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Social and Cultural Integration: A Case Study of the East African HadramisAuthor(s): Françoise Le Guennec-CoppensSource: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 59, No. 2, SocialStratification in Swahili Society (1989), pp. 185-195Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1160487 .

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Africa 59 (2), 1989

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL INTEGRATION: A CASE STUDY OF THE EAST AFRICAN HADRAMIS

Franfoise Le Guennec-Coppens

As one goes through the numerous publications concerning East Africa, it becomes apparent that certain subjects have rarely been approached, having been neglected or even totally ignored. Such is the case concerning the problems linked with the Hadrami diaspora, the extended study of which- apart from a few notable exceptions'-has not yet aroused the interest of historians or the curiosity of anthropologists.

And yet the phenomenon is important and goes back some time: the 'African' Hadramis have come into being as a result of the migrations of merchants, mercenaries and holy men over several centuries. Today, even though they are of mixed blood and often integrated with local groups that constitute Swahili society, the Hadramis represent a considerable portion of the 'Arabs' who have come from the southern Arabian peninsula to settle along the East African shore.

The purpose of this article is not to 'make' a history over many centuries of these communities, but rather to underline the importance of two factors that have contributed to the social and cultural process of integration of the Hadramis with the coastal populations of East Africa since the nineteenth century.

The first factor is the social origin of these migrants, which initially affected greatly how they were accepted by the local societies and influenced the different roles they came to hold. Following this, the character of the different host communities is considered-particularly those of Kenya and the Comoro Islands-which either limited or encouraged a certain number of transformations within the migrants or was itself modified by its contact with the Hadramis.

THE HADRAMI POINT OF VIEW

Even though it is still difficult to determine exactly when and how the Hadramis came to Africa, their migrations, which have been sustained by centuries of commercial links with the Indian Ocean, seem to have been constant.

Emigration has been a persistent characteristic of the history of South Yemen. The causes of these massive departures are more often than not attributed to internal factors, mainly economic (poverty and lack of re- sources), but also political, religious and social (civil warfare, political despotism, foreign invasions, religious sectarianism) (see Rouaud, 1984: 227; Ingrams, 1937).

However, East African history suggests that certain periods were more auspicious than others for Hadrami emigration. There seem to have been at least two distinct periods (the first from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, the second from the eighteenth to the beginning of the twentieth centuries), each one of which, to a certain degree, brings out the difference in social origin of the incoming migrants.



KENYA AND COMOROS COMPARED

The first well-known group were the Sayyids (or Sharifs or Masharifu in Kiswahili) or, in other words, descendants of the Prophet's clan. Their role and influence on East African Islam was to be decisive.

These prestigious migrants were not the only ones to leave the Hadramaut. In fact, the presence of Hadramis of varied origins is more prevalent in the literature on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. More often than not they are mentioned under the derogatory term of Shihiri-'those from Shihr'-even if they came from other regions. The development of a plantation economy, initiated by other Arabs-the Omanis-followed by the arrival of Europeans, created a heavy demand for labour which seemingly provoked important migratory waves of Hadramis of modest origins.

Whatever the case, it appears that present-day social reality in Africa represents a cross-section of the Hadrami hierarchy.2

In the Hadramaut '.. . the ranking of the groups implies that each group has certain ascribed roles and attributes associated with its position in the hierarchy' (Bujra, 1971: 18). Within this traditional stratification the following are ranked in order of importance: the Sharifs, who are the descendants of the Prophet and therefore noble by birth; the Sheikhs, who are descendants of the intellectuals and theologians that were famous and reputed in the Hadramaut; the group of kabila, that is the tribal peoples, who are divided into sedentary, peasant and nomadic peoples; finally those belonging to a caste such as merchants, traders, craftsmen and other poorer categories.

Today the presence of Hadramis all along the East African coastline is in itself a sign of the diversity of their settlement sites ( see Fig. 1).

