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The Africa Institute hosts Professor Abdul Mohammed Hussein Sheriff, Ali A. Mazrui Senior Fellow in Global African Studies to discuss the translated book “Barghash Discovers Europe & Egypt: The Rehla of Sultan Barghash, 1875” on Monday October 17, 2022.

“We are honored to have Professor Abdul Sheriff among us and as part of our inaugural cohort of Ali A. Mazrui Senior Fellows. We are grateful for his contributions to The Africa Institute through his mentorship and we have indeed learnt a lot during his time here,” said Salah M. Hassan, Director, The Africa Institute who moderated the session.

Abdul Sheriff was born and educated in Zanzibar and is among the founding fathers to contribute to the scholarly work about Zanzibar and the Indian Ocean rim. He taught history at the University of Dar es Salaam from 1969-1991, served as Advisor & Principal Curator of the Zanzibar Museums from 1993-2005, and as Executive Director of the Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute from 2007 until 2012. He also served as Chairman and Member of the Presidential Committees on the State University of Zanzibar from 1995 until 2002, Chairman of the Zanzibar Constitutional Forum from 2012 until 2014, and Delegate to the Tanzanian Constituent Assembly in 2014.

“I came across this book while completing my doctoral research on the history of Zanzibar ‘The Arabic Rehla (travelogue) of Barghash’s visit to Europe in 1875’. It was edited and published in 1879 by a Syrian Rev. John Louis Sabunji, editor of an Arab nationalist magazine in London. However, it was in Arabic. Taking this fellowship felt like an opportunity was presented to me to translate the book into English during the course of my Ali A. Mazrui Fellowship at The Africa Institute, where I could edit and write a critical introduction,” said Professor Sheriff, who completed his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), the University of London in 1971 and his bachelors and master’s degrees at the University of California in Los Angeles in 1966.

With his rich experience and exquisite storytelling, Professor Sheriff shared a comprehensive historical narrative of the visit of His Highness Sultan of Zanzibar to Europe. 

In his talk, he further shared burning questions and reasons behind his own curiosity that triggered him to explore the visit of Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar, where it appears that he invited himself to England in 1985, soon after he was forced to sign a treaty to stop all slave trade in his territories.

The talk was also attended by Adil Babikir, translator of the book from Arabic to English among other faculty, fellows and staff. 

Abdul Sheriff has published several books, including Slaves, Spices & Ivory in Zanzibar (1987), and The Dhow Cultures of the Indian Ocean – Cosmopolitanism, Culture & Islam (2010); edited History & Conservation of Zanzibar Stone Town (1995); and co-edited Zanzibar Under Colonial Rule (1991), The Indian Ocean: Oceanic Connections & the Creation of New Societies (2014), and Transition from Slavery in Zanzibar & Mauritius, (2017), as well numerous scholarly articles. His current research interests are on Zanzibar, the Swahili culture, and the Indian Ocean

Through these series of lectures and workshops, The Africa Institute reaffirms its mission as a center for the study and research of Africa and its diaspora, and its commitment to the training of a new generation of critical thinkers in African and African Diaspora studies. 

The Africa Institute hosts Professor Abdul Mohammed Hussein Sheriff, Ali A. Mazrui Senior Fellow in Global African Studies to discuss the translated book “Barghash Discovers Europe & Egypt: The Rehla of Sultan Barghash, 1875” on Monday October 17, 2022.

The Africa Institute hosts Professor Abdul Mohammed Hussein Sheriff, Ali A. Mazrui Senior Fellow in Global African Studies to discuss the translated book “Barghash Discovers Europe & Egypt: The Rehla of Sultan Barghash, 1875” on Monday October 17, 2022.

“We are honored to have Professor Abdul Sheriff among us and as part of our inaugural cohort of Ali A. Mazrui Senior Fellows. We are grateful for his contributions to The Africa Institute through his mentorship and we have indeed learnt a lot during his time here,” said Salah M. Hassan, Director, The Africa Institute who moderated the session.

Abdul Sheriff was born and educated in Zanzibar and is among the founding fathers to contribute to the scholarly work about Zanzibar and the Indian Ocean rim. He taught history at the University of Dar es Salaam from 1969-1991, served as Advisor & Principal Curator of the Zanzibar Museums from 1993-2005, and as Executive Director of the Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute from 2007 until 2012. He also served as Chairman and Member of the Presidential Committees on the State University of Zanzibar from 1995 until 2002, Chairman of the Zanzibar Constitutional Forum from 2012 until 2014, and Delegate to the Tanzanian Constituent Assembly in 2014.

“I came across this book while completing my doctoral research on the history of Zanzibar ‘The Arabic Rehla (travelogue) of Barghash’s visit to Europe in 1875’. It was edited and published in 1879 by a Syrian Rev. John Louis Sabunji, editor of an Arab nationalist magazine in London. However, it was in Arabic. Taking this fellowship felt like an opportunity was presented to me to translate the book into English during the course of my Ali A. Mazrui Fellowship at The Africa Institute, where I could edit and write a critical introduction,” said Professor Sheriff, who completed his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), the University of London in 1971 and his bachelors and master’s degrees at the University of California in Los Angeles in 1966.

With his rich experience and exquisite storytelling, Professor Sheriff shared a comprehensive historical narrative of the visit of His Highness Sultan of Zanzibar to Europe. 

In his talk, he further shared burning questions and reasons behind his own curiosity that triggered him to explore the visit of Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar, where it appears that he invited himself to England in 1985, soon after he was forced to sign a treaty to stop all slave trade in his territories.

The talk was also attended by Adil Babikir, translator of the book from Arabic to English among other faculty, fellows and staff. 

Abdul Sheriff has published several books, including Slaves, Spices & Ivory in Zanzibar (1987), and The Dhow Cultures of the Indian Ocean – Cosmopolitanism, Culture & Islam (2010); edited History & Conservation of Zanzibar Stone Town (1995); and co-edited Zanzibar Under Colonial Rule (1991), The Indian Ocean: Oceanic Connections & the Creation of New Societies (2014), and Transition from Slavery in Zanzibar & Mauritius, (2017), as well numerous scholarly articles. His current research interests are on Zanzibar, the Swahili culture, and the Indian Ocean

Through these series of lectures and workshops, The Africa Institute reaffirms its mission as a center for the study and research of Africa and its diaspora, and its commitment to the training of a new generation of critical thinkers in African and African Diaspora studies. 

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