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Al-Dimashqi (1325) Nukhabat ad-dahr
(Wonders of the world) from Damascus
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Taken from : the translation by M.A.F. Mehren 1874 / map out of the Miller atlas
Also called Dimichqi
The equator starts at the fortune and eternal islands in the western sea or green sea and goes east, to the north of the mountains of the moon (djabel al-Kamar) and the region called Sofala, of the land of the Zendjs and the isles in that area, passing the island Dybadjat between the Isle Sarandyb and the isle Seryra....
On the other side of the equator there were in the days of Ptolemy eight towns: Al-Komar, Aghna (Ceylon), Lokmerana, Dahna, Lenlemeh (west africa), Daghuta(east africa), Sefakis, Kegha....
Part of the big isle of Komr, as well as the islands of Wakwak and Kasmyn, stretch to the south, extend in the sea, as well as part of Daghuta, situated in the land of the Zendjs, on the shores of the pacific sea, close to Komor isle. Access to it is possible. It is possible to speak to its people. Those of Komar isle, the isle of Lohmerana and Dahna are of the pure color, long hair and easy mind compared with the Negroes of Kaldjur and Kuku....
First climate......... the northern part of the island of Qomar........ The archipelago of the Zendjs....... the sea of Yemen......... Berberah, the island of Soqotra........The northern part of the mountain chain called mountains of the moon, the two lakes from which leaves the river Nil and one more lake, the land of Demadem and Habyssinie are in this first climate.
(about rivers in the first climate). 36 (rivers) you find on the other side of the equator among those 4 are on the island of Qomor; they are called Aghbab, 10 come out of the mountains of the moon, er-Rahun on the island of Serendib, Djob, the big and the small one, in the land of Maqdashou, 2 in the land of Daghoutah, 3 in the land of Ousthiqoun, 3 on the island of Anfoudjeh, the river Sefaqis, the river Temin, the river d'Alhou on the other side of the mountains of the moon , the river of Loqmeraneh , the river Dahneh and 2 rivers on the island of Serirah.
Alexander the Great divided the people of the earth: he called one part Europe, consisting of ....... another Ifriquia consisting of Egypt, the Arab gulf , Habesh, Zendj, and the southern ocean.
According to the opinion of Caid el-Andalousi , the Negroes and the Berbers are one race to the north of them are situated the Koptes and the Yfrendj; the Indians and the Zendjs.......
The Bedjadiq is a kind of Bedjadi (the granate stone); there are mines of it in the land of the Zendj, and pieces are found as big as one Rathl of Baghdad.
The emery; stone containing iron, hard, can be used to shape all stones and minerals with the exception of the hyacinth and the pearl, which are shaped with a diamond that can shape all stones. Its color is yellow or black, a little bid mixed with yellow, there are mines in China, India, on the island of Ceylon, and the land of the Zendjs; the best are from Nubia from around Aswan. Completely pulverized and bedded in gum, baked in the fire, so as to make it saturated in emerite. This way round cakes are made which all gem stone cutters use for sharpen up their gems.
The oil stone, according to Aristotle is red with bluish light; touched by oil it is changed , the oil penetrating right to the center. It comes from Sofala of Zandj. When it is rubbed over a garment stained with oil, it removes all traces immediately.
Those two lakes with their rivers are situated between the 50 deg and 56 deg longitude and between 6 deg and 7 deg latitude on the other side of the equator. The eastern lake is called lake Koukou or Tamin of the Sudan the western one lake Demadem, of Qaldjour and Hedjami. From each of these lakes 4 rivers leave, who after having passed through the areas where the Negroes live, unite at 7 latitude in a third lake of considerable size, called Djaus lake, lake of the flowing together or lake Koura of the Sudan, with a circumference of 6 days when following all the bends of its shores, peopled with Negro tribes, of Djaous and Koura. From there three big rivers leave, of which one flows to the west, called river of Ghanah, the other to the east declining to the south called the river of Demadem or of Maqdashou; the third called river of Nubia or Nil, goes to the north......
Those two rivers pass the city of Baghdad, the Tigris in the east, The Euphrates in the west. Ships coming from China, of Yamamat, Hind, of Zendj and other countries, go up river to the town on the Tigris.
The river of the Damadim is a great stream with copious water. It too issues from lake Kuri (or Kourah) and passes through the territory (majalat) of the Damdam of the Sudan and Lamlam of the Zunuj and Qaljur and Hajami of the Habash being for one month between steep mountains where no profit is made of this water ; then the water goes to the east traversing in ten days the land of the high Khasse, of Ablin, of Akaky and of Kenawer during one and a half month towards the north-east; then it returns to the south through the land of Hawiah up to the red Makdishu, where it has an arm called Wabi-river, which goes through the lands of Zaila, Badi, Zengbar, and the coast of Berbera, it splits in three arms, one of which is the big Gubb, the other one the small Gubb, the third the river of Demdem. On the shores of these three rivers live the Zeng tribes, and the Sudan Negroes, and among the cities there is Sofalat az-Zeng and Kiljata. All three end up in the southern part of the Zeng sea, 2 deg or 3 deg on the other side of the equator.
