Makuraish (wazalendo) wa kizanzibari na nasaba zao

Jamhuri ya Zanzibar

Senior Member
Jul 17, 2012
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Ni vyema kwanza ichukuliwe tahadhari kwamba uzalendo wa mtu kwa pahala alipo si kabila, rangi wala aina ya ngozi. Uzalendo pia haupimwi kwa kigezo cha ni nani aliyetangulia kufika pahala hapo kuliko wenzake, bali uzalendo ni pale mtu alipozaliwa kwa kuwa wazazi wake aliwakuta hapo, au ni pale mtu anapopenda, alipopachagua na kuwamua kua kwao kwa kuhamia, kukaa, kufia na kuzikwa. Kama uzalendo ni kufika mwanzo, basi kamwe wamarekani wasingejisifia uzalendo wao wa kimarekani, kwani wamarekani wa leo wanaofanya idadi kubwa ya wazalendo wa kimarekani ni wahamizi waliotokea Siberia na kuingia Alaska kiasi cha miaka 20 hadi 40 kabla ya Kristo (B.C), wakiwakuta huko wahindi wekundu (Red Indians) wakiwa tayari wameshafanya masikani yao kwa miaka mingi. Lakini hata hivyo mmarekani anabaki kuwa mmarekani tu, iwe anatokana na kizazi cha wahindi wekundu (Red Indians), awe ni mhamizi kutokea Siberia, au awe ni kizazi cha waafrika weusi walohamia huko wakati wa bishara ya utumwa.

Wazanzibari na uarabu
Baadhi ya wanahistoria wanadai wahamizi wa mwanzo walikuwa ni wageni kutoka bara la Asia waliokwenda huko kwa sababu za kibiashara. Inadaiwa watu hao walikuwa na asili za Yemen na Oman na walikuwa ni wafuasi wa dini ya kiislamu katika madhehebu ya sunni. Hii ilitokana na kutanda kwa utawala wa Yemen wa wakati huo ambapo hata Oman ilikuwa ni sehemu ya Yemen. Baada ya kuhamia kwao huko mwambaoni watu hao walimtambua mfalme wa Yemen kuwa ndie mtawala wao. Maneno haya yanathibitishwa na mwandishi wa kitabu maarufu na muhimu kinachoelezea safari ya udadisi na biashara katika mwambao wa Bahari ya Hindi, The periplus of erythrean sea, kitabu ambacho mwandishi mwenyewe Wilfred H. Schoff, mfanya biashara wa karne ya kwanza ndie aliefanya safari hiyo, safari ambayo ilimfikisha hadi katika mwambao wa Afrika mashariki. Wahamizi hao wa mwanzo katika mwambao walikuwa wakifanya biashara na wagiriki na warumi na baadae baada ya kuanguka kwa ufalme wa warumi, soko la bidhaa za biashara lilihamia China na India. Bidhaa kubwa kutoka Afrika Mashariki zilikuwa ni meno ya ndovu. Bidhaa zilizokuwa zikiletwa Afrika Mashariki zilikuwa ni silaha, vifaa vya chuma na vitu vya urembo.

Hoja hii inadai mahusiano ya mapema sana kati ya mwambao wa Afrika ya mashariki na waarabu. Wilfred Schoff anasema katika kitabu chake, The periplus of the erythrean sea kuwa ameukuta mwambao wote wa Afrika mashariki wakati huo ukiwa umeshahamiwa na watu wa asili ya kiarabu tu, na wanamtambua mfalme wa Yemen kuwa ndiye mtawala wao. Schoff anasema kuwa watu aliowakuta wote ni wa asili za watu wasiokuwa waafrika, na hakukuwa na hata alama ya mtu mweusi kwa wakati huo. Kwa hakika Periplus, inayozungumzia mwambao wa Afrika ya mashariki na kuja chini kusini mpaka Zanzibar, haikuwataja kabisa watu weusi. Pia hoja hii inategemea sana maandishi yatokanayo na Giografia ya Ptolemy (mwanagiografia na mnujumu maarufu wa Alexandria). Giografia ya Ptolemy inawazungumzia (wabantu) na kuwepo kwao mwambaoni, lakini ni kusini kabisa ya eneo hilo ndiko wanakotokea, ambako bila shaka ni kusini ya kiasi cha Msumbiji ya sasa, ukija kwa juu kaskazini zaidi ya eneo hilo (la Afrika mashariki), watu waliokuwepo ni wasomali na wa-Ethiopia watupu (Oliver na Fage 1962: 98). Pia madai ya hoja hii yameegemezwa na wakati wa Ibn Batuta, msafiri na mwandishi mashuhuri. Katika maandishi yake Ibn Batuta anadai alipoutembelea mwambao wa Afrika mashariki katika karne ya 14 alishangazwa sana alipowaona waswahili kuwa ni watu waliokuwa na nyumba zao nzuri, waliokuwa wakijuwa kuvaa na kula kama walivyokuwa wazungu wa wakati huo.

Kwa mujibu wa hoja hizo basi waarabu walikuwepo katika mwambao wa Afrika ya mashariki na Zanzibar kwa zaidi ya miaka 2000 nyuma. Msikiti wa kizimkazi, ni katika mabaki ya kihistoria yaliyo na umri mkubwa zaidi Zanzibar. Msikiti unakisiwa kuwepo hapo si chini ya miaka 900. Msikiti huu unaakisi ustaarabu wa waarabu au wapashia (wa-Iran) ambao walikuwa wameshafanya masikani yao Zanzibar karne nying huko nyuma. Kwenye ukuta wa mihrab wa msikiti huu pameandikwa hivi kwa Kipashia: “hii ni amri ya Kiongozi mtukukufu Sheikh Assayid Abu Imran Musa bin Alhassan bin Muhammad, Mungu ampe maisha marefu na awaangamize maadui wake”



Kuhusu maneno hayo ya Kipashia katika mihraab kwa mujibu wa hoja hii ni kwamba waarabu hawa walipitia Pashia na kukaa muda mrefu kiasi cha kwamba utamaduni wao wa asili wa kiarabu uliathiriwa na ule wa kishirazi. Ndio maana maandishi ya kwenye mihraab yanaonekana kuwa ni ya mchanganyiko wa lugha mbili (maneno yameandikwa kwa lugha ya Kipashia lakini nambari zimeandikwa kwa kiarabu). Staili ya ujenzi wa msikiti huo pia haitofauiani na zile za misikikiti mengine iliyojengwa na waarabu.

Wazanzibari na ubantu
Wanahistoria waounga mkono uarabu kama ndio athari ya mwanzo ya ustaarabu katika mwambao pia hawakuacha kuwazungumza wabantu, ujio wao na uhusiano wao na mwambao wa Afrika ya mashariki. Wabantu ni jamii za waafrika weusi wanaozungumza lugha za kikabila za kiafrika ambao wana asili zao kutokea Afrika ya kati na Afrika ya Kusni. Wanahistoria hawa wanakana kuwepo kwa tarehe rasmi ya uhakika ambapo wabantu walihamia mara ya kwanza Zanzibar, lakini wao wanadai kwamba mpaka mwishoni mwa mwaka wa 700 kabla ya kristo (B.C ) kwa yakini sio Zanzibar tu, bali Afrika mashariki yote kiujumla ilikuwa ishavumbuliwa na kuhamiwa na watu wasio na asili ya kiafrika. Wao wanasisitiza kwamba ni vigumu kukisia ni karne ngapi nyuma hasa wabantu walifika katika mwambao wa Afrika ya mashariki na hatimae wakafika Unguja na Pemba lakini wanachoweza kusema ni kwamba walifika huko baada ya mwambao kwisha kuvumbuliwa tayari na watu wa asili zisizokuwa za kiafrika. Mwambao wa Afrika mashariki kwa mujibu wa wanahistoria hawa ulikuwa unafahamika na wenyeji wa Arabuni katika karne ya 8 kabla ya Kristo. Kumbukumbu zao zinadai pia kwamba taifa la Kiarabu la Ausan ambalo lilisambaratika mwaka wa 700 Kabla ya Kristo, lilifanya biasharana na bila shaka lilimiliki sehemu ya mwambao (Gray 1962: 10-11).

Utafiti wao unadai kwamba katika nyakati za karne ya 16 (16th century AD) ndani ya ukoloni wa kireno ndipo hasa mababu na mabibi wa wazanzibari wa asili za kibantu walipoanza kuingia katika visiwa vya Zanzibar, zaidi kwa kupitia biashara ya utumwa. Kutokea hapo sasa uingiaji wa wabantu kutoka Mrima kuingia Zanzibar ukawa ni wa kawaida na kwa wingi. Hata baharia, mpelelezi wa kireno, Vasco Dagama, aliekuwa akifanya upelelezi sehemu mbalimbali kwa lengo la kuweka ukoloni, mwishoni mwa karne ya 10 (10th century) aliyefika katika pwani ya Afrika ya mashariki na anakiri aliwakuta huko watu wa mwambao kuwa ni wale watu wenye ustaarabu wa jahazi (dhow civilization) tu, na akasisitiza kuwa watu hao walikuwa wanauwelewa vyema ustaarabu wa ubaharia wa jahazi kama alivyokuwa akiujua yeye (Issa 1999).

Madai yao zaidi ni kwamba mara baada ya kuhamia wabantu wakitokea Mrima, walioana na wenyeji wale walioitwa wahadimu, wapemba, na watumbatu na kupatikana watoto machotara. Machotara hawa ndio wale waitwao waswahili. Wakijaribu kutoa uthibitisho wao wanadai hata Mwinyi mkuu wa Dunga anaonekana nae alihemkwa na mabibi wa kibantu na kuzaa watoto machotara. Ipo picha maarufu sana kwa kumbukumbu za kihistoria, inamuonyesha Mwinyi mkuu wa Dunga (ambae bado anatambuliwa kama Mshirazi), yeye amekozea maumbile ya kiarabu, akiwa na mtoto wake ambae ni chotara, ameshapoteza ule uarabu wa baba yake na amekozea zaidi ubantu wa mama yake.


Hata hivyo Ipo mijadala mirefu miongoni mwa wanahistoria na wanasiasa wanaodai kwamba wenyeji wa mwanzo wa Zanzibar walikuwa wabantu kutokea bara hususan Tanganyika. Miongoni mwa wanahistoria hao ni Matokke na Mrina. Katika hoja hii panadaiwa kwamba wavuvi kutoka bara walifika na kuhamia sehemu mbali mbali za visiwani na matokeo yake sehemu hizi zikakuwa na kufanyika vijiji. Kutokana na upokeaji wa wageni zaidi, vijiji navyo vikakuwa zaidi na watu wakaendelea kuzaliana. Kwa ari ya kutaka kuyamudu mazingira yao, watu hawa waliweza kujipatia maarifa, ujuzi na uwezo wa kujenga vibanda vidogo vidogo na kuimarisha vitendea kazi vyao. Sambamba na hoja hiyo yapo pia madai kwamba wahamizi wa mwanzo wa Zanzibar waliingia sehemu ya kusini Unguja wakitokea katika sehemu nyegine za mwambao wa Afrika ya Mashariki. Baadhi ya masimulizi ya watu wa Muyuni yanadai watu wa mwanzo wa Muyuni walikuwa ni wagunya. Wagunya hawa walitokea katika mwambao wa Kenya ambao pi inasemekana walihamia na maeneo ya Bwejuu. Halkadhalika baadhi ya watu wa Paje na Jambiani inaaminika walitokea Pate na Rufiji ambapo hapo mwanzoni walikuwa ni wavuvi wa dago.

Wazanzibari na ushirazi
Kuna utata mwingi kuhusiana na historia ya washirazi na kuwepo kwao katika Zanzibar na Afrika ya Mashariki. Mengi yameandikwa na kusemwa kuhusiana na washirazi. Wako wanaosema washirazi na ujio wao sio kitu cha ukweli bali ni hadithi za kubuni. Kwa mujibu wa wanahistoria hawa neno ushirazi lilizushwa na kuungwa mkono na wakoloni ili kukidhi matakwa ya kurahisisha utawala kwa misingi ya ukabila. Miongoni mwa hoja wanazozitoa wanahistoria hawa akiwemo S. J. Kirkman ni vile kukosekana kwa athari za maingiliano ya kimila za kishirazi na waswahili pamoja na kukosekana kwa matumizi ya lugha ya kipashia katika utamaduni wa Kiswahili. Hata hivyo mwanahistoria B. Kurmm amegundua athari ya maneno 78 ya kipashia katika lugha ya Kiswahili.

Pia mwanahistoria T. Spear anawaelezea washirazi kama sio kabila la watu bali ni kundi la watu wa tabaka la wafanyabiashara na matajiri. Bila shaka kundi hilo linatokana na maingiliano kati ya wenyeji wa sehemu za Afrika Mashariki na wageni. Kwa mujibu wa Spear kwa hivyo, neno shirazi linahusiana na tabaka la matajiri au watawala. Akifafanua Bwana Spear anasema washirazi sio wapashia bali ni waafrika au ni wafanyabiashara wenye asili ya kiarabu. Makabila ya watawala (mamwinyi) wa watu hao walioitwa washirazi yanatoa uthibitisho wa hoja ya Spear. Makabila ya mamwinyi wa washirazi ni kama vile Al-alawi, Al-bajuni, Al-addibawy, Al-bahasany, Al-ahdali, Al-attasi n.k, ambayo bila shaka ni makabila ya waarabu na sio waajemi (Issa 1999).

Pamoja na hoja hizo zinazoukataa ushirazi pia upo ushahidi wa kuthibitisha kuwepo kwa ushirazi. Moja ni matumizi ya kalenda kama zile wanazotumia washirazi. Sio Zanzibar tu bali hata maeneo mengine ya Afrika Masharika mpaka leo kuna watu wanaofuata kalenda zao za kinujumu mbali ya zile za kiislamu kwa mfano Nairuzi, yaani siku ya mwaka au mwaka kogwa. Siku hiyo ya mwanzo wa mwaka wa kishirazi hufuatana na tarehe 21 Machi ambapo urefu wa mchana na usiku hulingana. Sherehe za mwaka kogwa Unguja husherehekewa kwa kukoga baharini kama njia ya kujitoharisha mwili, kuzima moto wa wa zamani na kuwasha moto mpya kwa kutumia fimbo mambo ambayo yanalingana mno na sherehe za kishirazi. Msikiti wa kizimkazi unaokisiwa kuwa na miaka 900 tangu kujengwa kwake na maneno ya lugha ya kipashia katika mihraab yake unaakisi ujio wa washirazi mapema sana katika visiwa hivi.

