Pages: 325-335 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp246003
This paper presents a case study of the perception of one cultural group (in this case, medieval) by members of another culture during a time of cultural differences and increasing conflict of interests. The focus is on the attitudes of European colonialists towards the Arab and Arabized minority that dominated East Africa prior to European colonization. This region lies at the crossroads of what Europeans viewed as “black African” territory, considered “primitive,” and the Arab-Muslim “Orient,” which was seen as having a rich medieval civilization. Arab rulers had established their dominance in the area long before European powers arrived. Notably, the Omani Sultanate, which later split into the Omani and Zanzibar sultanates, had controlled the Swahili-Islamized coastal and island areas of the region since the 17th century, extending its influence into parts of the hinterland. By the mid — 19th century, Europeans began to rediscover this Arab-Swahili civilization, and from the mid —1880s onward, they rapidly established colonial authority over the region. Numerous accounts from British and German observers from both periods reflect varying perceptions of the local Arab population. This article analyzes these accounts to explore European views of the Arab community and effects of the colonial agenda on them.
Keywords: East Africa, German East Africa, European explorers, Arabs, “Arabism”, memoirs and travelogues, colonial agenda
Information about authors:
Anastasia Banshchikova (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Spiridonovka St., 30/1, Moscow, 123001, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-6130-3417
Valentina Bryndina (Moscow, Russian Federation). Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Spiridonovka St., 30/1, Moscow, 123001, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-6528-4345
Oxana Ivanchenko (Moscow, Russian Federation). Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Spiridonovka St., 30/1, Moscow, 123001, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-4343-9844