Title
The askia's heart breaks on the sound of music
Short description
The askia's heart breaks at the sound of drums. This is not the only episode in the chronicle of kings who died because of a heart attack followed the sound of music (see Gomez, 2018, p. 328).
Text on source
ولمّا اصبح اسكيا داوود فى مقابلة بلد سام امر جميع ارباب الات الطرب ان يسلّموا على اسكيا محمد بنكن بضرب الالات فلمّا سمع الاصوات انقطع نياط قلبه فمات من ساعته وبقى عياله ثمه [ص. ١٠٤-١٠٥]
English translation
The next morning, while Askiya Dawud was still opposite the town of Sāma, he ordered his musicians [arbāb ālāt al-ṭarab] to greet Askiya Muḥammad Bonkana by sounding their instruments [ālāt]. When Muḥammad Bonkana heard the sound, his heart broke and he died on the spot, but his children continued living there
Folios/Pages
149
Date
1559 circa
Observations on the events description
The musicians are called here the "Lords of musical instruments" [arbāb ālāt al-ṭarab], suggesting an honorific position similar to that of the "Lords of drums", namely the empire's dignitaries.
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.

Participants
Name
Role
Notes
Edit
Delete
Bonkana Kirya, Muḥammad
Viewer
Askia (King)

Participants
Bonkana Kirya, Muḥammad participated as Viewer
Sounds
0

How to quote
Pintimalli A., "The askia's heart breaks on the sound of music" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 10 03.

doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.139

This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0