Diwani
– 1. councillor; elder
man. 2. minister, king's advisor.
This
word is derived from the Arabic word “diwan”. The word is Persian in origin and
was loaned into Arabic. The original meaning was "bundle (of written
sheets)", hence "book", especially "book of accounts,"
and hence "office of accounts," "custom house,"
"council chamber".
Definition per James Mill (1826):
"Dewan, Duan: place of assembly. Native minister of the revenue
department; and chief justice, in civil cases, within his jurisdiction;
receiver-general of a province. The term is also used, to designate the
principal revenue servant under a European collector, and even of a Zemindar.
By this title, the British East India Company are receivers-general of the
revenues of Bengal, under a grant from the Great Mogul"..."Dewanny,
Duannee: the office, or jurisdiction of a Dewan"
(Mill,
James, The History of British India, Vol. 1 (of 6), 3rd Edition, London, 1826)
The
word had been in long usage in the Anglo-Islamic world and is mostly associated
with the Mughal empire in India. During the effective rule of Mughal India, the
Dewan served as the chief revenue officer of a province. After the Battle of
Buxar, when Bengal was annexed by the British East India Company in 1764, the
Mughal Emperor granted the Company the Diwani (the right to
collect revenue) in Bengal and Bihar in 1765. The term Diwani thus referred to
British (fiscal) suzerainty over parts of India during the early British Raj. This
term was also associated with the Banyans (Baniani) serving the sultans of the Omani
sultanate at Zanzibar. They were the custom agents and brokers of the sultans
in the slave markets and also engaged in other forms of general trade.
It’s
use in East Africa started around the 1700’s which coincides with the occupation
of East African coast by Busaidi Arabs backed by the British East India company
and the consequent displacement of Indigenous Africans from their lands e.g.
the Ameru, Segeju, Dhaiso and so forth. For example, the Arab chiefs in
Vumba Kuu were for sometime called Mwana Chambi until 1544AD/950AH when the name was changed
to Mwana Chambi Chandi. About 1700AD/1112AH, it was altered to Diwan. The Arab
settlers had a custom of adopting the phraseologies of indigenous languages
where they settled but with the rising influence of the British East India
company, terms associated with the company started to appear.
The
chief qualification of a diwan was to be a shereef either in the male or female
line. Shereef means descendant of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima. The first
Diwan in Vumba Kuu was Seyyid AbubakarI bin sheikh bin Abubakari el-masela-ba-Alani,
otherwise known as “Diwan Ruga”. Ruga is a word borrowed from Segeju language meaning
“strength of a bull”. It can be compared to Rũga in Gĩkũyũ language which identifies a special
string made from the tendons of a bull’s shoulders. Both Gĩkũyũ and Segeju are
descended from the ancient Thagicũ. As are numerous other peoples in East
Africa.
A
Diwan is simply a revenue collector. A title meant for trade and not for nation-building. The Arab settlement in the East Africa coast was mainly for trade. They formed trade colonies at the coast to partake in the trade networks in the Indian ocean. There was no nation nor semblance of a nation created between Arabs and Indigenous
Africans in East Africa, often erroneously termed “Swahili”.
References
TUKI (2001), Kamusi Ya
Kiswahili-Kiingereza; Swahili-English Dictionary. Published by Taasisi ya
Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili (TUKI), Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Mill, James (1826). The
History of British India, Vol. 1 (of 6), 3rd Edition, London
KNA. CC1/36/5 Vol. 1
Divan | Origin and meaning of
divan by Online Etymology Dictionary
Robb, Peter (2004). A History
of India. Palgrave Macmillan.
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