Sacred Text List
A viewset for viewing and editing Sacred Texts.
GET /api/sc/sacred-texts/?format=api&page=8
{ "count": 546, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/sacred-texts/?format=api&page=9", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/sacred-texts/?format=api&page=7", "results": [ { "id": 351, "polity": { "id": 635, "name": "sl_anuradhapura_2", "long_name": "Anurādhapura II", "start_year": 70, "end_year": 428 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Literature for much of the Anurādhapura period was Buddhist, written in the Pāli language. The Buddhist scriptures were preserved on the island, first orally and then in writing. The three main monastic orders added their own commentaries, but only some of the Mahāvihāra texts survive. In the later Anurādhapura period, the production of Pāli literature declined and literary works in Sinhala appear.”§REF§(Peebles 2006: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/HJG4VBC5/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 352, "polity": { "id": 636, "name": "et_jimma_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Jimma", "start_year": 1790, "end_year": 1932 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. Islam seems to be prevalent after 1830 CE when King Sanna Abba Jifar adopted Islam. “About 1830 Sanna Abba Jifar succeeded in uniting many of the Jimma Galla under his rule as king of Jimma-Kakka, known also as Jimma Abba Jifar. As Bofo before him, Abba Jifar adopted Islam and encouraged the spread of Islam among his subjects.” §REF§ (Rubenson 2008, 85) Rubenson, Sven. 2008. ‘Ethiopia and the Horn’ In The Cambridge History of Africa c.1790 – c.1870. Edited by John E. Flint. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Sven/titleCreatorYear/items/VRU64Q8P/item-list §REF§" }, { "id": 353, "polity": { "id": 637, "name": "so_adal_sultanate", "long_name": "Adal Sultanate", "start_year": 1375, "end_year": 1543 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Quran. “Some of the Arabic inscriptions on tombstones collected between the modern towns of Harar and Dire Dawa bear thirteenth-century dates, and show the existence of fairly well-developed Muslim communities in the region of Harar, which probably was an important centre of dispersal for many of the founders of other Muslim settlements further inland.” §REF§ (Tamrat 2008, 140) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list §REF§" }, { "id": 354, "polity": { "id": 638, "name": "so_tunni_sultanate", "long_name": "Tunni Sultanate", "start_year": 800, "end_year": 1200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Quran. “However they did accept the first Muslim migrants, the Hatimi from Yemen and the Amawi from Sham (Syria), around the 10th century, for both religious and commercial reasons. The town prospered and became one of the major Islamic centers in the Horn, the Barawaani Ulama, attracted students from all over the region. Muslim scholars of the time, such as al-Idrisi, wrote about Barawa as ‘an Arabic ‘Islamic’ island on the Somali coast.’” §REF§ (Mukhtar 2003, 50) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 355, "polity": { "id": 639, "name": "so_ajuran_sultanate", "long_name": "Ajuran Sultanate", "start_year": 1250, "end_year": 1700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Quran. “The Ajuran established a theocratic Islamic state based on Sharia law with its headquarters at Marka or Merca on the Indian Ocean, and the royal residence at Mungiye, about 75 miles south of Mogadishu. Marka was the home of a number of revered sheikhs, including the Afarta Aw Usman (“the four famous sheikhs named Osman”): Aw Usman Markayale, who is not only venerated in Marka, but also has a mosque named after him with a small underground chamber that, according to popular belief, formed part of a corridor that led directly to the Ka'ba in the holy city of Makkah; Aw Usman Garweyne, whose shrine is on the island of Gendershe, 20 miles north of Marka; Aw Usman Makki of Dhanane; and Aw Usman Bauasan of Jazira. Thus, Marka for the Ajuran is a religious sanctuary, and is called even today “Marka Aw Usman” (Marka, home of Osmans). At the top of the Ajuran hierarchy was the imam, a title used only by Shi‘ite Islamic administrations.” §REF§(Mukhtar 2016, Encyclopedia of Empire) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2016. ‘Ajuran Sultanate.’ In J. Mackenzie Encyclopedia of Empire. Wiley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5U3NQRMR/library §REF§" }, { "id": 356, "polity": { "id": 640, "name": "so_habr_yunis", "long_name": "Habr Yunis", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1886 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “A vistor will not venture too far into the countryside before encountering a small circle of children sitting under a tree reciting verses from the Quran with a bearded Shaykh; […]” §REF§ (Cassanelli 1982, 119) Cassanelli, Lee. