Place names tell us more than just what to call an area; they provide inklings to a space’s social, cultural, and political past. These geographies allow us to imagine how a space was constructed.
This series explores places we are from, looking at the geographies that we belong to and connect us across Africa, Iran, and the Indian Ocean.
Take Zanzibar, an island off Tanzania. Zanzibar has a very simple Persian etymology. Zang, “black peoples,” and bar, “coast.” Coast of the Blacks.
Zanzibar
Sailboats had connected the two coasts for centuries, bringing with them peoples, their languages, and their cultures. These histories explain how Zanzibar came to be known by its Persian name.
But zang did not always mean Black. Indeed, Persian speakers will recognize the color of zang, or rust, to be a golden brown with reddish hues. The reference to these colors tell us a little bit about how race was vividly described throughout history.
Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Scholars have suggested several different etymologies for Mogadishu. One, “sight-killer,” is derived from the Somali “muuq disho.” Others have suggested that it’s from the Arabic “muqaddas,” meaning sacred.
Mogadishu
There is an etymology that connects Mogadishu to Persian too. “Maq’ad-e Shah” – or “the seat of the Shah,” which may have referred to the importance of Mogadishu. We do not know who first called the area Mogadishu, but if we think of Persian as a language of the Indian Ocean and consider Mogadishu’s location on the coastline and the role of Persian migrants in the Sultanate of Mogadishu (1269-1634), we can understand how this is a possible etymology.