Memoirs of an Arabian Princess - Book Report/Review Example

Qatar International Affairs Spring Memoirs of an Arabian Princess Gulf Politics Memoirs of an Arabian Princess In 1866, princess Salamah bint Said of Zanzibar resolved to elope with a Germany merchant and settled in Hamburg with her husband under a new name Emilie Ruete. In the same year, 1866, an autobiography was published arousing her childhood, youth and her new life in foreign country Germany. It offers comments and thoughts of several subjects revolving around her life in Sultans palace, to political schemes, family and personal experiences as a new immigrant faced with rigorous Europe inhabitants, climate and challenges. Princess Salamah was born and brought up in one of her father’s palaces in Bet il Mtoni. Her father, ruler of Oman and east Africa, had many wives, dozens of children, countless visitors and army of slaves. In fact, the overall population residing within the walls of his residence exceeded thousand people due to his influence. There was mixing of all races and the place alive with continuous of crowding result of people vitality. There was movement within the residence from four o’clock in the morning until midnight .Various languages were used, Salamah wrote beside Arabic ,Turkish, Swahili, Carcassian and others. Tons of food prepared each day, and many buildings under construction to suit the demands of the large groups of people and to be able to accommodate everyone. A strict caste system, which was stiffly observed by low and high ruled Bet il Mtoni. The princess never realized these social inequalities or family hierarchies, rather flourished in the exalted palace life and enjoyed a lot o love from her mother, admirable kindness from the father and fun of playing with others of her age, for example, when she was playing with them in courtyard without troubling the tranquility of their animal friends. She enjoyed same preference as the sons in her home as there was no preference for sons above daughters in other words; she was raised up with no distinction between male and female at home. They memorized the Holy Koran, learnt how to read, writing and basic arithmetic. The princess first heartbreak occurred when she and her mother left Bet il Mtoni to live with her elder brother Majid. She had to forget all the excitement she lived in before and got from the busy compound for a new place or environment where she was very lonely. However, Majid gave her certain pleasures such as different animals and “army of fighting cocks” that according to her rendered her lonely existence there a great deal easy bearing. She also learnt how to fence with dagger, sword, and lance and got an opportunity to practice rifle and shooting as well. The extreme happiness of childhood began to disappear when Salamah’s mother was compelled to leave Bet il Watoro for Bet il Tani, another residence of the Sultan’s family. The demise of Sultan few years later led to conflict over his succession between the two brothers Majid and Bargash, the death of her mother and eventually the meeting of Rudolph by the princess. These dramatic changes and occurrences contributed on totally transformation princess life. She transformed from little girl full of life to a young women supposed to manage her own affairs based on her wisdom and decisions, but in fact, her decision could later split her family and she had to bear the consequences. Salamah could build her decision based on discernment, mobility and determination to challenge common stereotypes about womenfolk residing in Afro-Arabian palaces and harems. Salamah argued that the rich orient women would neither play piano, paints, or dance. However, these were not the only ways of using time. She appends that in the Sultan’s Court, chase for new ways of fun and pleasures which dominated European life was foreign but this did not restrict individuals, women as much as men, to engage in meaningful life activities and achieve their contentment or self-satisfaction without any favoritism. That confirmed great roles played by some women in the county that time but went unrecognized. An example added by Salamah was that of her Auntie Curshit, who she illustrates as a woman of unique willpower as well as unmatched intelligent. At one time, her son had represented his father on absence, but it was argued that she governed the country with the son as her puppet. Another testimony of power exerted by women confined behind walls of palace was her great Aunt Aashe who took over leadership at death of her brother, a generation before, and secured a throne for her younger nephews. Princess also fits in this list of women who have challenged customary wisdom and attempted to influence the course of history. Her letter in 1883 that she sent to her brother Bargash who succeeded Majid is one of a woman full of assurance to give some advice to a man manipulated by London, here she warned him that the English wish was to decrease his power and take over the kingdom (Ruete, 1907). Her advice was not minded and this Sultan’s ignorance towards her sister’s advice, bargained Zanzibar’s