Browsing by Author "Jeppie, Shamil"

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    Ajami Literacy, class, and Portuguese pre-colonial administration in Northern Mozambique
    (2014) Mutiua,Chapane; Jeppie, Shamil
    This thesis, based on archival and fieldwork research, provides an historical analysis of the northern Mozambique ajami manuscripts held in the Mozambique Historical Archives (AHM). The main focus is on the role played by ajami literacy in the creation of a local Muslim intellectual class that played a significant role in the establishment of a Portuguese pre-colonial administration in northern Mozambique. The history of Islam in northern Mozambique is viewed as a constant struggle against the Portuguese establishment in the region. Through an examination of ajami correspondence held in the AHM and focusing on two of the main northern Mozambique Swahili centres of the nineteenth century (Quissanga and Sancul), this thesis offers a more nuanced interpretation of the relations between the Portuguese and the Swahili Muslim rulers of the region. On the one hand, it views Quissanga-Ibo Island relations based on systematic and relatively loyal collaboration expressed in more than two hundred letters found in the collection of AHM. On the other hand, it presents Sancul-Mozambique Island relations based on ambiguous collaboration and constant betrayals, expressed in forty letters of the collection. The AHM ajami manuscripts collection numbers a total of 665 letters which were first revealed in the context of the pilot study of northern Mozambique Arabic Manuscripts, held in the Mozambique Historical Archives, under the leadership of Professors Liazzat Bonate and Joel Tembe. The pilot study ended with the selection, translation and transliteration of sixty letters from this collection. For the present study I have read, summarized and translated the whole collection (excluding the 60 letters mentioned above). However, only 266 letters which are more relevant for the analysis and argument of my thesis, I have listed in the appendix of this dissertation; and nine of them I have closely examined and cited as the main sources for the construction of local history and as documentary witness of the historical facts I discuss. The use of ajami literacy in northern Mozambique is analysed in the context of global and regional phenomena. In this sense, it is viewed as a result of a longue duré process which integrated the region into the western Indian Ocean’s cultural, political and economic dynamics. It is argued that the spread of ajami literacy in the region was framed in the context of regional Islamic education and an intellectual network. Both were also part of the process of expansion of Islam in East Africa. xiQuissanga (in Cabo Delgado) and Sancul (in Nampula) represent the two main regional settlements from which most of the manuscripts originated. The ruling elites of both regions represent suitable examples of the integration of northern Mozambique into the Swahili political, economic and intellectual networks. They also offer examples of two different dynamics of the process of integration of northern Mozambique rulers into the Portuguese pre-colonial administration. Through an analysis of the spread of Islamic education and the use of Arabic script in the above-mentioned region, this thesis sought to establish the connection of coastal societies in northern Mozambique to the Swahili world (most specifically to Comoros Islands, Zanzibar and western Madagascar). It was through this connection that the Muslim intellectual class was created in northern Mozambique and played an important intermediary role in the process of the establishment of the Portuguese administration in the second half of the nineteenth century. Through their correspondence and reports, this local intellectual elite produced a body of manuscripts in Kiswahili and other local languages (in the Arabic script), which are now an important source for the history of the region.
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    From madrasah to museum : a biography of the Islamic manuscripts of Cape Town
    (2011) Jappie, Saarah; Jeppie, Shamil; Hamilton, Carolyn
    This paper focuses on the Islamic manuscripts of Cape Town, locally referred to as kietaabs, written by Muslims predominantly in the 19th century, in jawi (Arabic-Malay) and Arabic-Afrikaans. Inspired by the idea of a 'biography' of the archive and 'the social life of things', the study traces the life of the kietaabs, from their creation and original use, to their role in contemporary South African society, as objects of heritage and identity. It approaches the kietaabs as objects, emphasizing their movements, status and use, rather than their content.