Uchambuzi wa takwimu za kuzaliwa zilizofanywa kuanzia mwaka 1953 hadi 1963 ambapo wazanzibari walitakiwa kuwaandikisha watoto wao kwa makabila yao halisi zinaonyesha wenyeji wa visiwani walijitambulisha miongoni mwa makabila matatu. Makabila yenyewe ni wahadimu, watumbatu na washirazi. Makabila ya wapemba na waswahili ambayo yalitumika kabla ya hapo hayakutambuliwa tena kama makabila. Thuluthi moja ya wenyeji wa Unguja na takriban nusu ya wapemba walijitambulisha kama washirazi. Ushirazi ulionekana kwa hivyo kushamiri zaidi na kuota mizizi katika kisiwa cha Pemba. Katika kipindi cha karne ya 8 hadi ya 15 ndipo washrazi wanapodhaniwa kuwa waliwasili. Washirazi ndio waliokuwa wafanya biashara wakubwa katika pwani nzima ya Afrika mashariki na visiwa vyake vya Unguja, Pemba na Mafia katika kipindi hicho jambo ambalo lilisababisha kukua sana kwa miji hiyo. Wahadimu, wapemba (wadiba) na watumbatu ndio hasa historia inaowaita washirazi wa Unguja na Pemba. Wahadimu walikuwepo katika maeneo ya Kaskazini ya kisiwa cha Unguja na walikuwa wakiishi kwa wingi katika maeneo ya Nungwi, Kijini, Muyuni, Pwani mchangani, Chwaka, Bwejuu, Makunduchi, Kizimkazi na Uzi. Mji mkuu, au mji muhimu wa wahadimu ulikuwa ni Dunga. Watumbatu walikuwa wakiishi katika maeneo ya kisiwa cha Tumbatu. Pia watumbatu walionekana kuishi maeneo kama vile Donge, Bumbwini na Mwanda (Ingrams 1962).

Wadiba (wapemba) ambao ndio wenyeji wa kisiwa cha Pemba pia wananasibishwa na washirazi. Hata hivyo wadiba pia wananasibishwa na waarabu. Kwa mujibu wa wanahistoria hawa, wadiba ni watu walio na asili zao kutokea katika mji wa Diba. Diba ni mji ulioko baina ya Oman na Sharjah. Inasemekana kuwa uko mji mwengine unaoitwa Diba maeneo ya bara Hindi, lakini hiyo sio Diba ya asili. Kwa kutilia nguvu hoja yao hiyo ni mitindo yao ya misikiti na majengo waliojenga huko Pemba katika masikani yao katika miji kama vile Pujini na Kengeja ni sawa na ile ya Diba ya Uarabuni. Ushahidi wa mabaki ya majengo ya kale na vihame vya Mkamandume ndio wanaotumia kuyakinisha madai yao haya. Wanahistora hawa hawakanushi ushirazi bali wanadai kwamba mji wa Shirazi ulikuwa ni kituo chao walichopitia na kuishi hapo wakitokea bara arabu kabla ya safari yao ya kuja katika mwambao wa Afrika ya mashariki na visiwa vya Zanzibar.

Watu hawa, yaani watumbatu, wahadimu, wapemba (wadiba) mwanzoni kabisa baada ya uhamiaji wao, walikuwa wakiishi kwa mifumo ya tawala za kienyeji za umwinyi mkuu. Waliishi katika tawala zao za kienyeji zinazojitegemea. Watumbatu walikuwa na Mwinyi mkuu wao, wahadimu walikuwa na Mwinyi mkuu wao na wapemba (wadiba) walikuwa na Mwinyi mkuu wao. Mwinyi mkuu wa mwanzo wa Dunga Hassan Bin Abdalla anadhaniwa kutawala katika karne ya 13 na Mwinyi mkuu wa mwisho Ahmed Bin Muhammed (angalia picha hapo chini), ambaye alikuwa mashuhuri zaidi na ambaye ndie aliyejenga kasri iliyopo Dunga anadhaniwa kutawala kuanzia mwaka 1728 hadi 1865. Mwinyi mkuu wa wapemba anaekumbukwa zaidi na historia ni Mkamandume. Baadhi ya wakati tawala hizi zilikuwa na masikizano na baadhi ya wakati zilikuwa na migogoro ya hapa na pale.

Totauti kidogo na kisiwa cha Unguja ambacho kilikuwa chini ya tawala zaidi ya moja za kienyeji, Pemba yote kwa upande wake ilikuwa chini ya Mwinyi mkuu mmoja tu wa kishirazi. Taifa la kisiwa cha Pemba liliasisiwa mwaka 1550 chini ya utawala wa Mwinyi mkuu. Hichi ndio kipindi peke yake katika historia ambapo Pemba ilijitegemea yenyewe kiutawala. Mmmoja wa mamwinyi hao anaekumbukwa zaidi na historia ni Mwinyi mkuu wa Pujini Pemba, mtawala wa kienyeji wa washirazi. Huyu alikuwa akiitwa, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-addibawy. Huyu ndiye yule aliyekuwa akijulikana kwa jina la umaarufu la “Mkamandume”. Kimakosa jina hili lilifahamika na kuelezwa vibaya na baadhi ya walioandika historia au pia inawezekana waliandika kwa makusudi kwa malengo yao binafsi. Wapotoshaji hawa wa historia wameandika kwamba aliitwa mkamandume kwa kuwa mtawala huyu akiwafanyia vibaya wanaume wenzake kwa kuwavuta uume wao kama anavyokamwa ng’ombe maziwa.. Huu ni upotoshaji wa historia na dharau kwa wahenga hawa wa wapemba. Vikongwe wengi wa kipemba wanakataa kabisa kupokea ngano hizo kutoka kwa mababu na mabibi zao. Kauli nzito ni kwamba neno “mkama” linatoka kwenye neno la kiarabu “maqaam” kwa maana ya nafasi ya cheo. Kwa mswahili wa kawida atakubaliana na mimi kwamba neno “Mkamandume” halina jengo la kiswahili kizuri (fasaha) bali neno “Makamo wa madume” amabalo ndio asili yake lina jingo la Kiswahili kizuri ambalo bila shaka ndio neno la awali na maana halisi iliyokusudiwa kwa mtawala huyu. Kwa hivyo neno Mkamandume lilikuwa na maana ya kuwa huyu bwana alikuwa juu zaidi kwa cheo na utukufu kuliko watu wote waliokuwa chini ya utawala wake. Kwa kiingereza ni kwamba alikuwa “above men’ na sio “milker of men”

Wazanzibari ni jamii ya asili na ustaarabu mseto (cosmopolitan society)
Kabla ya kuja mkoloni wa kiingereza Zanzibar, wazanzibari wa asili mbali mbali kama walivyo hivi sasa walikuwa wakiishi kwa mapenzi makubwa bila ya chuki za ukabila na urangi, au kwa lugha nyengine, waliishi bila ya mimi ni nani na wewe na nani. Muengereza alikuja kuwaundia wazanzibari vyama vya kikabila na urangi. Vyama hivyo yaani jumuiya za kikabila ni kama vile Arab association, Shirazi association, African association, Indian association na jumuiya nyengine. Wazanzibari nao wakavishabikia vyama hivi vya kikabila na kila mmoja akawacha kupigania maslahi ya uzanzibari na akapigania maslahi ya kabila lake. Lakini hayo yalikuwa ni mafanikio makubwa kwa Muengereza, kwani ni sera yake muhimu ya ukoloni ya wagawe uwatawale (divide and rule).Kuanzia harakati za kutafuta uhuru chama cha ASP na viongozi wake akiwemo kiongozi mkuu Karume waliukejeli na kuupiga vita ukweli kwamba wazanzibari ni watu wa asili na ustaarabu mseto na kujaribu kuyatenga makundi yote ya kizanzibari yalio na asili zake kutoka nje ya bara la Afrika kama vile waarabu, wahindi, magoa nk. Jambo la kushangaza zaidi ni kwamba hata washirazi wenye asili zao kutokea Iran ambao ndio wanaofanya asilimia kubwa ya wazanzibari nao walipigwa vita. Kama hilo halitoshi hata wakomoro wenye ngozi nyeupe lakini wenye asili zao kutokea katika bara la Afrika nao walikejeliwa na kukataliwa. Kwa viongozi wa ASP mzanzibari namba moja au mzanzibari asilia na mwenye hadhi kubwa ni lazima awe mwafrika mwenye ngozi nyeusi. ASP iliupigia kelele, kuunadi na kuutukuza uafrika pamoja na ngozi nyeusi na kuzidharau jamii zote za kizanzibari zilizobaki.

Kabla ya mapinduzi ASP na viongozi wake walijaribu kuwaheshimu washirazi wakifahamu bila ya wao na wingi wao ushindi kwa ASP ingelikuwa ndoto. Mara tu baada ya mapinduzi na ASP kushika hatamu chuki dhidi ya ushirazi na washirazi zikadhihirika. Serikali ya Karume ilipambwa na viongozi wenye asili zao kutokea bara hususan Tanganyika. Hii inajionyesha hata kwa majemedari wa mapinduzi na wajumbe wa baraza la mapinduzi la mwanzo lilikuwa na watu wengi zaidi wenye asili zao kutokea bara. Hii iliwafanya wafikirie kwamba serikali ya mapinduzi ni ya wazanzibari wa asili za bara na waliobaki ni watu wa daraja la pili. Baada ya mapinduzi Karume aliwataka watu wote wenye asili ya kikomoro kuomba uzanzibari (Burgess 2009:204).

Kwa kuwa Karume mwenyewe alikuwa na asili yake kutokea Malawi aliwaogopa sana washirazi. Katika akili yake Karume aliwaona washirazi ni watu wanaoringa na kujidai kama wazanzibari halisi. Hivyo basi aliwalazimisha washirazi nao kubadilisha makabila yao. Washirazi wengi walilikataa agizo hilo la Karume hususan wapemba. Wengi wa washirazi Pemba walisema wao hawana kabila jengine mbadala mpaka Karume atakapowapatia baba wengine. Hivyo basi hali halisi ya ugozi na ukabila ilipamba moto zaidi baada ya mapinduzi kuliko kabla. Wapigaji na wachezaji wa ngoma hiyo chafu ya ukabila baada ya mapinduzi walikuwa viongozi wa serikali ya mapinduzi na wajumbe wa baraza la mapinduzi la mwanzo kama vile Karume mwenyewe, Seif Bakari na Abdalla Said Natepe, Mungu awarehemu.
Baada ya mapinduzi vitabu vyote vya historia vilivyofundisha ukweli kuhusu Zanzibar, maisha ya masultani, na urithi wa ustaarabu mseto vilichomwa moto (Burgess 2009). Tukio moja la uchomaji huo lilifanyika eneo la Lumumba Unguja mbele ya macho ya maelfu ya watu. Badala yake mwenyekiti wa Youth league, Seif Bakari aliandika kitabu kipya kilichokua kikisomeshewa watoto mashuleni. Katika kitabu chake hicho, Seif Bakari anadai kuwa yote yaliopita kabla ya mapinduzi yalikuwa si chochote bali ni dhiki na dhuluma. Katika kuzidi kuchonga chuki miongoni mwa wazanzibari weusi dhidi ya wenye ngozi nyeupe, Abdalla Said Natepe ambae ni mjumbe wa mwanzo wa baraza la mapinduzi na mjumbe wa kamati ya watu 14 alikuwa akifanya mikutano ya hadhara kuwaaambia watu hadithi za uzushi. Miongoni mwa hadithi hizo ni kuwa waarabu waliwalazimisha waafrika kupanda minazi kisha wakawa wanajifundishia shabaha kwa kuwatungua kwa risasi. Hadithi nyengine ni kuwa waarabu waliwalazimisha wanawake wa kiafrika kufyagia barabara kwa maziwa yao na waja wazito wa kiafrika walip[asuliwa ili bibi wa kiarabu ajue mtoto amekaaje tumboni. Mafundisho haya yamekuwa yakitolewa mashuleni kwa muda mrefu ili kutia sumu katika akili za watoto wa kishirazi na kifrika dhidi ya waarabu.

Nyimbo za uafrika dhidi ya asili nyengine zote ziliendelea kuimbwa ndani serikali ya mapinduzi kupitia warithi wake wenye misimamo mikali ya uhafidhina wa ugozi na umapinduzi kwa lengo la kulinda malengo na uhalali wa mapinduzi hayo. Kuthibitisha kasi na nguvu za uhafidhina huu na chuki dhidi ya watu wasiokuwa na asili ya kiafrika ndani ya Zanzibar ni maneno ya Omar Ramadhani Mapuri, ambae yeye mwenyewe ana asili yake kutoka Tanzania bara, aliyekuwa Waziri wa elimu na Naibu waziri kiongozi katika awamu ya nne ya Rais Salmin Amour. Kupitia kitabu chake, Zanzibar Revolution, Achievements and Prospects, kitabu ambacho kinazungumzia kiwango cha juu cha ukabila katika enzi za ustaarabu duniani, Mapuri ameweka wazi hisia zake kali dhidi ya watu wasiokua waafrika ndani ya Zanzibar. Lengo kuu la Mapuri katika kitabu chake ni kuwataka wazanzibari wenye asili za kiafrika kuungana dhidi ya kile anachokiita chokochoko na uchokozi wa nchi za magharibi na waarabu ambao chini kwa chini kwa mujibu wa Mapuri wanataka kurudisha tena ushawishi wao Zanzibar kama ilivyokuwa kabla ya mapinduzi. Umoja huu ambao Mapuri anawaasa wazanzibari ndio ule ule uliotumika katika harakati za uhuru na mapinduizi ya 1964.Katika kitabu chake pia Mapuri anakana kwa nguvu zote mauwaji yaliyofanywa na mapinduzi ya 1964 na kwa mujibu wa mawazo yake yale yanayoripotiwa kuwa ni upotezaji wa roho za watu kwa mgongo wa mapinduzi ya 1964 ni uongo mtupu na kusisitiza kwamba watu waliokufa kutokana na mapinduzi hayo ni wachache mno. Hata hivyo katika kitabu chake anadai kuwepo kwa nyaraka zinazobainisha azma ya serikali ya Shamte na Sultani iliyopinduliwa ya kutaka kuuwa raia wengi wa kiafrika kama ni kulipiza kisasi kwa mauwaji ya waarabu waliouliwa kufuatia uchaguzi wa juni 1961 ijapokuwa hakubainisha katika kitabu chake nyaraka hizo zilipo. Mapuri anadai nyaraka hizo zinathibitisha kwamba serikali ilipanga kuuwa waafrika sitini (60) kwa kila mwarabu mmoja aliyeuliwa Juni 1961.

