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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Kilwa Dynastic Historiography: A Critical Study
Author:Saad, Elias
Year:1979
Periodical:History in Africa
Volume:6
Pages:177-209
Language:English
Geographic term:Tanzania
Subjects:history
Kilwa polity
genealogy
historical sources
History and Exploration
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3171745
Abstract:An unresolved problem in African historiography concerns the Arabic and Portuguese versions of the so-called Kilwa Chronicle. Scholars using these sixteenth-century sources have tended to assume that the Portugese version, which is essentially a list of the kings of Kilwa up to around 1500, is a transcription of the Arabic version known under the title of 'Kitab al-Sulwa'. The Portugusse account, however mentions kings who are emited in the 'Kitab'. The present paper demonstrates that the divergence between the two sources results from their varying perspectives on the dynastic politics and succession disputes. Before dealing with the peculiarities of each source, the author reconstructs the dynastic history of Kilwa as much as possible (the Shirasi dynasty of the thirteenth century, and the Mahdali dynasty of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries), trying to adhere to a chronological outline, though the close links between dynastic politics and historiography often make it necessary to anticipate the ensuinn discussion of the sources. Notes.
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