Vintage photo of a Chinese Bajuuni

[Pipit]

And an Ogaden clan elder with Bajuunis in Kismaayo

 

[SOMALI GENERAL]

Chinese fella could possibly be a descendent of a Sailor on Zheng He's fleet.

 

[AbdiGeedi]

Chinese fella could possibly be a descendent of a Sailor on Zheng He's fleet.

Most likely the man was of Arab or Turkic/Mongol descent

Zheng was an adopted name.

Zheng He was born Ma He (馬和) to a Muslim family of Kunyang, Kunming, Yunnan, during the Ming dynasty of China Zheng He was a great-great-great-grandson of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, who served in the administration of the Mongol Empire and was the governor of Yunnan during the early Yuan dynasty.[8][9] His great-grandfather Bayan may have been stationed at a Mongol garrison in Yunnan.[10] Zheng He's grandfather carried the title hajji,[11] and his father had the sinicized surname Ma and the title hajji, which suggests that they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca.[12]

Zheng He - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[SOMALI GENERAL]

Most likely the man was of Arab or Turkic/Mongol descent

Zheng was an adopted name.

Zheng He was born Ma He (馬和) to a Muslim family of Kunyang, Kunming, Yunnan, during the Ming dynasty of China Zheng He was a great-great-great-grandson of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, who served in the administration of the Mongol Empire and was the governor of Yunnan during the early Yuan dynasty.[8][9] His great-grandfather Bayan may have been stationed at a Mongol garrison in Yunnan.[10] Zheng He's grandfather carried the title hajji,[11] and his father had the sinicized surname Ma and the title hajji, which suggests that they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca.[12]

Zheng He - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My post was about the Chinese Man in the Photo @Pipit posted...not about Zheng He's genealogy.

 

[AbdiGeedi]

My post was about the Chinese Man in the Photo @Pipit posted...not about Zheng He's genealogy.

I know.

I was just thinking what the odds are that this man from China was/became a Muslim if he was part of Zheng He's fleet.

 

[SOMALI GENERAL]

I know.

I was just thinking what the odds are that this man from China was/became a Muslim if he was part of Zheng He's fleet.

I guess social acceptance may have been a large factor that influenced the small group of Chinese Sailors that settled along the East African Coast.

 

[AbdiGeedi]

I guess social acceptance may have been a large factor that influenced the small group of Chinese Sailors that settled along the East African Coast.

Just as likely he was of Muslim descent to begin with.

 

[SOMALI GENERAL]

Just as likely he was of Muslim descent to begin with.


View attachment 154295

That's also a possibility. China's Hui[Han Muslim] population is quite sizable, but I'd expect most of Zheng He's Sailors to have been Non-Muslims. Conversion to Islam would likely have been the most common scenario for most of the Sailors that settled the East African Coast.