Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar
, by Ruete, Emily
- ISBN: 9780486471211 | 0486471217
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 5/21/2009
This autobiography offers a rare inside look at the society surrounding a sultan's palace. Its author, a real-life princess in exile, recalls her vanished world of harems, slave trading, and court intrigues. TheMidwest Book Reviewpraised this book as "an engrossing memoir, offering a vivid portrait of 19th-century Arab and African life."
"Ruete could be the subject of a thrilling romance," enthused Publishers Weekly of this author, who was born in 1840 as Salme, Princess of Oman and Zanzibar. As a 16-year-old, Ruete fled from her cloistered existence to Germany, where she found the freedom to marry her secret lover. Ruete wrote this colorful and informative memoir to introduce her children to their African heritage.
| Authenticity of these Memoirs | p. ix |
| Preface | p. xiii |
| Family History | |
| The Palace of Bet il Mtoni | |
| The Bath-houses | |
| Equestrian and Other Amusements-Princess Salamah's Father | |
| Purchase of her Mother | |
| Seyyid Saïd's Principal and Secondary Wives | |
| His Children | |
| The Benjile | |
| A Question of Discipline | |
| Brother Majid Reaches his Majority | |
| The Authoress's First Change of Residence | p. 3 |
| Bet il Watoro | |
| Mahometan Belief in Foreordination | |
| Parting Gifts | |
| A Little Journey by State Cutter | |
| Bet il Watoro | |
| Arabian House Furniture and Decoration | |
| Homesickness | |
| Majid's Fighting-cocks | |
| Amazonian Accomplishments | |
| Oral Messages and Written | |
| Chaduji the Haughty | p. 20 |
| Bet il Sahel | |
| A Cross-grained Doorkeeper | |
| Fascinations of Chole | |
| The Veranda at Bet il Sahel | |
| Life in the Courtyard | |
| An Outdoor Butchery, Kitchen, and Larder | |
| Love of Arabs for their Horses | |
| Social Distinctions at Table | |
| Why Bet il Sahel was Preferable to Bet il Mtoni | |
| Race Hatred between Circassians and Abyssinians | |
| Curshit | |
| Enforced Tuition | p. 35 |
| Further Reminiscences of Childhood | |
| Juvenile Tricks | |
| Princess Salamah Climbs a Palm Tree | |
| Majid's Seizure | |
| A Family Quarrel which Ends in Divorce and Another Change of Abode for the Authoress | |
| Extravagance of a Persian Sultana | |
| More Divorce | |
| Lessons in Caligraphy | p. 48 |
| National Singularities | |
| The Vaunted Activity of Northern Peoples | |
| Infant Dress | |
| A Climate Favouring Ease | |
| Prayer Five Times a Day | |
| Intervening Pursuits | |
| Chewing Betel | |
| Going to Bed | |
| Menu à la Zanzibar | |
| Real Coffee | p. 59 |
| Ceremonies for Newly Born | |
| Birth | |
| Tight Bandaging | |
| Shaving of the Head | |
| Protection Against the Evil Eye | |
| The Sitting Ceremony | |
| Black Nurses and European | |
| Hardiness of Oriental Children. | p. 73 |
| School | |
| An Outdoor Classroom | |
| Primitive Apparatus for Study | |
| Play before Work | |
| The Course of Instruction | |
| Verbal Term Reports | |
| Bribing the Schoolmarm | |
| Defects of European Education | |
| Civilisation and Religion | p. 83 |
| Female Fashions | |
| Yearly Distribution of Clothing Materials | |
| Simple Wants of Arabian Women | |
| The Shale | |
| The Rainy Season | p. 93 |
| The Sultan's Voyage to Oman | |
| Persian Hostility in Asia | |
| Provisioning the Ships | |
| Relatives in Oman | |
| Difficulties of Corresponding with Them | |
| The Departure | |
| Khaled Represents Seyyid Saïd | |
| Chole as Lady Superintendent | |
| The Sultan's Strangely Prolonged Absence | |
| Resort to Professional Seers | |
| Soothsaying by Ventriloquism | p. 101 |
| Death of Seyyid Saïd | |
| Preparations for the Sultan's Return | |
| Majid Sets Out to Meet Him | |
| The Palace Surrounded by Order of Bargash | |
| Who Wants to Usurp the Throne | |
| Arrival of the Sultan's Dead Body | |
| Majid's Return | |
