''Utend̠i wa Tambuka'', also known as ''Utenzi wa Tambuk''aThe symbol ''d̠'' is a transliteration of the Arabic for the Swahili sound ''dh'' (). Often this sound is written simply ''z'', hence the different spellings. ("The Story of Tambuka"), ''Utenzi wa Hirqal'' or ''Kyuo kya Hereḳali'' (the book of Heraclius), is an

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

in the Swahili language, dated 1728. It is one of the earliest known documents in Swahili. Known by various titles in English, including ''The Book of the Battle of Tambuka'' and ''The Story of Heraclius'', the story recounts numerous events of the Byzantine-Arab Wars and Byzantine-Ottoman Wars between the

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

(the contemporary name for the Byzantines). The Byzantines were represented by the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, Heraclius. The story covers a period from 628 (the Battle of Mu'tah) to 1453 (the Fall of Constantinople). "Tambuka" is the Swahili rendering of

Tabuk Tabuk may refer to: *Tabuk, Kalinga, the capital city of Kalinga province of the Philippines *Tabuk Province, a province of Saudi Arabia **Tabuk, Saudi Arabia Tabuk ( ar, تَبُوْك '), also spelled ''Tabouk'', is the capital city of the Tab ...

, a city located in north-western

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. The oldest manuscript of the epic is dated 1141 on the

Islamic Calendar The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 ...

, corresponding to AD 1728. It was written at Yunga, a royal palace in the old city of Pate (the palace has since been destroyed). In strophe 1124–1125, the author notes that the "king of Yung"' (that is, the then Sultan of Pate) asked him to write an epic on the heroic deeds of the first followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The author identifies himself in one of the final stanzas (1146) as Mwengo, son of Athumani or Osman. Not much more is known about him other than that he wrote at the court of the Sultan of Pate, that he was no longer a young man by 1728, and that some other poems are ascribed to him. He also had a son, Abu Bakr bin Mwengo, who wrote an imitation of his father's epic somewhere in the middle of the 18th century. Like other manuscripts of the period in Swahili, the ''Utendi wa Tambuka'' is written in Arabic script. The language used is a northern dialect of Swahili called Kiamu; some manuscripts, however, show influence from Kigunya (another northern dialect), while others show traces of Kiunguja, the dialect of

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

Form

The ''Utendi wa Tambuka'' is a prime example of the Swahili poetic form of '' utenzi''. Utenzi verse form consists of four-line stanzas, with each line having eight syllables. The last syllables of the first three lines rhyme with each other, while the fourth line has a rhyme that is constant throughout the whole of the epic. This last rhyme thus serves to tie all stanzas of the epic together. Most Swahili words have penultimate stress, resulting in every line having at least penultimate stress. Within a line of eight syllables there are no further

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

requirements. The verse form can be illustrated by the first stanza of the poem:In Jan Knappert's Latin transcription, based on the Arabic manuscript ''U''. :Bisimillahi kut̠ubu :yina la Mola Wahhabu :Arraḥamani eribu :na Arraḥimu ukyowa The first three lines all end in ''-bu''. The last syllable of the fourth line ends in the vowel ''a'', and this sound is found at the end of every stanza of the poem. When recited, this last syllable is sustained for some time and given emphasis.

Content

The plot depicts a religious war between the Byzantines and the Muslims. The Prophet sends a letter to

East Roman The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Emperor Heraclius, in which he tells him that the Byzantine belief that Jesus is the son of God is incorrect. Heraclius declares his intent to persevere in his adherence to Christianity on the grounds that the Byzantines have inherited their belief from their ancestors. The Muslims attack and, after epic struggles, eventually defeat the Byzantines. Heraclius' minister and his associates are captured and once again given the choice to accept Islam or die; they refuse to be converted and are executed.Summary of the plot of the poem
at the Swahili Manuscripts Project at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

of London University. The central figure of the poem, and the most heroic one, is Ali ibn Abi Talib, a full nephew on the father's side of the Prophet. He is nicknamed ''Haidar'', the lion, and in the course of the poem many other praise names are applied to him. Ali was married to the noble daughter of the prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

, Fatimah. The second hero in order of magnitude is

Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...

ibn al-Khattab.

Notes

References

Sources

* Gérard, Albert S. (1990). ''Contexts of African Literature''. Rodopi. * Knappert, Jan (1958). ''Het Epos Van Heraklios''. (Dutch edition and literal translation) * Knappert, Jan (1969). "The Utenzi wa Katirifu or Ghazwa ya Sesebani", ''Afrika und Übersee'', Band LII, 3–4, 81–104. * Knappert, Jan (1977). ''het Epos van Heraklios. Uit het Swahili vertaald in het oorspronkelijke metrum''. Amsterdam:

Meulenhoff Uitgeverij Lannoo Groep is a Belgian publishing group, based in Tielt, with assets in Belgium and the Netherlands. Its Belgian subsidiary is Uitgeverij Lannoo. Its Dutch subsidiary is LannooMeulenhoff. Over the years Lannoo evolved from Catholic ...

(Dutch translation in the original

).
Summary of the plot of the poem
at the Swahili Manuscripts Project,

of London University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Utendi Wa Tambuka Earliest known manuscripts by language Utenzi Kenyan literature Swahili literature Epic poems 1728 books Heraclius

Form

Content

See also

Notes

References

Sources