It must be stressed that their favourite spots were mainly the coastal cities; their activities were mostly religious and commercial and, in the absence of attractive centres inland, this certainly contributed to their geographical distribution.'

Sometimes the Hadramis settled directly in one of these cities because they already had a relative or a compatriot well established there, and this facilitated and accelerated their social and economic integration. Such is frequently the case for recent immigrants who benefited from well- established communities as soon as they arrived.

However, certain family records show that their ancestors followed many routes before finally settling down, residing in other cities for various lengths of time. These different stages, which enabled the migrants to set up families in various localities, often had the effect of scattering members of the same lineage over vast distances. This dispersal, instead of limiting exchanges, created a network of relationships which extended over the entire coastline. The constant travelling of the men maintained the vitality of these relationships and contributed to the development and propagation of Swahili culture.

However, their entry into cities that were already structured and organised was not always easy; their welcome depended upon their social origin. It appears that a clear distinction was made between status groups, particularly the Sharifs and other categories.

The Sayyids, or Sharifs, generally speaking, were well received. Their prestigious ancestry and their immanent holiness assured them consideration and respect on the part of the upper classes and veneration on the part of the

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FIG. 1 Hadrami settlement sites on the East African coast

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deprived. Apart from a few exceptions, most of them derived their power, influence and prestige not from their fortune or political role, but from their religious and social status (see B. G. Martin, 1971).

In the fourteenth century, for instance, Ibn Battuta (1958: II, 93) observed that the sultan of Kilwa was extremely hospitable towards his holy visitors and even went so far as to put away a fifth of his revenues in order to entertain them and to offer them gifts. Furthermore, the Sharifs could benefit from tangible privileges such as tax exemptions or fiscal reductions while receiving pious donations from non-Sharifs and from the poor (B. G. Martin, 1971: 367). In addition, due to their status, they could settle in the most aristocratic neighbourhoods of the cities; the case of Habib Saleh bin Alawi, Sharif of the Jamalil Leyl clan, who at the beginning of the twentieth century abandoned the noble district of the city of Lamu to establish himself in the poor quarters, was such a rare exception to this rule that it merited being brought to public notice (see el Zein, 1974; see also Le Guennec-Coppens, 1981).

Apart from these material prerogatives, their privileges of birth also permitted them to reach important religious and judicial posts which guaranteed them and their descendants favourable positions. The importance of the Sharifs in the religious realm is undeniable: even though it may be difficult to ascertain whether or not they brought Islam to East Africa, they played a predominant role by imposing Sunnite-Shafiite rites, the Islamic ritual which now prevails in East Africa. Their influence was established very early and spread swiftly as witnessed by Ibn Battuta who was startled to find populations in most of the cities he visited who were Sunnite Muslims of the Shafiite order, even though they were black (op. cit.). Back in the seventeenth century, when the Omanis, who belonged to the Ibadite sect of Islam, predominated along the coast, the religious authority of the Hadramis was sufficiently established and consolidated to maintain itself in spite of the political and economic superiority of the newcomers. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the majority of the major religious leaders (the ulema) of East Africa were Hadramis, mostly Sharifs, and this to such degree that Zanzibar and its colonies came to be considered as an intellectual and cultural annexe of the Hadramaut (B. G. Martin, 1971: 530).

Furthermore, by contracting alliances with the reigning families, they were able to create, enlarge or conquer the power structures wherever they settled. There are many significant examples of their influence in the political sphere. In Kilwa, for instance, the end of the thirteenth century was characterised by a crisis in the dynasty during which Sharif Abu al Mawahib al Hasan ibn Suleiman al-Mat'un ibn Hasan ibn Talut al Mahdali seized power (Constan- tin, 1983: 38; Freeman-Grenville, 1975: 38). In the seventeenth century Sharif AbuBakr bin Sayyid Sharif Husayn of the Ba Faquih clan, a famous clan from Tarim, became the king of Moheli in the Comoro Islands. In the early eighteenth century, Sayyid AbuBakr bin Sheikh al Masila Ba Alawi was enthroned in Vanga and Wasini in southern Kenya (Salim, 1973: 29; B. G. Martin, 1974: 387). In the nineteenth century the AbuBakr bin Salim clan had a number of important sultans and chiefs among its ranks in Anjouan and the Great Comoro, the most famous of which was Sultan Ahmed, more commonly known as Mwinyi Mkuu, 'the Great Lord' (J. Martin, 1983: I, 356).