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Lee/titleCreatorYear/items/TKPH7Z89/item-list §REF§" }, { "id": 357, "polity": { "id": 641, "name": "et_gomma_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Gomma", "start_year": 1780, "end_year": 1886 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Quran. “This traveller found it the most civilized of these states, he wrote: ‘The Galla of Gomma were the first (of these states) to embrace Islam. Both old and young always memorize the Quran which is taught by migrant Muslims who put on the guise of learned men.” §REF§ (Trimingham 2013, 200) Trimingham, J. Spencer. 2013. Islam in Ethiopia. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/RB7C87QZ/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 358, "polity": { "id": 642, "name": "so_geledi_sultanate", "long_name": "Sultanate of Geledi", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1911 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Quran. “With a long tradition of trading connections to the Arabian Peninsula, the Somalis were converted to Islam at an early date and remain staunch Muslims (Sunnis, of the Sha’afi School of Law). This is reflected in the traditional practice of tracing descent from illustrious Arab ancestors connected with the family of the Prophet Muhamad.” §REF§ (Lewis 2008, 1-2) Lewis, Ioan, M. 2008. Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society. New York: Columbia University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7J425GTZ/library §REF§" }, { "id": 359, "polity": { "id": 643, "name": "et_showa_sultanate", "long_name": "Shoa Sultanate", "start_year": 1108, "end_year": 1285 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Quran. “Secondly, this sultanate is clearly seen actively promoting the expansion of Islam, as in the conversion of the Gbbah in the reign of Sultan Harbair’, as reported by the chronical.” §REF§ (Tamrat 2008, 107) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list §REF§" }, { "id": 360, "polity": { "id": 644, "name": "et_harla_k", "long_name": "Harla Kingdom", "start_year": 500, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Quran. “A Muslim community was also indicated by the recovery of 2 undated Arabic inscriptions, one part on an inscription from the Quran 48:31-1, which if complete would read ‘In the name of the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful’ and on the second line, ‘We have given you a glorious victory’, the other only bearing the words ‘on God’”. §REF§ (Insoll 2017, 209) Insoll, Timothy. 2017. ‘First Footsteps in Archaeology of Harar, Ethiopia’. Journal of Islamic Archaeology. Vol 4:2. Pp 189-215. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/VQ38B374/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 361, "polity": { "id": 645, "name": "et_hadiya_sultanate", "long_name": "Hadiya Sultanate", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1680 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Bible. “In the 1520s, Emperor Lebna Dengel led an expedition to Hadeya and ordered the construction of many churches and monasteries.” §REF§ (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 200) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 362, "polity": { "id": 646, "name": "so_ifat_sultanate", "long_name": "Ifat Sultanate", "start_year": 1280, "end_year": 1375 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Quran. “With a long tradition of trading connections to the Arabian Peninsula, the Somalis were converted to Islam at an early date and remain staunch Muslims (Sunnis, of the Sha’afi School of Law). This is reflected in the traditional practice of tracing descent from illustrious Arab ancestors connected with the family of the Prophet Muhamad.” §REF§ (Lewis 2008, 1-2) Lewis, Ioan, M. 2008. Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society. New York: Columbia University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Understanding%20Somalia/titleCreatorYear/items/7J425GTZ/item-list §REF§" }, { "id": 363, "polity": { "id": 647, "name": "er_medri_bahri", "long_name": "Medri Bahri", "start_year": 1310, "end_year": 1889 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Bible. “By the 14th century, all the Bilen, Tirgrinya, and Tigre-speaking peoples were Orthodox Christians as were many of the Belew in the lowlands. During this period, the Eritrean region was a center for a monastic revival that accompanied the preaching of Ewostatewos and led to the founding of the great monasteries of Debre Bizen, Debre Maryam, and Debre Merqorewos. In the 15th century, these institutions received huge land grants from Ethiopian emperors anxious to appease the regionalist sentiments of the Tigrinya-based Ewostatian movement. But during the 1500s, Islam spread in the region, and by the mid-1800s, Orthodox Christians were confined almost exclusively to the Tigrinya-speaking population of Kebessa.” §REF§ (Connell and Killion 2011, 40) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 364, "polity": { "id": 648, "name": "so_majeerteen_sultanate", "long_name": "Majeerteen Sultanate", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1926 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Quran. “Majerteenia was thus simultaneously part of the dar al-Islam and the dar al’ahd; it was concomitantly Indian Ocean in its observation of Shafi’i Sunnism, and regional in its veneration of the sultan’s status and other lineage saints.” §REF§ (Smith 2021, 44) Smith, Nicholas W.S. 2021. Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea: A History of Violence from 1830 to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/K6HVJ7X4/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 365, "polity": { "id": 649, "name": "et_funj_sultanate", "long_name": "Funj Sultanate", "start_year": 1504, "end_year": 1820 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “Their schools (khalwas) taught younger boys the Quran, law, and Muslim theology.” §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 431) Lapidus, Ira M. 2002. A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QW9XHCIW/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 366, "polity": { "id": 651, "name": "et_gumma_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Gumma", "start_year": 1800, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “Fourth, the Muslim resistance in Wallo seems also to have led to the growth of a Jihadic movement in the Gibe region. The Muslim clerics who made Islam the religion of the masses and nurtured Islamic culture in Wallo, brought the spirit of resistance with them to the Gibe region. This spirit of resistance grew into a Jihadic movement mainly in the kingdom of Gumma, which remained a hotbed of rebellion and Muslim resistance from 1887 to 1902.” §REF§ (Hassen 1992, 96) Hassen, Mohammed. ‘Islam as a Resistance Ideology Among the Oromo of Ethiopia.’ In In The Shadow of Conquest: Islam in Colonial Northeast Africa. Trenton, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/search/Hassen/titleCreatorYear/items/PJ3UMMX5/item-list §REF§" }, { "id": 367, "polity": { "id": 652, "name": "et_harar_emirate", "long_name": "Emirate of Harar", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1875 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “Harar is Ethiopia’s eleventh largest city and Islam’s fourth holiest town after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem and, during the 17th and 18th centuries was an important center of Islamic scholarship and at one point had 99 mosques.” §REF§ (Shinn and Ofcansky 2013, 207) Shinn, David and Thomas Ofcansky. 2013. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/29MS79PA/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 368, "polity": { "id": 653, "name": "et_aussa_sultanate", "long_name": "Early Sultanate of Aussa", "start_year": 1734, "end_year": 1895 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Quran. “Most, if not all, of them are now Moslems, although the neighbouring Itu are generally pagan.” §REF§ (Thesiger 1935, 2) Thesiger, Wifred. 1935. ‘The Awash River and the Aussa Sultanate.’ The Geographical Journal. Vol. 85:1. Pp 1-19 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/APBB7BBK/library §REF§" }, { "id": 369, "polity": { "id": 654, "name": "so_isaaq_sultanate", "long_name": "Isaaq Sultanate", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1886 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “A vistor will not venture too far into the countryside before encountering a small circle of children sitting under a tree reciting verses from the Quran with a bearded Shaykh; […]” §REF§ (Cassanelli 1982, 119) Cassanelli, Lee. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Lee/titleCreatorYear/items/TKPH7Z89/item-list §REF§" }, { "id": 370, "polity": { "id": 655, "name": "ni_proto_yoruba", "long_name": "Proto-Yoruba", "start_year": 301, "end_year": 649 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. \"Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 391)§REF§" }, { "id": 371, "polity": { "id": 656, "name": "ni_yoruba_classic", "long_name": "Classical Ife", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1400 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. \"Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 391)§REF§" }, { "id": 372, "polity": { "id": 657, "name": "ni_formative_yoruba", "long_name": "Late Formative Yoruba", "start_year": 650, "end_year": 1049 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. \"Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 391)§REF§" }, { "id": 373, "polity": { "id": 659, "name": "ni_allada_k", "long_name": "Allada", "start_year": 1100, "end_year": 1724 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “In Allada the local people, it was noted in 1670, in the absence of writing used knotted strings to keep records of various matters, including commercial transactions (“the price of goods”).” §REF§Austin, Gareth, et al. “Credit, Currencies, and Culture: African Financial Institutions in Historical Perspective.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, 2001, p. 144: 33. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SPXH2IUW/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 374, "polity": { "id": 661, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_2", "long_name": "Ilú-ọba Ọ̀yọ́", "start_year": 1601, "end_year": 1835 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “There can be no doubt that since the reign of Aole towards the end of the eighteenth century, Islamic influence had been penetrating into Yorubaland from the north. For example, in Old Oyo, the capital of the Old Oyo Empire, the trader, one Alajaeta, who appealed to Aole for protection when his goods were stolen was a Muslim. For, a copy of the Koran was one of the things reported stolen.” §REF§Atanda, J. A. ‘The Fall of the Old Ọyọ Empire: A Re-Consideration of its Cause’. