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Akhbar al-zaman (1000) (History of the Ages and Those Whom Events have Annihilated) writer unknown.
(sometimes attributed to Al-Masudi)
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Taken from : the French translation: L'Abrege des merveilles (1898)
An Account of Kan'an b. Ham.
He was the eldest of Ham's sons, and the first to corrupt the religion of Noah, peace be upon him....
Among the descendants of Sudan, son of Kan'an, are many nations, among them the Ishban, the Zanj, and many peoples that multiplied in the Maghrib, about 70 of them. They differ in their customs (af'al) and have kings.
The islands of the Zendj. They are inhabited by several races with different character and appearance, and governed by several kings who have different habits and beliefs. One finds there different kinds of animals.
The sea of the Zendj encloses several islands where one finds different kinds of colored shells (the wad and the halazounat), of which the people make jewelry. They collect the ivory of the elephants and in the season, the merchants of India and Sind come to buy it.
Close to China there is a place in the sea called Sandji. At this place the sea is at its worst, where there is the most wind, hurricanes, dangers, and the strangest things. Children resembling the Zendj climb into the boats, they are 5 inch high; they come out of the water............
The islands of the Zendjs. It is a big and stretched out archipelago. Everything you plant there dura (sorghum), roses, and other plants becomes black. There is there in that archipelago a kind of people called Mokhazzam (with the nose pierced ) of which the members have the nose and the lips pierced. One puts in those holes a chain, each worrier holds one of those man at the end of the chain, guides him and stops him from moving till the trumpets call to war. Then the chain is rolled around the neck and they are left to fight. Nobody can resist them; they destroy and eat everything that opposes them, and none leaves the ranks except when killed.
The Arabs are highly estimated by the Zendj, when an Arab passes by, they say; this one is from the country where the date grows; because the date is venerated with them and because the Arabs bring their children up on dates.
The Zendj have eloquent orators. Those who are man of God dress in tiger skins, and they hold in hand a stick with which they assemble the people, and they preach morning to evening, standing, calling to God, telling about the present king and the former ones.
The island of Socotra. There grows the myrrh of Socotora. The island is situated between the land of the Zendj and the one of the Arabs. Most of its people are Christians.........
A story of a shipwreck on an island where the sand is of gold. They were not far yet before the boat sank, all the gold was lost, nearly all died, except for some who saved themselves by swimming in the direction of Zendj and reached its shores.
Neighbors of the Abyssinians are the Zendj, on the sea coast whose kingdom is vast. They are descendents of Soudan, son of Kanaan they have several kings and kingdoms. The main king is called Kounah (in manuscript A and B; in C ; Kawiah; in M ; Kaznab) . The Zendj sharpen their teeth until they become very sharp, they have very big mouths and the front teeth are very white, because they eat a lot of fish. They have elephants of which they sell the tusks to merchants of neighboring places. They have islands, from which they collect shells which they keep or sell. They are divided into several nations in several countries.
The Kerk; This is a nation descending from Sudan, son of Kanaan; they are close to the people of Sind and the Zendj, who are their enemies. The Kerk are strong people of high statue, with long hair, pretty face, and experienced warriors. They have a king called Naksa, a very powerful man, who has several others under him. They are idolaters which came to them from Sind and Hind.
The Kerk have as neighbors on the side of the Zendj several nations and tribes, more then one can enumerate. The Zendj and the Kerk are neighbors of the Sind and the Hind (and the Bend), who are among the descendants of Kush, son of Cham............
An amalecide prince of Syria............ At the beginning of his 30th year of his reign, the Negroes of the land of the Zendj and Nubie want to attack his country. They assemble at the borders and destroy a lot. The king gathers the army groups from all over the country, and has ships equipped, he gives to one of his generals called Bilatis the commandment of 300,000 people, infantry as well as cavalry; he has them followed by another general at the head of equal forces; and on the sea he brings out 300 ships. Each of those ships has a priest on board to take care of its people. The king himself marches in the rear-guard with the rest of the army. The Egyptians meet the army of the Negroes, which had about one million men; and they make them flee. They kill many of them and they make many prisoners. Then they pursue them till they reach the lands of the elephants in the country of the Zendj. They take many of those animals and also lots of tigers, and they bring them to Egypt. The king has them build towers on the border on which they inscribe the history of this campaign, the date of the invasion of the Negroes and all the important facts of his reign.