East African Coastal Historical Towns. Natural Environment and Society

1
EAST AFRICAN COASTAL HISTORICAL TOWNS

Natural Environment and Society
Jacob L. Kimaryo
A Seminar Paper Presented to the Urban Morphology Research Group, University of
Birmingham, United Kingdom, January 25, 2008
Abstract
This paper presents part of the findings of a study that concerns the spatial forms and meanings of East African coastal
historical towns with some five historical towns as examples. It describes and discusses the local environment through which
the historical towns evolved. The focus of the paper is on trends within the local environment over time. The purpose is to
provide detail information about the relevant aspects of the local environment that would provide a basis for visualising the
societal spatial goals hence the meanings embedded in the spatial forms of the towns. In this study, local environments are
conceived as constituting society and its immediate natural environment. The two aspects are further broken down into detail
variables that are empirically exploratory and relevant to purpose of the study. In this way, society is broken into population
structure, political organisation, values, social class, life style, economic conditions and technological conditions. Natural
environment is broken down into topography, climate, vegetation, water resources, energy resources and soils. In this paper,
the local environments of the five historical towns are described and discussed in terms of the above detail variables of
society and natural environment. The paper is based on reconstruction of the variables based on information derived from
ethnographic review, interview, direct observation as well as review of maps and drawings.The paper yields ample
information about the features and dynamics of the local environment of East African coastal historical towns. In a later stage
of the study, this information is compared with the features of the urban spatial forms of the historical towns to explain why
the features were generated in an attempt to unveil the meanings of the forms. The paper also sheds some light on some
important issues pertaining to the local environment of East African coastal historical towns.
Keywords: East Africa, historical towns, local environment, urban spatial form, societal spatial goals, lifestyle, values,
social class
Introduction
Local environment as society and its immediate natural environment, interact with urban
spatial form through societal spatial goals (Kimaryo, 1999). The latter include, among others,
needs for convenience in terms of availability of, e.g. utility services and facilities; and
physical accessibility to services, people, information, other places, etc. They also include
needs for efficiency in terms of let say use of economic and natural resources, technical
durability and performance of spatial structures, quality and delivery of utility services, etc; as
well as needs for safety from vehicular traffic, crime, pollution, external enemies, etc.
Furthermore, they include needs for human biological well-being which concern mainly
human physiological and health matters and entail needs for, e.g. food, thermal comfort, clean
air, sunlight, water, etc. Other needs include those for equity, privacy, identity, diversity,
integration and beauty (Lynch, 1981; Lang, 1987).
Societal spatial goals are attributes of the detail aspects of local environment or more
precisely the aspects of society and natural environment. The aspects include population
Dr Jacob Kimaryo is an Urban Planning Consultant based in Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: kimaryoconsult@gmail.com
Copyright 2015 Jacob Kimaryo Consultancy. Registered in Sweden by Bolagsverket. All Rights Reserved
structure, life style, values, social class, economic conditions, political organisations,
technological conditions, climate, vegetation, geological characteristics, topography, etc (see
Michelson, 1976; Kimaryo, 1999). Life style, values and social class would for instance bear
on needs for identity, diversity and privacy. While types and levels of technology, would
influence needs for traffic safety and even efficiency. Needs for efficiency, would also be
influenced by climate, geological features, vegetation and level of economic development.
Hostile external relations would influence needs for safety from external enemies (see
Mumford, 1961), etc.
Societal spatial goals are therefore directly related to wished or desired urban
functions from users. Urban functions could be economic, social, technical, aesthetic,
symbolic, political, biological or environmental. They are urban purposes or roles (see
Korosec Serfaty, 1980; Lang, 1987, 1994). In this context, societal spatial goals reflect the
purposes or roles that urban spatial forms should fulfil as expected by those behind their
generation hence the meanings of urban spatial forms.
In strict terms, societal spatial goals could be seen as criteria on which the design and
construction of built environments are based. It is in the course of societies thriving to
translate their spatial goals into physical reality through plan/design making and
implementation that different types of urban spatial forms emerge. In this way, resultant urban
spatial forms become spatialisation of the goals1. It is through this spatialisation of societal
spatial goals that urban spatial forms gain their meanings2.
For example spatialisation of needs for safety from vehicular traffic would manifest in
the nature and patterns of circulation channels, while spatialisation of efficiency needs would
manifest in types and standards of urban spatial structures. Needs for diversity, equity, and
integration would manifest in grains of built up areas. Needs for safety from external enemies
may influence location choices as well as types of urban solids. Types of urban solids and
even urban voids may also be influenced by needs for identity and human thermal comfort.
Density would be influenced by privacy and even equity needs, and so on.
From the foregoing, if the detail aspects of local environment and urban spatial form
of a built environment are adequately understood, then, it would be possible to unveil the
societal spatial goals hence the meanings embedded in the spatial form of that built
environment.
This paper presents part of the findings of a study that concerns the spatial forms and
meanings of East African coastal historical towns with some five historical towns as
examples. The paper describes and discusses the local environment through which the
historical towns evolved. The focus of the paper is on trends within the local environment
over time. The purpose is to provide detail information about the relevant aspects of the local
