Zanj
Name used by medieval Muslim geographers to refer to a portion of Southeast Africa
Zanj
Zanj (Arabic: زَنْج; IPA: [zand͡ʒ], adj. زنجي; [zan.d͡ʒijj], Zanjī; from Persian: زنگ, romanized: Zang; [zæɲɡʲ̥]) is a term used by medieval Muslim geographers to refer to both a certain portion of Southeast Africa (primarily the Swahili Coast) and its Bantu inhabitants. It has also been used to collectively refer to sub-Saharan peoples by Arab sources. This word is also the origin of the place-names Zanzibar ("coast of the Zanji") and the Sea of Zanj. The latinization Zingium serves as an archaic name for the coastal area in modern Kenya and Tanzania in southern East Africa. The architecture of these commercial urban settlements is now a subject of study for urban planning. For centuries the coastal settlements were a source of ivory, gold, and slaves, taken from sections of the conquered hinterland, to the Indian Ocean world.
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