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    Historical process and the constitution of subjects : I.D. du Plessis and the reinvention of the "Malay"
    (1987) Jeppie, Shamil; Merrifield, Andrew; Nasson, Bill
    The purpose of this thesis is to examine how a ruling-class actor attempted to reinvent and reconstitute an ethnic subject. Dr I.D. Du Plessis was, among other things, an Afrikaner litterateur and Commissioner of Coloured Affairs between 1930 and 1962, the period covered by this thesis. In Cape Town he applied himself to "preserve" what was known as "the malays". Although having an historical presence in Cape Town, defining the "malays" was always a problem as their very basis was in the process of being eroded as industrialisation forced social and communal changes. But the specificity of the "malays" was not an ethnic specificity with a rigid system of control and leadership, and staunchly cast against other sets of "identities" (such as Indians or "coloureds"). As chapter one shows, Du Plessis initiated the project at a conjuncture when the existence of ethnic units was presumed and the efforts to "preserve" them were profoundly political. A background to his ideological location is also discussed. From his particular location he journeyed amongst the "malays" and attempted to reinvent them as a specific ethnic unit fixed in space and time. Chapter two presents Du Plessis' model of "malay ethnicity" and its roots in history.
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    Language, identity, modernity: the Arabic study circle of Durban
    (HSRC Press, 2007) Jeppie, Shamil
    This innovative study introduces readers to a fascinating world of linguistic, religious and cultural politics in the South African port city of Durban from around 1950, the world of the Arabic Study Circle. This work provides an intimate sense of who they were and how they operated, their visions, as well as their international connections and contexts. A fusion of linguistic, religious and ethnic groups with rich, diverse roots and intersecting histories make up South Africa. However, the literature on most of the smaller groups tends to be thin and uneven and often tends to relegate them to the margins of the country’s major narratives. This innovative study introduces readers to a fascinating world of linguistic, religious and cultural politics in the South African port city of Durban from around 1950, the world of the Arabic Study Circle. This Association was led by a group of largely middle class, Indian, Muslim Gujurati-speaking men who were passionate about breaking out of the narrow confines of their origins and connecting to a larger changing world of learning rooted in Arabic and an Islamic modernity. They were gentlemen who believed in the transformative powers of reading and conversation. They exemplify the broader process, common among educated but disadvantaged people in apartheid South Africa and across the decolonising world, of the search for meaning, community and authenticity. CONTENTS: 1.Introduction; 2.The setting: Durban, South Africa, circa 1950; 3.The founder and foundations; 4.Learn, speak, read – and study Arabic Talk; 5.Great performances; 6.Critics, dissidents and enemies; 7.Legacy and limits; Notes: References; Index.
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    Language, identity, modernity: The Arabic study circle of Durban
    (2011) Jeppie, Shamil
    A fusion of linguistic, religious and ethnic groups with rich, diverse roots and intersecting histories make up South Africa. This innovative study introduces readers to a fascinating world of linguistic, religious and cultural politics in the South African port city of Durban from around 1950, the world of the Arabic Study Circle. This work provides an intimate sense of who they were and how they operated, their visions, as well as their international connections and contexts.
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    Late Ottoman Perspectives on the South African War (1899-1902): the Work of Ismail Kemal Vlora
    (2019) Karadağ, Esma; Jeppie, Shamil
    The South African War of 1899−1902 or Anglo-Boer War was one of the modern examples of propaganda in history. It revealed an enormous agitprop conducted by British and Boer forces. The European and American public closely followed the struggle between the mighty British Empire and the “little white Christians”. This thesis examines the pro-British propaganda of the Ottoman intellectuals and policy-makers by focusing on the work of Ismail Kemal Vlora, Transval Meselesi. Ismail Kemal Bey’s pamphlet on the war is a crucial propagandist instrument and legitimiser of British imperialism in South Africa and in other British colonies. This work aims to grasp the understanding of imperialism and civilisation by the pro-British Ottoman intelligentsia, by looking at their attitude towards the South African War of 1899-1902. In this sense, it aims to make a contribution to Ottoman and South African history.
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    The literary works of Shaykh Sîdî Al-Mukhtâr Al-Kuntî (d. 1811) : a study of the concept and role of “miracles” in al-Minna fî I'tiqâd Ahl al-Sunna
    (2011) Moos, Ebrahiem; Jeppie, Shamil
    This essay looks at the relationship between History and Myth in the literature of the grand shaykh of the Qâdiri ṭarîqa of West Africa Shaykh al-Mukhtâr al-Kuntî (d.1811). It explores the role that "miracles" played in his society and how he dealt with this concept in his literary works. By looking at one of his major works, this study wishes to determine how he combined historical fact with myth and what the underlying reasons were for his approach. While the conclusion suggests that the Shaykh indeed employed myth within his writing it further shows how he used this mechanism to maintain a careful balance between his role as a traditional Islamic scholar and as a leader, thus strengthening his position as the head of the Kunta clan and the Qâdirî ṭarîqa.
