Art. XI.—The History of Kilwa

Abstract

It would seem at first sight as if the history of a small African island were hardly worth the trouble of editing in its original and not very stylish Arabic dress. But it was a saying of Scaliger's that omnis historia bona, and no people seem to have realized the truth of this more than the Arabs. An event once recorded simply as and because it happened, may by the advance of time be brought into new clearness and significance. Once in possession of the fact we can agree upon the fiction at our leisure. And from this point of view we have every reason to be grateful that the influence of Islam tended to narrative rather than criticism, to veracity rather than profundity. In the present instance we have a record, scanty indeed and prosaic, but one to which in the excitement of the scramble for Africa we can hardly be indifferent. It is true that the author, after a fashion not uncommon in the East, conducts us to the crisis and turning-point of his story, and then suddenly relapses into silence, but not before we have seen and recognized “the intruder on his ancient home.” The arrival of Vasco da Gama opens a new chapter of history, of which, with its complications and surprises, we have not yet come to the end.