ABSTRACT
UNTIL recent times very little of the history of Zanzibar has been chronicled in writing, and, with the exception of occasional glimpses vouchsafed to us in the writings of ancient and medireval authors, the history is largely a matter of conjecture, to be drawn from comparison of customs, etc., with those of other peoples. The history of Zanzibar is therefore to be compiled from the following sources:
(a) Speech, (h) customs, (c) archreological remains and antiquities, (d) legend and tradition, (e) the writings of various historians and travellers, (I) native written recoras where such exist, and, in the case of the latest period, (g) official documents and printed books.
