Post by anansi on Apr 2, 2010 0:08:48 GMT -5
As I sat here in an Asian Country...reflecting on myself the and especially the constant comings and goings of ma Peeps...mostly Africans from all over..but Nigeria and Ghana much heavly represented. I sometimes feel the weight of history pressing down on us...well on me anyways most of ma boyz could care-less..too busy converting Yen into Won and Yuwan into Dollars.
IT hit me like a ton of bricks...we have being doing this for a longtime before the interlude of Europeans...the more things change the more they remaind the same. the players may have changed somewhat but we are not exactly a bunch of johnny come lately. This thread is a Shout out to them.
The following article is an excerpt from the e-book
They Came Before Marco Polo,
by Khalifa A.Khaliq
Swahili Sailors in Early China
ln 133l a very famous scholar and world traveler from the City of Fez, Morocco traveled down the east coast of Africa. This traveler's name was Ibn Battuta. Ibn Battuta left in his memoir descriptions of all the foreign cities he visited all over the world.
When he went to East Africa he visited the famous city of Kilwa. Ibn Battuta described Kilwa as "one of the most beautiful and well constructed towns in the world." In the city of Kilwa government officials, teachers and accomplished business men greeted Ibn Battuta.
The people of Kilwa are generally called "Swahili". Today, as in the past, the Swahili people mainly reside in East Africa. The name "Swahili" comes from the Arabic term "Sahel" or "Swahil". These words mean "shore" or "coastline". Since they resided along the coastal areas these east African peoples called themselves "Swahili" meaning "people of the coastline".
The period when the Swahili people initially occupied East Africa goes back more than 2000 years. Initially small groups coming from other parts of Africa began to settle in the area. These groups established small villages along this east coast area. Because of its close proximity, these peoples took to the ocean. Due to their frequent contact with the Indian Ocean their ocean navigational capabilities and ship sailing skills evolved to a high level. Soon the Swahili people were able to voyage for long distances and for extended periods across the Indian Ocean.
The Swahili eventually made contact with other countries along the Indian Ocean. Swahili sailors were able to reach Arabia, India, Indonesia and even China. Strong trade links were established between East Africa and these other nations. The Swahili became very wealthy due to these trade links. Between the 10th to the 15th century more than 30 trading-cities or trading~empires developed along the east coast of Africa. These cities existed in the areas which today are called Kenya, Tanzania and the island of Zanzibar.
During the peak period of this commerce, on any given day, Swahili sailors could be seen loading their large ships with gold, iron, ivory and coconuts, and unloading from them textiles and jewelry from India and exquisite porcelain from China. The Swahili also saw ships from China and other nations pulling into their harbors. These ships were making frequent stops at Lamu, Malindi, Mombosa and other trading city-states along the east African coast. These cities had developed into affluent thriving cosmopolitan cultures due to this trade. East African ivory was in high demand during this period and this ivory found its way into India, the Persian Gulf and China. South African gold was also in high demand.
Three major items used in East African trade. Ivory, gold and salt. African elephant tusks were the source of most of Asia's ivory.
Gold coins were much sought after in North Africa and cylinders of salt were in demand in South Africa.
In 1500 the Portuguese sailed to East Africa for the first time. This expedition was under the command of Pedro Alvares Cabral. When the Portuguese saw the Swahili they were astonished. One sailor on the ship wrote:
ln this land there are rich merchants and there is much gold and sliver and amber and pearls. Those of the land wear clothes of fine cotton and of silk and many fine things, and they are blackmen.
The liveliest and most prosperous city in all of East Africa during this period was the island of Kilwa. The island essential1y functioned like that of a market middleman. The Kilwa rulers controlled the exchange of goods between inner Africa and other nations along the Indian Ocean. This middleman role made the Kilwa rulers some of the wealthiest individuals on the entire continent. In 196l Nevill Chitic unearthed the mosque and pa1ace of the last Kilwa ruler. This structure is called the "Husuni Kubwa". It was the largest domestic residence in all of East Africa. The palace had wel1 over 100 rooms, with galleries, patios, and separate sections for residential and commercial purposes.