independence away. What important here is not, her unsuccessful counsel towards he brother, but rather the construct that she could voice her opinion in political issues. Freedom of speech in the 1880s was an exemption in Zanzibar but Salamah’s experience is an indication that some women in Sultans palace were not completely restricted from the outside world. It also clear that girls were not deprived inheritance. Women could not only own money and Jewellery, but also property and slaves in their names. Salamah inherited land from her father the Sultan when she was of age to and from her mother when she died. It is in one of the inherited properties that she took refuge when her brother Brargash and she conspired against their brother Majid. She was involved in overall management of her property and practiced agriculture. Her plantations yielded revenues and her attitude towards the African slaves was not that of benevolent shepherd. According to her, workers bondage were important to the economy and were not spared neither the harsh working conditions nor the whip. In her view, England’s humanitarianism was aimed at depriving Zanzibar their wealth since slaves were vital to globe economy. Her suggestion is that England would be served better if they had sent a few women physicians to Zanzibar. In her view, a single female doctor was better off in the East than a group of men, but this was not England’s scheme at the time. The princess efforts were, not only learning German as a new language, but also educating herself geography, history and overall knowledge of western civilizations, and in return gave her an opportunity to create unique and fascinating comparisons of what she referred as Oriental and German usage. At first, she was scared of inability to communicate and struggle to make sense in foreign land that consumed her energy. Her promiscuity between men and women, sleeping in the decks together during her Europe first journey and rushed convention to Christianity, were some of the many challenges and cultural shocks she could overcome during her residence in Europe. Pork meet, bland food, excessive drinking, impossible names to remember, difficulty in differentiating people in Hamburg , hurrying in the streets, women dressing uncomfortable corsets, small rooms, and many other things are some of the things that struck her. However, after a year of intensive tutoring, she was familiar with the German language, which provided her a means of communicating with her new German neighbors and friends. Having been brought up in Zanzibar, it was important to make comparison between the Arabian systems and western systems where her children enjoyed privileges. There was great disparity between Arabian ignorance and German good education. In Germany, at all events, children had their minds filled with too much more than they could possibly or able to absorb. Their schools days when started, parents would see them rarely because their schedules are overcrowded. There was little attention given to respect here which all, sisters, brothers and self gave to our teachers and parents. Neither did religion instructions given in schools seemed as effective as they must to be. Everybody wanted to rise higher and higher through education that manual labor was a disgrace, much importance was attached to culture and knowledge. Finally, Salamah was very open minded which in fact granted her new perspectives and multi-focal views for global. As a reflection, many topics covered in Memoirs of an Arabian Prince lead to discovery of obstacles that women suffered from and still challenge them in contemporary society. Princess Salamah share women great experience of being independent from Patriarchal society although she lived a semi-independent life compared to others. This article highlights her experiences and portrays her as great champion who resists her society based on her independent decision. She has played a big role of breaking down the structure of a traditional Arabian women and building a modernized personality of a women. In addition, she shows a skilful ability to adopt two different personalities: as Arabian Muslim princess and Christian Germany. It was great to depict the life of both Orient and Occident. Her experience in both lives is stuffed with a lot of practices and lessons such as focusing on education on both and that, when in Zanzibar she was able to read and write despite inability of women to write at that time. Furthermore, she expanded her experience by learning fencing and pistol shooting, which were known as practices of men. That means she lived and encouraged women to live with men on one society without separation to complete each other. She did not stop on that but decided to marry without her family’s consultation or follow their choice as they used to do. Her story invites those reading it to revisit their own convictions and own beliefs to certain topics such as gender equality, liberty as well as modernity to live high quality life and progress. References Ruete, E. (1907). Memoirs of an Arabian Princess. New York: Doubleday, Page and Co. Read More