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Hadramis of humbler origins were, without any doubt, less warmly welcomed and their integration was more difficult. However, in spite of initially unfavourable conditions they managed to insert themselves in the economic sphere, thereby establishing their social position.

Many of the activities for which they were qualified were already occupied when they arrived. The migrants were thus obliged to accept all sorts of jobs, some of which were looked down upon in their own country: they became sailors, fishermen, servants, water-bearers, and often dockers.4

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries they had the opportunity of fulfilling a military role and often became mercenaries, guards and soldiers in the armies of local sultans. This vocation was renewed during the First World War, when many of them enrolled in the colonial army; the Arab Rifles from Kenya, for example, were nearly exclusively Hadramis (see Salim, 1973: 176).

There is no doubt, however, that wherever they settled, the Hadramis devoted themselves to commerce. They set themselves up in various forms of trade which required little capital, such as peddling or running small booths which are still remarkable today for the variety of goods they offer. By applying their commercial skills on a wider scale over larger distances, they managed to establish a network of branches and subsidiary companies which, being interlinked by family ties and alliances, allowed them to trade safely. Thus, in spite of their lack of capital and the rivalry with the Indians, the Hadramis successfully controlled most of the retail trade along the East African coast and, to a lesser degree, the wholesale and resale cereal trade (particularly in Mambrui and Malindi in Kenya).

It appears, therefore, that the role played by the Hadramis in East Africa varied according to their social origin: the Sharifs playing an essentially religious and sometimes political role, the others mostly an economic one.

The widely recognised economic role of the Hadramis has changed very little in its overall structure; it simply has consolidated itself by diversification (property investments, the creation of bus and taxi companies, farming, etc.). Today, even though they have not been equally successful in business, they nevertheless represent one of the most prosperous social categories of the Swahili-speaking populations.

The role of the Sharifs, on the other hand, has been considerably weakened by the emergence of religious reform. They no longer benefit from their former prestige, and consequently have lost much of their traditional power. Since they are no longer the object of such 'profitable' veneration as before, they are more often than not obliged to work, and they too have turned to commercial activities.

The fate of the Hadramis in the Comoro Islands was very different, even for those of modest origins, since they have always held positions of the utmost importance and still do today.

This situation can be explained by the relative isolation of the Comoro Islands, which has affected their history differently from the rest of East Africa. They are in fact one of the rare coastal regions never to have been dominated by the Omanis from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. This historical chance was beneficial for the Hadramis, who, without any other Arabic competition, could thrive under the best possible conditions.

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Their unrivalled status as Arabs and the accumulation of capital from other coastal cities probably contributed to their social integration.

We have seen how certain Sharifs managed to seize power in many places in the archipelago through their alliances with the ruling families. Studies of non-Sharif Hadrami genealogies and matrimonial networks have shown that they too had the opportunity of creating ties with noble or royal families, which was very rare elsewhere. These prestigious alliances indicate how favourably they were regarded.

Today, despite the intermingling of all social categories, their descendants still represent the land-owning class, the merchants whether large or small, the leading citizens and the main religious and political leaders.

THE HOST SOCIETIES POINT OF VIEW

In as much as the social origin of the migrants affected the manner in which they were welcomed by the local communities, the character of the host societies was often decisive in the type of transformation imposed on the Hadramis and in the success of their integration.