The citizens of Kilwa possessed very lavish, modern looking homes on the is1and. Some of their homes were actually two to three stories high. Many of them contained rugs from Persia, jewelry from India, spices from Southeast Asia and bowls from China. The Swahili made their homes out of the most available materials: namely, mangrove poles and coral. The main building material was a coarse vesicular coral broken into irregular blocks. When this coral is initially taken from the reef it is very soft and easily cut. As it is exposed to weather and rain, though, it starts to harden and become more durable. This need for the coral to weather meant buildings were often erected in stages over several years. The houses often had very impressive entrances. They usually had large arched doorways which led to private courtyards. A wide raised bank usually ran around three sides of the courtyard and provided space to sit. In this space visitors could be received and business transactions could be conducted. Usually a large narrow reception room, with wide doors and long windows, faced onto the court. Private rooms, often beautifully decorated, led off the reception rooms.
When we look at the documents and sources on Swahili or East African trade we find early Arab writings mentioning a few details here and there about the Swahili traders. We find them mentioned in such sources as the Muruj al-Dhahab, an Arab historical encyclopedia. We also have the archaeological evidence from various Asian countries, information from the Swahili oral and religious traditions and modern research now being conducted in this field.
When researching about East Africa the source most often cited is the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. This is the earliest detailed account about Swahili trade. This book was written around the first century by a Greek ship captain living in Egypt. It discusses Swahili imports and exports, their habits and hospitality and many things about their skills and interest.
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about Africa is the belief that in the past Africans never ventured outside their homeland. This belief has proven to be a myth because in ancient times it was a generally held view amongst the Swahili that all male children were born sailors. When we look at the Swahili religious practices we find that early in their history the Swahili accepted Islam. This faith became their dominant religion. Islam also helped develop them as a mercantile sea-faring people because the pursuit of trade, commerce and traveling to distant lands are highly encouraged in the Islamic faith. "Go in quest of knowledge, even unto China." was a popular saying of Mohammed, the founding prophet of Islam. Other sayings of his include "Travel for vigor and profit", and "The timid merchant gains nothing but disappointment while the bold one makes a living."
Next
Chinese sculpture of an African merchant from Zanzibar.
This piece dates back to China's Tang Dynasty 618 A.D - 907 A.D.
When we turn our attention to some of the more ancient Chinese writings we find a few hints suggesting Swahili sailors arrived on Chinese shores. An interesting passage can be found in the Ch'en-han-shu. This document discusses China's maritime trade links with other countries during the early Han Dynasty. It states:
Going again by boat about four months, there is the country of Yi-li-mo. Going by land about ten days, there is the country of Fu-kan-tu-lu, two months beyond again, there was Huang-chih; and from Huang-chih Emperor P'ing received an envoy who brought a rhinoceros as a present.
Bear in mind rhinos are indigenous to Africa. In the past, a Swahili trading center existed on the island of Zanzibar. This is a small island located just off the coast of East Africa. "Zanj" or "Zaniji" was the term medieval Arabs used for east African peoples. The name still survives today. It can be seen in the island named "Zanzibar". The term "Zanzibar" derived from "zanj-bahr". "Zanj-bahr" merely means "coast of the Zanj". Interestingly, the term "zanj" resurfaced in an Arab writing of 1154 AD. The passage speaks about India and China establishing trade links with one another. It stated India fell into a state of confusion and as a result the Chinese had to withdraw their trading post and establish them on the islands of a place it called "Zanedji".
And it was said that when there were rebellions in China and injustice and excesses prevailed in India, the Chinese transferred their commerce to Zanzibar and the dependent islands nearby. They entered into relations with the inhabitants and felt very comfortable with them because of their fairness, the pleasantness of their conduct, and the ease with which they transacted business. And so it is for that reason that the island prospered and travelers to it were many.
