Popobawa, also Popo Bawa, is the name of an

evil spirit Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others. Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extremely ...

or shetani, which is believed by residents of

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

to have first appeared on the

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

n island of Pemba. In 1995, it was the focus of a major outbreak of

mass hysteria Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...

panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and frantic agitation consistent with a fight-or-flight reaction. ...

which spread from Pemba to

Unguja Unguja (also referred to as "Zanzibar Island" or simply "Zanzibar", in – as mentioned in The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'') is the largest and most populated island of the Zanzibar archipelago, in Tanzania. History Geography Unguja is ...

, the main island of the

Zanzibar Archipelago Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. The c ...

, and across to

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

and other urban centres on the

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

n coast.

Meaning of the name

Popobawa is a Swahili name which translates literally as "bat-wing" (from Swahili ''popo'', "

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

", and ''bawa'', "

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

"). This name is said to have originated as a description of the dark shadow cast by the spirit when it attacks at night: it does not refer to the actual form of the spirit, which is liable to change. Swahili speakers also use a plural form of the name – ''mapopobawa'' – to refer to multiple manifestations of the feared spirit. This plural is anglicized as "Popobawas".

Description and behaviour

Popobawa is a

shapeshifter In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest exist ...

and described as taking different forms, not just that of a bat as its name implies. It can take either human or animal form, and metamorphose from one into the other. Popobawa typically visits homesteads at night, but can also be seen in the daytime. It is sometimes associated with the presence of a sulfurous odor, but this is not always the case. Popobawa attacks men, women and children, and may attack all of the members of a household, before passing on to another house in the neighbourhood. Its nocturnal attacks can comprise simple physical assault and/or

poltergeist In German folklore and ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; ; or ) is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of polter ...

-like phenomena; but most feared is

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

and the anal rape of men and women. Victims are often urged to tell others that they have been assaulted, and are threatened with repeat visits by Popobawa if they do not. During Popobawa panics many people try to guard against attack by spending the night awake outside of their houses, often huddled around an open fire with other family members and neighbours. Panics occur most often in Zanzibar, throughout the island of Pemba and in the north and west of Unguja island, including

Zanzibar City Zanzibar City or Mjini District, often simply referred to as Zanzibar (''Wilaya ya Zanzibar Mjini'' or ''Jiji la Zanzibar'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of two administrative districts of Mjini Magharibi Region in Tanzania. The district co ...

. Episodes have also been reported in Dar es Salaam and other towns on the mainland coast of

Origin and history

legendary creature A legendary creature is a type of extraordinary or supernatural being that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), and may be featured in historical accounts before modernity, but has not been scientifically shown to exist. In t ...

s go, Popobawa is of fairly recent origin. Sightings of the popobawa only go back about sixty years; Parkin states that the first reports date back to 1965 on the island of Pemba, appearing shortly after that island's political

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. Better-known sightings followed in 1970, and the creature resurfaced periodically in the 1980s, reaching a peak in 1995. Five years passed without a sighting, but the popobawa appeared briefly in 2000 and again in 2007. A popular origin story of Popobawa proposes that in the 1970s an angry

sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

released a

Jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

to take vengeance on his neighbors. The sheikh lost control of the jinn, who took to

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

ic ways. It has been argued that because of Zanzibar's past as an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

-run slave market, the story of Popobawa is an articulated social memory of the horrors of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

(Parkin 2004). Many of the legends on Zanzibar came from the colonizers and traders of the past, including Arabs, Portuguese, Indians, Chinese,

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, w ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ns and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

ns.

Modern Popobawa panics

Reports of Popobawa attacks rise and fall with the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

cycle in Zanzibar, although victims argue Popobawa is apolitical. Popobawa reports rose dramatically relatively recently, in 1995. A further spate of attacks was reported in Dar es Salaam in 2007. One explanation put forth for the election cycle connection is the claim that the Popobawa is the vengeful ghost of the assassinated President

Abeid Karume Abeid Amani Karume (4 August 1905 – 7 April 1972) was a Tanzanian politician and statesman who served as the first President of Zanzibar and the first Vice President of Tanzania from 1964 to 1972. He obtained the title of president as a ...

, or was summoned by the

Chama Cha Mapinduzi The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, ) is the dominant, ruling party in Tanzania and the second longest-ruling party in the history of Africa, only after the True Whig Party of Liberia. It was formed in 1977, following the merger of the Tanganyika A ...

political party. Villagers maintain that Popobawa becomes enraged if his existence is denied. Popobawa allegedly spoke to a group of villagers on Pemba in 1971 through a girl possessed by the monster. The girl, called Fatuma, spoke in a man's deep voice and then villagers say they heard the sound of a car revving and rustling on a nearby roof. Many of those on the islands believe in

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

s, and place charms at the base of

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

trees, or

sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

s. Benjamin Radford interviewed doctors at Zanzibar Medical Group (Zanzibar's main hospital) and none reported ever treating popobawa victims. After the incidents involving Popobawa in 1995 were reported an article was published in the ''

Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' (S.I.) is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle "The Magazine for Science and Reason". The magazine initially focused on investigating clai ...