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria vol.5, no.4 (June 1971): 488–489. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NR9MAEAE/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 375, "polity": { "id": 663, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_1", "long_name": "Oyo", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1535 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. \"Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 391)§REF§" }, { "id": 376, "polity": { "id": 664, "name": "ni_proto_yoruboid", "long_name": "Proto-Yoruboid", "start_year": -300, "end_year": 300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a Yoruba written alphabet was invented in the nineteenth century. \"Àjàyí[...] returned in 1841 to the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Now officially known as Samuel Crowther, he [...] was the architect of Yorùbá modernization through his efforts as a linguist to reduce the Yorùbá language to writing, a major revolution in Yorùbá cultural and intellectual history. His accomplishments in this regard included the translation of the Bible into Yorùbá and the development of the first Yorùbá dictionary.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 391)§REF§" }, { "id": 377, "polity": { "id": 666, "name": "ni_sokoto_cal", "long_name": "Sokoto Caliphate", "start_year": 1804, "end_year": 1904 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " As an Islamic state, the Qu’ran was the Holy Book. “In the Sokoto Caliphate, palace Koranic schools were attended by slaves, women, and children. The Koranic schools were the first type of formal education in Nigeria.” §REF§Falola, Toyin, and Ann Genova. Historical Dictionary of Nigeria. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2009: 199. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SJAIVKDW/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 378, "polity": { "id": 669, "name": "ni_hausa_k", "long_name": "Hausa bakwai", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1808 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “PLATE 16.4 Decorated pages of a miniature Hausa Qoran, late seventeenth- to early eighteenth century. Height: c. 7.5 cm” §REF§Ogot, B. (Ed.). (1998). Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth century. Heinemann; University of California Press: 488. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/M4FMXZZW/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 379, "polity": { "id": 670, "name": "ni_bornu_emp", "long_name": "Kanem-Borno", "start_year": 1380, "end_year": 1893 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Qur’an and the Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad were present as an integral part of the practice of Islam in Kanem-Bornu. “Over all the centuries, writing on Islamic legal matters especially in fatwas (formal legal opinions) took place in Timbuktu, in Hausaland and in Bornu; and some writing was done, on interpretation of the Qur’an and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.” §REF§HUNWICK, JOHN O. “WEST AFRICA AND THE ARABIC LANGUAGE.” Sudanic Africa, vol. 15, 2004, pp. 133–44: 138. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/26533KM8/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 380, "polity": { "id": 671, "name": "ni_dahomey_k", "long_name": "Foys", "start_year": 1715, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “The question as to the manner in which a record of the age of these children was kept by a people who had no writing, poses itself here.” §REF§HERSKOVITS, M. J. (1932). POPULATION STATISTICS IN THE KINGDOM OF DAHOMEY. Human Biology, 4(2), 252–261: 258. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8T74FM7D/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 381, "polity": { "id": 674, "name": "se_cayor_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Cayor", "start_year": 1549, "end_year": 1864 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “Two conditions are indispensably necessary to procure admission into the class of marabouts, an irreproachable character, and an acquaintance with Arabic language. The candidate ought to know several chapters of the Koran by heart, and to combine with these acquirements a knowledge of certain Arabic books, which treat of the history of the world and of arithmetic.” §REF§ (Mollien 1820, 61) Mollien, Gaspard Theodore. 1820, Travels in the Interior of Africa to the Sources of the Senegal and Gambia Performed by Command of the French Government in 1818. Edited by T.E. Bowdich. London: Henry Colburn and Company. