The Pate Chronicle: edited and translated from MSS 177, 321, 344, and 358 of the Library of the University of Dar es Salaam

HISTORY OF PATE

mSTORY OF PATE The first man to come to Pate of the Nabahani was Sulayman bin Sulayman Muzaffar al-Nabahani and his siblings, two men: 'Ali bin Sulayman and 'Uthman bin Sulayman. And this Sulayman bin Sulayman the aforesaid, it was he who had been sultan in Arabia. Then reigned al-Ya'rubi (and so) he came to Pate, in the year 600 six hundred of Hijra1 he came to Pate. He asked for marriage from the king of Pate, from among the alBatawin . And he was an important man, (this) Sultan Sulayman, (so) the king of Pate married him to his daughter. And the custom of all the WaSwahili till now (is that) a man takes your daughter (in marriage), (then after) seven days pass since the wedding, he goes to see the father-in-law, the father of his wife, [and he] gives him something, each man according to his means. Sulayman bin Sulayman, when he went after these seven days to see the king of Pate to be given (gifts) from the people, this Sulayman bin Sulayman - that king instead (of a gift) gave him his kingdom. From then on reigned Sulayman bin Sulayman. There was a town on the same island of Pate, called Kitaka, east of Pate; and Siu was not yet a town. There was another town, on the same island of Pate, called Shanga.2 And this town, it was under the overlordship of the 1 1203-4. 2 For archeological evidence on Shanga, see Mark Horton, Shanga 1980: An Interim Report (Nairobi: National Museums of Kenya, 1981). For Horton's interpretation of Shanga's place in coastal history, see his "Early Muslim Trading Settlements on the East TRANSLATION 297 king of Pate. And Faza was a town (by itself), the lords of Paza (were) alMafaziyun .3 And these towns, Pate and Shanga and Kitaka (were) under the overlordship of the king of Pate. And Mandra4 had a separate king, and he had great power. And this (f. 2) Sultan Sulayman begat two sons, Muhammad and Ahmad. In the year 6255 Sultan Sulaymani died. Muhammad's age (was) twenty years, Ahmad's age fifteen years. Muhammad bin Sulayman reigned after his father. The people of Shanga seceded, he made war on them, conquered the town, destroyed it (and) took away (the residents). [This is] the origin of some of the people who came to Pate. And some of the people, of the tribe of WaKinandangu, ran away, and it was not known where they had gone. Until some days passed and the news came to Sultan Muhammad bin Sulayman from the hunters. They said to him, "Those unknown, we have seen them in the forest." He sent people to look for them, they caught up with them; they had made huts inside the forest. They carried them off and came to Pate. Sultan Muhammad forgave them (and) returned them to their (own) place. This is the origin of the town of Siu.6 African Coast: New Evidence from Shanga," The Antiquaries ]ournal67 (1987): 290-323. 3 The Arabic plural of the Swahili plural, approximately conforming to the Arabic participial adjective signifying "Faza-dwellers." The presence of the Swahili plural prefix ma- may explain the form Ampaza, known from the Portuguese sources. 4 Mandra, rather than Manda, is marked both by the ligature of nan and dal, which looks like a hooked ra', and the tashdrd. It occurs infrequently. s 1227-8. 6 This passage explains the folk etymology of the name "Siu": wasijuwekane, "it was not known about them," from the verbjua "to know." 298 MS 177 (Later) also all the other WaSwahili settled (and then) came the WaFamau, they all settled; the latter were the chiefs of Siu under the overlordship of the king of Pate.7 (Then) Sultan Muhammad bin Sulayman died, (and) his brother Ahmad bin Sulayman reigned. He governed the land of Pate very well, planting fields and building houses, and all this country was under his authority. He did not make war anywhere (and) died in the year 670.8 (Next) reigned the son of his brother, by the name of Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Sulayman. He followed the example of his (paternal) uncle in regard to building up the town of Pate, the houses and the farms, and he had many children. Of his sons ascended to kingship (f. 3) Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Muhammad...