Risala wa Zinjibari (MS 305d)
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Material Information

Title:
Risala wa Zinjibari (MS 305d)
Series Title:
Allen Collection : Photographic enlargments of M1008 (Swahili and Arabic manuscripts)
Creator:
[s.n.]
Publication Date:
Language:
Swahili
Materials:
Paper ( medium )
Technique:
Handwritten manuscript : Copy of microfilm therefore slightly gray, readable arabic script

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Swahili poetry ( LCSH )
Oral history ( LCSH )
Oral literature
Africa, East -- History ( LCSH )
East Africa -- History
Kiswahili mashairi
Afrika, Mashariki - Historia
Oral tradition in literature ( LCSH )
Sultan Majid
Bwana Mataka
Genre:
Poem
Shairi
Poetry ( LCTGM )
Shayari
Spatial Coverage:
Africa -- Kenya -- Mombasa County -- Eastern Africa -- Mombasa -- Fort Jesus
Coordinates:
-4.06253 x 39.67988

Notes

Abstract:
This section of MS 279888, namely MS 305/4, contains an historical poem in the shairi form. The context of the poem is the time of the war between Zanzibar and Siu, when Sultan Majid of Zanzibar was trying to take over Siu from its ruler, Bwana Mataka. Specifically, the poem narrates the event when Sultan Majid invited Bwana Mataka and Other members of his court [among them there was also the author of this poem] to Zanzibar as a trick to try to imprison him. Sultan Majid was successful in his aim and managed to take Bwana Mataka to Mombasa’s prison at Fort Jesus (Ngome). The author of the poem thus tells the people of Siu of their disgrace and believes that there were collaborators to the Sultan of Zanzibar among the people of Siu who allowed for the success of Sultan Majid and for the imprisonment of their king, Bwana Mataka. Therefore, for the poet this event signs the end of the independence of Siu and the beginning of the control of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The poem as noted above is written in the Shairi form, in KiSiu dialect. Regarding the prosody of the poem, each verse is made of two mistari (lines) and each mstari is made of four vipande (syllables). The rhyming pattern of each verse ends with ‘hayasii mayutoe’, which is rendered in standard Swahili as ‘hayamaliziki mayuto yake’. ( en )
General Note:
Date of Composition is unknown
General Note:
Languages: Swahili (Arabic script)
General Note:
Dialects: KiSiu
General Note:
Poetic Form: Shairi
General Note:
Donated to SOAS in 1982
General Note:
Extent: 2 pages
General Note:
Incipit: Risala wa Zinjibari milele utumikao ngia katika bahari umtumai moliwo, nusura ndake ghaffari waja kuwa uwanusuruwo kwa kadha ipisiyeo hayasii mayutowe
General Note:
Other copy: SOAS University of London microfilm: M1008, reel 10
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Mombasa County -- Mombasa -- Fort Jesus
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Tanzania -- Zanzibar
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Tanzania -- Manyara Region -- Siu District
General Note:
Publication information: Salim, Ahmed I.1978. People of the Coast: swahili. Evans BrOthers Ltd, Nairobi. ch. 6
General Note:
Publication information: Biersteker, A. 1996. Kijibizana. Michigan State University Press. ch. 5
General Note:
Publication information: Abdulaziz, M.1979. Muyaka.19th century Swahili popular poetry. Kenya Literature Bureau, Nairobi. part 2

Record Information

Source Institution:
SOAS University of London
Holding Location:
Archives and Special Collections
Rights Management:
This item may be in the public domain. Its status has yet to be assessed.
Resource Identifier:
MS 279888-Vol.2 ( SOAS manuscript number )
MS 305d ( SOAS manuscript number )