Zanj (Arabic and Persian زنج, "Land of the Blacks") was a name used by medieval Arab geographers to refer to a portion of the East African coast. The geographers divided the coast into several regions and Zanj (also transliterated as Zenj or Zinj) covered the coast from roughly Mogadishu in the north to Pemba Island in the south. (To the north of Zanj lay the Somali coast, termed the Land of Berber, extending as far south as Webi Sebeli; to the south lay the Land of Sofala the northern limit of which may have been Pangani, opposite Pemba Island; beyond Sofala was the obscure realm of Waq-Waq.^[1] It was from Zanj that most of the Arab trade with East Africa was conducted. Persian, (local name: FārsÄ« or PārsÄ«), is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب) are a heterogenous ethnic group who are predominantly speakers of the Arabic language, mainly found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ...  Eastern Africa (UN subregion)  East African Community  Central African Federation (defunct)  geographic, including above East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. ... Mogadishus location in Somalia Mogadishu (Somali: Muqdisho, popularly Xamar; Arabic: ‎ ; Italian: ), is the largest city in Somalia, and its nominal capital. ... Map of Pemba Island Pemba is an island about 50 kilometres to the north of the island of Zanzibar. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... Categories: Stub | Provinces of Mozambique ... Pangani is the Zanzibar of the Tanzanian mainland. ...

Arab writers described the inhabitants of Zanj (the "Zanji") as black. The inhabitants of East Africa were considered by Arabs to be the most culturally primitive of the three Black African regions long known to them (the other two were Nubia nuba in modern Sudan and southern Egypt, and Abyssinia ħabaš in the modern Ethiopia/Eritrea area). One important trade commodity from this region was Zanji slaves, who were captured and taken to the Middle East and India for sale; East Africa served as a source of slaves for the Middle East for many centuries. The ninth century revolt of the Zanji against the Arab slavers was termed the Zanj Revolt. Today Nubia is the region in the south of Egypt, along the Nile and in northern Sudan, but in ancient times it was an independent kingdom. ... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: slave Slave may refer to: Slavery, where people are owned by others, and live to serve their owners without pay Slave (BDSM), a form of sexual and consenual submission Slave clock, in technology, a clock or timer that synchrnonizes to a master clock... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... (8th century - 9th century - 10th century - other centuries) Events Beowulf might have been written down in this century, though it could also have been in the 8th century Viking attacks on Europe begin Oseberg ship burial The Magyars arrive in what is now Hungary, forcing the Serbs and Bulgars south... Zanj Revolt The Zanj Revolt took place in Southern Iraq near the city of Basra between 869 and 879 AD. They were lead by Ali b. ...

Many Arab, Persian and Indian traders settled in Zanj and intermarried with the local population; this is the origin of the Swahili culture and language which incorporated these along with Bantu elements. Prominent settlements of the Zanj coast included the legendary Shungwaya (Bur Gao), as well as Malindi, Gedi, and Mombasa. By the late medieval period the area included at least 37 substantial Swahili trading towns, many of them quite wealthy. However, these communities never consolidated into a single political entity (the "Zanj Empire" being a late nineteenth century fiction). The Swahili are a people and culture found on the coast of East Africa. ... Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu (dull yellow) vs. ... Malindi is a city in Kenya that has been a Swahili settlement since the 14th century. ... Gede (also knowns as Gedi) is a village on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya, lying south of Malindi and north of Watamu. ... Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya, lying on the Indian Ocean. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

"Zanj" apparently fell out of use in the tenth century, but after 1861, when the area controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar was forced by the British to split with the parent country of Oman, it was often referred to as Zanj. ( 9th century - 10th century - 11th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Motto: Uhuru na Umoja (Swahili: Freedom and Unity) Anthem: Mungu ibariki Afrika (God Bless Africa) Capital Stone Town Largest city Stone Town English, Lamu (de facto) Government Republic  - President Amani Abeid Karume  - Prime Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha Independence From the United Kingdom   - Tanganyika December 9, 1961   - Zanzibar December 19, 1963...

Applications of the Name:

• The name "Zanj" may have associations with the ancient name for the same region, Azania. (During the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, nationalists often referred to South Africa as "Azania", intending to eventually rename the country, but in the event this name was less favoured than simple retention of the previous name, South Africa, after the abolition of apartheid.)

• The name "Zanj" is also connected with the name of the island of Zanzibar.

• "Zanj" has also been used to refer to East Africa in general, and the Sea of Zanj was a name for that part of the Indian Ocean adjacent to East Africa. It included several islands, including Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion.

• In the twentieth century, the name supplied the world with Zinjanthropus boisei (nicknamed "Zinj"), a famous hominin fossil, now more properly termed Paranthropus boisei.

Azania is the name that has been applied to various parts of sub-Saharan Africa. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... Motto: Uhuru na Umoja (Swahili: Freedom and Unity) Anthem: Mungu ibariki Afrika (God Bless Africa) Capital Stone Town Largest city Stone Town English, Lamu (de facto) Government Republic  - President Amani Abeid Karume  - Prime Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha Independence From the United Kingdom   - Tanganyika December 9, 1961   - Zanzibar December 19, 1963... The Sea of Zanj is a former name for that portion of the western Indian Ocean adjacent to the East African region referred to by medieval Arab geographers as Zanj. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Species Paranthropus aethiopicus Paranthropus boisei Paranthropus robustus Paranthropus is an extinct genus of bipedal hominid that is probably descended from the Australopithecine hominids (Australopithecus). ... Genera Gorilla Pan (chimpanzees) Homo (humans) Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Homininae is a subfamily of Hominidae, including Homo sapiens and some extinct relatives, as well as the gorillas and the chimpanzees. ... Binomial name Paranthropus boisei (Mary Leakey, 1959) Paranthropus boisei had a skull highly specialized for heavy chewing. ...

Reference

1. ^ Chittick, Neville (1968). The Coast Before the Arrival of the Portuguese, Chapter 5 in Ogot, BA and JA Kieran, eds., "Zamani: A Survey of East African History", 100-118.

See also

• Swahili (people)
• Zingium

The Swahili are a people and culture found on the coast of East Africa. ... Zingium is a latinization of the Arabic word زنج zanj, which can be roughly translated as Land of the Blacks. This is an archaic name for the band of East African coast in modern-day Kenya and Tanzania, including Zanzibar (whose name includes a form of the word zanj). ...

External links

• Map of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1886 showing Zanj