Chronicles of Songhay Empire's Askyas (Kings) 1493-1599
Niani (Māllī ?)
Title
The land is worked to the sound of drums and flutes
Short description
The land is worked to the sound of drums and zurnas.
Text on source
وغرامتهم في زمن ملكي منذ كانوا مَلْكًا له اربعون ذراعًا للزوج وزوجته الى ان صاروا في ايدي سيين وغرامتهم في ازمان سيين من اولهم إلى شي عال وهو آخرهم ملكًا يجتمعون مائة انفس مخلوطِين رجلًا ونساءً ويكيل لهم كياله مائتي ذراع في الارض ويجتمعون مع الدفوف والمزامير ويحرثونها له ويصيحون حال الحرث ويضربون الدفوف وإذا حصدت تلك المزارع قسمها شي بين جيشه فاذا فسدت المزارع اغرمهم وضمّنهم [ص. ٥٦]
English translation
And their tax at the time they were subjects to him was forty cubits [of cultivated land] for the husband and his wife. It was so until they were in the hands of the shīs, their tax during the reigns of the shīs from the first to shī ʿĀli who was the last of them to be king. They gathered in mixed groups of one hundred people male and female and he had them measuring two hundred cubits of land. Then they gathered with drums [dufūf] and flutes [mazāmīr] and they shouted while ploughing and beat the drums [dufūf]. And when harvesting those lands the shī divided the harvest among his soldiers. And if the harvest was ruined he held them responsible and taxed them.
Folios/Pages
108-109
Date
1493 circa
Observations on the events description
In this description, music is an integral part of the work in the field. To be noted that here percussions are daff/dufūf, round drums and not ṭabl/ṭubūl mentioned in connection to military contexts.
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
No other participants in this event description.
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "The land is worked to the sound of drums and flutes" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 09 06.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.137
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
