Za dynasty
The Zā dynasty (also rendered Dya, Zuwā, Zu’a, Juwā, Jā’, Yā, Diā, and Diu’a, sometimes equated with the Zaghe) were rulers of the Gao Empire based in the towns of Kukiya and Gao on the Niger River in what is today modern Mali. The Songhai people are descended from this kingdom and the Zarma people of Niger derive their name, which means "the descendants of Za", from this dynasty.[1] [2]
Competing Interpretations
Al-Sadi's seventeenth century chronicle, the
John Hunwick sees this Zaghe dynasty as a group of
Historians agree that the kingdom was islamized by the late 10th century, although it may have been
Legend of Za al Yaman
The chronicle reports that the progenitor of the dynasty, Za al Yaman, the Yemenite (also called Alayaman or Dialliaman), originally came from the
Za Alyaman is almost certainly a mythical figure,[11] but his legend may contain folk memories of the arrival of the Berbers.[12]
Rulers of the Za dynasty as given in the Tarikh al-Sudan
These names with their diacritics are as given in the translation by John Hunwick.[13] The surviving Arabic manuscripts differ both in the spelling and the vocalization of the names.
- Alayaman[14]
- Zakoi
- Takoi
- Ikoi
- Kū
- ʿAlī Fay
- Biya Kumay
- Bī/Bay
- Karay
- Yama Karaway
- Yuma Dunku
- Yuma Kībuʿu
- Kūkura
- Kinkin
- Kusoy (the first Muslim ruler)
- Kusur Dāri
- Hin Kun Wunka Dum
- Biyay Koi Kīma[15]
- Koy Kīmi
- Nuntā Sanay
- Biyay Kayna Kinba
- Kayna Shinyunbu
- Tib
- Yama Dao
- Fadazaw
- ʿAlī Kur
- Bēr Falaku
- Yāsiboy
- Dūru
- Zunku Bāru
- Bisi Bāru
- Badā
See also
Notes
- ISBN 9782859210458, retrieved 2021-03-04
- ^ Rouch, Jean (1954), Les Songhay (PDF), retrieved 2021-03-04
- ^ Conrad 2005, p. 106.
- ^ Hunwick 2003, p. xxxvi.
- ^ Lange 1991, p. 268.
- ^ Lange 1994, p. 297.
- ^ Hunwick 2003, pp. xxxv, 5.
- ^ Bentiya is at 15°20′56″N 0°45′36″E / 15.349°N 0.760°E
- ^ Moraes Farias 1990, p. 105.
- ^ Kukiya is written as Koûkiya in the French translation.
- ^ Conrad 2005, p. 108.
- ^ Lange 1991, p. 266.
- ^ Hunwick 2003, pp. 3–4.
- ^ Hunwick 2003 on page 3 writes this name as Alayman. This appears to be a typographical error as on pages 5 and 6 and elsewhere the name is spelled Alayaman.
- ^ This ruler is, according to Dierk Lange, the one memorialized in a funeral stela found at Gao-Saney, but this identification is disputed.
References
- Conrad, David (2005). "Review of Arabic Medieval Inscriptions from the Republic of Mali: Epigraphy, Chronicles, and Songhay-Tuareg History, by P. F. de Moraes Farias". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 38 (1): 105–112. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ISBN 978-9004128224.
- Lange, Dierk (1991). "Les rois de Gao-Sané et les Almoravides". Journal of African History (in French). 32 (2): 251–275. S2CID 162674956.
- Lange, Dierk (1994), "From Mande to Songhay: Towards a political and ethnic history of medieval Gao", Journal of African History, 35 (2): 275–301, S2CID 153657364.
- Moraes Farias, Paulo F. de (1990). "The oldest extant writing of West Africa: medieval epigraphs from Essuk, Saney, and Egef-n-Tawaqqast (Mali)". Journal des Africanistes. 60 (2): 65–113. . Link is to a scan on Gallica that omits some photographs of the epigraphs.
Further reading
- Kâti, Mahmoûd Kâti ben el-Hâdj el-Motaouakkel (1913). Tarikh el-fettach ou Chronique du chercheur, pour servir à l'histoire des villes, des armées et des principaux personnages du Tekrour (in French). Houdas, O., Delafosse, M. ed. and trans. Paris: Ernest Leroux. Also available from Aluka but requires subscription.