Širazi
Širazi (eng. Shirazi, sva. Mbwera) su narod koji živi na Svahilijskoj obali (Zanguebar, Zanj, Zingium) i obližnje otoke u Indijskom oceanu.[1] Osobito su koncentriani na otocima područja Zanzibara, otoku Pembi i otočju Komorima.[2][1] Podrijetlo im se povezuje s gradom Šīrāzom (pokrajina Fars) i jugozapadnom obalnom regijom Perzije (današnji Iran). Širazi su poznati po pomaganju širenja islama na Svahilijskoj obali, svojoj ulozi u uspostavi arapsko-svahilijskih sultanata, svojem utjecaju na razvitak jezika svahilija te bogatstva koje su nagomilali od trgovanja robama i afričkim robljem, uglavnom govornicima bantuskih jezika. Istočnoafričko obalno područje i obližnji otici služili su im kao komercijalna baza.[1][3][4][note 1] Širazi govore raznim oblicima svahilija. Po vjeri su šijitski i sunitski muslimani. Širazi su ostavili trag u toponimima, poput sela Shirazi u Keniji.
Dvije su glavne teorije o podrijetlu Širaza.
Prva je teza zasnovana na usmenoj predaji koja kaže da su se doseljenici iz regije Širaza u jugozapadnom Iranu izravno naselili u razne kontinentske luke i na otoka istočne Afrike. Doselili su se morskim putem u 10. stoljeću, na područje između Mogadishua u Somaliji na sjeveru sve do Sofale na jugu.[7][8] Prema Irvingu Kaplanu, prije 7. stoljeća priobalje koje su pohodili perzijski migranti nastanjivali su necrnački (ne-negroidski) Afrikanci. Do vremena perzijskog naseljavanja ovog kraja, ove prethodne stanovnika raselili su nadolazeći Bantui i Niloti.[9] Još je ljudi iz raznih dijelova Perzijskog zaljeva nastavilo seliti na Svahilijsku obalu sljedećih nekoliko stoljeća i to je formiralo suvremene Širaze.[10]
- ↑ a b c Ari Nave. 2010. Anthony Appiah (ur.); Henry Louis Gates (ur.) (ur.). Encyclopedia of Africa (engleski). Oxford University Press. str. 379. ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9.
Most scholars, however, believe that the Shirazi actually began their settlement of the East African coast in the twelfth century and that they originated in Somalia. Shirazi established themselves on the following islands: Lamu Kenya, Pemba Zanzibar, Mafia and Kilqa Kiswani all in Tanzania and Comoros. (...) Known for their mercantile skills, the Shirazi asserted themselves as ruling elites as early as the twelfth century on the islands that were their base. Trade in gold, ivory and slaves brought prosperity to the Shirazi
- ↑ Tanzania Ethnic Groups, East Africa Living Encyclopedia, pristupljeno 28. lipnja 2010. (eng.)
- ↑ August H. Nimtz. 1980. Islam and Politics in East Africa (engleski). University of Minnesota Press. str. 3–11, 30–33, 39–47. ISBN 978-0-8166-0963-5, Quote: "The Shirazi were classified as native, that is, Africans, and this they were of low status. Prior to the colonial era, the Shirazi and Arabs saw themselves, for the most part, as one community. (...) Unlike the previous periods in which African captives were usually taken to Persian Gulf areas to work primarily as domestic laborers, by the nineteenth century, most slaves were being utilized on the vast clove and plantations on the East African coast and offshore islands. (...) Arab rule, from this period until its demise at the hands of the European powers, became virtually synonymous with slavery and slave ownership." (...) "Though Shirazi ownership of slaves was never as extensive as the Arabs, slaves were a major source of their wealth"
- ↑ Per O. Hernæs, Tore Iversen (ur.). 2002. Slavery Across Time and Space: Studies in Slavery in Medieval Europe and Africa (engleski). University of Virginia. str. 23. ISBN 8277650418. Pristupljeno 28. studenoga 2016.
- ↑ Alexander Mikaberidze. 2011. Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. str. 969. ISBN 978-1-59884-336-1.
the Bantu-speaking peoples of East Africa were called the Zanj and blacks from south of the Sahara were called al-Aswad
- ↑ Ronald Segal. 2002. Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora. Macmillan. str. 42. ISBN 978-0-374-52797-6, Quote: "As early as the late seventh century, black slaves known as the Zanj, associated with people from the East African coast, were put to agricultural work in a region that encompassed part of western Persia but mainly southern Iraq."
- ↑ Anthony Appiah; Henry Louis Gates. 2010. Encyclopedia of Africa (engleski). Oxford University Press. str. 379. ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9.
According to oral tradition, beginning in the tenth century immigrants from the Shiraz region of Persia (now Iran) settled the islands and mainland ports of coastal East Africa, from Mogadishu, Somalia, in the north to the Sofala coast of Mozambique in the south. Many scholars, however, believe that the Shirazi actually began their settlement of the East Africa coast in the twelfth century and that they originated in Somalia.
- ↑ Derek Nurse; Thomas Spear; Thomas T. Spear. 1985. The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an African Society, 800-1500. University of Pennsylvania Press. str. 70–79. ISBN 0-8122-1207-X
- ↑ Kaplan, Irving. 1967. Area handbook for Kenya (engleski). American University (Washington, D.C.). Foreign Area Studies. str. 38 & 42. Pristupljeno 28. studenoga 2016..
About 2,000 years ago Negroid Bantu and Nilotic groups pushed into the area of East Africa from the north and west in successive waves and displaced the Bushmanoid and other non-Negroid inhabitants of the area... The Shirazi, who were Islamized Persians, also arrived, and some towns, including Mombasa, came under Shirazi control for a time... Before the seventh century, non-Negroid people are thought to have inhabited the coastal areas visited by the early traders. After the seventh century, it is certain that the situation changed, for Negroid Africans were reported as inhabiting the coastal areas.
- ↑ J. D. Fage; Roland Oliver. 1975. The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3. Cambridge University Press. str. 201–202. ISBN 0521209811. Pristupljeno 18. listopada 2016.