On the island of Dhoudha, close to the coast of Maqdashou, at a distance of one and a half days from the
island of Habesh, there is a source which gives bird to a river, of which the water has the smell of camphor.
Towards the south we know the coast of the great Komar island. The island is four months long, but the southern part is uninhabited, like all the land over there. There is only one single entrance to the sea which is in the strait made by the mountains of Ustykun, it is a mountain chain, stretching for 200 miles into the sea, there are high mountains among it and it continues east to where the chain of Komar starts and the land of Daghuta....
In this strait between these mountains there is a big current, because of the sea movements.... so bad that passing it is impossible for ships big or small, it is 100 miles long......after this strait the water slows into a sea up to the mountain chain of Komar and Daghuta, where is the gulf of Daghuta. There the sea forms two channels, on the east and west side of Komar island and a third one which separates the island of Anfudja and Seryra from Komar island. These three channels end into the Indian sea, which carries different names.... at the end are the Wakwak islands after the mountain chain of Ustykun
On the land of Komar are 4 big rivers called Aghbab, and about 20 towns. The biggest is called Dahna, Lokmerana is the place where the king lives, and the capital is called Aghna...
The island of Anfoudja is long and 2000 miles in circumference. It has unused land and desserts. The people live in the northern part on higher altitudes, where they see the sea on the left and on the right.
Then the sea reaches the coasts of Dagouta, and the ones of the land of Zandj-ez-Zendj, of Maqdashou the red one and the land of Kalbeh, inhabited by Zendj Muslims, having reached its biggest extension along the equator, she takes a direction in a circular form , sometimes towards the North-west sometimes North-east; here it is called sea of Berberie or Red Sea, because of the dangers the navigators meet there. This sea stretches to the north, up to a black mountain in the sea which is called Khafouny, no ship passes there without the risk of failing. That is why when approaching one does his vows and humbles oneself before the Almighty, it is only through His grace that one is saved. Then it passes the coasts of Hawya, called this way because it resembles hell because of the heat and the intensity of the fire of the sun, then those of Berberah, a part of Demdem and lower Abyssinie......
To the east is the sea of Qomor or Qomar or Loqmeraneh.
Towards the south we arrive at the sea of Zendj or of Berberah, of which the coasts are called Zendjbar.
The islands of Diba (Laccadive and the Maldive) are a coherent group, with Arab people; the biggest island is called Diba or Diab, it is 400 miles in circumference, you find there the banana tree, sugar cane, the coconut tree and the cassier. It is a halting place for the ships going to Kish, Hormuz, India, Yemen. Magadoxo on the Zanguebar and Abyssinie.
The island of Serendib ( in Indonesia).....
One finds there the giraffe, an animal with a remarkable shape; it has the neck of a camel, the skin of a leopard and of the deer, the horns of the antelope, the teeth of the cow, the head of the camel and the back of the coq. The front legs are very long just as the neck; it measures 10 el and more but it has the rear legs very short and without movements. Only the front legs have knees like with other animals, because the neck is to short in comparison with the front legs when it wants to graze. When walking, it puts the right front foot forwards together with left back, this is different from other animals, the animal is naturally nice and sociable towards the others, it is a herbivore, and its excrements are like the camel.
The island of Qomor or the island of Malai, long of 4 months and large of one month, is situated opposite the island of Serendib towards the south, there where this one is towards the north. .....
When the island (Komar) became to small for the population, they builded on the shores at the foot of the mountain, which carries the name of the people, which stretches up to the Sudan and the sources of the Nil. This island has in the neighborhood of the mountain of the Zendj gold and Hyacinthe mines. White and gray elephants live there also.....
It is also said that the bird Rokh lives there, he flies very high and on the east coast you everywhere find the feathers he lost and they are used to carry water, the shaft is very long, it is black and several inches thick. They are exported to Aden where they are known as feathers of the Rokh......
About the islands of the sea of the Zendj and the marvels of that sea, also called sea of Berbera or sea of Maqdashou the red one:
According to the geographers, the sea of the Zendj carries this name because it follows the shores of the land of Zendj; it is also called sea of Berbera, because its coasts are inhabited by a race of Negroes, speaking the Berbera language, of which the pronunciation is very fast, like of a man who is leaving, and Red Sea because of the dangerous waves, the high temperature and the fire that is visible at night. The land of the Zendj is situated towards the south under Canope, and the sea at its shores together with the Pacific, is like this one, covered in darkness. If ones goes south on this sea you see the two poles, south and north together, going further south the pole star together with the chariot disappears and a heap of unknown stars appear on the horizon.