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    Living French colonial theory : an examination of France's complex relationship with Islam in its African colonies as viewed through the lives of Octave Houdas and Xavier Coppolani
    (2010) Masey, Rachael; Jeppie, Shamil
    In current scholarship, the colonial period within Africa has long been defined as a controversial era, almost encapsulating the entirety of Occidental hubris in one distinct age of time. By and large, the European powers invaded foreign lands, claimed them as their own by right of superior cultural standing, attempted to spread their way of life, and manipulated both the occupied territories and their inhabitants for their own economic, cultural, and spiritual gain. Such incursions were morally justified by the Oriental paradigm, which broadly claimed that European cultural and intellectual superiority gave the cultural Occident the authority to control, speak for, and know the entirety of the Oriental world. As a colonial power, France brought its own unique perspective to the pursuit of colonial might in the form of the concept of the mission civilisatrice and the legacy of the French Revolution. Within the auspices of the larger Orientalist paradigm which guided the second colonial empire, France imposed its civilizing mission on the largely Muslim North and West African colonies. These occupied lands posed a special threat to French hegemony because they shared a common monotheistic religion which could not be easily dismissed on the basis of Orientalist logic and could potentially pose a very real threat to French control. Thus, French policy toward Islam was unceasingly suspicious of Islam ' evolving in its understanding of the religion and Muslim African culture but always with an eye to the practical aspects of administrating and controlling an Islamic colony. This paper utilizes the larger complexities surrounding the French relationship with Islam as the basis for an examination of the lives of two colonial figures, Octave Houdas and Xavier Coppolani. Both men were prominent Islamists with career trajectories deeply steeped within Orientalist rhetoric in the late nineteenth-century and with strong ties to Algeria. However, a detailed and comprehensive accounting of the significance of their contributions and how they each advanced the Orientalist perspective has not yet been a focus of scholarly historical inquiry. Octave Houdas functioned within the realm of scholarly study ' educating a new generation of Orientalists at institutions in both Algeria and France and translating documents relative to the Islamic histories of North and West Africa. In contrast, Xavier Coppolani worked as a self-styled Islamists for the French colonial government, exploring and writing strategic treatises on how the pre-existing Muslim culture could be best employed to French gain. During their respective lifetimes both men played a critical role in the evolving French conceptions of Islam yet have had their lives and works essentialized and undervalued by modern historical study. By employing a wide variety of their works, spanning from French archival material to government reports to textbooks, this paper will address both their individual contributions to Franco Islamic relations and the larger roles they, as the Orientalist scholar and administrator, respectively, played in the perpetuation of the Orientalist paradigm. Many documents represented primary sources which were in French and were reviewed at locations in France.
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    The meanings of Timbuktu
    (2010) Jeppie, Shamil; Diagne, Souleymane Bachir
    This volume, authored by leading international scholars, begins to sketch the 'meaning' of Timbuktu within the context of the intellectual history of West Africa, in particular, and of the African continent, in general. The Meanings of Timbuktu strives to contextualize and clarify the importance of efforts to preserve Timbuktu's manuscripts for Mali, for Africa and for the intellectual world. A fascinating read for anyone who wishes to gain an understanding of the aura of mystique and legend that surrounds Timbuktu.
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    Muftîs and the women of Timbuktu : history through Timbuktu's Fatwās, 1907-1960
    (2011) Mathee, Mohamed Shaid; Jeppie, Shamil
    This dissertation is about the social history of Timbuktu during the colonial era (1894 - 1960). This dissertation, firstly, takes fatwās from Timbuktu's archives as its historical source, a source the aforementioned scholars paid very little attention to or consciously ignored. Although fatwās are legal documents, this dissertation shows that fatwās are a historical source. Secondly, it looks at the history of ordinary men and women in their everyday lives.