Documents from China's Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD) have also provided some details. The Sung records of 1083 AD speak of another foreign envoy visiting the imperial court. The last three characters in this envoy's name translate as "the zanj". The document stated since the envoy traveled such a long distance, the emperor decided to do something special for him:
...besides giving him the same presents for which he formerly bestowed on him, added thereto two thousand ounces of silver.
Several contemporary writers on east African culture have noted in ancient times the Swahili possessed the capability to build and navigate large ships. For example, in one of his more recent books, historian Basil Davidson notes:
All this reflected the Swahili role as market middleman, linking the caravans of the interior with the ships from overseas. Their own entrepreneurs traveled far in both directions, sharing in the caravan trade with the kingdoms of the Zimbabwe culture, and also sharing in the maritime skills of the region. Like the Arabs and Indians, the Swahili had the sailing and navigating expertise...to voyage out of sight of land for long distances; and they possessed these skills many years before such things were learned in the Atlantic waters.
Davidson has actually discovered Chinese testimonials of Swahili sailors visiting their country. He writes:
A Chinese commissioner of foreign trade in Fukien province of southern China recorded in 1226 that the East African cities imported 'white cotton cloth, porcelain, copper, and red cottons' by way of ships that came every year...
Substantial findings have been yielded by archaeological excavations in East Africa. Researchers have uncovered several plates and bowls in East Africa with Chinese characters written on them. Research has also turned up thousands of ancient coins found at various sites in the region. During the 1950s G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville began work on systematically classifying the ancient coins discovered. By 1959 he had classified a total of 19,600 coins. In 1960 Freeman-Grenville published his results in the Journal of African History. This journal presented a few details about the coins he examined. His study revealed a lot of the coins discovered were not from East Africa. It was discovered 233 of the coins came from China. Five of the coins dated back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) in China, 212 from the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD), six from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and ten were from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD).
The study of ancient Chinese artwork has also provided evidence to us. The Chinese made small sculptures of the Swahili merchants visiting their country. In his book, Black Jade: The African Presence in the Ancient East, art historian James E. Brunson displays a miniature clay figure of a Swahili sailor. This clay figure was actually unearthed in China. It was made in the likeness of a merchant from the east African island of Zanzibar. The piece dates back to China's Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).
One of many types of East African trading ships.
These ships were used to sail northward to Arabia and eastward to India, Indonesia, Malaysia and China.
There also exist a record of an eyewitness account of Swahili merchants in the Far East. The Portuguese trader Tome Pires lived in Malaysia from 1512 to 1515 AD. In his memoir he reported seeing in Malaysia peoples from the east African cities of Kilwa, Mombosa and Malindi. The most famed and well documented Swahili visits to China center around the trade links Chinese and African people established during the 1400s. On September 20, 1414 sailors from the east African city of Malindi had presented a very extraordinary present to the emperor of China. The ruler of Malindi ordered his ambassadors to tranship a giraffe to China. Louis Levathes in her book, When China Ruled the Seas, tells us the Chinese:
...had never seen the creature before and mistook it for the mythical qilin, one of the four sacred animals in China, along with the dragon, the phoenix, and the tortoise. The qilin was believed to make its appearance only in times of great peace and prosperity. It was said to have the body of a musk deer, the tail of an ox, the forehead of a wolf, the hooves of a horse, and a fleshy horn like a unicorn. Other descriptions noted that the male animal, called simply lin, sometimes had two or three horns. The qilin did not eat meat and avoided treading on any living thing, even grass, and thus became for the Chinese a symbol of goodness, appearing only in a land well governed or when a sage was born. Confucius' mother was thought to have become pregnant by a qilin when she stepped on the footprint of the animal while walking in the woods.
