# Zanj

By [Sabitos](https://paragraph.com/@sabitos) · 2023-05-29

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**Zanj** ([Arabic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language): زَنْج, adj. زنجي, _Zanjī_; [Persian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language): زنگی, [romanized](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Persian): _Zangi_)[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-1)[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Steiner-2) was a name used by medieval [Muslim geographers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_in_medieval_Islam) to refer to both a certain portion of [Southeast Africa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Africa) (primarily the [Swahili Coast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili_Coast)) and to its [Bantu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantu_peoples) inhabitants.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Bagley-3) This word is also the origin of the place-names [Zanzibar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar) ("coast of the Zanji") and the [Sea of Zanj](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Zanj).

The [latinization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinisation_of_names) **Zingium** serves as an archaic name for the coastal area in modern [Kenya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya) and [Tanzania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzania) in southern [East Africa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa). The architecture of these commercial urban settlements are now a subject of study for [urban planning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_planning).[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Nezar_AlSayyad-4)[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-5) For centuries the coastal settlements were a source of ivory, gold, and [slaves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_slave_trade), from sections of the conquered hinterland, to the [Indian Ocean world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean_trade).[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Oliver-6)

Etymology
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_Zanj_ in Arabic means the "country of the blacks". Other transliterations include _Zenj_, _Zinj_, and _Zang_.[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Bagley2-7)[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Raunig2-8) Anthony Christie argued that the word _zanj_ or _zang_ may not be Arabic in origin: a Chinese form (僧祇 _sēngqí_) is recorded as early as 607 AD. Christie argued that the word is South East Asian in origin.[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-:0-9): 33  The [Javanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javanese_language) word _jenggi_ means African people, specifically the people of Zanzibar.[\[10\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-10): 740 

It is known that the [Indonesian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia) [Austronesian peoples](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austronesian_peoples) reached Madagascar by ca. 50–500 CE.[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Dewar19932-11)[\[12\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Burney20042-12) As for their route, one possibility is that the Indonesian Austronesians came directly across the Indian Ocean from [Java](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java) to [Madagascar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar). It is likely that they went through the [Maldives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maldives), where evidence of old Indonesian boat design and fishing technology persists until the present.[\[13\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-13)[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-:0-9): 32 

Geographers historically divided the eastern coast of Africa at large into several regions based on each region's respective inhabitants. Arab and [Chinese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_people) sources referred to the general area that was located to the south of [Misr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt) ([Egypt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt)), [Al-Habasha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Habash) ([Abyssinia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Empire)) and [Barbara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_\(region\)) ([Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia)) as _Zanj_.[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Raunig-14)

Zanj was situated in the [Southeast Africa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Africa) vicinity and was inhabited by Somalians and [Bantu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantu_languages)\-speaking peoples called the _Zanj_.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Bagley-3)[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Raunig-14)[\[15\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Ogot-15) The core area of Zanj occupation stretched from the territory south of present-day [Ras Kamboni](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_Kamboni)[\[16\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-16) to [Pemba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemba,_Tanzania) Island in [Tanzania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzania). South of Pemba lay [Sofala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofala) in modern [Mozambique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique), the northern boundary of which may have been [Pangani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangani). Beyond Sofala was the obscure realm of [Waq-Waq](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C4%81%E1%B8%B3w%C4%81%E1%B8%B3), also in Mozambique.[\[17\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-17)[\[18\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-18) The 10th-century Arab historian and geographer [Abu al-Hasan 'Alī al-Mas'ūdī](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_al-Hasan_%27Al%C4%AB_al-Mas%27%C5%ABd%C4%AB) describes Sofala as the furthest limit of Zanj settlement, and mentions its king's title as _Mfalme_, a Bantu word.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj#cite_note-Bagley-3)

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*Originally published on [Sabitos](https://paragraph.com/@sabitos/zanj)*