NEW AFRICAN HISTORIES
SERIES EDITORS: JEAN ALLMAN, ALLEN ISAACMAN, AND DEREK R. PETERSON
David William Cohen and E. S. Atieno Odhiambo, The Risks of Knowledge
Belinda Bozzoli, Theatres of Struggle and the End of Apartheid
Gary Kynoch, We Are Fighting the World
Stephanie Newell, The Forgers Tale
Jacob A. Tropp, Natures of Colonial Change
Jan Bender Shetler, Imagining Serengeti
Cheikh Anta Babou, Fighting the Greater Jihad
Marc Epprecht, Heterosexual Africa?
Marissa J. Moorman, Intonations
Karen E. Flint, Healing Traditions
Derek R. Peterson and Giacomo Macola, editors, Recasting the Past
Moses E. Ochonu, Colonial Meltdown
Emily S. Burrill, Richard L. Roberts, and Elizabeth Thornberry, editors, Domestic Violence and the Law in Colonial and Postcolonial Africa
Daniel R. Magaziner, The Law and the Prophets
Emily Lynn Osborn, Our New Husbands Are Here
Robert Trent Vinson, The Americans Are Coming!
James R. Brennan, Taifa
Benjamin N. Lawrance and Richard L. Roberts, editors, Trafficking in Slaverys Wake
David M. Gordon, Invisible Agents
Allen F. Isaacman and Barbara S. Isaacman, Dams, Displacement, and the Delusion of Development
Stephanie Newell, The Power to Name
Gibril R. Cole, The Krio of West Africa
Matthew M. Heaton, Black Skin, White Coats
Meredith Terretta, Nation of Outlaws, State of Violence
Paolo Israel, In Step with the Times
Michelle R. Moyd, Violent Intermediaries
Abosede A. George, Making Modern Girls
Alicia C. Decker, In Idi Amins Shadow
Rachel Jean-Baptiste, Conjugal Rights
Shobana Shankar, Who Shall Enter Paradise?
Emily S. Burrill, States of Marriage
Todd Cleveland, Diamonds in the Rough
Carina E. Ray, Crossing the Color Line
Sarah Van Beurden, Authentically African
Giacomo Macola, The Gun in Central Africa
Lynn Schler, Nation on Board
Julie MacArthur, Cartography and the Political Imagination
Abou B. Bamba, African Miracle, African Mirage
Daniel Magaziner, The Art of Life in South Africa
Paul Ocobock, An Uncertain Age
Keren Weitzberg, We Do Not Have Borders
Nuno Domingos, Football and Colonialism
Jeffrey S. Ahlman, Living with Nkrumahism
Bianca Murillo, Market Encounters
Laura Fair, Reel Pleasures
Thomas F. McDow, Buying Time
Jon Soske, Internal Frontiers
Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McDow, Thomas F., 1970 author.
Title: Buying time : debt and mobility in the western Indian Ocean / Thomas F. McDow.
Other titles: New African histories series.
Description: Athens, Ohio : Ohio University Press, 2018. | Series: New African Histories | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017061019| ISBN 9780821422816 (hc : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780821422823 (pb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780821446096 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Indian Ocean RegionCommerceHistory19th century. | Africa, EasternCommerceHistory19th century. | Africa, EasternCivilizationOriental influences. | CreditIndian Ocean RegionHistory19th century. | CreditAfrica, EasternHistory19th century.
Classification: LCC DT365.65 .M33 2018 | DDC 967.601dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017061019
Acknowledgments
THIS BOOK IS MY own portfolio of debts, and I would like to acknowledge the range of creditors and patrons who have made my own mobility and modest success possible. The financial support of a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship, the Mathy Junior Faculty Fellowship from George Mason University (GMU), and small grants from the Department of History and Art History at GMU and the Department of History at Ohio State University made the research and writing of this book possible. A subvention grant from the Arts and Humanities division of OSUs College of Arts and Sciences supported the publication. I am grateful to the librarians and archivists who maintain important collections in Tanzania, Oman, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Zanzibar National Archives are at the center of this book, and I am grateful to the staff and leadership there who maintain this wonderful collection. The magic of librariesThompson Library at Ohio State, Fenwick Library at GMU, and Sterling Library at Yaleand their assorted book-sharing consortia have made it possible to complete the research. Several people have provided me with research assistance at various stages of this project, and I am grateful for their aid: Mohamed Abdou, Sylvia Alexander, Pearl Harris-Scott, Steve Harris-Scott, Melvin C. S. Jenkins, Hamisi Ally Jumalhey, and Matthew Smith Miller. Likewise, Rob Squires was a patient cartographer.
An early version of originally appeared as Being Baysar: (In)flexible Identities in East Africa in The MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies 5 (Fall 2005): 3442.
For the opportunity to present and refine my work I am grateful to Gwyn Campbell and his crew at the Indian Ocean World Centre in Montreal; to Kai Kresse and Edward Simpson at the Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin; to Pier Larson and the African Studies colloquium at Johns Hopkins; to Hans Gaube, Michaela Hoffmann-Ruf, and Abdulrahman Al-Salimi for inviting me to their Ibadi Studies conference at Tuebingen; to Engseng Ho and his Indian Ocean workshop at Duke; and to Ann Biersteker at Michigan State University. Anne Bang, Jonathan Glassman, Mandana Limbert, Brian Peterson, and Scott Reese provided important feedback on the book proposal.
Robert Harms has helped this book grow from a seminar paper to a dissertation, a series of articles, and now, a book. I hope that this book reflects his astute criticism, keen editorial eye, and commitment to good stories. I have also benefited from Abdul Sheriffs generous mentorship and his willingness to share the research he collected for his own first book decades ago. The year I spent as a fellow at the Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute was formative for this project.
The editorial team at Ohio University Press has made this book better. I am grateful to the series editors Jean Allmen, Allen Isaacman, and Derek Peterson for their careful reading and feedback. Derek was an early champion of the manuscript, and his earnest encouragement is greatly appreciated. Two anonymous reviewers helped me sharpen my focus. Gillian Berchowitzs kind leadership, patience, and professionalism set a high standard, and I am happy to join the ranks of authors who she has published.