| Court Mourning | |
| Majid's Irregular Succession | |
| Severance of Zanzibar from Oman | |
| Division of Seyyid Saïd's Property | p. 112 |
| The Position of Woman in the East | |
| Unhappy Western Matches | |
| Seclusion from the Male Sex | |
| Polygamy and Monogamy | |
| Consideration Toward Wives | |
| Redress Against Husbands | |
| Domestic Prerogatives of the Women | |
| Their Cheerfulness | |
| Impenetrability of the Harem | |
| Divorce Easy | |
| Examples Disproving the "Inferiority" of Oriental Women. | p. 125 |
| Arabian Suitorship and Marriage | |
| First Acquaintance | |
| Generally by Hearsay | |
| Girls Free to Reject Suitors | |
| Formalities to be Observed by the Bride | |
| Wedding Rites | p. 139 |
| Social Customs | |
| Calls Made in the Evening | |
| With Escort of Armed Slaves | |
| Form of Reception by the Hostess | |
| Etiquette Concerning Slippers | |
| Conversation | |
| Rigid Exclusion of Men from Assemblies of Women | |
| Saying Good-bye | |
| Royal Audiences | |
| Order of Proceedings Thereat | |
| Obligation to Attend Them | |
| Visits Between Men | p. 147 |
| Mahometan Festivals | |
| The Month of Ramadan | |
| Daily Fasting | |
| Nocturnal Fasting and Hospitality | |
| Presentation of Holiday Gifts | |
| Watching for the New Moon | |
| General Rejoicings | |
| The Banyans | |
| Henna, and the Way to Use It | |
| Public Prayers | |
| The "Great Feast" | |
| Pilgrimages to Mecca | |
| A Tenth to the Poor | |
| How Pauperism is Consequently a Necessary Institution | p. 158 |
| Medical Treatment | |
| Cupping | |
| Kneading | |
| Swallowing Sentences from the Koran | |
| Consultation of Foreign Physicians | |
| Maltreatment by Domestic Remedies | |
| Superstitious Practices | |
| Possession by Spirits, Good and Evil | |
| Exorcism and Propitiation | |
| Female Doctors Needed in Zanzibar | p. 175 |
| Slavery | |
| A Ruinous Release of Slaves | |
| Idleness of the Negro | |
| A Defence of Flogging | |
| Slaves and Concubines Kept by Europeans in the East | |
| To Abolish a Time | |
| Honoured Custom, Go Slow | |
| Moslem "Fanaticism" | p. 184 |
| History of a Dynastic Plot | |
| The Authoress Loses her Mother | |
| Family Dissensions | |
| Princess Salamah's Equivocal Position | |
| She Casts in her Lot with Bargash | |
| Who Aspires to the Crown and Forms a Conspiracy to Dethrone Majid | |
| Bargash's House Surrounded | |
| His Abduction in Woman's Garb | |
| Defeat of his Partisans | |
| His Return | |
| And Rejection of Majid's Peaceful Overtures | |
| The Pretender's House Fired On by British Marines | |
| Submission and Banishment of Bargash | p. 193 |
| Term of Rural Residence | |
| Complicated Relations with an Invisible Steward | |
| Life on the Plantation of Kisimbani | |
| And of Bububu | |
| Sale of Bububu | |
| In Town Again | |
| Reconciliation with Majid | |
| Quarrel with Chole | |
| Oriental Hatred of Dissemblance | |
| Great Fidelity in Friendship | p. 211 |
| Elopement from Zanzibar | |
| Acquaintance with Herr Ruete | |
| The Escape | |
| Marriage at Aden | |
| Brief. Happiness in Hamburg | |
| Subsequent German Days | p. 221 |
| English Diplomacy | |
| Journey to London | |
| Interview with Sir Bartle Frere | |
| The Choice Offered | |
| Avoidance of Meeting Bargash | |
| Return to Germany | |
| Disappointment | |
| Duplicity of the British Government | |
| Its Motive | p. 226 |
| Visit to the Old Home | |
| Embarkation | |
| Alexandria | |
| Egyptian Dislike of the English | |
| Travel in the Suez Canal | |
| The Red Hot Sea | |
| Arrival | |
| Welcome by the Populace | |
| Causing Displeasure to Seyyid Bargash | |
| His Official Factotum an Ex-Lampcleaner | |
| Dilapidation and Decay | |
| Bargash's Frightful Cruelty | |
| The Authoress's Claims Unsettled | |
| British Influence Over the Sultan | |
| Conclusion | p. 237 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
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