In Kenya, if we exclude the privileged case of the Sharifs, the Hadramis (and particularly those from the later migratory waves of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries) were the object of a degree of segregation on the part of the dominant groups. These societies were already well structured and stratified; political and economic power was in the hands of the local aristocracy as well as another Arab elite, the Omanis. To begin with the Hadramis were marginalised: they were placed on the outskirts of the cities, where they cohabited with strangers and slaves before creating their own neighbourhoods' and they were kept away from any local political and social organisation.

However, due to their personal qualities (eagerness to work, moral rigour), their matrimonial strategies and their great adaptability, the Hadramis, little by little, managed to integrate themselves into their new environment.

To achieve this the migrants, mostly males, were obliged to marry local women and thus had to adopt or create new matrimonial patterns. In most cases the first to arrive had to contract alliances outside their own group, whereas in the Hadramaut a rigorous tribal endogamy was imposed by the society's hierarchical system. Of necessity, they married women of different origin and status; in order to preserve their identity they naturally preferred alliances with Hadrami women, even if of mixed blood or humbler origin, but they often married Africans and sometimes slaves.

They also acquired new cultural and social values. They dropped their own language for the local one; apart from a few rare exceptions, the Hadramis no longer speak Arabic, and their native tongue is Kiswahili. They have also adopted certain customs regarding music and dances which they carry out during their marriage ceremonies. And, lastly, they have chosen a new economic orientation, commerce, which has largely contributed to their success: farmers have become grocers, nomads have become butchers.

Thus, by an interplay of alliances, the Hadramis have rapidly become a complex group. On the one hand they were linked to their original culture (or more precisely to that of their ancestors) and on the other hand they were

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immersed within the local culture through their family environment. In the case of the descendants of the early emigrants, this duality between two cultural poles has rapidly failed to a point of total oblivion. in fact, in order to achieve their social and cultural integration as quickly and as completely as possible within two or three generations, they have cut off all relationships with their mother country.6

The role of the Hadramis was not passive in this process of integration. Even though they assimilated some social and cultural traits-the use of Kiswahili as a first language is a startling example-they also contributed to the transformation of their adopted country's civilisation. First and foremost was their religious contribution: the control of the Islamic schools, the preservation of the mystical orders (tariqah), the veneration of the saints and the interpretation of Islamic law (see Talib, 1974: 68). They also made certain visible cultural contributions to the way in which people ate and dressed (the buibui veil worn by women was introduced by the Sharifs towards 1910),7 and also to their social behaviour (the sheltered public life of women, etc.). They played a significant role in the development of Swahili literature, especially poetry (the famous poem Al Inkishafi, about the decline of the city of Pate in the Lamu archipelago, was written in the beginning of the nineteenth century by a Sharif of the AbuBakr bin Salim family).

By means of this ongoing process of interaction, the Hadramis, according to Trimmingham (1971: 22), were 'responsible for remoulding Swahili culture and imprinting it with the dominant stamp it bears today'.

Notwithstanding the fact that these reciprocal acculturation phenomena largely contributed to the social and cultural integration of the migrants, it appears that certain structural affinities which existed between the Hadrami and Swahili cultures also contributed to their assimilation. The migrants were faced with communities whose main values were of the same nature and thus compatible with those of their home country. Just as in the Hadramaut, the Sunnite-Shafiite Islamic customs were commended: marriage laws, rules regarding repudiation, the inheritance of property, the patri- or virilocal system of residence were identical, among many others.

The importance of Muslim institutions and their omnipresence in all domains thus secures cohesion and coherence among the various categories. The Hadramis are consequently linked to other social groups by their religion, by the social and judicial laws that rule their existence, and by mutual models and cultural schemes.

Even if today the Hadramis still constitute a definite social category (in which the rigidity of the original social stratification system has been significantly weakened), their way of life has become standardised and has adapted to the local conditions. In this sense they can be assimilated with the Swahili-speaking populations of the Kenyan coastline since there are no fundamental cultural traits to differentiate them.