Mapuri pia anadai nyaraka hizo zinathitisha azma ya serikali ya Shamte na Sultani kuzitaifisha mali zote za waafrika wasio na asili za kizanzibari. Hakumalizia hapo Mapuri pia ameandika kwamba Serikali ya Shamte ilikuwa na lengo la kuwafanya watumwa wazanzibari wote wenye asili ya kiafrika na hatimae Zanzibar kutangazwa kama ardhi ya waarabu. Kikubwa zaidi ambacho pia Mapuri amewatanabahisha wazanzibari katika kitabu chake ni azma ya Serikali ya Shamte iliyopinduliwa kuwauwa watoto wote wa asili ya kiafrika na wanawake wenye asili ya kiafrika kulazimishwa kuolewa na waarabu kwa malengo ya kutokomeza ngozi nyeusi Zanzibar. Alichokifanya Mapuri bila shaka lilikuwa si jambo geni katika historia ya Zanzibar. Ni marudio tu ya yale yalioanzia miaka ya 1960 ya mapambano ya makabila katika kugombania kumezwa, kufunikwa au kutokomezwa na makabila mengine.
Ni jambo la kushangaza mno kwa enzi ambayo vuguvugu la kihistoria la ukabila na uasili tayari limeshasahaulika, kiongozi wa ngazi za juu katika serikali ya Mapinduzi ya Zanzibar anapika upya migawanyiko ya wazanzibari kwa misingi ya rangi, ngozi na wanakotokea mababu zao. Kiongozi kama huyu bila shaka ana dhima kubwa ya kuwaunganisha wazanzibari walio na asili na utamaduni wa kila namna karibu kutoka pembe zote za dunia lakini badala yake anashajihisha na kuhimiza umoja na muungano wa baadhi ya wazanzibari dhidi ya wenzao. Hata hivyo sio Mapuri peke yake katika viongozi wa leo wanaopiga kelele za ukabila na uasili ndani ya Zanzibar ya kisasa. Wapo wenzake Mapuri ambao wao wamefika mbali zaidi kwa kudai kwamba vijukuu na vinying’inya vya waarabu hawapaswi kupewa madaraka ya Zanzibar kwa kunasibika kwao na kabila la wapinga mapinduzi ya 1964. Katika kitabu chake, Kwaheri ukoloni kwaheri uhuru, Harith Ghassany analizungumzia hivi suala hili.

“Fikra ya uzalendo ya Pan-Africanism ambayo ilikuwa ikipigiwa kelele na hayati Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere ilikuwa na misingi kwamba kila asiye “Muafrika” ni mgeni (wakuja) Afrika na kwa maana hiyo pia ni mgeni Zanzibar hata kama alizaliwa na alikuwa na mizizi mirefu na mipana ndani ya Zanzibar. Kinyume chake kila aliyekuwa ana asili ya Kiafrika (kibantu) na hata kama hakuzaliwa na wala hana mizizi mirefu ndani ya Zanzibar basi ana haki zaidi juu ya kuweza kutawala kwa sababu tu ni “Muafrika.” Hapa sharti ifahamike kwanza kuwa neno “Afrika” linatokana na neno Ifriqiya, ambayo wanahistoria wanathibitisha ilikuwa ni jimbo la Kaskazini ya Afrika katika nchi ambayo kwa sasa inajulikana kwa jina la Tunisia. Ibn Khaldun, mwanafalsafa wa historia maarufu duniani na baba wa sayansi ya jamii (sociologist) aliyeishi miaka 676 nyuma, amemzungumza katika kitabu chake Mfalme wa zamani wa Yemen Afriqus Bin Qays Bin Sayfi. Kwa mujibu wa Ibn Khaldum Mfalme huyu aliishi wakati wa Nabii Musa au labda kidogo kabla yake. Ibn Khaldum anathibitisha kuwepo kwa mfalme huyo kutoka Yemen ambaye jina lake hilo inawezekana sana likawa moja wapo wa asili ya jina “Afrika”. Mawazo yaliyoenezwa kila upande ni kwamba Zanzibar ni ya Muafrika mweusi mwenye asili ya bara peke yake kuliko Muafrika mwingine yeyote hata kama amezalika huko Zanzibar kwa dahari nyingi. Mawazo haya yanatokana na fikra kuwa “Bara la Waafrika” ni Bara la watu weusi tu. Watu weusi hao tena ni wale wanaotokana na asili ya Kibantu na Wabantu hao bila shaka wawe hawana kabisa asili au uhusiano wowote na Waarabu. Wenye mawazo haya bila shaka walisahau kuwa wanalitenga kundi kubwa la Waafrika wa Kaskazani katika nchi za Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea na Mauritius. Halkadhalika mawazo hayo yamewatenga wazungu wa Afrika Kusini, Zimbabwe na Kenya. Pia mawazo hayo yamewatenga Mayahudi na Wahindi wazalendo wa Afrika, na makabila yote ya watu ambayo yana chimbuko lake katika bara hili” (Gassany 2010).

Wazanzibari ni watu walio na asili zao nyingi na ustaarabu mchanganyiko ulizoanzia mbali. Asili za kiarabu, ki-pashia, kihindi, kitanganyika, kiganda, kikenya, kimsumbiji, kikomoro, kinyasa, kisumeri, kiassiri, kisomali, kiabisini, kifoniki, kidiba, kidebule, kireno, kibaluchi, kikurdi, kijojia, kichina, kisrilanka nk Wengi wao ni machotara, hakuna awezae kukaza mdomo akamtukana mbantu, akija akitanabahi kumbe kamtukana babu yake, au akakaza mdomo akamtukana mwarabu, akitanabahi kamtukana mama yake. Uarabu, ubantu, uhindi, na asili nyengine zote za wazanzibari zilizopo kamwe hazibandukani na uzanzibari na bila ya kundi moja tu katika hayo ni sawa na mwanadamu asivyokamilika akikosa baadhi ya viungo vyake.
 

That's Too Much Complications... Just to disassociate with Tanganyika and to be closer to OMAN... Hakuna

Mtanganyika yoyote anayetaka wewe uukatae UBANTU... lakini RAIS MWINYI generation yake inapatikana bara

Tabora... Shamsi Vuai Nahodha anapatikana ... Tanga bila hata kuchanganya hayo makabila... even Alhaji Jumbe

just to name the few... sio wote mama zao ni waarabu au wahindi hata kidogo; wengi weusiiii wachache sana ni

Kama Salim Ahmed Salim; na Nyie wenyewe hamumpendi Nyerere alitaka awe Rais wa Zanzibar woote Nyie Mligoma

Bara kuna Wabantu Wanaojiita Wazanzibari 300,000; Zanzibar Wabantu hao ni 430,000 sasa angalia wengi wako

Wapi.....
 
Ni mawazo wako ila jenga hoja kwa ushahidi wa sitations sio porojo.
That's Too Much Complications... Just to disassociate with Tanganyika and to be closer to OMAN... HakunaMtanganyika yoyote anayetaka wewe uukatae UBANTU... lakini RAIS MWINYI generation yake inapatikana baraTabora... Shamsi Vuai Nahodha anapatikana ... Tanga bila hata kuchanganya hayo makabila... even Alhaji Jumbejust to name the few... sio wote mama zao ni waarabu au wahindi hata kidogo; wengi weusiiii wachache sana niKama Salim Ahmed Salim; na Nyie wenyewe hamumpendi Nyerere alitaka awe Rais wa Zanzibar woote Nyie MligomaBara kuna Wabantu Wanaojiita Wazanzibari 300,000; Zanzibar Wabantu hao ni 430,000 sasa angalia wengi wakoWapi.....
 
Bahati mbaya natumia simu ya mchina na nimeshindwa kusoma post ya jamhuri ya zanzibar kwa kuwa ni ndefu. Nilivutiwa na neno Kuraish. Ilikuwa inanikumbusha mambo fulani hivi ya kidini.
 
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Wazanzibari ni watu walio na asili zao nyingi na ustaarabu mchanganyiko ulizoanzia mbali. Asili za kiarabu, ki-pashia, kihindi, kitanganyika, kiganda, kikenya, kimsumbiji, kikomoro, kinyasa, kisumeri, kiassiri, kisomali, kiabisini, kifoniki, kidiba, kidebule, kireno, kibaluchi, kikurdi, kijojia, kichina, kisrilanka nk Wengi wao ni machotara, hakuna awezae kukaza mdomo akamtukana mbantu, akija akitanabahi kumbe kamtukana babu yake, au akakaza mdomo akamtukana mwarabu, akitanabahi kamtukana mama yake. Uarabu, ubantu, uhindi, na asili nyengine zote za wazanzibari zilizopo kamwe hazibandukani na uzanzibari na bila ya kundi moja tu katika hayo ni sawa na mwanadamu asivyokamilika akikosa baadhi ya viungo vyake.

..... same as ustaarab wa WaTanganyika ni watu wenye asili zao nyingi na ustaarab mchanganyiko ulioanzia mbali kabla hata Zanzibar haijagunduliwa. Ungeweka kwenye mjadala wako, tungeweza kulinganisha na kuja na hitimisho kuwa ni Wazanzibar ni cosmopolitan society na Watanganyika ni purely Wabantu.
 
Ni mawazo wako ila jenga hoja kwa ushahidi wa sitations sio porojo.

HAKUNA POROJO... UNASEMA KUWA HAKUNA MAKABILA OMAN?

Al-Lawati (Arabic: اللواتي) is a Shia Arab tribe native to Oman. Legends say it that when Caliph Umar made Uthman ibn al-'As ruler of Oman and the historical region of Bahrain.


A Study of the Strength of Tribal Ties Among Rural and
Urban Zanzibaris in Oman
Kristie Barber
May 12, 2011
SIT Oman, Spring ‘2011

Introduction
Tribe (qabeelah) has been a major aspect of Arab life for centuries; the advent of the modern state and rapid urbanization is bound to have an effect on this institution. I became interested in whether the tribe has undergone any significant changes in Oman that can be attributed to urbanization, due to the fact that large-scale urbanization was so rapid,
only beginning in the 1970s with the rise to power of Sultan Qaboos.

While many parts of
Oman remain somewhat underdeveloped, the country is rapidly changing; it is not unrealistic to assume that traditional structures may be bending under the pressure of
changing lifestyles. Zanzibar was part of the Omani empire in Africa until the uprising on January 12th,1962, after which the majority of the Omani families that had migrated there returned.


Those who had moved to Zanzibar belonged to Omani tribes and thus when they returned were easily accepted back into Omani society.
1
This held true as long as the "different blood" (not from an Omani tribe) was from the mother, a relevant issue as many Omani men married Swahili women.
2
In this paper I first examined the literature available about tribe and urbanization,
looking at the migration to cities and settling of nomadic tribes. While there was substantial
information about the Arab world in general, not much research had been done in Oman.
I conducted interviews and gathered data to fill this gap in the literature. Believing that
those exposed to a more urban lifestyle would have significantly weaker tribal ties than
those who remained in rural settings, I focused my research on the urban and rural
Zanzibari population of Oman, in order to control for all possible variables. I then
analyzed the data obtained and presented it along with my conclusions and the many new
directions that I believe this research may well take in the future.

Literature Review
The majority of the Arab world is traditionally organized into tribes which, before the modern state, were the main source of identity, support, and protection for the individual. The question I address here is whether the advent of the state and of urbanization has had an effect on tribal organization and cohesiveness. The majority of the
literature on tribes in the Middle East remains undecided on this. In the many studies that have been conducted, urbanization has rarely been mentioned and the emphasis is instead put on the state and its actions. When urbanization does appear in the literature it is fleeting and ambiguous, some writers claiming that it has had a profound effect on tribes, others that it has had little or none. There is also the minority view that tribalism has an adverse effect on the state and urbanization. It is important to also note that in the literature many times the term "urbanization" is coupled with, and at times interchangeable with, the
term "modernization." While I will not be using this term in my research, it is unavoidable that it will appear in the literature review, as previous researchers have coupled the two.


Since the literature I encountered covered a variety of issues as they related to tribe and urbanization, I will address each piece separately, acknowledging the amount of effect that each states that urbanization has had. I will separate the literature based on whether it addressed the other countries in the Middle East, or the Middle East in general, or Oman specifically.

Middle East

The issue of tribes and the state, or more specifically urbanization, has been of interest to researchers since the 1970s. Many focused on tribes and state formation; however they did address urbanization from time to time, whether explicitly or implicitly.

As each piece of literature dealt with different aspects, each will be examined individually
to assess the effect that state formation and urbanization have had on the tribes of the Middle East.

Khoury and Kostiner (1990) compiled articles dealing with tribes and states in their book Tribes and State Formation in the Middle East. In the introduction they detailed how the process of state formation has led to the voluntary or forced breakup of traditional forms of tribal authority and the erosion of old tribal loyalties, leading to the emergence of new groupings and movements that retain certain tribal characteristics but are also conditioned and heavily affected by other factors.
3
They acknowledge that there are deeper undercurrents to this transformation within the city and the tribe. While the tribe is
conventionally viewed as the historical opponent to the state and many states therefore pittribe against town, employ tribal leaders in the government, and spread a nationalistideology and national identity, it is acknowledged that tribes also helped smooth the transition to state and urban city, as they formed a buffer which helped maintain tradition
in the face of change.
4
In the same collection, Tibi's article advances the idea that tribes continue to exist relatively unchanged in modern urban societies. He describes how while at times there is a correlation between socioeconomic status within the city and the cohesiveness of the tribe, namely that the higher the status the more cohesive the tribe, this is not always the case.
This is due to tribal affiliations being "sub-ethnic societal divisions in the nation-states of the Middle East [;] [t]ribal affiliations continue to exist despite the fact that Middle Eastern
societies have undergone essential transformations."
5
While it may seem that the upper
class in urban society is the only area where tribal affiliations and institutions are maintained, this is not always the case. In the Middle East "modernization" was externally induced, leading it to proceed unevenly, causing social tensions as not all groups were assimilated in the same manner.
6
Tibi therefore presents the assimilation and instrumentalization of tribal affiliations by the upper class as a means to maintain control,
whereas the lower classes and those unable or unwilling to assimilate cling to tribal ties as a source of identity and survival in a rapidly changing environment. Kostiner's contribution to the book focuses on Saudi Arabia, specifically the creation of the Saudi state. With consumerism and urbanization the "ecological integrity and political autonomy of tribes were eroded; in fact tribes tended to disintegrate owing to sedentarization"
7
. This also led to new problems such as class conflict, mainly in the mixing of tribal groups with social classes; whereas tribal chiefs joined the upper class, "rank-andfile" members formed the bulk of the Saudi lower class. Nomadic and lately sedentarized groups also had problems mainly with adjusting; "the dissonance between their traditional
ways and modernization led many to dissatisfaction with the new lavishness and Westernization, and they became alienated"
8
. Kostiner notes, however, that despite the aforementioned erosion and disintegration of tribes, tribal values and elements still played
two important although opposing roles. First, they eased the disparities created by state administration or that the administration failed to overcome by serving as a buffer to change. Providing a sense of familiarity and continuity, tribalism compensated for the
creation of formal and unfamiliar bureaucracy, and the absence of political parties was
ameliorated by the patron-client network, with leaders drawing on tribal cooperation and familiarity to gain political support. Tribe also helped form identities by fashioning a mythical genealogy around the patron-client networks and new inhabitants of towns.
However, the norms of groups were alienated from the modernizing government, and thus feelings of deprivation, poverty and maltreatment were articulated in images of tribal failures; namely lack of water, failing agriculture, and the sedentarization of the younger
generation.
In this vein, Al-Mansoori, in his book on the UAE, The Distinctive Arab Heritage:
A Study of Society, Culture and Sport in UAE (2004), focuses on the changes to Bedouin
lifestyle that have been brought on by the oil industry. He however comes to a different
conclusion as to the prevalence of tribal ties, emphasizing that the tribe is being
transformed from a social system to a social value; while remnants of the tribe as a social
system survive, they are limited and better understood as markers of allegiance and social
status
9
.
Dodd, in his 1973 article for the International Journal of Middle East Studies, also
contributes to the idea that urbanization has not changed the essential aspects of Arab
society. He focuses on the concept of ‘ird or family honor and shows how these values and
norms seem to resist the process of change because "while ‘ird is most evident in the tribal
and peasant sectors of society, it also appears in the contemporary urban sector, in all but
the most ‘modernized' families."
10
Dodd stresses that the size and density of the population
are key factors. If the Western idea of "urban anonymity"
11
held true, wherein there are
too many people to be able to identify them as individuals and people are too preoccupied
to form close ties, ‘ird would be difficult to maintain. While there is evidence that this has
occurred in Cairo and Tripoli, most other Arab cities have divided themselves into
quarters where the traditional small communities have been maintained, thus maintaining
the value of ‘ird despite urbanization.
The book's final two articles give an interesting perspective as they look at not only
the state's effect on tribe, but also the tribe's effect on state and how this is incorporated