When the Malindi sailors unveiled this creature at the imperial court the court officials gathered closer "to gaze at it and their joy knew no end." The emperor was so impressed with the gift that he ordered a calligrapher named Shen Tu to paint the animal. This famous painting now sits in the National Palace Museum of Taipei. The painting contains classical Chinese characters retelling the story of the giraffe being transported and presented to the court by African ambassadors. Shen Tu also composed a poem commemorating the animal:
Back Next For the full article please go here:
www.blackjadeworld.com/article2.html
The beginning of the end when they showed up. Having notthing worth-while to trade but with plenty of fire power they did this:
THE EAST COAST OF AFRICA
DUARTE BARBOSA
Sofala
Going forward in the direction of India there is a river of no great size upon which up the stream is a town of the
Moors [African Muslims] which they call Sofala, close to which the King our Lord [Portuguese King Manuel I]
possesses a fort. These Moors have dwelt there a long time by reason of the great traffic which they carried on
with the heathen of the mainland. The Moors of this place speak Arabic and have a king over them who is
subject to the King our Lord.
And the manner of their traffic was this: they came in small vessels named zambucos from the kingdoms of
Kilwa, Mombasa, and Malindi, bringing many cotton cloths, some spotted and others white and blue; also some
of silk, and many small beads, grey, red, and yellow, which things come to the said kingdoms from the great
kingdom of Cambay [on the coast of northwest India] in other greater ships. And these wares the said Moors
who came from Malindi and Mombasa paid for in gold at such a price that those merchants departed well
pleased...
Kilwa
Going along the coast from the town of Mozambique, there is an island hard by the mainland which is called
Kilwa, in which is a Moorish town with many fair houses of stone and mortar, with many windows after our
fashion, very well arranged in streets, with many flat roofs. The doors are of wood, well carved, with excellent
joinery. Around it are streams and orchards and fruit-gardens with many channels of sweet water. It has a
Moorish king over it...Before the King our Lord sent out his expedition to discover India, the Moors of Sofala,
Cuama, Angoya and Mozambique were all subject to the King of Kilwa, who was the most mighty king among
them. And in this town was great plenty of gold, as no ships passed toward Sofala without first coming to this
island...
This town was taken by force from its king by the Portuguese, as, moved by arrogance, he refused to obey the
King our Lord. There took many prisoners and the king fled from the island, and His Highness ordered that a
fort should be built there, and kept it under his rule and governance...
Mombasa
Further on, an advance along the coast toward India, there is an isle hard by the mainland, on which is a town
called Mombasa...This Mombasa is a land very full of food. Here are found many very fine sheep with round
tails, cows and other cattle in great plenty, and many fowls, all of which are exceedingly fat. There is much
millet and rice, sweet and bitter oranges, lemons, pomegranates, Indian figs, vegetables of diverse kinds, and
much sweet water. The men are often times at war...but at peace with those of the mainland, and they carry on
trade with them, obtaining great amounts of honey, wax, and ivory.
The king of this city refused to obey the commands of the King our Lord, and through this arrogance he lost it,
and our Portuguese took it from him by force. He fled away, and they slew many of his people and also took
captive many, both men and women, in such sort that it was left ruined and plundered and burned. Of gold and
silver great booty was taken here, bangles, bracelets, earrings and gold beads, also great store of copper with
other rich wares in great quantity, and the town was left in ruins.
The City of Brava
Yet further along the coast, beyond these places, is a great town of Moors, of very fine stone and mortar houses,
called Brava. It has no king, but is ruled by elders, and ancients of the land, who are the persons held in the
highest esteem, and who have the chief dealings in merchandise of diverse kinds. And this place was destroyed
by the Portuguese, who slew many of its people and carried many into captivity, and took great spoil of gold
and silver and goods. Thenceforth many of them fled away toward the inland country, forsaking the town; yet
after had been destroyed the Portuguese again settled and peopled it, so that now it is as prosperous as it was
before.
staffwww.fullcoll.edu/amande/barbosa.pdf
Anansi's comments; then hundreds of years later the decendants of those who did the plundering would reflect on the supposedly lack of civilizations of the peoples of Africa and have the nerve to question their very humanity.
