This item is not about restitution but about a forgotten loss.
1338 was the first recorded instance of an African envoy visiting China, and it should have shifted our understanding of history. But instead, it was almost forgotten.
Sa’id wasn’t just an envoy but a key link between continents. He spoke Mandarin, Arabic, and Somali and spent years helping the imperial court. His biggest contribution was detailed maps showing Indian Ocean trade winds, allowing Chinese merchants to reach African ports directly for the first time. The emperor honored him with a jade seal usually given to royal scholars.
Sadly, just 160 years later, Portuguese invaders burnt down Mogadishu’s libraries, destroying the evidence of Sa’id’s accomplishments.
Then, European historians made the situation worse by claiming discoveries that Africans had already made. Vasco da Gama used Somali maps to “discover” trade routes that Sa’id charted, and Portuguese navigators copied compass designs from artifacts Sa’id had brought back.
Some proof of this erasure still exists:
- A Yuan Dynasty scroll, saved from the fires, talks about Sa’id’s “incredible knowledge of distant seas.”
- A Somali compass in a Lisbon museum, wrongly tagged as “Portuguese, 16th century,” until carbon dating revealed its real history.
- Ibn Battuta’s travel writings, censored for years, were rediscovered in 2012, showing that Sa’id taught Chinese scholars about astronomy.
Today, archaeologists are uncovering Sa’id’s story from what colonizers couldn’t erase. Globalization started long before European expansion. The key lesson here isn’t just about the past, it’s about power and who decides which history matters.
