Za dynasty

Competing Interpretations

Al-Sadi's seventeenth century chronicle, the Tarikh al-Sudan, provides a history of the Songhay as handed down by oral tradition and Timbuktu Manuscripts, including the Za dynasty. The history handed down by al-Sadi portrays a single, stable dynasty that smoothly transitions from Za Yasiboi (Yasibay) to his son Sonni Ali. Paolo de Moraes Farias, however, has used epigraphic evidence from funerary stelae from Bentiya, Gao-Saney, and Tadmekka to show that reality was far more complex. The funerary stelae record the named and dates of kings, some of whom claim descent from an ancestor named Zaghe.

John Hunwick sees this Zaghe dynasty as a group of Sanhaja Berbers who took power in Gao-Saney during the height of the Almoravid movement, but were soon absorbed by the Za. Dierk Lange, in contrast, argues that 'Za' or 'Zuwa' was a title used by the rulers of the pre-Almoravid Qanda dynasty. The Zaghe were localized Berbers who formed a competing royal clan, but eventually adopted the title as well and some appear in the kinglists of the Tarikh al-Sudan. Ultimately, according to this interpretation, these Zaghe were the ancestors of the rival Sonni dynasty. The Zaghe may have been subordinate kings to the Za.

Historians agree that the kingdom was islamized by the late 10th century, although it may have been Ibadism and that Sunni Islam arrived only with the Almoravids. It seems clear that there was some sort of dynastic upheaval at that point, although how this affected the Za is unclear.

2 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

Competing Interpretations

Legend of Za al Yaman

Rulers of the Za dynasty as given in the Tarikh al-Sudan

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