About Axumite power
www.dskmariam.org/artsandlitreature/litreature/pdf/aksum.pdf
www.blackjadeworld.com/article3.html
www.assatashakur.org/forum/they-all-look-like...
IT hit me like a ton of bricks...we have being doing this for a longtime before the interlude of Europeans...the more things change the more they remaind the same. the players may have changed somewhat but we are not exactly a bunch of johnny come lately. This thread is a Shout out to them.
The following article is an excerpt from the e-book
They Came Before Marco Polo,
by Khalifa A.Khaliq
Swahili Sailors in Early China
ln 133l a very famous scholar and world traveler from the City of Fez, Morocco traveled down the east coast of Africa. This traveler's name was Ibn Battuta. Ibn Battuta left in his memoir descriptions of all the foreign cities he visited all over the world.
When he went to East Africa he visited the famous city of Kilwa. Ibn Battuta described Kilwa as "one of the most beautiful and well constructed towns in the world." In the city of Kilwa government officials, teachers and accomplished business men greeted Ibn Battuta.
The people of Kilwa are generally called "Swahili". Today, as in the past, the Swahili people mainly reside in East Africa. The name "Swahili" comes from the Arabic term "Sahel" or "Swahil". These words mean "shore" or "coastline". Since they resided along the coastal areas these east African peoples called themselves "Swahili" meaning "people of the coastline".
The period when the Swahili people initially occupied East Africa goes back more than 2000 years. Initially small groups coming from other parts of Africa began to settle in the area. These groups established small villages along this east coast area. Because of its close proximity, these peoples took to the ocean. Due to their frequent contact with the Indian Ocean their ocean navigational capabilities and ship sailing skills evolved to a high level. Soon the Swahili people were able to voyage for long distances and for extended periods across the Indian Ocean.
The Swahili eventually made contact with other countries along the Indian Ocean. Swahili sailors were able to reach Arabia, India, Indonesia and even China. Strong trade links were established between East Africa and these other nations. The Swahili became very wealthy due to these trade links. Between the 10th to the 15th century more than 30 trading-cities or trading~empires developed along the east coast of Africa. These cities existed in the areas which today are called Kenya, Tanzania and the island of Zanzibar.
During the peak period of this commerce, on any given day, Swahili sailors could be seen loading their large ships with gold, iron, ivory and coconuts, and unloading from them textiles and jewelry from India and exquisite porcelain from China. The Swahili also saw ships from China and other nations pulling into their harbors. These ships were making frequent stops at Lamu, Malindi, Mombosa and other trading city-states along the east African coast. These cities had developed into affluent thriving cosmopolitan cultures due to this trade. East African ivory was in high demand during this period and this ivory found its way into India, the Persian Gulf and China. South African gold was also in high demand.
Three major items used in East African trade. Ivory, gold and salt. African elephant tusks were the source of most of Asia's ivory.
Gold coins were much sought after in North Africa and cylinders of salt were in demand in South Africa.
In 1500 the Portuguese sailed to East Africa for the first time. This expedition was under the command of Pedro Alvares Cabral. When the Portuguese saw the Swahili they were astonished. One sailor on the ship wrote:
ln this land there are rich merchants and there is much gold and sliver and amber and pearls. Those of the land wear clothes of fine cotton and of silk and many fine things, and they are blackmen.
The liveliest and most prosperous city in all of East Africa during this period was the island of Kilwa. The island essential1y functioned like that of a market middleman. The Kilwa rulers controlled the exchange of goods between inner Africa and other nations along the Indian Ocean. This middleman role made the Kilwa rulers some of the wealthiest individuals on the entire continent. In 196l Nevill Chitic unearthed the mosque and pa1ace of the last Kilwa ruler. This structure is called the "Husuni Kubwa". It was the largest domestic residence in all of East Africa. The palace had wel1 over 100 rooms, with galleries, patios, and separate sections for residential and commercial purposes.