In contrast with Kenya, the Hadramis were warmly welcomed by the inhabitants of the Comoro Islands whatever their social origins. They were never the object of any discrimination whatsoever and even benefited from an enormous prestige. The very fact of their 'Arabicity' made them attractive candidates to be linked to the upper classes through matrimonial ties. According to the Great Mufti from Moroni, 'when the Sharifs AbuBakr bin

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Salim arrived, they were sent to the palace to be married, they were never sent to humbler residences'.8

Today the Hadramis-apart from a few recent migrants-have completely intermingled with the Comoros community in spite of the fact that its structure appears, if not totally incompatible with, at least opposite to the structure advocated by Islam.

Here too, once again, religion generates a certain social cohesion and the patrilineal Islamic system can be recognised within the family structure through certain matrimonial rules: polygamy regulations, marriage payment, unilateral repudiation in favour of the husband, and transmission of inheritance. The matrilineal aspect of the social organisation is found in the strict matrilocality or uxorilocality, the power of women, which is unusually large for a Muslim society, the pre-eminent role of the maternal uncle in many family gatherings, and in a common law by which only women may inherit wealth, the manyahuli (see Le Guennec-Coppens, 1987).

This outline of the main aspects of the kinship system of the Comoro Islands brings out the fact that although paternal kin have their importance, the maternal kin play a predominant role.

For a great majority of the Comoros-at least in Great Comoro-the matrilineage (inya) is referred to before the patrilineage. The entire society is organised around the inya, which in turn determines the kinship and alliance networks. Furthermore, inya implies a notion of localisation throughout the institution of manyahuli and can signify 'place of origin'. Because of this, members from the same inya distinguish themselves according to two criteria: the first is genealogical and identifies a common ancestor in all the matrilineages; the second is geographical and identifies a precise location to which all the members of a lineage or clan refer in order to validate the seniority of their origins, to assert their aristocratic ancestry, and to justify their legitimacy.

As a result of this system, not only did the alliances between Hadramis and Comoros women contribute to the assimilation of the migrants but they also established very rapidly the status of their descendants: children resulting from these mixed marriages acquired the rights and privileges of the family members of their mother's birthplace.

In addition, the social value of an individual depends upon his birth- particularly according to the importance of his inya-but his status also depends upon his degree of participation in the traditional way of life, notably by conforming to the dola nkou custom, or 'grand wedding', during which there takes place a number of specifically Comorian institutions (Abdourahim, 1983). The basic principle of the 'grand wedding' is to enable every man, who has the financial means, to achieve social recognition. This form of wedding, no matter what his status, gives him 'his social identity, that of a responsible and important man' (ibid.: 241); he becomes 'a leading citizen who henceforth has the right to express himself and to take part in the decisions concerning the community' (ibid.: 95).

Undoubtedly the Hadramis have totally subscribed to the norms prevalent in the Comoro Islands in spite of the fact that these norms differ from those of their homeland. They have adopted their new social and cultural environ-

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ment to such a degree that they are fashioned by it and have often become the main supporters of its traditions.

This considerable social transformation of the Hadramis can be explained by the character of the host society. If the migrants have now been totally assimilated, it is because they were encouraged to respect its rules by being given important roles, by being offered selected alliances, and by achieving their social integration by means of the 'grand wedding'.

The result is the total fusion of Hadramis within the Comorian community, which now seems complete since the Hadramis have lost their own identity. The fact that they have dropped their tribal name (which is not the case in Kenya), that they have renounced a great many values specific to their original culture, and that they are dispersed amongst the main institutional spheres in their host country are all signs of this fusion.

CONCLUSION

This analysis is not as yet conclusive as it is based upon facts still under scrutiny. It seems relevant, however, to make certain comments inspired by the preliminary observation of the Hadrami communities of East Africa.

The first thing that comes to mind is that the pressure of their new environment forced the migrants to free themselves from certain constraints attached to their original culture.

