Closer
to home, it has come to my attention that an Afro-Muslim village
historical site in the forest of northern Trinidad near the Hondo
River, is in danger of being bulldozed by a local quarry.
The Spanish King Ferdinand considered the colonisation of this region
and the enslavement of Africans as an extension of the Reconquista
(Reconquest) of the Iberian Peninsula.
So he decreed a series of laws to stop the flow of Muslims, free
or enslaved, to the Caribbean and Americas fearing that they might
influence the Amerindians.
Many plantation owners and slave traders, out of greed for profits,
disobeyed the King’s decrees and ignored the ban.
This resulted in a steady Muslim slave presence, which was increased
by other European slave traders and whose existence was recorded
during slavery and after Emancipation.
One such narrative is that of an independent Muslim village established
by ex-slaves who fought as soldiers for the British Crown.
A tale of extraordinary resilience to maintain an Afro-Caribbean
Muslim identity in a fierce Christian society emerging out of slavery.
This village, one of many, and those in Princes Town known as “companies”
were formed by disbanded African soldiers who fought in the early
19th Century wars (1812-1816) between England and her American colonies.
Another 1,000 disbanded soldiers were settled in the South, Manzanilla
and other parts of northern Trinidad.
Six companies of about 80 men each became back-woodsmen.
Three other companies under Mandinka Imams, who were sergeants,
settled in the Manzanilla area and a group from among them established
the Hondo River settlement.
Muslim communal presence was well-documented in pre and post-Emancipation
Trinidad, such as Bath Street, Port of Spain and in Belmont, San
Fernando, Mayaro, Madingo Road, Indian Walk and many other enclaves
all over the Island.
Jonas Bath, the leader of one of these communities even petitioned
the then King of England for assistance to return to Africa.
One member, Muhammad Seisei and his Grenadian wife and family, eventually
made it back to Sene-Gambia with the help of the Royal Geographical
Society.
This settlement was celebrated by the learned Brinsley Samaroo,
Kofi Agorsah and Archibald Chauharjasingh, during the 21st Congress
of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology of the
University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, in July 24-30, 2005.
In the presence of numerous national and international scholars
of different disciplines, sciences and local politicians, a paper
was presented by these three scholars on this important historical
Muslim site entitled, Hondo River Site: An Early Islamic Settlement
in Trinidad.
In early 2002, I visited the site after reading about this village
and doing research for many years on its existence.
Some East Indian Muslims of Valencia and Arima were also present,
since it was an elderly Muslim of the area who was instrumental
in locating the site and who was very zealous about its preservation.
Dr. Samaroo and another scholar were also present because the University
of the West Indies had taken up/over the project and had excavated
and cleaned up the site, which consisted of ruins of a school, some
dwellings, a cemetery, traces of a mosque and other signs of human
settlement.
We requested informally from Dr. Samaroo for some kind of participation
from interested individuals within the Muslim community.
He did not respond.
We tried to meet with him after that at the campus several times
but to no avail.
Attempts were made to seek permission from him to examine an old
copy of the Qur’an in their possession to ascertain by means
of its script, whether it was West African and its period.
We were unsuccessful in that, leaving us disappointed with Dr. Samaroo
and convinced that he was playing games with a very sensitive African-Muslim
historical heritage.
Socially, Afro-Muslims have been found wanting for many reasons.
As a community, we cannot create a credible social space in modern
Caribbean society, unless we record and preserve our historical
and collective heritage at all cost.
For it is upon this we must construct, reconstruct and define the
Afro-Caribbean Muslim personality and community in face of a mountain
of mistakes, so that we could perpetuate and celebrate the presence
of Islam (966-2007 A.D) in this region and the Americas, which preceded
Christianity, Judaism and Western imperialism.
In spite of Spanish Monarchs and Dr. Samaroo! |