The citizens of Kilwa possessed very lavish, modern looking homes on the is1and. Some of their homes were actually two to three stories high. Many of them contained rugs from Persia, jewelry from India, spices from Southeast Asia and bowls from China. The Swahili made their homes out of the most available materials: namely, mangrove poles and coral. The main building material was a coarse vesicular coral broken into irregular blocks. When this coral is initially taken from the reef it is very soft and easily cut. As it is exposed to weather and rain, though, it starts to harden and become more durable. This need for the coral to weather meant buildings were often erected in stages over several years. The houses often had very impressive entrances. They usually had large arched doorways which led to private courtyards. A wide raised bank usually ran around three sides of the courtyard and provided space to sit. In this space visitors could be received and business transactions could be conducted. Usually a large narrow reception room, with wide doors and long windows, faced onto the court. Private rooms, often beautifully decorated, led off the reception rooms.
When we look at the documents and sources on Swahili or East African trade we find early Arab writings mentioning a few details here and there about the Swahili traders. We find them mentioned in such sources as the Muruj al-Dhahab, an Arab historical encyclopedia. We also have the archaeological evidence from various Asian countries, information from the Swahili oral and religious traditions and modern research now being conducted in this field.
When researching about East Africa the source most often cited is the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. This is the earliest detailed account about Swahili trade. This book was written around the first century by a Greek ship captain living in Egypt. It discusses Swahili imports and exports, their habits and hospitality and many things about their skills and interest.
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about Africa is the belief that in the past Africans never ventured outside their homeland. This belief has proven to be a myth because in ancient times it was a generally held view amongst the Swahili that all male children were born sailors. When we look at the Swahili religious practices we find that early in their history the Swahili accepted Islam. This faith became their dominant religion. Islam also helped develop them as a mercantile sea-faring people because the pursuit of trade, commerce and traveling to distant lands are highly encouraged in the Islamic faith. "Go in quest of knowledge, even unto China." was a popular saying of Mohammed, the founding prophet of Islam. Other sayings of his include "Travel for vigor and profit", and "The timid merchant gains nothing but disappointment while the bold one makes a living."
Next
Chinese sculpture of an African merchant from Zanzibar.
This piece dates back to China's Tang Dynasty 618 A.D - 907 A.D.
When we turn our attention to some of the more ancient Chinese writings we find a few hints suggesting Swahili sailors arrived on Chinese shores. An interesting passage can be found in the Ch'en-han-shu. This document discusses China's maritime trade links with other countries during the early Han Dynasty. It states:
Going again by boat about four months, there is the country of Yi-li-mo. Going by land about ten days, there is the country of Fu-kan-tu-lu, two months beyond again, there was Huang-chih; and from Huang-chih Emperor P'ing received an envoy who brought a rhinoceros as a present.
Bear in mind rhinos are indigenous to Africa. In the past, a Swahili trading center existed on the island of Zanzibar. This is a small island located just off the coast of East Africa. "Zanj" or "Zaniji" was the term medieval Arabs used for east African peoples. The name still survives today. It can be seen in the island named "Zanzibar". The term "Zanzibar" derived from "zanj-bahr". "Zanj-bahr" merely means "coast of the Zanj". Interestingly, the term "zanj" resurfaced in an Arab writing of 1154 AD. The passage speaks about India and China establishing trade links with one another. It stated India fell into a state of confusion and as a result the Chinese had to withdraw their trading post and establish them on the islands of a place it called "Zanedji".
And it was said that when there were rebellions in China and injustice and excesses prevailed in India, the Chinese transferred their commerce to Zanzibar and the dependent islands nearby. They entered into relations with the inhabitants and felt very comfortable with them because of their fairness, the pleasantness of their conduct, and the ease with which they transacted business. And so it is for that reason that the island prospered and travelers to it were many.
Documents from China's Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD) have also provided some details. The Sung records of 1083 AD speak of another foreign envoy visiting the imperial court. The last three characters in this envoy's name translate as "the zanj". The document stated since the envoy traveled such a long distance, the emperor decided to do something special for him:
...besides giving him the same presents for which he formerly bestowed on him, added thereto two thousand ounces of silver.
