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- Permanent Link:
- http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LSMD000244/00001
Material Information
- Title:
- Biographical information about Mwana Kupona and Bwana Mataka (MS 53508c)
- Series Title:
- Hichens Collection : Swahili Poetry
- Creator:
- Muhammed bin Abdalla ( Author, Primary )
- Publication Date:
- circa 1930 AD (circa 1349 A.H.)
- Language:
- Swahili
- Materials:
- Paper ( medium )
- Technique:
- Handwritten and typescript manuscript : Tyepscript with blue ink; the questions are in a table.
Notes
- Abstract:
- This section of MS 53508 provides information about the life of the famous poet Mwana Kupona binti Msham, and her husband, Sheikh Mataka, the ruler of Siu in the 19th century. The information is given by means of questions to the grandson of Mwana Kupona, Muhammad bin Abdalla, by Mr Whitton in September 1933. Mr Whitton stationed at Lamu, in the 1930s, and often sent material relating to Swahili literature to Hichens. There are a total of 29 questions written with blue ink on the right side of each page, and on the left side there are the answer in pencil; two questions, 7 and 29, are not answered however the information is given in Other answers. The first few questions/answers, 1-6, are about the life of Bwana Mataka and give the date of his birth as 1799, in Siu (also rendered as Siyu) and the name of his parents as Mataka bin Mbarak and Mwana Hadija. Mataka became ruler of Siu in 1826 to succeed his father. Even if question 7 is not answered, it appears from answer 8 that Mwana Kupona was the last wife of Bwana Mataka. The first wife of Bwana Mataka was called Mwana Harusi wa Dona, the second was called Mwana Peponi, and the third Mwana Kikao. In 1836, he finally marry Mwana Kupona, who was then 36 years old and Mataka was 57 years old (answer 11) Questions/Answers 12-16 are specifically about Mwana Kupona and say that she was born in Pate and her parents were Msham bin Kombo and Mwana Hishima binti Nasir. Mwana Kupona had two children with Bwana Mataka, Mohamed bin Sheikh in 1838, and Mwana Heshima binti Sheikh in 1841. Questions/answers 17-20 tells us that Bwana Mataka died in 1856, in Pate, at the age of 56 due to piles illness, and that 9 years after his death Mwana Kupona died due to a womb’s haemorrhage. Answer 24 say that Mwana Kupona was 36 years old when she wrote her famous poem ‘Utendi wa Mwana Kupona’ and her daughter Mwana Heshima to whom the poem is addressed was 14 years old. The last few questions/answers regard Mwana Heshima binti Sheikh and say that she first married Abdalla Kombo, in 1868, and when he died she married Abubakar Mohamed Bakari, in 1878. She had a son called Abdalla Mohammed Kombo (the one giving the answers) from Abdalla Kombo and a daughter called Khadija binti Abubakar in 1880 from her second husband. ( en )
- General Note:
- Biographical information: Mohamed bin Abdalla was the son of Heshima binti Sheikh and therefore the grandson of Mwana Kupona and Bwana Mataka.
- General Note:
- Date of Composition: 1933 AD (1352 A.H.)
- General Note:
- Languages: Swahili (Roman script)
- General Note:
- Dialects: KiAmu
- General Note:
- Incipit: Maulizo juu ya maisha ya Mwana Kupona bint Msham na mumewe Sheikh Mataka
- General Note:
- Purchased from Kegan Paul, 6 October 1948
- General Note:
- Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Pate -- Pate Island
- General Note:
- Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Tanzania -- Manyara Region -- Siu District
- General Note:
- Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Lamu -- Lamu Island
- 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 is likely protected by copyright. Its status has yet to be assessed.
- Resource Identifier:
- MS 53508 ( SOAS manuscript number )
MS 53508c ( SOAS manuscript number )
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