Book of the Zanj

The Book of the Zanj (or Kitāb al-Zunūj) is an Arabic history of the Zanj (Zenj, Zengi) who live in East Africa from their origins down to the turn of the 20th century.

There are two manuscripts of the Book, the more recent one offering an expanded text. The older one, labelled K or C, was produced shortly after 1888. In 1923, it was in the possession of the qāḍī of Kismayo, when a copy was procured by Enrico Cerulli. The younger one, labelled L or W, was made after 1902 in Witu for Alice Werner. It was acquired by Cerulli in 1926.^[1] Both manuscripts have been translated into English.^[2]

The authors of both versions of the Book are unknown. The text is written in Arabic of low quality and the authors' first language was certainly Swahili.^[3] There are numerous Swahilisms in the text and one quatrain in Swahili.^[4] Both authors wrote in Bājūn and were sympathetic to the rulers of Pate and of Siyu, but opposed to the Mazrūʿī liwalis of Mombasa.^[5] The purpose of the Book was to trace the Arabness and Islamic faith of the Swahilis back to the earliest days of Islam and demonstrate their persistence through periods of Abbasid intervention, Persian immigration and European colonialism.^[6]

The historical value of the Book is uncertain.^[7] Cerulli was of the opinion that it would prove have some historical value.^[6] Neville Chittick also argued that it preserved authentic and accurate traditions of early Bantus in East Africa.^[8] Archaeological research has shed little light on the matter. Both versions of the Book and the similar Kawkab al-durriya li-akhbār Ifrīqiya have nearly identical accounts down to the 17th century, because they relied either on the same written sources or the same oral traditions. There is greater divergence in their accounts of more recent events. James Ritchie and Sigvard von Sicard give five reasons why the early history in the Book "may be more than mere fancy or legend", while acknowledging that further archaeological and historical research is needed to go beyond surmise.^[7]

Both versions begin with an account of the curse of Ham,^[9] before proceeding to the Sabaeans (9th–1st centuries BC) and Himyarites, including an account of the Year of the Elephant.^[10] It describes the tribes of the Kushūr, a Mijikenda people who lived in Shungwaya by the Juba River until forced south by the migrating Oromo; several waves of Arab immigration to East Africa, both before and after their conversion to Islam; and the arrival of the Portuguese under Vasco da Gama.^[11] The Book notes the great comets of 1830, 1844, 1845, 1854, 1860, 1861, 1882 and 1901.^[12] The K version ends with the death of Sultan Barghash bin Saʿīd of Zanzibar and the succession of Khalīfa bin Saʿīd in 1888.^[13] The L version ends with the death of Sultan Ḥamūd bin Muḥammad and the succession of ʿAlī bin Ḥamūd in 1902, noting that the latter was merely a nominal sovereign.^[14]

Richard F. Morton regarded the Book as a legal document for use by Islamic judges (qāḍīs), a view rejected by Chittick.^[15]