into the structure and working system of the tribe. In the first, Piggott (2005) sees the
decline of the tribe in urban states as a necessity. The "long established socio-cultural
factors within Arab society, in particular traditional tribal identity and loyalty, have been
greatly underestimated as an impediment to structural reform and the development of a
credible rule of law system."
12
She claims that if tribal loyalties persist "Arabs will at best
have only a weak sense of allegiance to the states of which they are citizens; public officials
will continue to be corrupted by particularist loyalties; the development of a rule of law
culture will continue to be undermined; and the concept of a state that embodies and
promotes the common will and the common good will be a distant dream."
13
In Antoun's (2000) article he argues that the tribe has been modified in order to fit
into a specific area left open to it by the state: civil society, where it functions to help
maintain the state and assist in the transition to urban society. Antoun argues that the
common definition of civil society is ethnocentric (i.e. Western) and does not take into
account many of the structures of civil society that are common in the Middle East. He
points out that tribal institutions can be considered a form of civil society, specifically the
"indigenous process of conflict resolution used to settle disputes at the local level before,
after, or instead of resorting to formal civil and Islamic courts. This local arena of conflict
resolution, rather than newly formed political parties, recent elections, or new voluntary
associations, lies at the heart of civil society in Jordan."
14
Kufr al-Ma, the village where
Antoun conducted his research, had undergone many changes since 1960: accelerated
social, economic and demographic trends due to the oil price revolution; an increase in the
number of villagers that had worked or studied abroad; and the fact that the village became
a municipality in 1986. All contributed to the weakening of kinship ties, a decline in
multiplexity, and the development of differences in social status. However, although there
is a new expression of individual interest and a switch in focus from the consanguine to the
conjugal family,
15
assumptions and mechanisms integral to the tribal process remain part of
pan-Jordanian social and political life.
16
The resilience of these tribal institutions despite
urbanization and conformity to the state "may stem in part from the fact that these are the
only cross-community, pan-societal cultural and social mechanisms that emphasize
personal dignity in a world that increasingly is being released from clanship and close
kinship norms and is increasingly being differentiated and hierarchicalized by wealth and
education."
17
Thus while tribe is not as strong or cohesive as it was before urbanization, it
has preserved itself in a non-threatening position within the state, allowing both to maintain
validity in the daily life of citizens and tribal members.
This literature gives a scattered glimpse into the many opinions that have been
formed as to how the tribe and urbanization, or the state, have interacted over the past few
decades. There seems to be no consensus as to whether urbanization plays a major role in

the cohesiveness and importance of tribe to the population, and results seem to vary over
time and by country. I will now turn to the literature that deals specifically with Oman.
Map source: CIA Factbook
Oman
The tribe in Oman is a social organizational structure, and while the prevalent type
is the genealogical patrilineal organization, there are non-blood related tribes in Oman too,
mainly alliances of smaller tribes or ethnic groups. While the tribes in Oman provide
legitimacy to the state, the question remains whether the tribes still have influence or have
become a product of the state. One of the main issues of tribe currently in Oman is the
government's desire to establish a national identity; the importance of tribal identity to
Omanis creates a problem in this regard as it leads them to switch back and forth between
the dual identities of tribal member and Omani citizen.
18
Wikan's (1982) book on women in the port city Sohar begins to address the effects
that urbanization is having on the tribal institution in Oman. Her research was done in the
mid-70s, when Oman was beginning to open its doors to foreign researchers, and Wikan's
subjects were the "Arabs," defined by her as those who spoke Arabic. She quickly
discovered that there had been a definite decline in knowledge of the tribe and its

18
The source used for this information is a presentation given to SIT students by Ahmed Mukhaini on
2/20/07 entitled "Tribes, Patronage and Politics in Oman"6
importance in daily life, for "[t]hough we
19
found little evidence among the men that these
tribes mean much today, we were surprised that many, if not most, women did not even
know the name of their tribe."
20
Marriage is a major issue in this book. Wikan touches on
the issues regarding choosing one's spouse, negotiating the marriage and bride price,
marriages used to forge alliances, and the issue of "stranger" marriage vs. cousin marriage.
She holds that not much has changed in this area except for a shift towards a preference for
stranger marriage over cousin marriage on behalf of the men, as it lessens the influence of
the in-laws and heightens the authority of the husband. It is interesting that while by law
women have had the right to choose their own spouses since 1971, Wikan found that many
women still do not exercise it due to the social restraints in interactions between the sexes
and the idea that elders will "know better."
21
This supports her conclusion that
urbanization has not played much of a role in changing tribal values and institutions in
Sohar.
Chatty's (1996) book on the mobile pastoralists of Oman addresses the
development programs initiated by Sultan Qaboos, specifically those directed towards the
Bedouin and the Harasii tribe in particular. While traditionally these tribes were presided
over by an elected sheikh, the ascension of Qaboos to the throne has resulted in
widespread efforts at developing the areas which the Bedu inhabit, thereby bringing them
under the direct control of the sultanate. Much of this desire to "develop" the Bedouin
stems from a popular consensus over the past few decades that in spite of lingering
sentimentality, these Bedu tribes are a major obstacle to social and economic
development,
22
mainly due to the belief that they form a state within the state. There is a
concern that nationhood cannot be achieved permanently unless the tribal segment
becomes fully integrated with the rest of the nation. The use of development planning
stemmed from the idea that "the population's conception of their identity was basically
tribal, and the broader concept of national identity was only to develop in step with their
understanding of the services that a nation-state provided its citizens"
23
. While this has
resulted in a few changes, none seems to directly affect tribal cohesion.
While there has been some research into tribe and tribal organization in Oman
there is little being done as to the effects of the rapid urbanization that has been going on
since Sultan Qaboos took power in 1970. My research in Muscat and Nizwa will attempt to
fill the gap that exists within the research on tribes in Oman, specifically focusing on the
effect that urbanization has had over the past three decades.
Research Question and Hypothesis
I examined the current conception of tribe in Oman among the urban and rural
Zanzibari community and the role it has in an Omani's life, through which I attempted to
gauge the strength of tribal ties. I hypothesized that tribal ties would be weaker among the

19
Wikan and her husband, Fredrik Barth, who was also conducting research in Sohar at the time.
20
Wikan, Unni Behind the Veil in Arabia: Women in Oman Chicago, University of Chicago Press 1982; p
42-3
21
Ibid. p 190
22
Chatty, Dawn Mobile Pastoralists: Development Planning and Social Change in Oman New York,
Columbia University Press 1996; p 15
23
Ibid. p 767
Zanzibari community in urban Muscat than in rural Nizwa, and that if this were true, then
tribal issues will be more prevalent in Nizwa than in Muscat.
Reported consultation of the tribe was the dependent variable; I controlled for
whether the informant moved away from the tribe's rural base, and if so when, as well as
the age and gender of the informant. The independent variables were the informant's
proximity to the tribal base, his/her identification with the tribe, and what he/she
considered to be the occasions in life where it is important to consult the tribe. Proximity to
the tribe was determined by where the informant currently lived; where the tribal base was
located; and how frequently the individual was in contact with tribal members outside of
their immediate family (usrat(h)). Identification with the tribe can be determined somewhat
by the informant's description of him/herself, paying close attention to where tribal
affiliation is mentioned, if at all; and by whether or not the informant has formed
friendships outside of tribal ties. The final independent variable was determined by asking
who they consult for issues such as marriage, birth, death, divorce, and/or other issues
previously taken to tribal members outside immediate family, which were obtained from
the literature review and the interviews as they were conducted. I also asked about their
perception of tribe and what role it should play in Oman today in order to test the
information gathered in previous questions, and also simply to see how they interpreted the
role of tribe in Oman.
I believed that the information gathered would sow a correlation between the
amount of urbanization in an area and the strength of tribal ties of the inhabitants. The
more developed the city, the less important the concept of tribe will be, due to the greater
diversity of the population and the distance from the tribal base.
Methodology
I relied on ethnographic interviewing, using a semi-structured set of open-ended
questions (see Appendix 1), and participant observation. In order to obtain informants I
relied on word of mouth and snowballing, beginning with a few well-known contacts and
branching out from them. Personal introductions and contacts are a necessity in Oman to
conduct this sort of research.
Participation
The snowballing method led to a varied group of informants, and while I was able
to get five informants from Nizwa and five from Muscat, the commonalities end there. In
order to narrow the search for informants, and guarantee that they spoke enough English
to complete the interview, I focused only on the Zanzibari or Swahili-Arab population of
Oman. I also chose the Zanzibari population as they have had the most exposure to
urbanization and life outside of Oman; thereby eliminating the conflicts in data if I had
combined these informants with a group which had never had such exposure.
The group that I interviewed was varied in age, occupation, and lifestyle. This gave
me multiple perspectives on the ways people conceive of tribe. The ages of my informants
ranged from twenty to seventy years. Six were married, four unmarried.
24
One was a
teacher, one worked for the army, four were students, two were housewives, and two were
employed by private companies. One of the informants from Nizwa, Informant 7, did not

24
Informants 1, 4, 5, and 108
speak any English and was in fact illiterate. A few of the informants were related but not
from the same tribe, as they were related through the women of their family. There were
two sets of informants from the same tribes: Informants 1 and 11, Al Harthys from Muscat
and closely related; Informants 4 and 5, Al Mahrooqis from Nizwa. They were distantly
related and also had very different views, mainly (I believe) because Informant 4 had lived
part of her life in Muscat and Informant 5's family had not left the tribal base of Adam
since returning from Zanzibar.
Problems Encountered
When conducting the interviews I came across a few problems that may have
affected the data obtained. In Nizwa I interviewed four women and one man, whereas in
Muscat I interviewed three men and two women. While I had initially decided not to
control much for the sex of the informants, based on the assumption that due to cultural
boundaries I would mainly be interviewing women, the fact that there is unbalanced
representation of the sexes may alter results. Minor issues encountered were time conflicts,
especially in Muscat, and a few minor misunderstandings due to language, mainly in Nizwa;
these were, however, rectified during the interview the majority of the time. There was also
one instance where I was forced to use a translator as Informant 7 did not speak any
English.

Data and Analysis
After completing the interviews I concluded that whether an informant resided in
an urban or rural area had little effect on the person's identification with the tribe or the
strength of tribal ties. Instead, the person's age and the level of education played a much
stronger role. The majority of the informants from Nizwa did fit the original hypothesis,
having fairly close ties to their tribe and a relatively positive view of the institution. One
Nizwa informant, however, I4, believes that tribe is an antiquity, that it is nothing more than
one's surname now. The majority of informants from Muscat did not fit the original
hypothesis either. Tribalism seems to remain as strong there as in Nizwa, with one
exception, I11 who, although respecting the tribe and adhering to certain tribal values, at
least formally, believes that there is no place for tribalism in the 21
st
century.
This lack of support for my initial hypothesis made it pointless to analyze the
information gathered based on the urban versus rural distinction. Throughout the
interviews I used a basic nineteen-question guide (see Appendix 1), which addressed issues
such as marriage, loans, voting, job-hunting, contact with the tribe, and what the person
thought of tribe and its role in Oman. Since the responses were so varied and did not
support the urban/rural hypothesis, I analyzed the data based on the commonalities that
did appear, namely those based on the informants' ages and levels of education. One thing
that bears mentioning before delving into the analysis is that very few informants identified
themselves as coming from a certain tribal base when initially describing themselves to me,
in fact only two did;
25
the rest either described themselves based on their professions,
studies or marital status and many mentioned Zanzibar as the majority were born there.