This emancipation can be observed in their matrimonial alliances. These demonstrate to what degree the very rigid Hadramaut stratification system has undergone important changes in the African context. The configuration of the first communities probably has something to do with the emergence of these new structures. The fact that these communities were small prevented them from reorganising themselves in their original formal hierarchy. Their population was also composed of individuals of different social and geographical origins who remained relatively anonymous, thereby facilitating inter-tribal and inter-ethnic alliances.

Whatever the case, these adjustments led to a slackening, if not a total disappearance, of tribal links which resulted in a certain social levelling within the Hadrami communities. Rather than reconstructing the stratification system of their original country, the expatriates, who were a minority, concentrated on integrating themselves into the existing system of their host country.

This structural transformation, in addition to the acquisition of new social mechanisms (language, economic orientation, techniques) and the adoption of a new value system, undoubtedly contributed to the integration of the Hadramis.

It must be underlined, however, that, in spite of a similar assimilation process, the identity of the Hadramis was nevertheless affected in different ways.

In Kenya, for instance, the Hadramis still maintain a number of character- istics (high concentration in one sector of the economic sphere, separate neighbourhoods in certain cases, a stronger cohesion within the community) which have had the effect, more than in the Comoro Islands, of identifying

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them as a distinct group among the other Swahili-speaking peoples. The Hadramis have been integrated as a group probably because of an initial segregation on the part of the predominating inhabitants and perhaps as well because of the great number of migrants. The resulting situation is that the Hadramis, much like other groups, constitute a social category within the Swahili stratification system.

Today in the Comoro Islands the Hadramis, due to their dissemination, bear no visible signs which distinguish them as a separate group. Their integration, which is now complete, was favoured by the openness of the host community that absorbed them not as a group but as individuals.

This difference in the partial or total loss of the Hadrami identity suggests how the social and cultural African context had an impact on the migrants' transformations and to what degree the roles attributed to them had an overwhelming effect on their destiny. It also demonstrates that the coastal communities are not reduced to a single dimension and that each one bears within itself any number of different possibilities from which the Hadramis were able to orient their future.

NOTES

This study is based upon personal fieldwork carried out in Kenya and the Comoro Islands, as well as upon the scattered, fragmented literature on the subject (in particular B. G. Martin, 1971 and 1974, two articles that concern essentially a particular group of Hadramis); see also Rouaud, 1980, about a recently emigrated Yemenite community.

2 'The migrants were a good cross-section of the population of Hadramaut ... peasants, merchants and mercenaries kept company with men of the local holy families' (B. G. Martin, 1974: 371).

3 Note that Hadrami immigration does not limit itself to East Africa. There exist important communities in Asia, especially in Indonesia, Europe and the United States as well (see Morley, 1949). 4 'A considerable number of Arabs from the coast of Hadramaut also come to labour as porters and carriers, . . . nearly all work in the harbour-of shipping and landing cargo-is performed by them' (Rigby, 1860: 328). 5

Langoni in Lamu and Bondoni in Mombasa are the examples of Hadrami quarters we know best.

6 This tendency to lose contact with their home country seems to be a common trait among many Yemenites (see Steffen, 1979: 97; Morley, 1949: 168).

7 'The buibui, or black veil, was imported from Shihr under the influence of Hadrami sharifs only about 1910. Before that only Hadrami women wore it. . .' (Allen, 1981: 299, note 8).

8 Interview with the Grand Mufti of Moroni (Great Comoro), January 1987.

REFERENCES

Abdourahim, Said. 1983. 'Mariage a Ngazidja: fondement d'un pouvoir', PhD thesis, 3rd cycle, Universite de Bordeaux II.

Allen, J. W. F. (ed. and trans.) 1981. The Customs of the Swahili People. Berkeley & London: University of California Press.