Several contemporary writers on east African culture have noted in ancient times the Swahili possessed the capability to build and navigate large ships. For example, in one of his more recent books, historian Basil Davidson notes:
All this reflected the Swahili role as market middleman, linking the caravans of the interior with the ships from overseas. Their own entrepreneurs traveled far in both directions, sharing in the caravan trade with the kingdoms of the Zimbabwe culture, and also sharing in the maritime skills of the region. Like the Arabs and Indians, the Swahili had the sailing and navigating expertise...to voyage out of sight of land for long distances; and they possessed these skills many years before such things were learned in the Atlantic waters.
Davidson has actually discovered Chinese testimonials of Swahili sailors visiting their country. He writes:
A Chinese commissioner of foreign trade in Fukien province of southern China recorded in 1226 that the East African cities imported 'white cotton cloth, porcelain, copper, and red cottons' by way of ships that came every year...
Substantial findings have been yielded by archaeological excavations in East Africa. Researchers have uncovered several plates and bowls in East Africa with Chinese characters written on them. Research has also turned up thousands of ancient coins found at various sites in the region. During the 1950s G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville began work on systematically classifying the ancient coins discovered. By 1959 he had classified a total of 19,600 coins. In 1960 Freeman-Grenville published his results in the Journal of African History. This journal presented a few details about the coins he examined. His study revealed a lot of the coins discovered were not from East Africa. It was discovered 233 of the coins came from China. Five of the coins dated back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) in China, 212 from the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD), six from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and ten were from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD).
The study of ancient Chinese artwork has also provided evidence to us. The Chinese made small sculptures of the Swahili merchants visiting their country. In his book, Black Jade: The African Presence in the Ancient East, art historian James E. Brunson displays a miniature clay figure of a Swahili sailor. This clay figure was actually unearthed in China. It was made in the likeness of a merchant from the east African island of Zanzibar. The piece dates back to China's Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).
One of many types of East African trading ships.
These ships were used to sail northward to Arabia and eastward to India, Indonesia, Malaysia and China.
There also exist a record of an eyewitness account of Swahili merchants in the Far East. The Portuguese trader Tome Pires lived in Malaysia from 1512 to 1515 AD. In his memoir he reported seeing in Malaysia peoples from the east African cities of Kilwa, Mombosa and Malindi. The most famed and well documented Swahili visits to China center around the trade links Chinese and African people established during the 1400s. On September 20, 1414 sailors from the east African city of Malindi had presented a very extraordinary present to the emperor of China. The ruler of Malindi ordered his ambassadors to tranship a giraffe to China. Louis Levathes in her book, When China Ruled the Seas, tells us the Chinese:
...had never seen the creature before and mistook it for the mythical qilin, one of the four sacred animals in China, along with the dragon, the phoenix, and the tortoise. The qilin was believed to make its appearance only in times of great peace and prosperity. It was said to have the body of a musk deer, the tail of an ox, the forehead of a wolf, the hooves of a horse, and a fleshy horn like a unicorn. Other descriptions noted that the male animal, called simply lin, sometimes had two or three horns. The qilin did not eat meat and avoided treading on any living thing, even grass, and thus became for the Chinese a symbol of goodness, appearing only in a land well governed or when a sage was born. Confucius' mother was thought to have become pregnant by a qilin when she stepped on the footprint of the animal while walking in the woods.