25
Informants 8 and 109
Marriage
In addressing the issue of marriage, I changed my method of asking the question
based on a few factors. I asked married people how they chose their spouse and whom
they consulted about it, how and by who their marriage was arranged, whether their spouse
was from the same tribe, and if they had a daughter, whom they would prefer her to marry.
The unmarried were asked whom they talked to about marriage, whom they would choose
as a spouse, and whether or not they would want to marry within the tribe.
Out of the three married women that I interviewed only two, I3 and I7, gave
detailed information about their marriages and what they hoped for their daughters.
Interestingly they both had very different experiences and expectations, due mainly I
believe to the difference in their ages; I3 was 33, I7 was in her 70s and a widow. When the
issue of marriage arose for I7, she was unable to discuss it with anyone as her mother was
still in Zanzibar at the time of her marriage, and she was the eldest of her sisters. She was
married at thirteen to a man from her tribe, the marriage arranged by her paternal great
uncle, who was acting as her father, and "there was no freedom, they did not ask her, he
asked for her and she was given to him."
26
Her perception of marriage was that "maybe
those with authority just wanted to get rid of the girls."
27
When she was asked who she
preferred her daughter to marry the immediate response was "someone from the
relatives"
28
because if she married a "stranger" he may move her further away from her and
therefore she wouldn't be able to visit her daughter as often as she would like.
I3 had a very different opinion as to how marriage should be carried out. She said
that while in the past women could be married in their early teens, "things have changed,
developed."
29
Although I3 also had an arranged marriage, she was married after she
completed college. Her spouse was not from the same tribe, but the marriage was arranged
between their mothers who had known each other while in Zanzibar. When I asked her
about the details of arranging a marriage she said that "there are rules we should follow,
especially in marriage"
30
. The issue of the dowry was settled between her uncles, acting in
the place of her father, and her husband-to-be. When all had been arranged between them
an "old man", who was not a relative of either party, asked her if she would accept the man
as her husband, and he must listen to her decision. She encourages her daughter to also
marry into a different tribe, since she is aware of the risk of genetic disease; however she
acknowledges the difficulty of this as there still exists as hierarchy of tribes wherein higher
status tribes do not wish to marry into lower status tribes.
The married men, whose accounts differed from those of the women, gave almost
identical accounts of their marriages. Both I8 and I9 married cousins; I8 married within the
tribe, while I9 did not as he married his maternal cousin. While I8 did not consult anyone
on the subject of his marriage, according to him he "just decided and [he] spoke to [his]
uncle and [they] were engaged."
31
I9 on the other hand did discuss his marriage with his
immediate family. It is interesting to note that his mother did most of the negotiations,
probably because the bride was her niece. Both informants hoped that their daughters

would marry someone that they loved and would be the best match for them but neither
preferred that the potential spouse be a tribal member.
The unmarried informants, regardless of sex, seemed to have the same opinion of
marriage and the spouse they would choose. All were college students, between the ages of
20 and 29, only one was male. None of them desired to marry within the tribe, mostly
because of a belief that it was an antiquated practice. (None mentioned the possibility of
genetic disease as a deciding factor as previously mentioned by I3.) The women all agreed
that they would consult their sisters and mothers about marriage. I4 said that talking to her
parents would not be very important because they "started to believe the culture in Nizwa
about marriage."
32
I5 believes on the other hand that while it is important to take her
family's opinion into consideration, she would prefer to make her own decision in the end.
I5 and I1, however are not thinking of marriage any time in the near future and prefer to
finish college before considering it.
Although the tendency to marry within the tribe seems to be declining in the
younger generations, and even in the desires of their parents, tribe still plays an important
role in marriages. The role however is changing; it is becoming more of a consultative role
and less of a deciding factor. While people are still willing and often do consult their tribe
in regards to their marriage, more and more prefer to make their own decisions
independent of tribe and family. This trend does not seem to have any relation to whether
the informant was from a rural or urban background but instead results from a generational
gap. While the majority of those already married had arranged marriages, they did not
express a desire to arrange marriages for their children, nor did many of them want their
children to marry within the tribe. The unmarried all preferred not to marry within the
tribe or have an arranged marriage. Contrary to urban/rural assumptions, the changes in
tribal practices regarding marriage are based on age and education.
The following are issues which arose from questions used during the research to
verify how strong tribal ties were. These questions were mainly hypothetical, used in order
to see how the informants would deal with issues such as inheritance, loans, buying a
house, getting a job, voting for majlis al shura, and what they would do if they were charged
with a crime. These issues were chosen because traditionally they would be addressed in a
tribal setting, avoiding involving members outside of the tribe, and even at times outside of
the immediate family circle.




Voting for Majlis al-Shura
Who a person votes for in the majlis al shura can greatly depend on tribal
affiliations. While three informants said they would vote either for a relative or for
someone that their relatives voted for, only one did it because it was her preference. The
others said it because there was no other way for them to know whom they were voting for
since there is no campaigning that would allow them to learn about the candidates; tribal
affiliation might be the only known factor. I8 mentioned how now "family, tribe and
politics"
36
all play a role in his decision of who to vote for, but how he hopes that in the
near future people will vote based on qualifications and not family. The youngest two
informants from Nizwa, I4 and I5, both said that they preferred to vote for someone who
would help the wilayaat (state) they were representing, and that while some people from the
previous generation will follow the sheikh in his decision, the younger generation has
started to stray from this practice. Interestingly, two informants said that they had not
bothered to vote at all, the first because he doesn't have the resources to know the
candidates well enough to vote for them and the second because she has "no specific
reasons to vote, and … because no one's approached me yet, you know when they do
personal campaigns"
37
. While this does suggest that she may vote for tribal members,
though she would verify their promises, her disregard for both tribe and the majlis itself
make her answer odd.
While tribal influence still plays a major role in voting for majlis al-shura it seems
that with time, education, and freedom to campaign (should that day come), this will
probably lessen as well.
Consultation of the immediate family is high; there are many issues where the
informants believed that it was important to consult their immediate family -- mainly
actions and events that would affect the entire immediate family directly. However
consultation with the tribe does not seem to be very important, especially for the women.
Those who said they would consult the tribe mainly would do so in regards to marriage.
The men indicated that there would be more reason for them to consult the tribe than the
women did, including disputes, choosing the sheikh, and the building of the sabla
38
. These
differences seem to be completely unrelated to age, education, or location and instead
seemed to be based solely on the sex of the informant. While both the women and men,
regardless of age, education, or residence, consulted the immediate family on multiple
issues, only the men seemed to consult the tribe on any matter.
Friends
Almost all of the informants except for the eldest, I7, said they had close friends
outside of their tribes; the majority of these friendships were formed through work, college,
or other associations (e.g. the Cancer Association which I11 belongs to). Only three
actually seemed to have very close relationships with these friends, the rest more superficial
relationships. I10, I1, and I5 had formed their closest bonds outside of the tribe, all three
are relatively young, I10 being the eldest at 29, and all were or had recently been students.
I4 was the only university student to portray doubt as to the closeness of her friends outside
the tribe, pointing out that she has one close friend but she does not "trust her 100%, [she]
can't tell her everything, [she] prefer to tell [her] sister everything."
39
Friendships formed
over the internet through instant messaging services also seem to be becoming more
prevalent among the younger generation, though these tend to be superficial. One
exception to this is I10 and her close friend, and now business partner, whom she met on a
discussion board in a chat room
40
.
While it seems that in the end the majority of trust still lies within the family and
tribal circle, people are beginning to branch out and form friendships and connections
outside of the tribe. This is mainly a phenomenon among the younger and/or more
educated group, namely those that have had the technology or the opportunity to physically
separate themselves from the tribe.
Tribe and its Role in Oman
The final two questions focused on the informants' opinion of tribe and the role
that they believed tribe should play in Oman. An overwhelming majority of the informants,
eight out of ten, had an extremely positive opinion of tribe and thought it was as relevant
today as in the past. Only two had a negative or indifferent opinion and believed that the
tribe had no role in contemporary Omani society.
Those that had a positive view of tribe and its role in Oman cited three reasons for
this belief. Cooperation and problem solving was the most common, and was also believed
to remain the tribe's role in Oman as it has for centuries. I5 in particular stated that "tribe
is a part of culture, and culture is like skin, difficult to change."
 
Ni mawazo wako ila jenga hoja kwa ushahidi wa sitations sio porojo.

HAKUNA POROJO... UNASEMA KUWA HAKUNA MAKABILA OMAN?

Al-Lawati (Arabic: اللواتي) is a Shia Arab tribe native to Oman. Legends say it that when CaliphUmar made Uthman ibn al-'As ruler of Oman and the historical region of Bahrain.


A Study of the Strength of Tribal Ties Among Rural and
Urban Zanzibaris in Oman
Kristie Barber
May 12, 2011
SIT Oman, Spring ‘2011

Introduction
Tribe (qabeelah) has been a major aspect of Arab life for centuries; the advent of the modern state and rapid urbanization is bound to have an effect on this institution. I became interested in whether the tribe has undergone any significant changes in Oman that can be attributed to urbanization, due to the fact that large-scale urbanization was so rapid,
only beginning in the 1970s with the rise to power of Sultan Qaboos.

While many parts of
Oman remain somewhat underdeveloped, the country is rapidly changing; it is not unrealistic to assume that traditional structures may be bending under the pressure of changing lifestyles. Zanzibar was part of the Omani empire in Africa until the uprising on January 12th,1962, after which the majority of the Omani families that had migrated there returned.


Those who had moved to Zanzibar belonged to Omani tribes and thus when they returned were easily accepted back into Omani society.
1
This held true as long as the "different blood" (not from an Omani tribe) was from the mother, a relevant issue as many Omani men married Swahili women.
2
In this paper I first examined the literature available about tribe and urbanization,looking at the migration to cities and settling of nomadic tribes. While there was substantial information about the Arab world in general, not much research had been done in Oman. I conducted interviews and gathered data to fill this gap in the literature. Believing that those exposed to a more urban lifestyle would have significantly weaker tribal ties than those who remained in rural settings, I focused my research on the urban and rural Zanzibari population of Oman, in order to control for all possible variables. I then
analyzed the data obtained and presented it along with my conclusions and the many new directions that I believe this research may well take in the future.

Literature Review
The majority of the Arab world is traditionally organized into tribes which, before the modern state, were the main source of identity, support, and protection for the individual. The question I address here is whether the advent of the state and of urbanization has had an effect on tribal organization and cohesiveness. The majority of the literature on tribes in the Middle East remains undecided on this. In the many studies that have been conducted, urbanization has rarely been mentioned and the emphasis is instead put on the state and its actions. When urbanization does appear in the literature it is fleeting and ambiguous, some writers claiming that it has had a profound effect on tribes, others that it has had little or none. There is also the minority view that tribalism has an adverse effect on the state and urbanization. It is important to also note that in the literature many times the term "urbanization" is coupled with, and at times interchangeable with, the term "modernization." While I will not be using this term in my research, it is unavoidable that it will appear in the literature review, as previous researchers have coupled the two.


Since the literature I encountered covered a variety of issues as they related to tribe and urbanization, I will address each piece separately, acknowledging the amount of effect that each states that urbanization has had. I will separate the literature based on whether it addressed the other countries in the Middle East, or the Middle East in general, or Oman specifically.

Middle East

The issue of tribes and the state, or more specifically urbanization, has been of interest to researchers since the 1970s. Many focused on tribes and state formation; however they did address urbanization from time to time, whether explicitly or implicitly.

As each piece of literature dealt with different aspects, each will be examined individually
to assess the effect that state formation and urbanization have had on the tribes of the Middle East.

Khoury and Kostiner (1990) compiled articles dealing with tribes and states in their book Tribes and State Formation in the Middle East. In the introduction they detailed how the process of state formation has led to the voluntary or forced breakup of traditional forms of tribal authority and the erosion of old tribal loyalties, leading to the emergence of new groupings and movements that retain certain tribal characteristics but are also conditioned and heavily affected by other factors.
3
They acknowledge that there are deeper undercurrents to this transformation within the city and the tribe. While the tribe is
conventionally viewed as the historical opponent to the state and many states therefore pittribe against town, employ tribal leaders in the government, and spread a nationalistideology and national identity, it is acknowledged that tribes also helped smooth the transition to state and urban city, as they formed a buffer which helped maintain tradition
in the face of change.
4
In the same collection, Tibi's article advances the idea that tribes continue to exist relatively unchanged in modern urban societies. He describes how while at times there is a correlation between socioeconomic status within the city and the cohesiveness of the tribe, namely that the higher the status the more cohesive the tribe, this is not always the case.

This is due to tribal affiliations being "sub-ethnic societal divisions in the nation-states of the Middle East [;] [t]ribal affiliations continue to exist despite the fact that Middle Eastern
societies have undergone essential transformations."
5
While it may seem that the upper class in urban society is the only area where tribal affiliations and institutions are maintained, this is not always the case. In the Middle East "modernization" was externally induced, leading it to proceed unevenly, causing social tensions as not all groups were assimilated in the same manner.
6
Tibi therefore presents the assimilation and instrumentalization of tribal affiliations by the upper class as a means to maintain control,
whereas the lower classes and those unable or unwilling to assimilate cling to tribal ties as a source of identity and survival in a rapidly changing environment. Kostiner's contribution to the book focuses on Saudi Arabia, specifically the creation of the Saudi state. With consumerism and urbanization the "ecological integrity and political autonomy of tribes were eroded; in fact tribes tended to disintegrate owing to sedentarization"
7
. This also led to new problems such as class conflict, mainly in the mixing of tribal groups with social classes; whereas tribal chiefs joined the upper class, "rank-andfile" members formed the bulk of the Saudi lower class. Nomadic and lately sedentarized groups also had problems mainly with adjusting; "the dissonance between their traditional ways and modernization led many to dissatisfaction with the new lavishness and Westernization, and they became alienated"
8
. Kostiner notes, however, that despite the aforementioned erosion and disintegration of tribes, tribal values and elements still played
two important although opposing roles. First, they eased the disparities created by state administration or that the administration failed to overcome by serving as a buffer to change. Providing a sense of familiarity and continuity, tribalism compensated for the creation of formal and unfamiliar bureaucracy, and the absence of political parties was ameliorated by the patron-client network, with leaders drawing on tribal cooperation and familiarity to gain political support. Tribe also helped form identities by fashioning a mythical genealogy around the patron-client networks and new inhabitants of towns.

However, the norms of groups were alienated from the modernizing government, and thus feelings of deprivation, poverty and maltreatment were articulated in images of tribal failures; namely lack of water, failing agriculture, and the sedentarization of the younger generation.
In this vein, Al-Mansoori, in his book on the UAE, The Distinctive Arab Heritage: A Study of Society, Culture and Sport in UAE (2004), focuses on the changes to Bedouin lifestyle that have been brought on by the oil industry. He however comes to a different conclusion as to the prevalence of tribal ties, emphasizing that the tribe is being transformed from a social system to a social value; while remnants of the tribe as a social system survive, they are limited and better understood as markers of allegiance and social status.
9
.
Dodd, in his 1973 article for the International Journal of Middle East Studies, also contributes to the idea that urbanization has not changed the essential aspects of Arab society. He focuses on the concept of ‘ird or family honor and shows how these values and norms seem to resist the process of change because "while ‘ird is most evident in the tribal and peasant sectors of society, it also appears in the contemporary urban sector, in all but the most ‘modernized' families."
10
Dodd stresses that the size and density of the population are key factors. If the Western idea of "urban anonymity"
11
held true, wherein there are too many people to be able to identify them as individuals and people are too preoccupied to form close ties, ‘ird would be difficult to maintain. While there is evidence that this has occurred in Cairo and Tripoli, most other Arab cities have divided themselves into quarters where the traditional small communities have been maintained, thus maintaining
the value of ‘ird despite urbanization.

