Khabari za Maisha na Matendo ya Bwana Muyaka (MS 263325a)
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Material Information

Title:
Khabari za Maisha na Matendo ya Bwana Muyaka (MS 263325a)
Series Title:
Hichens Collection : Diwani ya Muyaka bin Haji al Ghassani
Creator:
Hichens, William, -1944 ( Author, Primary )
Sikujua, Mwalimu ( contributor )
Ghassaniy, Muyaka bin Haji, approximately 1776-1840 ( contributor )
Publication Date:
Language:
Swahili
Materials:
Paper ( medium )
Technique:
Typescript manuscript in black ink on thin paper

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Swahili poetry ( LCSH )
Popular poetry
Africa, East -- History ( LCSH )
East Africa -- History
Afrika, Mashariki - Historia
Al-Hinawy, Mbarak, Sheikh-Sir, 1896-1959 ( LCNA )
Genre:
Shairi
Shayari
Spatial Coverage:
Africa -- Kenya -- Mombasa County -- Eastern Africa -- Mombasa
Coordinates:
-4.05466 x 39.66359

Notes

Abstract:
This manuscript contains material for the book ‘Diwani ya Muyaka bin Haji al-Ghassaniy, published by W. Hichens in 1940. This section of MS 263325 contains information on the life of the poet Muyaka, with extracts from his poems. The first page gives the contents list of the whole volume, however the preface (dibaji), although mentioned, is missing. The second page contains acknowledgement to Mbarak Ali Hinawy who provided Hichens with most of the material on Muyaka. The cataloguers have compared the manuscript version with the published one, and noted the following points: In the published book the title of this section is only ‘Khabari za Maisha ya Bwana Muyaka..’ without reference to Muyaka’s ‘matendo’, which form, in fact, the second section of the published book. On the Other hand, in the manuscript, the title includes the reference to the matendo. The beginning of the story is narrated with a shairi by Mwalimu Sikujua Stanza 4 should have all final syllables in the line ending with V rather than F, as it is in the original and the publication. This seems to be a pattern throughout the writing of the manuscript, even in the prose part, where all V have been rendered as F. After the shairi, the story of the life of Muyaka continues in prose. In the original Mombasa (the European form) is rendered Mambasa. However, today, even the Swahili people write Mombasa although pronouncing it Mambasa. Muyaka never refers to the town as Mo(a)mbasa, but rather use the terms ‘Kongowea’ or ‘Gongwa’ or ‘Mvita’. The first few pages of the narration give information on the origins of the name Ghassan that was the name of a river, in Syria, where the tribe of Muyaka’s ancestors moved, taking the name of the river as their own people’s name. This can be seen as an example of a mythical representation of history. In many instances, the errors found in the manuscript are reproduced in the published copy. Many are grammatical errors that can be ascribed to Hichens’s faulty knowledge of Swahili. For instance, on page 46 (the page number is written in pencil on the top right corner of the page) of the manuscript, with the same on page 46 of the published copy, the phrase ‘wakamwitia’ should be ‘wakamwita’; also, ‘yakamweleza’ should be ‘yakamwelea’. Errors of this kind occur throughout. ( en )
General Note:
Biographical information: Mwalimu Sikujua bin Abdallah al-Batawi (obit 1307AH/1892AD) was the main informant and Swahili teacher of Rev. Taylor, and as noted by Taylor in his ‘African Aphorisms’, he was an accomplished poet, by whose aid Taylor formed a large collection of the best Swahili poetry, ancient and modern. Mwalimu Sikujua was from Mombasa, and precisely from the area (mtaa) called Mjuwakale, and belonged to the ‘miji tisiya’, the ‘nine tribes’, one of Mombasa main ethnic group. -- Muyaka bin Haji lived in Mombasa between AD 1776-1840, and was one of the most outstanding poets of the mashairi genre. According to Abdulaziz (1979) Muyaka wrote some 150 poems of popular Swahili poetry, and the themes of his poetry touch on the cultural and political life of his community of that time.
General Note:
Date of Composition is unknown
General Note:
Languages: Swahili (Roman script)
General Note:
Dialects: KiAmu and KiMvita
General Note:
Poetic Form: Shairi
General Note:
Extent: 54 leaves
General Note:
Incipit: Bwana Muyaka bin Haji al-Ghassaniy ndiye aliyekuwa mshairi mahashumu ambaye ndiye mtaalumu kuliko wangine wa Sawahili
General Note:
VIAF (name authority) : Hichens, William, -1944 : record number 250560982, URI : http://viaf.org/viaf/250560982
General Note:
VIAF (name authority) : Ghassaniy, Muyaka bin Haji, approximately 1776-1840 : URI http://viaf.org/viaf/287869854
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Mombasa County -- Mombasa
General Note:
Donated by the International African Institute (from Dr J. Knappert), 19 February 1971
General Note:
Publication information: Hichens, W. 1940. Diwani ya Muyaka bin Haji al-Ghassaniy. University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
General Note:
Publication information: Abdulaziz, M.H. 1979 (repr. 1994). Muyaka 19th century Swahili Popular Poetry. Kenya Literature Bureau, Nairobi.
General Note:
Publication information: Harries, L. 1962. Swahili Poetry. Oxford University Press, London
General Note:
Publication information: Knappert, J. 1979. Four Centuries of Swahili Verse. Heinemann, London.
General Note:
Publication information: Harries, L. 1957. The Swahili Quatrain. Afrika und Ubersee, 41:67-72

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 263325 ( SOAS manuscript number )
MS 263325a ( SOAS manuscript number )