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/W3PWMURF/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 382, "polity": { "id": 675, "name": "se_saloum_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Saloum", "start_year": 1490, "end_year": 1863 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “In their heyday as royal capitals [Kahone (Saloum), Diakhao (Sine), and Lambaye (Baol)] these towns were not predominantly Muslim. Muslims at court would have lived, and built their mosque, in a peripheral neighbourhood, not on the central square.” §REF§ (Bigon and Ross 2020, 42) Bigon, Liora and Ross, Eric. 2020. Grid Planning in the Urban Design Practices of Senegal. London: Springer. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MM67I638/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 383, "polity": { "id": 676, "name": "se_baol_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Baol", "start_year": 1550, "end_year": 1890 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “In their heyday as royal capitals [Kahone (Saloum), Diakhao (Sine), and Lambaye (Baol)] these towns were not predominantly Muslim. Muslims at court would have lived, and built their mosque, in a peripheral neighbourhood, not on the central square.” §REF§ (Bigon and Ross 2020, 42) Bigon, Liora and Ross, Eric. 2020. Grid Planning in the Urban Design Practices of Senegal. London: Springer. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MM67I638/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 384, "polity": { "id": 677, "name": "se_sine_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Sine", "start_year": 1350, "end_year": 1887 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “In their heyday as royal capitals Kahone (Saloum), Diakhao (Sine), and Lambaye (Baol) these towns were not predominantly Muslim. Muslims at court would have lived, and built their mosque, in a peripheral neighbourhood, not on the central square.” §REF§ (Bigon and Ross 2020, 42) Bigon, Liora and Ross, Eric. 2020. Grid Planning in the Urban Design Practices of Senegal. London: Springer. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MM67I638/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 385, "polity": { "id": 678, "name": "se_waalo_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Waalo", "start_year": 1287, "end_year": 1855 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. The following quote was made by Le Maire in 1682 regarding the Waalo monarchy and Islam. “’The nobles are more attached to it because they are usually close to one of the Moorish marabouts and thus these scoundrels take full credit for their spirit. They make their Sala, the minor people do not do anything or do it only more of less in a mosque. The king and the nobles have them, they are covered with straw like the other houses.’”§REF§ (Barry 2012, 39) Barry, Boubacar. 2012. The Kingdom of Waalo: Senegal Before the Conquest. New York: Diasporic Africa Press. Seshat URL:https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/9KV5MEKN/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 386, "polity": { "id": 679, "name": "se_jolof_emp", "long_name": "Jolof Empire", "start_year": 1360, "end_year": 1549 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Despite the debate on the influence of Islam within the Jolof Empire the following quotes do indicate that the Quran was present in the Jolof Empire. “The Wolof developed a class hierarchy, with a nobility which was at least nominally Islamic and, together with Mande and Tukolor elements, began to exert a dominating influence on trade and government of their Serer neighbours.” §REF§ (Fage 2008, 486) Fage, J.D. 2008. ‘Upper and Lower Guinea’ In The Cambridge History of Africa c. 1050 – c. 1600. Edited by Roland Oliver. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/search/Fage/titleCreatorYear/items/9V3CTHZ9/item-list §REF§ “Although exposed to Islamic influences through Muslim clerics, traders and court advisers, the Djolof Empire, unlike Tekrur resisted Islamization and most leaders and people remained firmly attached to their traditional religious practices. §REF§ (Gellar, 2020) Gellar, Sheldon. 2020. Senegal: An African Nation Between Islam and the West. Second Edition. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZCQVA3UX/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 387, "polity": { "id": 680, "name": "se_futa_toro_imamate", "long_name": "Imamate of Futa Toro", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1860 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.” §REF§ (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 388, "polity": { "id": 681, "name": "se_great_fulo_emp", "long_name": "Denyanke Kingdom", "start_year": 1490, "end_year": 1776 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. “In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.” §REF§ (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 389, "polity": { "id": 682, "name": "se_jolof_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Jolof", "start_year": 1549, "end_year": 1865 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. \"Marabouts taught the precepts of Islam and the Arabic language; the level of their teaching ranged from that of simple village clergy to scholars who attracted pupils from the whole Senegambian area.