The book's final two articles give an interesting perspective as they look at not only
the state's effect on tribe, but also the tribe's effect on state and how this is incorporated into the structure and working system of the tribe. In the first, Piggott (2005) sees the decline of the tribe in urban states as a necessity. The "long established socio-cultural factors within Arab society, in particular traditional tribal identity and loyalty, have been greatly underestimated as an impediment to structural reform and the development of a
credible rule of law system."
12
She claims that if tribal loyalties persist "Arabs will at best have only a weak sense of allegiance to the states of which they are citizens; public officials
will continue to be corrupted by particularist loyalties; the development of a rule of law culture will continue to be undermined; and the concept of a state that embodies and promotes the common will and the common good will be a distant dream."
13
In Antoun's (2000) article he argues that the tribe has been modified in order to fit into a specific area left open to it by the state: civil society, where it functions to help maintain the state and assist in the transition to urban society. Antoun argues that the common definition of civil society is ethnocentric (i.e. Western) and does not take into account many of the structures of civil society that are common in the Middle East. He
points out that tribal institutions can be considered a form of civil society, specifically the "indigenous process of conflict resolution used to settle disputes at the local level before, after, or instead of resorting to formal civil and Islamic courts. This local arena of conflict resolution, rather than newly formed political parties, recent elections, or new voluntary
associations, lies at the heart of civil society in Jordan."
14
Kufr al-Ma, the village where Antoun conducted his research, had undergone many changes since 1960: accelerated social, economic and demographic trends due to the oil price revolution; an increase in the number of villagers that had worked or studied abroad; and the fact that the village became a municipality in 1986. All contributed to the weakening of kinship ties, a decline in multiplexity, and the development of differences in social status. However, although there
is a new expression of individual interest and a switch in focus from the consanguine to the conjugal family.
15
assumptions and mechanisms integral to the tribal process remain part of
pan-Jordanian social and political life.
16
The resilience of these tribal institutions despite urbanization and conformity to the state "may stem in part from the fact that these are the only cross-community, pan-societal cultural and social mechanisms that emphasize
personal dignity in a world that increasingly is being released from clanship and close kinship norms and is increasingly being differentiated and hierarchicalized by wealth and education."
17
Thus while tribe is not as strong or cohesive as it was before urbanization, it
has preserved itself in a non-threatening position within the state, allowing both to maintain validity in the daily life of citizens and tribal members.
This literature gives a scattered glimpse into the many opinions that have been
formed as to how the tribe and urbanization, or the state, have interacted over the past few decades. There seems to be no consensus as to whether urbanization plays a major role in the cohesiveness and importance of tribe to the population, and results seem to vary over time and by country. I will now turn to the literature that deals specifically with Oman.
Map source: CIA Factbook

View attachment Tribal ties in Oman22.pdfView attachment Tribal ties in Oman22.pdfView attachment Tribal ties in Oman22.pdf

Oman

The tribe in Oman is a social organizational structure, and while the prevalent type
is the genealogical patrilineal organization, there are non-blood related tribes in Oman too, mainly alliances of smaller tribes or ethnic groups. While the tribes in Oman provide legitimacy to the state, the question remains whether the tribes still have influence or have become a product of the state. One of the main issues of tribe currently in Oman is the government's desire to establish a national identity; the importance of tribal identity to Omanis creates a problem in this regard as it leads them to switch back and forth between the dual identities of tribal member and Omani citizen.
18
Wikan's (1982) book on women in the port city Sohar begins to address the effects that urbanization is having on the tribal institution in Oman. Her research was done in the mid-70s, when Oman was beginning to open its doors to foreign researchers, and Wikan's subjects were the "Arabs," defined by her as those who spoke Arabic. She quickly discovered that there had been a definite decline in knowledge of the tribe and The source used for this information is a presentation given to SIT students by Ahmed Mukhaini on 2/20/07 entitled "Tribes, Patronage and Politics in Oman"6 importance in daily life, for "[t]hough we

19
Marriage is a major issue in this book. Wikan touches on
the issues regarding choosing one's spouse, negotiating the marriage and bride price, marriages used to forge alliances, and the issue of "stranger" marriage vs. cousin marriage. She holds that not much has changed in this area except for a shift towards a preference for stranger marriage over cousin marriage on behalf of the men, as it lessens the influence of the in-laws and heightens the authority of the husband. It is interesting that while by law
women have had the right to choose their own spouses since 1971, Wikan found that many women still do not exercise it due to the social restraints in interactions between the sexes and the idea that elders will "know better."
20
This supports her conclusion that urbanization has not played much of a role in changing tribal values and institutions in Sohar.

Chatty's (1996) book on the mobile pastoralists of Oman addresses the
development programs initiated by Sultan Qaboos, specifically those directed towards the Bedouin and the Harasii tribe in particular. While traditionally these tribes were presided over by an elected sheikh, the ascension of Qaboos to the throne has resulted in widespread efforts at developing the areas which the Bedu inhabit, thereby bringing them under the direct control of the sultanate. Much of this desire to "develop" the Bedouin stems from a popular consensus over the past few decades that in spite of lingering sentimentality, these Bedu tribes are a major obstacle to social and economic development,
22
mainly due to the belief that they form a state within the state. There is a
concern that nationhood cannot be achieved permanently unless the tribal segment
becomes fully integrated with the rest of the nation. The use of development planning stemmed from the idea that "the population's conception of their identity was basicallytribal, and the broader concept of national identity was only to develop in step with their understanding of the services that a nation-state provided its citizens"
23
. While this has
resulted in a few changes, none seems to directly affect tribal cohesion.
While there has been some research into tribe and tribal organization in Oman
there is little being done as to the effects of the rapid urbanization that has been going onsince Sultan Qaboos took power in 1970. My research in Muscat and Nizwa will attempt tofill the gap that exists within the research on tribes in Oman, specifically focusing on the effect that urbanization has had over the past three decades

Research Question and Hypothesis

I examined the current conception of tribe in Oman among the urban and rural
Zanzibari community and the role it has in an Omani's life, through which I attempted to gauge the strength of tribal ties. I hypothesized that tribal ties would be weaker among the Zanzibari community in urban Muscat than in rural Nizwa, and that if this were true, then
tribal issues will be more prevalent in Nizwa than in Muscat.



Reported consultation of the tribe was the dependent variable; I controlled for
whether the informant moved away from the tribe's rural base, and if so when, as well as the age and gender of the informant. The independent variables were the informant's proximity to the tribal base, his/her identification with the tribe, and what he/she considered to be the occasions in life where it is important to consult the tribe. Proximity to the tribe was determined by where the informant currently lived; where the tribal base was located; and how frequently the individual was in contact with tribal members outside of their immediate family (usrat(h)). Identification with the tribe can be determined somewhat by the informant's description of him/herself, paying close attention to where tribal affiliation is mentioned, if at all; and by whether or not the informant has formed friendships outside of tribal ties. The final independent variable was determined by asking who they consult for issues such as marriage, birth, death, divorce, and/or other issues previously taken to tribal members outside immediate family, which were obtained from the literature review and the interviews as they were conducted. I also asked about their perception of tribe and what role it should play in Oman today in order to test the information gathered in previous questions, and also simply to see how they interpreted the
role of tribe in Oman. I believed that the information gathered would sow a correlation between the amount of urbanization in an area and the strength of tribal ties of the inhabitants. The more developed the city, the less important the concept of tribe will be, due to the greater diversity of the population and the distance from the tribal base.

Methodology
I relied on ethnographic interviewing, using a semi-structured set of open-ended
questions (see Appendix 1), and participant observation. In order to obtain informants I relied on word of mouth and snowballing, beginning with a few well-known contacts and branching out from them. Personal introductions and contacts are a necessity in Oman to conduct this sort of research.

Participation

The snowballing method led to a varied group of informants, and while I was able
to get five informants from Nizwa and five from Muscat, the commonalities end there. In order to narrow the search for informants, and guarantee that they spoke enough English to complete the interview, I focused only on the Zanzibari or Swahili-Arab population of Oman. I also chose the Zanzibari population as they have had the most exposure to urbanization and life outside of Oman; thereby eliminating the conflicts in data if I had combined these informants with a group which had never had such exposure. The group that I interviewed was varied in age, occupation, and lifestyle. This gave me multiple perspectives on the ways people conceive of tribe. The ages of my informants ranged from twenty to seventy years. Six were married, four unmarried.
24
One was a teacher, one worked for the army, four were students, two were housewives, and two were employed by private companies. One of the informants from Nizwa, Informant 7, did not

24
Informants 1, 4, 5, and 108
speak any English and was in fact illiterate. A few of the informants were related but not from the same tribe, as they were related through the women of their family. There were two sets of informants from the same tribes: Informants 1 and 11, Al Harthys from Muscat and closely related; Informants 4 and 5, Al Mahrooqis from Nizwa. They were distantly related and also had very different views, mainly (I believe) because Informant 4 had lived
part of her life in Muscat and Informant 5's family had not left the tribal base of Adam since returning from Zanzibar.

Problems Encountered

When conducting the interviews I came across a few problems that may have
affected the data obtained. In Nizwa I interviewed four women and one man, whereas in Muscat I interviewed three men and two women. While I had initially decided not to control much for the sex of the informants, based on the assumption that due to cultural boundaries I would mainly be interviewing women, the fact that there is unbalanced representation of the sexes may alter results. Minor issues encountered were time conflicts, especially in Muscat, and a few minor misunderstandings due to language, mainly in Nizwa;these were, however, rectified during the interview the majority of the time. There was also
one instance where I was forced to use a translator as Informant 7 did not speak any English.

Data and Analysis
After completing the interviews I concluded that whether an informant resided in
an urban or rural area had little effect on the person's identification with the tribe or the strength of tribal ties. Instead, the person's age and the level of education played a much stronger role. The majority of the informants from Nizwa did fit the original hypothesis, having fairly close ties to their tribe and a relatively positive view of the institution. One Nizwa informant, however, I4, believes that tribe is an antiquity, that it is nothing more than one's surname now. The majority of informants from Muscat did not fit the original hypothesis either. Tribalism seems to remain as strong there as in Nizwa, with one
exception, I11 who, although respecting the tribe and adhering to certain tribal values, at least formally, believes that there is no place for tribalism in the 21st century.

This lack of support for my initial hypothesis made it pointless to analyze the
information gathered based on the urban versus rural distinction. Throughout the
interviews I used a basic nineteen-question guide (see Appendix 1), which addressed issues such as marriage, loans, voting, job-hunting, contact with the tribe, and what the person thought of tribe and its role in Oman. Since the responses were so varied and did not support the urban/rural hypothesis, I analyzed the data based on the commonalities that did appear, namely those based on the informants' ages and levels of education. One thing that bears mentioning before delving into the analysis is that very few informants identified
themselves as coming from a certain tribal base when initially describing themselves to me, in fact only two did;
25
the rest either described themselves based on their professions,
studies or marital status and many mentioned Zanzibar as the majority were born there.

25
Informants 8 and 109
Marriage
In addressing the issue of marriage, I changed my method of asking the question
based on a few factors. I asked married people how they chose their spouse and whom
they consulted about it, how and by who their marriage was arranged, whether their spouse
was from the same tribe, and if they had a daughter, whom they would prefer her to marry.
The unmarried were asked whom they talked to about marriage, whom they would choose
as a spouse, and whether or not they would want to marry within the tribe.
Out of the three married women that I interviewed only two, I3 and I7, gave
detailed information about their marriages and what they hoped for their daughters.
Interestingly they both had very different experiences and expectations, due mainly I
believe to the difference in their ages; I3 was 33, I7 was in her 70s and a widow. When the
issue of marriage arose for I7, she was unable to discuss it with anyone as her mother was
still in Zanzibar at the time of her marriage, and she was the eldest of her sisters. She was
married at thirteen to a man from her tribe, the marriage arranged by her paternal great
uncle, who was acting as her father, and "there was no freedom, they did not ask her, he
asked for her and she was given to him."
26
Her perception of marriage was that "maybe
those with authority just wanted to get rid of the girls."
27
When she was asked who she
preferred her daughter to marry the immediate response was "someone from the
relatives"
28
because if she married a "stranger" he may move her further away from her and
therefore she wouldn't be able to visit her daughter as often as she would like.
I3 had a very different opinion as to how marriage should be carried out. She said
that while in the past women could be married in their early teens, "things have changed,
developed."
29
Although I3 also had an arranged marriage, she was married after she
completed college. Her spouse was not from the same tribe, but the marriage was arranged
between their mothers who had known each other while in Zanzibar. When I asked her
about the details of arranging a marriage she said that "there are rules we should follow,
especially in marriage"
30
. The issue of the dowry was settled between her uncles, acting in
the place of her father, and her husband-to-be. When all had been arranged between them
an "old man", who was not a relative of either party, asked her if she would accept the man
as her husband, and he must listen to her decision. She encourages her daughter to also
marry into a different tribe, since she is aware of the risk of genetic disease; however she
acknowledges the difficulty of this as there still exists as hierarchy of tribes wherein higher
status tribes do not wish to marry into lower status tribes.
The married men, whose accounts differed from those of the women, gave almost
identical accounts of their marriages. Both I8 and I9 married cousins; I8 married within the
tribe, while I9 did not as he married his maternal cousin. While I8 did not consult anyone
on the subject of his marriage, according to him he "just decided and [he] spoke to [his]
uncle and [they] were engaged."
31
I9 on the other hand did discuss his marriage with his
immediate family. It is interesting to note that his mother did most of the negotiations,
probably because the bride was her niece. Both informants hoped that their daughters

would marry someone that they loved and would be the best match for them but neither
preferred that the potential spouse be a tribal member.
The unmarried informants, regardless of sex, seemed to have the same opinion of
marriage and the spouse they would choose. All were college students, between the ages of
20 and 29, only one was male. None of them desired to marry within the tribe, mostly
because of a belief that it was an antiquated practice. (None mentioned the possibility of
genetic disease as a deciding factor as previously mentioned by I3.) The women all agreed
that they would consult their sisters and mothers about marriage. I4 said that talking to her
parents would not be very important because they "started to believe the culture in Nizwa
about marriage."
32
I5 believes on the other hand that while it is important to take her
family's opinion into consideration, she would prefer to make her own decision in the end.
I5 and I1, however are not thinking of marriage any time in the near future and prefer to
finish college before considering it.
Although the tendency to marry within the tribe seems to be declining in the
younger generations, and even in the desires of their parents, tribe still plays an important
role in marriages. The role however is changing; it is becoming more of a consultative role
and less of a deciding factor. While people are still willing and often do consult their tribe
in regards to their marriage, more and more prefer to make their own decisions
independent of tribe and family. This trend does not seem to have any relation to whether
the informant was from a rural or urban background but instead results from a generational
gap. While the majority of those already married had arranged marriages, they did not
express a desire to arrange marriages for their children, nor did many of them want their
children to marry within the tribe. The unmarried all preferred not to marry within the
tribe or have an arranged marriage. Contrary to urban/rural assumptions, the changes in
tribal practices regarding marriage are based on age and education.
The following are issues which arose from questions used during the research to
verify how strong tribal ties were. These questions were mainly hypothetical, used in order
to see how the informants would deal with issues such as inheritance, loans, buying a
house, getting a job, voting for majlis al shura, and what they would do if they were charged
with a crime. These issues were chosen because traditionally they would be addressed in a
tribal setting, avoiding involving members outside of the tribe, and even at times outside of
the immediate family circle.




