Al-Wakwak


Al-Wakwak, also spelled al-Waq Waq, Wak al-Wak or just Wak Wak, is the name of an island, or possibly more than one island, in medieval Arabic geographical and imaginative literature.

Identification with civilisations

Wakwak is referred to in a number of sources; it is generally an island far away.
In Arab versions, the famous island of Waq-Waq is located in the China Sea. A queen rules the island and the population is entirely female: it is usually illustrated in al-Qazvini manuscripts of the Wonders of Creation showing the queen surrounded by her female attendants.
Ibn Khordadbeh mentions Waqwaq twice:
The Suma Oriental of Tomé Pires mentioned that the people of Java has "many fine hounds with collars and rings of gold and silver", matching ibn Khordadbeh description of Waqwaq. Michael Jan de Goeje offered an etymology that interpreted it as a rendering of a Cantonese name for Japan. Gabriel Ferrand identified it with Madagascar, Sumatra or Indonesia. Tom Hoogervorst argued that the Malagasy word vahoak, meaning "people, clan, tribe", is derived from the Malay word awak-''awak, "people, crew". Ann Kumar agrees with Hoogervorst, and identifies Wakwak as Indonesia, and argued the possibility of ancient Indonesian attack on Africa's east coast.
The tenth-century Arab account Ajayib al-Hind "Marvels of India" by Buzurg ibn Shahriyar gives an account of invasion in Africa by people called Wakwak or Waqwaq, probably the Malay people of Srivijaya or Javanese people of Mataram kingdom, in 945–946 AD. They arrived in the coast of Tanganyika and Mozambique with 1000 boats and attempted to take the citadel of Qanbaloh, though eventually failed. The reason of the attack is because that place had goods suitable for their country and for China, such as ivory, tortoise shells, panther skins, and ambergris, and also because they wanted slaves from the Bantu peoples. The existence of black Africans was recorded until the 15th century in Old Javanese inscriptions and the Javanese were still recorded as exporting black slaves during the Ming dynasty era. According to Waharu IV inscription and Garaman inscription, the Mataram kingdom and Airlangga's era Kahuripan kingdom of Java experienced a long prosperity so that it needed a lot of manpower, especially to bring crops, packings, and send them to ports. Labor was imported from Jenggi, and possibly Pujut, and Bondan. According to Naerssen, they arrived in Java by trading or being taken prisoner during a war and then made slaves.
The full transcription of the Wakwak account in Ajayeb al-Hind'' is as follows:
The writer says that the inhabitants of Waqwaq are numerous in number, and some of them resemble the Turks in appearance. They are the most industrious of all Allah’s creatures but are said to be treacherous, cunning and lying.

The waqwaq tree

In the Book of Wonders, the painting titled the "Tree of Waq Waq" is rather extraordinary because it illustrates how the all-female population reproduces and self-perpetuates. Female figures grow from the tree as if they mature like fruit until they are ripened and they drop to the ground emitting a cry that sounds like 'Waq Waq!'
An Andalusi version mentions beautiful women as the fruit of the tree.
Mauny thinks this may be the pandanus, called Bakkuwan by the Batak peoples of Indonesia and grown in Madagascar, where it is called Vakwa.
The Tongdian, an 8th century Chinese encyclopedia by Du Huan, mentions an Arab account of a tree growing little children.