuSa‘idiwerereproducedin ofSayyidHammudb. s qadi ni i eieeti 84 Astudyoftheworks of ‘Abd until hisretirementin1894. TEXTUAL SOURCES ON AN ISLAMIC AFRICANPAST:TEXTUAL SOURCESONANISLAMIC ARABICMATERIAL NATIONAL INZANZIBAR'S ARCHIVE sa nEs fia Newsources Islam inEast Africa: qadi 8012.Lno/e ok Routledge London/NewYork: 1860–1925. , fKlaa h edraeo 6 Afterafew of Kilwaatthetenderage16. ulama oe Herder Rome: . Sudanic Africa The transmissionoflearningin repeatedlyreferstosessions , The transmission of learning The transmissionoflearning The transmission of learning The transmissionoflearning waqf oe Herder Rome: . :5–23 7: inthe1870s. s Curzon rsity 359