Bujra, A. S. 1971. The Politics of Stratification: a study of political change in a south Arabian town. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Constantin, F. 1983. Les Musulmans d'Afrique orientale. CREPAO, Travaux et Documents, no. 1. Universite de Pau et des Pays de l'Ardour.

Freeman-Grenville, G. S. P. 1975. 'An Arabic history of Kilwa Kisiwani (anonymous', The East African Coast: select documents from the first to the early nineteenth century, pp. 36-49. London: Rex Collings.

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Ibn Battuta. 1958 [1982]. Voyages (translated from the Arabic by C. Defremery and B. R. Sanguinetti), ed. Francois Maspero. Paris. Vol. II: De la Mecque aux steppes russes et l'Inde.

Ingrams, H. 1937. 'Report on the Social, Economic and Political Condition of the Hadramaut'. London: Colonial Office.

Le Guennec-Coppens, F. 1981. 'Les Masharifu Jamalilil a Lamu (Kenya)', in Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur les Societes de l'Ocean Indien, (ed.), Islam contemporain dans l'Ocean Indien, pp. 91-102. Aix-en-Provence: CNRS/Presses Universitaires d'Aix-Marseille.

- 1987. 'Le Manyahuli grand comorien: un systeme de transmission des biens peu orthodoxe en pays musulman', in M. Gast (ed.), Heriter en pays musulman: habus, lait vivant, manyahuli, pp. 257-68. Paris: CNRS.

Martin, B. G. 1971. 'Notes on some members of the learned classes of Zanzibar and East Africa in the nineteenth century', African Historical Studies (Boston), 4 (3): 525-45.

- 1974. 'Arab migrations to East Africa in Medieval times', International Journal of African Historical Studies, 7 (3): 367-90.

Martin, J. 1983. Comores: Quatre iles entre pirates et planteurs. Paris: L'Harmattan. Morley, J. A. E. 1949. 'The Arabs and the Eastern trade', Journal of the Malayan

Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Singapore), 22 (1): 143-76. Rigby, General. 1860. Zanzibar and the Slave Trade. London: Allen & Unwin. Rouaud, A. 1980. Introduction generale a une etude monographique de la communaute

yemenite de Djibouti. Memoire de recherche et d'etudes appliquees (etudes islamiques). Paris: INALCO.

- 1984. 'L'emigration yemenite', in J. Chelhod (ed.), L'Arabie du Sud, vol. 2, pp. 227-50. Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose.

Salim, A. I. 1973. Swahili-speaking People of Kenya's Coast-1895-1965. Nairobi: East African Publishing House.

Steffen, H. 1979. A Contribution to the Population Geography of the Yemen Arab Republic. Switzerland: Druckerei Watzikon.

Talib, Yusof. 1974. 'Les Hadramis et le monde malais', Archipel, 17. Trimmingham, J. S. 1971. Islam in East Africa. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Zein, Abdul Hamid M. E. el. 1974. The Sacred Meadows: a structural analysis of the

religious symbolism in an East African town. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press.

Resume

Integration sociale et culturelle: le cas des Hadrami d'Afrique orientale

Le propos ici est de mettre en evidence deux facteurs qui ont participe au processus d'integration sociale et culturelle des migrants Hadrami (Arabes originaires du Sud Yemen) dans les societes c6tieres d'Afrique orientale.

II est d'abord question de l'origine sociale des migrants qui, au stade initial de leur arrivee, a largement pese sur la maniere dont ils ont ete acceptes dans les societes locales et a influe sur les differents roles qu'ils y ont joue (r6les religieux et quelquefois politiques pour les categories les plus elevees, r6les essentiellement economiques pour les autres).

La personalite des societes d'accueil (en particulier celles du Kenya et des Comores) a ensuite ete prise en compte afin de montrer que les societes c6tieres ne sont pas reduite a une seule dimension mais que chacune porte en elle differents possibles h partir desquels les Hadrami ont pu orienter leur avenir (vers une integration en tant que groupe au Kenya, vers une assimilation complete aux Comores).

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