'' by

Joe Nickell Joe Herman Nickell (December 1, 1944 – March 4, 2025) was an American skeptic and investigator of the paranormal. Nickell was a senior research fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and wrote regularly for their journal, '' Skeptic ...

regarding the phenomenon. In the article Nickell compared the experiences described of a visit from Popobawa with the symptoms of a waking dream, also known as

sleep paralysis Sleep paralysis is a state, during waking up or falling asleep, in which a person is conscious but in a complete state of full-body paralysis. During an episode, the person may hallucinate (hear, feel, or see things that are not there), wh ...

or a

hypnopompic Hypnopompia (also known as hypnopompic state) is the state of consciousness leading out of sleep, a term coined by the psychical researcher Frederic William Henry Myers, Frederic Myers. Its mirror is the hypnagogic state at sleep onset; though ...

hypnogogic Hypnagogia is the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep, also defined as the waning state of consciousness during the onset of sleep. Its corresponding state is '' hypnopompia'' sleep to wakefulness. Mental phenomena that may occur duri ...

hallucination. Nickell went on to describe some of the symptoms of a waking dream as including "a feeling of being weighted down or even paralyzed. Alternately, one may "float" or have an out-of-body experience. Other characteristics include extreme vividness of the dream and bizarre and/or terrifying content". Nickell also compared these symptoms with those experienced by people who claim to have been attacked by

incubi An Incubus () is a male demon in human form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. Parallels exist in many cultures. In medieval Europe, union with ...

succubi A succubus () is a female demon who is described in various folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to sexual activity, a bond forming between them, ...

Hag A hag is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy, witch, or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as "Hansel and Gretel". Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of t ...

s from western folklore, and in more modern cases, with

alien abduction Alien abduction (also called abduction phenomenon, alien abduction syndrome, or UFO abduction) refers to the phenomenon of people reporting what they assure to be the real experience of being kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings and subje ...

s. A book released in 2017 entitled "Popobawa: Tanzanian Talk, Global Misreadings" by Katrina Daly Thompson was critical of Nickell, claiming that he was "associating Zanzibaris with fear and Westerners with

skepticism Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

". Nickell responded that he agrees "Westerners should be wary of imposing simplistic patterns on another culture, but they also should not shy away from making scientific observations where appropriate".

In popular culture

*It was also in the show ''

The Secret Saturdays ''The Secret Saturdays'' is an American animated television series created by Canadian cartoonist Jay Stephens and produced by PorchLight Entertainment for Cartoon Network. It debuted on October 3, 2008, in the United States. The series follows ...

'' in the episode "The King of Kumari Kandam". *In 2008, it was featured in an

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...

of the American paranormal reality television series ''

Destination Truth ''Destination Truth'' is an American paranormal reality television series that premiered on June 6, 2007, on Syfy. Produced by Mandt Bros. Productions and Ping Pong Productions, the program follows paranormal researcher Josh Gates around the ...

'' titled ''Bat Demon''. *In 2022, the popobawa and his sexual proclivities are retold in great detail in the ''Hammer of Zanzibar'' segment of ''

Satanic Hispanics ''Satanic Hispanics'' is a 2022 horror anthology film written by Alejandro Méndez, Demián Rugna, Lino K. Villa and Pete Barnstrom, directed by Mike Mendez, Demián Rugna, Eduardo Sánchez, Gigi Saul Guerrero and Alejandro Brugués and starri ...

''. *In ''

The Dollop ''The Dollop'' is an American comedy history podcast in which comedian Dave Anthony reads stories from American history to his friend and fellow comedian Gareth Reynolds, who usually has no knowledge of the topic that will be discussed, with the ...

'' podcast, episode #4 - Ghosts, Popobawa is discussed as an example of supernatural folklore and legends.

References

External links

*Jansen, Henriette (1996)
"Popobawa is dead!"
''Tanzanian Affairs'', 1 January 1996. *Anon. (1996)
"Ouch Ouch Ouch! Buggered by Batman"
''Fortean Times'', May 1996. (Subscription required for access) *Carpenter, K.A. (2003
"In Your Wildest Dreams"
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230052739/http://www.strangehorizons.com/2003/20030630/wildest_dreams.shtml , date=2006-12-30 , ''Strange Horizons'', 30 June 2003. *Nickell, J. (1995)
"The Skeptic-raping Demon of Zanzibar"
''Skeptical Briefs'', December 1995. *Russell, Davy (2001)

''X-Project Paranormal Magazine'', 26 July 2001. *Saleh, A. (2001)
"Sex-mad 'Ghost' Scares Zanzibaris"
BBC News, 19 July 2001. *Jount, L. (2006)

All Africa News, February 23, 2007. (Subscription required for access) *Saleh, A. (2007)
"Sex attacks blamed on bat demon"
BBC News, 21 February 2007. *Walsh Martin (2014)
"Killing Popobawa: collective panic and violence in Zanzibar"
57th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association. Indianapolis, IN, 20–23 November 2014. * https://www.unilibro.it/libro/latessa-francesco-ulivieri-giovanni/attenti-al-nano-sodomizzatore/914872 African demons Bats in religion Cryptids East African legendary creatures Jinn Mass psychogenic illness Mythological creatures Mythological rapists Pemba Island Shapeshifters Supernatural urban legends