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 beginning arrival at Pate harbor. [The year] 600 of al-Hijra. (p. 37) There (was) Sulayman bin Sulayman bin Muzaffar al-Nabahani. The first man to come to Pate of the Nabahani was Sulayman bin Sulayman bin Muzaffar Nabahani and his two brothers, 'Ali bin Sulayman and 'Uthman bin Sulayman. And this Sulayman bin Sulayman the aforementioned had been sultan; then al-Ya'rubi ruled the land of the Arabs. The aforementioned sultan came to Pate, on the date of the year 600 from the Hijral was his coming to Pate. He asked for marriage from the king of Pate among those al-BatawU And he, Sultan Sulayman bin Sulayman, (was) an important man, (so) the king of Pate married him to his daughter. And the custom of all the Swahili to this day (is that) a man takes your daughter (in marriage), (then) seven days after the wedding he goes to the house of his wife's father to see the father-in-law, to be given (gifts) by the people. This Sulayman bin Sulayman, that king gave him his kingship that had been theirs. (Thereafter) reigned Sulayman. There was a town called Kitoki on the same island of Pate, east ofPate; I 1203-4. 2 The Swahili plural pronoun is followed here by the Arabic singular Batawr "Pate dweller," the name of the ruling clan. 346 MS 321 and Siu was not yet a town. There was another city called Shanga, east of . Pate. And Faza was a town by itself; the rulers of Paza (were) al-Mafazi. He reigned over all these towns, all these were under Sultan Sulayman bin Sulayman. And Manda had a separate king, and he had great power. Sultan Sulayman bin Sulayman died in the year 625 of the Hijra.3 He left two sons, Muhammad and Ahmad. Muhammad's age (was) twenty years, and Ahmad's age fifteen years. Muhammad bin Sulayman bin Sulayman reigned after his father. A conflict arose between him and the people of Shanga; he made war on the city (and) destroyed it completely. And some of these (people) came to Pate, and a separate (group) whose tribe (was) Kinandangu, fled (and) the place where they fled was not known. Then some days passed, and the news came to Sultan Muhammad bin Sulayman from the hunters (who) came and said to him: "Those unknown,4 we have seen them in the forest." The sultan sent people to look for them, (and) they caught up with them; they had made huts inside the forest. Sultan Muhammad bin Sulayman forgave them (and) returned them to their (own) place. This is the origin of the town of Siu. (Later) came other WaSwahili (and) they all settled. (Then) came the WaFamau (and) they all settled, (and) the WaFamau were the chiefs of Siu under the overlordship of Sultan Muhammad bin Sulayman. He died in the year 650.5 His brother Sultan Ahmad bin Sulayman6 3 1227-8. 4 The form shiwo in the MS obscures the folk etymology of the toponym Siu being explained here. It is well shown above by the plural wasiyuwekane (siyu= "not know"). 5 1252-3. TRANSLATION 347 (p. 36) reigned. He governed the land ofPate very well, building houses (and) planting fields. He did not make war anywhere (and) died in the year 660.7 (Next) reigned the son of his brother, by the name Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Sulayman. He treated the people very well, following the example of his (paternal) uncle, building up the town of Pate and the farms, until he died in the year 700.8 He left many children. (Then) reigned his son Sultan Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Sulayman. He governed the people in an excellent manner. (Then) the people ofFaza seceded; he fought them (and) brought them under his authority after many battles, until he overcame them. He conquered Mandra (and) captured it through a military ruse, because the sultan of Mandra had great power (in terms) of money and men. He destroyed it utterly and carried off some people to Pate. And a few fled into the wilderness (nyika) (and) ran away to all places; some came to Shela (and) put themselves under the protection of the men of Lamu. Sultan Muhammad bin Ahmad the aforesaid demanded them of the men of Lamu; they refused to surrender them. And some went...