\" §REF§(Charles 1977: 19) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/SU25S5BX/items/NRGZDV3Z/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 390, "polity": { "id": 684, "name": "ug_toro_k", "long_name": "Toro", "start_year": 1830, "end_year": 1896 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words.\" §REF§(Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 391, "polity": { "id": 685, "name": "ug_buganda_k_1", "long_name": "Buganda I", "start_year": 1408, "end_year": 1716 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Quran. \"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. \"§REF§(Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ.§REF§" }, { "id": 392, "polity": { "id": 686, "name": "tz_karagwe_k", "long_name": "Karagwe", "start_year": 1500, "end_year": 1916 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote characterises the people of Tanganyika (the broader region of which Karagwe formed part) as \"pre-literate\" in the early 19th century. \"We do not know what inland Tanganyikans believed in the early nineteenth century. They were pre-literate, and the religions of pre-literate peoples not only leave little historical evidence but are characteristically eclectic, mutable, and unsystematic.\"§REF§(Iliffe 1979: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB2AJMVC/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 393, "polity": { "id": 687, "name": "Early Niynginya", "long_name": "Kingdom of Nyinginya", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Languages spoken in this polity were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 394, "polity": { "id": 688, "name": "ug_nkore_k_1", "long_name": "Nkore", "start_year": 1450, "end_year": 1749 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"Literacy entered Uganda for the first time with the introduction of Islam in the late 1860’s and for nearly a decade instruction in Islam was progressing and flourishing at the royal court. When literacy was introduced into the kingdom of Buganda, it was confined to speakers of Arabic and Kiswahili. \"§REF§(Pawliková-Vilhanová 2014: 145) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T7IMKZJJ.§REF§ We are inferring presence for the kingdom of Nkore due to likely spread of literacy from the Buganda polity." }, { "id": 395, "polity": { "id": 689, "name": "rw_ndorwa_k", "long_name": "Ndorwa", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1800 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 396, "polity": { "id": 690, "name": "bu_burundi_k", "long_name": "Burundi", "start_year": 1680, "end_year": 1903 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"As we have seen, to secure their essential ties, the ancient states, lacking writing and money, relied on kinship, trust, and personal relationships, which were periodically rekindled by direct contact and exchanged words.\" §REF§(Chrétien 2006: 178) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.§REF§Languages spoken in this polity were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 397, "polity": { "id": 691, "name": "rw_mubari_k", "long_name": "Mubari", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1896 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 398, "polity": { "id": 692, "name": "rw_gisaka_k", "long_name": "Gisaka", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1867 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 399, "polity": { "id": 693, "name": "tz_milansi_k", "long_name": "Fipa", "start_year": 1600, "end_year": 1890 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote characterises the people of Tanganyika (the broader region of which the Fipa formed part) as \"pre-literate\" in the early 19th century. \"We do not know what inland Tanganyikans believed in the early nineteenth century. They were pre-literate, and the religions of pre-literate peoples not only leave little historical evidence but are characteristically eclectic, mutable, and unsystematic.\"§REF§(Iliffe 1979: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB2AJMVC/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 400, "polity": { "id": 694, "name": "rw_bugesera_k", "long_name": "Bugesera", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1799 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Sacred_text", "sacred_text": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Languages spoken in Rwanda were turned into \"written artefacts\" only in the colonial period: \"Before the arrival of the Europeans, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi were already employed in both kingdoms – Ikinyanduga in southern Rwanda and Ikiruundi in central Burundi – yet with a lot less linguistic unity in the two kingdoms than in (post)colonial times. The missionary and colonial interventions, therefore, rather focused on lexicon, resulting in status planning initiatives and contributing to the compilation of dictionaries, favouring a specific dialect over others. [...] The most salient and visible adaptations were a part of the primarily orthographic alignments of textualisation processes (turning languages into written artefacts).\"§REF§(Nassenstein 2019: 16-17) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/QUT3P5UT/collection.§REF§" } ] }