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    The Nigerian history machine and the production of Middle Belt historiography
    (2015) Suleiman, Samaila; Jeppie, Shamil; Brigaglia, Andrea
    While existing studies on Nigerian historiography cover renowned historians, major historical writings and prominent historiographical traditions, there is hardly any exploration of the institutional processes and concrete circumstances within which historical knowledge is produced. Deploying a range of sources, from in-depth personal interviews - with historians, archivists, museum curators and publishers of history texts - archival research to museum displays, this thesis examines the production of history and the socio-political tensions and conflicts associated with it in postcolonial Nigeria. Specifically, it explores the linkages between Nigerian history as a discursive practice and the institutions where historical knowledge is produced such as history departments, archives, museums and the publishers of history and scholarly texts. I see these processes as a kind of "history machine", defined as the interconnected system of social technologies through which the Nigerian state defines the discursive limits of the nation by appropriating, packaging and relaying discrete ethnic histories as Nigerian history in specific national cultural institutions such as archives and museums. But it is not robotic or a centrally run machine. The Nigerian history machine, originally activated as a nationalist intellectual mechanism against colonialist historiography in the wake of decolonization, broke down into a multitude of regional compartments in the postcolonial period, leading to the proliferation of "extranational" discourses in areas like the Middle Belt region. The practices of collecting, organizing, classifying, naming and appropriating discrete cultural symbols activates, as much it silences, the voices of certain communities. Each site of production strives, ostensibly, to produce Nigerian history, retaining and concealing the distinctive historical repertoires of each constituent ethnic community as they go through the history machine. In the process certain communities were ostracized to which they responded by manufacturing their local histories against the institutional representation of their pasts in History Departments, National Archives and National Museums. Through a textual analysis of the writings of historians and other scholars of Middle Belt extraction, this study posits that the textual tradition of the Middle Belt historiography is animated by a discourse of marginality and resistance to the dominant interpretations of northern Nigerian history and historiography, an epistemic struggle by the minorities to reassert their "historical patrimony" or reclaim their "historical dignity" through the creation of projects that highlight their historical past.
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    Revolution in Egypt and the Middle East
    (2014-09-08) Pallo, Jordan Z.; Jeppie, Shamil; Saleh, Ibrahim; Tayob, Abdulkader
    This lecture can be used to supplement lectures in history, film and media or politics related to the 2011 revolution in Egypt. The lecture can be used as a general interest podcast. This seminar discusses the revolution in Egypt and the Middle East, specifically: 1. Events in Egypt and how it relates to politics in Africa and South Africa 2. Events that led to the revolt in Egypt 3. Egypt and political communication - as well as personal reflections by Dr Ibrahim Saleh 4. Role of islam and politics of the Muslim Brotherhood The image used is Victory-Crowd by darkroomproductions and is available under a Creative Commons Non Commercial Lincese.
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    The shifting world of South African madrasahs, 1973-2008
    (2010) Sayed, Muhammad Khalid; Jeppie, Shamil
    This essay seeks to unearth the historical development of madrasah education in South Africa from 1973 to 2008. It identifies transformations that have taken place in the madrasah education landscape in the last thirty to forty years. This work may be seen as largely an exercise in contemporary historical excavation. In addition to determining whether the transformations have changed or sustained the central function of madrasahs as spaces for religious socialization and sectarian identity formation, the essay is an attempt to underline the link between these changes and the broader shifts and developments that have taken place in Muslim communities and the country. The conclusion suggests that while major transformations have taken place at South African madrasahs, the changes - in a broader sense - still fall very much within the central function of madrasahs historically and globally. There has been no radical shift, or even a conception thereof, beyond often sectarian religious orthodoxy.
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    The Sudan : civil war and peace-making
    (2006) Basha, Sara; Jeppie, Shamil
    Includes bibliographical references.
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    Traditions and transitions : Islam and chiefship in Northern Mozambique, ca. 1850-1974
    (2007) Bonate, Liazzat J K; Jeppie, Shamil
    This thesis is based on the archival and fieldwork research, and sheds light on the area which has been little studied or reflected in scholarly literature: Islam in Northern Mozambique. Its particular focus is on African Muslim leadership in Northern Mozambique, which has historically incorporated Islamic authority and chiefship. The link between Islam and the chiefly clans existed since the eight century when Islam made inroads into the northern Mozambican coast and became associated with the Shirazi ruling elites. With the involvement of the region in the international slave trade during the nineteenth century, the Shirazi clans secured alliances with the most powerful mainland chiefs through conquest and kinship relations in order to access supplies of slaves from the mainland. This process was accompanied by a massive expansion of Islam from the coast into the hinterland. The alliances between the Shirazi at the coast and the chiefdoms further into the interior resulted in a network of paramount chiefs and their subordinates making up the bulk of Muslim slave-raiders, who established the limits between themselves (the Maca, Muslims and 'civilized') and those to be enslaved (the Makua and Lomwe, derogatory terms, meaning savagery, i.e., 'non-Muslims' and 'uncivilized')