Voting for Majlis al-Shura
Who a person votes for in the majlis al shura can greatly depend on tribal
affiliations. While three informants said they would vote either for a relative or for
someone that their relatives voted for, only one did it because it was her preference. The
others said it because there was no other way for them to know whom they were voting for
since there is no campaigning that would allow them to learn about the candidates; tribal
affiliation might be the only known factor. I8 mentioned how now "family, tribe and
politics"
36
all play a role in his decision of who to vote for, but how he hopes that in the
near future people will vote based on qualifications and not family. The youngest two
informants from Nizwa, I4 and I5, both said that they preferred to vote for someone who
would help the wilayaat (state) they were representing, and that while some people from the
previous generation will follow the sheikh in his decision, the younger generation has
started to stray from this practice. Interestingly, two informants said that they had not
bothered to vote at all, the first because he doesn't have the resources to know the
candidates well enough to vote for them and the second because she has "no specific
reasons to vote, and … because no one's approached me yet, you know when they do
personal campaigns"
37
. While this does suggest that she may vote for tribal members,
though she would verify their promises, her disregard for both tribe and the majlis itself
make her answer odd.
While tribal influence still plays a major role in voting for majlis al-shura it seems
that with time, education, and freedom to campaign (should that day come), this will
probably lessen as well.
Consultation of the immediate family is high; there are many issues where the
informants believed that it was important to consult their immediate family -- mainly
actions and events that would affect the entire immediate family directly. However
consultation with the tribe does not seem to be very important, especially for the women.
Those who said they would consult the tribe mainly would do so in regards to marriage.
The men indicated that there would be more reason for them to consult the tribe than the
women did, including disputes, choosing the sheikh, and the building of the sabla
38
. These
differences seem to be completely unrelated to age, education, or location and instead
seemed to be based solely on the sex of the informant. While both the women and men,
regardless of age, education, or residence, consulted the immediate family on multiple
issues, only the men seemed to consult the tribe on any matter.
Friends
Almost all of the informants except for the eldest, I7, said they had close friends
outside of their tribes; the majority of these friendships were formed through work, college,
or other associations (e.g. the Cancer Association which I11 belongs to). Only three
actually seemed to have very close relationships with these friends, the rest more superficial
relationships. I10, I1, and I5 had formed their closest bonds outside of the tribe, all three
are relatively young, I10 being the eldest at 29, and all were or had recently been students.
I4 was the only university student to portray doubt as to the closeness of her friends outside
the tribe, pointing out that she has one close friend but she does not "trust her 100%, [she]
can't tell her everything, [she] prefer to tell [her] sister everything."
39
Friendships formed
over the internet through instant messaging services also seem to be becoming more
prevalent among the younger generation, though these tend to be superficial. One
exception to this is I10 and her close friend, and now business partner, whom she met on a
discussion board in a chat room
40
.
While it seems that in the end the majority of trust still lies within the family and
tribal circle, people are beginning to branch out and form friendships and connections
outside of the tribe. This is mainly a phenomenon among the younger and/or more
educated group, namely those that have had the technology or the opportunity to physically
separate themselves from the tribe.
Tribe and its Role in Oman
The final two questions focused on the informants' opinion of tribe and the role
that they believed tribe should play in Oman. An overwhelming majority of the informants,
eight out of ten, had an extremely positive opinion of tribe and thought it was as relevant
today as in the past. Only two had a negative or indifferent opinion and believed that the
tribe had no role in contemporary Omani society.
Those that had a positive view of tribe and its role in Oman cited three reasons for
this belief. Cooperation and problem solving was the most common, and was also believed
to remain the tribe's role in Oman as it has for centuries. I5 in particular stated that "tribe
is a part of culture, and culture is like skin, difficult to change."
 

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Kasome istory ya "Zenj Empire" utaona kama iliyojulikana mwanzo ni Zanzibar au Tanganyika. Jina Tanganyika halikuwepo kabisa bali sehemu hiyo ambayo mwanzo ikiitwa "Mrima" iliyokuwa ni ya Zenj Empire aliyopokonywa mfamle na wakoloni wakati wa scramble of Afrika.
..... same as ustaarab wa WaTanganyika ni watu wenye asili zao nyingi na ustaarab mchanganyiko ulioanzia mbali kabla hata Zanzibar haijagunduliwa. Ungeweka kwenye mjadala wako, tungeweza kulinganisha na kuja na hitimisho kuwa ni Wazanzibar ni cosmopolitan society na Watanganyika ni purely Wabantu.
 
Kama kuna msamaria mwema aliyeisoma yote naomba asaidie kusummerise. Inaonyesha ni article nzuri lakini nakiri kuwa siwezi kuisoma yote mstari baada ya mstari!!!
 
.......
Wazanzibari na uarabu
Baadhi ya wanahistoria wanadai wahamizi wa mwanzo walikuwa ni wageni kutoka bara la Asia waliokwenda huko kwa sababu za kibiashara. Inadaiwa watu hao walikuwa na asili za Yemen na Oman na walikuwa ni wafuasi wa dini ya kiislamu katika madhehebu ya sunni. Hii ilitokana na kutanda kwa utawala wa Yemen wa wakati huo ambapo hata Oman ilikuwa ni sehemu ya Yemen. Baada ya kuhamia kwao huko mwambaoni watu hao walimtambua mfalme wa Yemen kuwa ndie mtawala wao. Maneno haya yanathibitishwa na mwandishi wa kitabu maarufu na muhimu kinachoelezea safari ya udadisi na biashara katika mwambao wa Bahari ya Hindi, The periplus of erythrean sea, kitabu ambacho mwandishi mwenyewe Wilfred H. Schoff, mfanya biashara wa karne ya kwanza ndie aliefanya safari hiyo, safari ambayo ilimfikisha hadi katika mwambao wa Afrika mashariki. Wahamizi hao wa mwanzo katika mwambao walikuwa wakifanya biashara na wagiriki na warumi na baadae baada ya kuanguka kwa ufalme wa warumi, soko la bidhaa za biashara lilihamia China na India. Bidhaa kubwa kutoka Afrika Mashariki zilikuwa ni meno ya ndovu. Bidhaa zilizokuwa zikiletwa Afrika Mashariki zilikuwa ni silaha, vifaa vya chuma na vitu vya urembo.
Mwandishi kajitahidi kuandika vizuri na reference za kuvutia ila shida hakutaka kuwa honest baadhi ya maeneo.Miaka haya yakitokea si Ukristu au islam ulikuwa na nafasi .Ila zohorostan ,Uhindu na uyahudi ambao haukusambaa walakutajwa sana katika biashara nje ya mashariki ya Kati.

Greece na Rome Hazikutawala kwa kipindi kimoja Greece ilipoanguka ndipo rome ikaingia na by that time hapakuwa na Uislam katika bara Arabia.Persian na Walebanon wa mwanzo au phoenian ndio walikuwa wajuzi wa baharini.So suala la SUNNI na SHIA halikuwepo.Hata ukristu wenyewe haukuwa umefika hapo ulipo ingawa baadhi ya persian walishakuwa wakristu wengine walikuwa na dini ya asili ya Iran.

Sababu ya msingi ya kuinuka kwa biashara ya uchina,india ilikuwa kwa vile kulishakuwa na biashara kati ya Hizo nchi na Africa mashariki ,na baadaye watu wa ulaya wakawa wakienda kule wakidhani kuwa dhahabu,chuma, na vitu vingine vilikuwa vikipatika kule bila kujua walikuwa madalali au waongeza dhamani tuu.

Na kuna historia inayotia mashaka si tuu wahindi hata wachina , mtu mweusi alishawahi kushika himaya katika bara hindi na uchina.Ila baada ya kuibuka kwa utumwa ndipo vizazi vyao vikaanza banwa na kupotea.
....

Kwa mujibu wa hoja hizo basi waarabu walikuwepo katika mwambao wa Afrika ya mashariki na Zanzibar kwa zaidi ya miaka 2000 nyuma. Msikiti wa kizimkazi, ni katika mabaki ya kihistoria yaliyo na umri mkubwa zaidi Zanzibar. Msikiti unakisiwa kuwepo hapo si chini ya miaka 900. Msikiti huu unaakisi ustaarabu wa waarabu au wapashia (wa-Iran) ambao walikuwa wameshafanya masikani yao Zanzibar karne nying huko nyuma. Kwenye ukuta wa mihrab wa msikiti huu pameandikwa hivi kwa Kipashia: “hii ni amri ya Kiongozi mtukukufu Sheikh Assayid Abu Imran Musa bin Alhassan bin Muhammad, Mungu ampe maisha marefu na awaangamize maadui wake”

Ningependa tumi alogic zaidi hapa kuliko quote ili kuweka sawa tfsiri za huyu mwandishi, mahiri ila pia nayependa tumia keyboard yake kuanza pindihs historia na baadaye tupotee kabisa.Miaka 200 nyuma hata ukihesabu tokea sasa hapakuwa na Ukristu nje ya mashariki ya kati na Maghreb.mwandishi anazo data ila anatafsiri kwa malengo yake.

Ukisoma Quran tukufu , hadith na Sira pamoja na maandiko mengine ya Kiarabu utaona ya Kuwa utumwa ulianza kabla hata Muhamad hajazaliwa.Na hivyo kufanya ushahidi kuwa Utumwa haukuanzishwa na Uislam, ingawa Baadaye waislam waliokuja baadaye hawakufanya juhudi kubwa kuuzimisha.Ndio maana hiyo miaka 900 unayoinyesha ya msikiti ni matokeo ya vizazi vilivyokuja vikiwa na waislam baada ya uislam kuanza na kuenea hadi uajemi na sehemu nyingie zilizokuwa na ustaarabu wa kikristu ,kiyahudi na Zohor.Na hivyo waajemi wote na walebanon waliokuja walikuja kama waislam na hivyo kukawa na mabadiliko katika tamaduni zao ambazo zlianza kuwa na influence za kairabu kwa kiasi kikubwa.
Kuhusu maneno hayo ya Kipashia katika mihraab kwa mujibu wa hoja hii ni kwamba waarabu hawa walipitia Pashia na kukaa muda mrefu kiasi cha kwamba utamaduni wao wa asili wa kiarabu uliathiriwa na ule wa kishirazi. Ndio maana maandishi ya kwenye mihraab yanaonekana kuwa ni ya mchanganyiko wa lugha mbili (maneno yameandikwa kwa lugha ya Kipashia lakini nambari zimeandikwa kwa kiarabu). Staili ya ujenzi wa msikiti huo pia haitofauiani na zile za misikikiti mengine iliyojengwa na waarabu.
There is doubt wewe umegeuza logic hapa, waarabu walikuwa superior na ndio walifanya persian wawe waislam na watanze tumia kiarabu.So huo mchanganyiko ni wazi kuwa waajemi ndio walistruggle katika kiarabu.Na hii hadi eo inaoneka katika nchi nyingi zenye waislam huwa machanganyiko wa kiarabu na lugha nyingine ni mkubwa ila katika nchi za kiarabu kiarabu ndicho hutawala.
Wazanzibari na ubantu
Wanahistoria waounga mkono uarabu kama ndio athari ya mwanzo ya ustaarabu katika mwambao pia hawakuacha kuwazungumza wabantu, ujio wao na uhusiano wao na mwambao wa Afrika ya mashariki. Wabantu ni jamii za waafrika weusi wanaozungumza lugha za kikabila za kiafrika ambao wana asili zao kutokea Afrika ya kati na Afrika ya Kusni. Wanahistoria hawa wanakana kuwepo kwa tarehe rasmi ya uhakika ambapo wabantu walihamia mara ya kwanza Zanzibar, lakini wao wanadai kwamba mpaka mwishoni mwa mwaka wa 700 kabla ya kristo (B.C ) kwa yakini sio Zanzibar tu, bali Afrika mashariki yote kiujumla ilikuwa ishavumbuliwa na kuhamiwa na watu wasio na asili ya kiafrika. Wao wanasisitiza kwamba ni vigumu kukisia ni karne ngapi nyuma hasa wabantu walifika katika mwambao wa Afrika ya mashariki na hatimae wakafika Unguja na Pemba lakini wanachoweza kusema ni kwamba walifika huko baada ya mwambao kwisha kuvumbuliwa tayari na watu wa asili zisizokuwa za kiafrika. Mwambao wa Afrika mashariki kwa mujibu wa wanahistoria hawa ulikuwa unafahamika na wenyeji wa Arabuni katika karne ya 8 kabla ya Kristo. Kumbukumbu zao zinadai pia kwamba taifa la Kiarabu la Ausan ambalo lilisambaratika mwaka wa 700 Kabla ya Kristo, lilifanya biasharana na bila shaka lilimiliki sehemu ya mwambao (Gray 1962: 10-11).
Historia ya watu wasio wabantu kuingia Africa mashariki haionyeshi wao kuingia mwambao wa afrika mashriki kwa umbali unafikia palipo dar ya Leo achilia mbali Tanga,Jamii za kimasai, mbulu etc hawkaufika huko.Ila wabantu walikuwepo pwani kwa miaka immomerable na hakuna ushahidi kuwa miaka 700BC palikuwa na ukoloni ukanda wa Africa mashariki,kwani wageni wote waliokuja walikuwa wakifanya biashara na aliyeondoka na mtu mweusi alikuwa ma akipewa na chief kama wasaidizi.
Utafiti wao unadai kwamba katika nyakati za karne ya 16 (16th century AD) ndani ya ukoloni wa kireno ndipo hasa mababu na mabibi wa wazanzibari wa asili za kibantu walipoanza kuingia katika visiwa vya Zanzibar, zaidi kwa kupitia biashara ya utumwa.
Ndugu yangu nakukumbusha tena Vitabu vya kiislam vinaonyesha utumwa ulikuwepo kabla ya Uislam,sasa karne ya 1600.Wareno wakija tayari utumwa ulikuwa na umri mkubwa.Na ushuhuda wa wasomi wa kiislam kuwa walikuwa waafrica wakiwa na ustaarabu kama wa wazungu ni ushuhuda tosha kuwa Si wazungu tuu, na waarabu pia walishngaa maendeleo.Na huo ni ushuhuda kuwa watu hawa hawakuwa wa kwanza toka nje kuwa na mahusiano na watu wa pwani.Na hawa ni wachina, wahindi, phoenisians ambao tayari walikuwa na ustaabu mkubwa katika nguo na walikuwa kama daraja la ustaarabu wa magharibi ya iliyokuwa katik ustraabu wa wagiriki na Warumi.
Madai yao zaidi ni kwamba mara baada ya kuhamia wabantu wakitokea Mrima, walioana na wenyeji wale walioitwa wahadimu, wapemba, na watumbatu na kupatikana watoto machotara. Machotara hawa ndio wale waitwao waswahili. Wakijaribu kutoa uthibitisho wao wanadai hata Mwinyi mkuu wa Dunga anaonekana nae alihemkwa na mabibi wa kibantu na kuzaa watoto machotara. Ipo picha maarufu sana kwa kumbukumbu za kihistoria, inamuonyesha Mwinyi mkuu wa Dunga (ambae bado anatambuliwa kama Mshirazi), yeye amekozea maumbile ya kiarabu, akiwa na mtoto wake ambae ni chotara, ameshapoteza ule uarabu wa baba yake na amekozea zaidi ubantu wa mama yake.

