From “Noble Cavaliers” to “The Plague of Africa”: Comparative Perception of the Arab Population of Tanganyika by the British and Germans and the Factor of the Colonial Agenda

This paper presents a case study of the perception of one cultural group (in this case, medieval) by members of another culture during a time of cultural differences and increasing conflict of interests. The focus is on the attitudes of European colonialists towards the Arab and Arabized minority that dominated East Africa prior to European colonization. This region lies at the crossroads of what Europeans viewed as “black African” territory, considered “primitive,” and the Arab-Muslim “Orient,” which was seen as having a rich medieval civilization. Arab rulers had established their dominance in the area long before European powers arrived. Notably, the Omani Sultanate, which later split into the Omani and Zanzibar sultanates, had controlled the Swahili-Islamized coastal and island areas of the region since the 17 th century, extending its influence into parts of the hinterland. By the mid —19 th century, Europeans began to rediscover this Arab-Swahili civilization, and from the mid —1880 s onward, they rapidly established colonial authority over the region. Numerous accounts from British and German observers from both periods reflect varying perceptions of the local Arab population. This article analyzes these accounts to explore European views of the Arab community and effects of the colonial agenda on them.