HA.01.0139.2
Kiswahili-manuscript, geschreven in aangepast Arabisch schrift (correspondentie over de handel in stoffen en ivoor) / Manuscrit kiswahili en caractères arabes adaptés (Correspondance relative au commerce des étoffes et de l'ivoire) / Kiswahili manuscript written in adapted Arabic script (Correspondence concerning ivory and textile trade). Purchase from widow of L. Rom. 1925. HA.01.0139.2.
Memories of an enemy in the Rom collection
The collection of the Belgian soldier Léon Rom features several handwritten letters in Arabic-Swahili, addressed to Muḥammad bin Ḫalfān, an infamous ivory and slave trader, better known by the nickname Rumaliza. They correspond to the period during which Rom was assigned to Stanley Falls (present-day Kisangani) in eastern Congo, where armed conflicts against Swahili-Arabs took place. The Force Publique’s campaign against Rumaliza lasted several years, but Rom’s decisive intervention was limited to the last few weeks, the final attack of which he describes in his notes.
It was almost certainly in the context of Rom’s participation in this violent conflict that such a document came into his hands. Logically, keeping this ‘souvenir’ of a defeated enemy could confer on him its trophy value. However, unlike many of his peers, Rumaliza, who repeatedly opposed the installation of the German and Belgian armed forces in the Tanganyika region, survived the various attacks and managed to escape, eventually settling in Zanzibar, where he continued his trading activities.