Wazanzibari na ushirazi
Kuna utata mwingi kuhusiana na historia ya washirazi na kuwepo kwao katika Zanzibar na Afrika ya Mashariki. Mengi yameandikwa na kusemwa kuhusiana na washirazi. Wako wanaosema washirazi na ujio wao sio kitu cha ukweli bali ni hadithi za kubuni. Kwa mujibu wa wanahistoria hawa neno ushirazi lilizushwa na kuungwa mkono na wakoloni ili kukidhi matakwa ya kurahisisha utawala kwa misingi ya ukabila. Miongoni mwa hoja wanazozitoa wanahistoria hawa akiwemo S. J. Kirkman ni vile kukosekana kwa athari za maingiliano ya kimila za kishirazi na waswahili pamoja na kukosekana kwa matumizi ya lugha ya kipashia katika utamaduni wa Kiswahili. Hata hivyo mwanahistoria B. Kurmm amegundua athari ya maneno 78 ya kipashia katika lugha ya Kiswahili.

Pia mwanahistoria T. Spear anawaelezea washirazi kama sio kabila la watu bali ni kundi la watu wa tabaka la wafanyabiashara na matajiri. Bila shaka kundi hilo linatokana na maingiliano kati ya wenyeji wa sehemu za Afrika Mashariki na wageni. Kwa mujibu wa Spear kwa hivyo, neno shirazi linahusiana na tabaka la matajiri au watawala. Akifafanua Bwana Spear anasema washirazi sio wapashia bali ni waafrika au ni wafanyabiashara wenye asili ya kiarabu. Makabila ya watawala (mamwinyi) wa watu hao walioitwa washirazi yanatoa uthibitisho wa hoja ya Spear. Makabila ya mamwinyi wa washirazi ni kama vile Al-alawi, Al-bajuni, Al-addibawy, Al-bahasany, Al-ahdali, Al-attasi n.k, ambayo bila shaka ni makabila ya waarabu na sio waajemi (Issa 1999).
Kupotea kwa Ushirazi na historia ya kiajemi kulitoka na Nguvu ya Uislam.Uislam kwani baaday akuukubali uislam tayari ilibidi wapoteze kila kitu chao na kukumbatia utamaudi wa kiislam ambao ndio ulikuwa maisha ya kawaid akwa mwarabu.Na hii ilipelekea nao kufuta mambo mengi yasiendana na uislam

Mwandishi hajwa honest kwani mbali kugombea uzanzibari ambao ni haki yake, pia anajaribu ku eneza Arabism.Mwandishi anawaweka waarbu kileleni pamoja na WaSunni, anwaacha waajemi/washirazi na wengine ambao historia liyoiweka inawadhihirisha zaidi.Mwandishi anafanya makosa ya kuufanya uislam ndio ulioanzisha utumwa, wakati utumwa ulikuwepo kabla ya uislam.Mwandishi hana nia ya kuwaunganisha wazanzibar pamoja na kuwapa elimu sahihi juu ya historia yao.Pamoja na kuondoa umiliki wa kisiwa kwa tabaka fulani.Kwani kihasilia wazawa wa Kule wanahaki ya kuishi na kuonyesha uzalendo.Zanzibar kama sehemu nyingine za Africa zimekuwa na uhamaji na uhamiaji kutoka na mabadiliko tofauti.

 
Biashara kubwa ya Aibu kuu, yenye kudharirisha utu wa watu, na yenye kuleta fedha nyingi na utajiri,mifukoni mwa babu zenu waarabu, haikuwa meno ya tembo au mali ghafi fulani, bali watu.WATU WEUSI WA PWANI NA TANGANYIKA.

Babu zenu Waarabu wenyeji wa Omani a Yemen, Walikama watu wenyeji WEUSI wa afrika ya Mashariki, Kuwamiriki kama Ng'ombe na kuwatumikisha kwa NGUVU, na kuwauza kwa bei NONO mahali popote pale, walipopata BEI ya kutakata.

Waarabu mlikamata watu wote wa pwani, na kuwauza Utumwani kwao Arabuni, Hii ndiyo sababu ya kweli kwamba, Mzungu yule alipo fika Pwani, hakuona watu weusi. Hata MAKUBURU wa Afrika ya kusini, Wana madai kama ya kwenu, kwamba walipofika Afrika ya Kusini,

Hakuwako hata mtu mmoja mweusi. Wote tunajua huo ni Uongo, uongo wa Kuimarisha hoja yenu, ya Kuhalalisha Uvamizi na Ukoloni. Mwandishi huyu Mzungu ansema kweli kwamba hakuwaona watu weusi, bali aliwaona babu zenu waarabu, kwa sababu watu weusi walishauzwa wote, Leo bila aibu mnageuka na kutumia, hoja hiyo ku justify UIBILI wenu?

Shame on You all Arabs.

Watu weusi walikuwa wakiwakimbia, kwa sababu ya Tabia yenu chafu ya, kukamatana watu WEUSI kuwauza watu WEUSI Uarabuni.

Baadaye mlianza kuoa bibi zetu, wanaume,Babu zetu, mliwakata makende, kabla ya kuwauza huko Uarabuni kwenu, ili kamwe wasiweze kuendeleza koo zao. Unyama wa Kiarabu. Wahindi na wazungu walikuwa na watumwa weusi lakini kamwe, hawakuwakata makende yao.

Ninyi Waarabu mliwakata.


Kubalini kwanza hili la kuuza watu, na kusingizia Pwani ya Tanganyika haikuwa na watu,
Mtaendelea kujidanganya na kudanganya wegine hadi lini?

Kuna unyenyekevu wowote wa moyo ndani yenu katika kusema uongo??
:alien::alien::alien::alien::alien::alien:
 
Wazenj hamuhitaji hadithi ndefu kuikana TANGANYIKA, toeni maoni ya katiba ili tuachane muendelee na mambo yenu.
 
Well done nngu007 umeua ndege wawili kwa jiwe moja. Hakuna watu wabaguzi kama waarabu. Walimbagua hata huyo mtume wao sisi waswahili ni nani?

Huoni hata haya mabaki yao yalivyo na ubaguzi hakuna mfano? Kwa taarifa yao ni kwamba kinachoendelea Zanzibar si ubaya wa muungano bali utumwa wa baadhi ya watu kuamini kuwa Znz ikijiondoa bara basi waarabu watarudi na 'neema' zao ingawa historia inaonyesha waarabu hawakuja wala kuacha neema zaidi ya utumwa usultani na ujinga wa kupindukia. ua ndege
 
Ni mawazo wako ila jenga hoja kwa ushahidi wa sitations sio porojo.
Jamhuri ya Pemba, nenda kwenye thread ya Adulsahaf tumeifafanunua habari hii kwa hoja. Huko Wazanzibar wote wenye nywele za katani na kipili pili wamekimbia.

Anyway kwa kifupi ni kuwa hizi ni jithada za waarabu kujenga uhalali wa Uzanzibar. Wanajua Tanganyika sasa imechoka na inasema LET ZNZ GO! sasa hofu ni kuwa yale maneno ya 'nchi hii imepatikana kwa damu' yanawatisha sana wamanga.
Kumbukeni wao ndio wanatoa pesa nyingi sana kwa uamsho, hofu ni kuwa wasije tengwa mambo yakitimia.

Ukisoma vizuri tayari wameshadai kuwa Pemba ni ya washirazi kuanzia enzi za mkamadume. Wanadai unguja ni mchanganyiko na washirazi ni wengi. Wameshajenga hoja kuwa hakukuwepo mtu mweusi wakati waarabu wanakuja.
Na habari nzima haikueleza mtu mweusi alifikaje Znz. Hizi ni njama za kuwatenga watu weusi kama akina Mapauri.

Hakuna historia hapa bali njama za kuwasafisha waarabu.
Jambo moja la kushangaza na kuchekesha sana, Mznz yoyote yule awe mweusi au rangi ya dhahabu, ukimnasibisha na Uarabuni basi roho yake kwaatu.

Nina uhakika kama waarabu watarudi Znz na Sultan wao, basi watapata kuoa kisiwa chote ili kila mmoja awe na unasaba na uarabu, potelea mbali liwalo na liwe!
Historia ya mkamadume inajirudia. Baba wa kizenji yu tayari awekwe unyumba kwa sharti la kumnasibisha na Uarabu
 
Nimeshindwa kumaliza makala yote. Lakini ukweli usioweza kupingika ni kwamba Waarabu, Waajemi, Wayunani, wote walikuwa ni wageni waliokuja kwenye ufukwe wa Afrika mashariki. Kuna umbali gani kutoka Zanzibar hadi Tanga kwa kulinganishwa na Oman hadi Zanzibar? Wenyeji asili wa Zanzibar ni Wabantu na hili halisutiki na halifutiki.
 
Kwa ujumla uzi huu unataka kuonyesha kwamba wakazi wa asili wa Zanzibar siyo weusi bali ni weupe yaani waarabu, wahindi, n.k. Katika kuhalalisha hoja hii, mleta uzi ameanza kuelezea maana ya neno uzalendo akitolea mfano wa Taifa la Marekani kwa jinsi linavyosifika kuwa na wazalendo ambao hata hivyo eti wengi wao walihamia kutoka maeneo mbalimbali duniani. Mleta uzi anajitahidi kuwakosoa wasomaji wanaodhani kwamba wazalendo wa Zanzibar ni watu weusi tu. Kwa mantiki hii na kwa jinsi uzi ulivyopangiliwa, naweza kuhitimisha mambo matatu yafuatayo:

(1) Mleta uzi siyo mwafrika mweusi. Ni mwaarabu, mhindi au chotara wa jamii hizo.

(2) Mleta uzi ni mbaguzi wa rangi, mdini na ana chuki na waafrika weusi maana ameonyesha kwamba wao siyo wa kwanza kufika Zanzibar.

(3) Mleta uzi ni miongoni mwa wazanzibar wanaopinga muungano na wanaoupigia upatu utawala wa kisultani wa kiaarabu.

Ninachotaka wasomaji wa uzi huu wakifahamu ni kwamba waafrika wengi weusi waliokuwa visiwa vya unguja na pemba walikamatwa na waarabu na kuuzwa kwao uarabuni kama ng'ombe. Biashara hiyo ilianza zamani sana na ilishamiri maeneo ya pwani. Kwa hiyo, ni kweli wazungu walipofika visiwani waliwakuta weusi wachache sana tena hao nao walikuwa ontransit wakisafirishwa kwenda uarabuni kupigwa mnada. Uchache wao ulitokana na madhara ya biashara ya utumwa iliyoshamirishwa na waarabu.

Mleta uzi amepotosha historia hii kwa lengo nililoeleza hapo juu la kutaka kuonyesha kuwa waarabu ndiyo wakazi wa kwanza wa visiwa vya unguja na pemba.


HITIMISHO:
Waarabu kamwe hawawezi kuuvunja muungano wa Tanganyika na Zanzibar ambao ndiyo muungano pekee duniani wa kidugu. Hila zenu haziwezi kufua dafu mbele ya undugu wa damu wa wananchi wa pande zote mbili za muungano. MUUNGANO HOYEEEEEE!!!!!
 
Warudi wapi, Mazimwi hawa wanakwao?
Kule walifukuzwa kwa sababu walikuwa inferior,
Wakaja huku wakachnganya damu na weusi,
Sasa hivi wakirudi Omani na Yemen ni Watwana,
hata sifa ya uarabu hawana.
Ni wavamizi wakongwe walio makaburu halisi,
bado wanakumbuka biashara ya kuuza watu weusi,
Ubwanyenye wa enzi ya Utawala wa Ottomani Mturuki.
Waturuki sasa hivi wanajiona wazungu wa Ulaya,
Waarabu hawaamini macho na masikio yao.

..kama wanaamini wao ni Waarabu basi warudi Umangani walikotokea babu zao.
 
Hata neno lenyewe "kuraish" halina asili ya Kiafrika. Zanzibar iko Afrika, haiko Uarabuni.
 
Umekosea sana kuguess mleta uzi ni chotara la kibantu na mwarabu. Baba yake ni wa asili wa kipare ulioingia Zanzibar kiasi generations 6 nyuma. Hata hivyo kaelewa vyema historia ya nchi yake na njama za makafir walioiparaganya kwa malengo yao.

Napinga sijatoa hitimisho la ni watu gani walifika mwanzo na kuwakuta wenzao wakiwa wameshahamia mwambaoni na Zanzibar lakini nimezidurusu hoja nyingi ninazozifahamu hata hiyo hoja unayoiunga mkono wewe kuwa wabantu ndio wa mwanzo kufika mwambaoni japo kuwa huna sitations za karibuni wala za kale ambazo ziko free fro conflict of interest.

Wazanzibari hatukani ubantu maana ni wetu, hatukani, uarabu maana ni wetu, hatukani na nasaba zetu zote maana ni zetu. Yalitendeka hayo huko nyuma kuwapa kipaumbele watu fulani kuliko watu fualani ili kurahisisha mkakati wa kuitawala Zanzibar amabo ulifanikiwa hadi leo.

Sasa wazanzibari sote tunaonana ni kitu kimoja pamoja na kila mtu na anavyoamini na hatugawiki tena. Jamhuri ya watu wa Zanzibar kwanza
.
Kwa ujumla uzi huu unataka kuonyesha kwamba wakazi wa asili wa Zanzibar siyo weusi bali ni weupe yaani waarabu, wahindi, n.k. Katika kuhalalisha hoja hii, mleta uzi ameanza kuelezea maana ya neno uzalendo akitolea mfano wa Taifa la Marekani kwa jinsi linavyosifika kuwa na wazalendo ambao hata hivyo eti wengi wao walihamia kutoka maeneo mbalimbali duniani. Mleta uzi anajitahidi kuwakosoa wasomaji wanaodhani kwamba wazalendo wa Zanzibar ni watu weusi tu. Kwa mantiki hii na kwa jinsi uzi ulivyopangiliwa, naweza kuhitimisha mambo matatu yafuatayo:....
 
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