Among the islands of this sea, Qambalou is among the islands of the Zendjs; it is densely populated, one can find there ebony, and pieces of gold.
The island of Thaisan, with a big and violent crater, which blows out fire with a terrible noise, so that nobody can live in its neighborhood, because of the enormous heat that reigns there.
The island of Berbera is populated by Muslim Negroes, who belong to the Zeidite sect and Shafiite.
The island of Qothroubia, circumference of 300 miles, has two villages from the Zendjs, and a very high mountain, where live the Gouls, called Qothroub, because of their ferocity.
The big group of islands of Zendja, situated according to Ptolemy at a longitude of 95 deg and latitude of 2 deg, consists of 700 islands, one close to the other, inhabited by the Zendjs, who feed on chicken peas and millet. On one of those islands, one dives for very expensive pearls. One day when a ship was there, a merchant who had with him a half bag of chicken peas, offers them for sale, he sells them at one pearl for each pea, his companions seeing this, sell their stuff at the same price, they make big profits. When they came back a second time, having lots of peas on board, the people refused to buy them, they had planted what they had bought the first time, This plant grows there very well and is seen all over, it is black from color.
To the tribes of the Negroes belong also the Zendj or the Zaghouah, called after Zagou, son of Qofth b. Micr b. Kham; they are divided in two tribes, the Qabliet and the Kendjewiat, the first name means ants, the second dogs. Their capital is Maqdashou, where the merchants of all countries go. It owns the coast called Zenjebar, which has several kingdoms. They are divided into several tribes, are most of the time naked, and are the most savage of all people. The land (of the Zendjs) is 700 parasangs long and wide, it has rivers and mountains, habitations and sand plains, it is combined with Daghuta and the coast of the Pacific where is the island of Komar.......The people who live on its borders are known for their enormous cruelty, they sharpen their teeth so they can eat the human flesh; they have no religion or religious opinion, but only the law ordained by their kings. The supreme king is called Touqlim (or tuqlim or buqlim) meaning 'son of the Lord' a name that has been conserved by all kings in all ages. Among the northern Zenj are some who have a literary language in their own tongue so that they compose discourses, inserting tearful homilies which they recite at gatherings on their festivals and commemorations.
About the other Negro tribes, who live on the shores of the sea of India and the one of Sind and Mend, they say they are brothers, descendants of Noufir b. Qopt or of Koush b. Kham.
The people of the equator and the surrounding areas; are the Zendj, the Negroes, the Abyssinians, the Nubians, they are all black; this color is caused by the sun which burns terribly hot there. Going up to the zenith twice a year never leaving to be close, producing a terrible heat, which makes their hair already dark, completely black, curled and thick, resembling hair touched by fire. The prove that they are really touched by fire is that they never grow. The skin is not dried up, because all dirt comes out of the body by the heat. Their brain in overcooked and they have little intelligence, their thoughts lack consistency, and their intellectual possibilities are small; you don't find with them opposing qualities like faith and disloyalty, righteousness and trickery. As they can not combine opposed ideas, they don't have laws, as legislation always has opposites in it, like the commandments and self defense, desire and abstinence; so no prophet was ever sent to them.
The nature of them resembles the primitive. It is given to them immediately by nature, without being thought. it is that what makes them react like animals without reflecting, and going immediately into action, like you can see the courage of the Lion, the tricks of the wolf, the cleverness of the fox, the shyness of the rabbit, the obedience of the dog, the force of the horse, the animals do not possess opposed qualities. Those people obey to their kings and their princes, because they have imposed to them their laws and government, what you also see among the animals.
The Negro has according to Galen 10 characteristics that one does not find among the whites, they are: black skin, curled hair, flat nose, big lips, clefty hands and feet, they smell bad, small intelligence, extremely petulant, and cannibalism.
The Zendjs are less burned then the Nubiens, because being to the east are exposed to the wind of the Indian and pacific sea.
He gives the following Arab saying: There are four qualities unknown in four people; they are, the freedom among the Greek, good faith among the Turks, greatness among the Copts, and sadness among the Zendjs.
The historians assert that the cause of the black complexion of the sons of Ham is that he had sexual intercourse with his wife while on the ship and Noah cursed him and prayed to God to modify his seed, so that she brought forth the Sudan. Another version is that Ham came upon Noah asleep with his privy parts uncovered by the wind. He told this to his brothers Sam and Yafath and they rose and covered him, turning their faces backward so that they might not see his shame. When Noah knew of this he said: Cursed is Ham, blessed is Sam, and may God multiply the seed of Yafath. But in truth, the fact is that the nature of their country demands that their characteristics should be as they are, contrary to those connected with whiteness, for most of them inhabit the south and west of the earth.