When the Malindi sailors unveiled this creature at the imperial court the court officials gathered closer "to gaze at it and their joy knew no end." The emperor was so impressed with the gift that he ordered a calligrapher named Shen Tu to paint the animal. This famous painting now sits in the National Palace Museum of Taipei. The painting contains classical Chinese characters retelling the story of the giraffe being transported and presented to the court by African ambassadors. Shen Tu also composed a poem commemorating the animal:
Back Next For the full article please go here:
www.blackjadeworld.com/article2.html
The beginning of the end when they showed up. Having notthing worth-while to trade but with plenty of fire power they did this:
THE EAST COAST OF AFRICA
DUARTE BARBOSA
Sofala
Going forward in the direction of India there is a river of no great size upon which up the stream is a town of the
Moors [African Muslims] which they call Sofala, close to which the King our Lord [Portuguese King Manuel I]
possesses a fort. These Moors have dwelt there a long time by reason of the great traffic which they carried on
with the heathen of the mainland. The Moors of this place speak Arabic and have a king over them who is
subject to the King our Lord.
And the manner of their traffic was this: they came in small vessels named zambucos from the kingdoms of
Kilwa, Mombasa, and Malindi, bringing many cotton cloths, some spotted and others white and blue; also some
of silk, and many small beads, grey, red, and yellow, which things come to the said kingdoms from the great
kingdom of Cambay [on the coast of northwest India] in other greater ships. And these wares the said Moors
who came from Malindi and Mombasa paid for in gold at such a price that those merchants departed well
pleased...
Kilwa
Going along the coast from the town of Mozambique, there is an island hard by the mainland which is called
Kilwa, in which is a Moorish town with many fair houses of stone and mortar, with many windows after our
fashion, very well arranged in streets, with many flat roofs. The doors are of wood, well carved, with excellent
joinery. Around it are streams and orchards and fruit-gardens with many channels of sweet water. It has a
Moorish king over it...Before the King our Lord sent out his expedition to discover India, the Moors of Sofala,
Cuama, Angoya and Mozambique were all subject to the King of Kilwa, who was the most mighty king among
them. And in this town was great plenty of gold, as no ships passed toward Sofala without first coming to this
island...
This town was taken by force from its king by the Portuguese, as, moved by arrogance, he refused to obey the
King our Lord. There took many prisoners and the king fled from the island, and His Highness ordered that a
fort should be built there, and kept it under his rule and governance...
Mombasa
Further on, an advance along the coast toward India, there is an isle hard by the mainland, on which is a town
called Mombasa...This Mombasa is a land very full of food. Here are found many very fine sheep with round
tails, cows and other cattle in great plenty, and many fowls, all of which are exceedingly fat. There is much
millet and rice, sweet and bitter oranges, lemons, pomegranates, Indian figs, vegetables of diverse kinds, and
much sweet water. The men are often times at war...but at peace with those of the mainland, and they carry on
trade with them, obtaining great amounts of honey, wax, and ivory.
The king of this city refused to obey the commands of the King our Lord, and through this arrogance he lost it,
and our Portuguese took it from him by force. He fled away, and they slew many of his people and also took
captive many, both men and women, in such sort that it was left ruined and plundered and burned. Of gold and
silver great booty was taken here, bangles, bracelets, earrings and gold beads, also great store of copper with
other rich wares in great quantity, and the town was left in ruins.
The City of Brava
Yet further along the coast, beyond these places, is a great town of Moors, of very fine stone and mortar houses,
called Brava. It has no king, but is ruled by elders, and ancients of the land, who are the persons held in the
highest esteem, and who have the chief dealings in merchandise of diverse kinds. And this place was destroyed
by the Portuguese, who slew many of its people and carried many into captivity, and took great spoil of gold
and silver and goods. Thenceforth many of them fled away toward the inland country, forsaking the town; yet
after had been destroyed the Portuguese again settled and peopled it, so that now it is as prosperous as it was
before.
staffwww.fullcoll.edu/amande/barbosa.pdf
Anansi's comments; then hundreds of years later the decendants of those who did the plundering would reflect on the supposedly lack of civilizations of the peoples of Africa and have the nerve to question their very humanity.
About Axumite power
www.dskmariam.org/artsandlitreature/litreature/pdf/aksum.pdf
www.blackjadeworld.com/article3.html
www.assatashakur.org/forum/they-all-look-like...