An Azanian Trio: Three East African Arabic Historical Documents

This work consists of the translation and annotation of three East African Arabic / Swahili manuscripts together with the original texts. They cover aspects of the history of the coast from the early Himyaritic period up to the beginning of the 20th century. By the use of earlier, in some cases hitherto unused Arabic sources, the authors of the texts have contributed to a fuller picture of the East African coastal history. The texts relate directly to works on East African coastal history that have appeared since the latter part of the 19th century. They are presented against the background of general Arabic and Islamic history. The annotations indicate, and some case stress, significant hints and references to matters that need to be borne in mind, along with archeological and other evidences.

James McL Ritchie (1917-2016) graduated from Edinburgh University with a M.A., B.D. and subsequently earned the MPhil. He published The History of the Mazru’i Dynasty of Mombasa by Shaykh al-Amin bin ’Ali al-Mazru’i (Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Arabica XI, British Academy,1995). Sigvard von Sicard graduated from Uppsala University with a BA, BD., ThD and taught at University of Birmingham. His publications include The Lutheran Church on the Coast of Tanzania 1887-1914 (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells, 1970), articles in the Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd Ed.) on al-Murdjibi, Muslimun, Muslims in Tanzania, Muslims in Uganda.