environment that would provide a basis for visualising at a later stage of the study the societal
spatial goals hence the meanings embedded in the spatial forms of the towns.
The five historical towns are Kilwa Kisiwani, Songo Mnara, Zanzibar, Mombasa, and
Lamu. With origins dating as far back as the 9th century, the towns are among the earliest
known urban settlements in East Africa. Kilwa Kisiwani, Songo Mnara, and Zanzibar are
located in Tanzania while Mombasa and Lamu are located in Kenya. Two of the towns, Kilwa
Kisiwani and Songo Mnara are ruined towns.
In this paper, the local environment of the coastal historical towns is described and
discussed in terms of some empirically exploratory and relevant aspects of society and natural
environment. The aspects include population structure, political organisation, values, social
class, life style, economic conditions, technological conditions, topography, climate,
1 Spatialisation of goals is used here to mean translation of goals into physical forms
2 For more about the concept of meaning, consult Rapoport (1982, 1990), Bobic (1990) and Kimaryo (1999)
vegetation, water resources, energy resources and soils. The paper is based on reconstruction
of the variables using information derived from ethnographic review, interview, direct
observation as well as review of maps and drawings. It is confined mainly to the period
spanning from about the 11th century to the beginning of the 20th century. However, in some
parts, it has been necessary to explore as far back as the first millennium. The paper begins
with the aspects of natural environment.
Topographic Characteristics
The East African coast comprises mostly of land lying below 200 m above sea level with only
a handful of hills and plateaux, e.g. Shimba Hills (400 m), Pugu Hills (300 m) and Rondo
Plateau. The littoral is punctuated with several rivers, the largest of which are: Tana and
Galana rivers in Kenya and Pangani, Wami, Ruvu, Rufiji and Ruvuma rivers in Tanzania. The
rivers are non-navigable and due to unreliable rainfall have drastic fluctuations of water
levels. This nature of the rivers is seen to have constrained extension of early coastal
urbanisation to the hinterland (see Datoo, 1975). With the exception of Dar es Salaam
Peninsula and few creeks emanating from widening of some rivers, the littoral is more or less
straight. The coast is also characterised with coral reefs particularly on the numerous offshore
islands including the five historical towns. Coral reefs provide environment that is conducive
for marine life hence fishing. They also provide a rich source for building materials. More
discussion about the importance of coral reefs to the East African coast and especially the five
historical towns would be discussed in later parts of this paper.
Sea-Level Changes and Shore Sedimentation
There has been some discussion within the field of geophysical science that suggest
successful shifting of the littoral towards the sea hence decreasing sea-levels on the East
African coast at least on some parts over time. Decreasing sea levels could have being
followed by mushrooming of terrestrial vegetation on once water-covered beaches. In
addition to sea level changes, shore sedimentation could have taken place along the East
African coast particularly in areas around and close to estuaries. Shore sedimentation could
have reduced sea depths and influenced massive outgrowth of mangrove trees and other
marine vegetation along shores.
Climate
The East African coast has a tropical coastal climate. It has a mean temperature of about 26C
with minimal diurnal range (Chami, 1994; Kimaryo, 1996). Humidity is high, ranging from
96% in the morning and 67% in the afternoon in some parts (see Kimaryo, 1996). Rainfall
varies along the coast with March, April and May being the wettest months. Of the five
historical towns, Zanzibar receives the highest annual rainfall of over 50 inches. Mombasa
receives annual rainfall of between 30 50 inches with Lamu, Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo
Mnara receiving the lowest annual rainfall of between 20 30 inches.
Monsoon Winds
Monsoon winds are very important climatic feature to the East African coast. They have a
tremendous influence on rainfall patterns and stormy weather along the coast. The winds blow
from north-east and south-west. The north-east monsoon occurs from November to February,
with the south-west monsoon occurring from May to August. On the one hand, the north-east
winds are fairly calm, blowing steadily in latitudes close to and north of the equator before
becoming unreliable as they proceed further south (see Horton, 1996). On the other hand, the
south-west winds are very strong and usually accompanied by storms. Both monsoons bring
with them precipitation to the coast albeit to different extents hence causing two rainy seasons
to the area.
In additions to their climatic effects, monsoon winds are known to have had
considerable commercial significance to the coast. The winds were exploited by maritime
traders to push forward their vessels to and from the Middle East and other parts of Asia (see
Datoo, 1975; Chami, 1984; Horton, 1984, 1996; etc.). Southbound trips were facilitated by
the steady blowing north-east monsoon. Due their latitudinal position, the northern coast
particularly Lamu archipelago is believed to have provided the best points for traders from the
Middle East and elsewhere, to end their voyage and make transactions while waiting for the
south-west monsoon for the return trip (see Horton, 1996).
Soils and Vegetation

The East African coast consists mainly of sandy soils with coral rag on the littoral
edge/foreshore and offshore islands. Dark red and red loamy sands are also found in some
parts including western part of Zanzibar Island.
The coastal soils support the Zanzibar-Inhambane floral mosaic, which defines the
East African coastal vegetation. The coastal vegetation could be categorised into three main
types: mangrove forests, grassland and wooded grassland, and woodland/bushland.
Mangrove forests occur on lagoons, river estuaries, creeks and silted parts of the
littoral and offshore islands. They provide a source of termite resistant hard wood, and
support marine life for, e.g. shellfish, crabs, etc. Mangrove forests characterise the vicinities
of Kilwa Kisiwani, Songo Mnara, and Lamu.
Coastal grassland and wooded grassland are typical coastal vegetation on both the
mainland and islands (see White, 1983; Chami, 1994). They are remnants of ancient forests.
The later have been modified gradually through agricultural and commercial activities (ibid).
They are typical in the wettest parts of the coast on the mainland and all islands. They
characterise the largest part of the East African coast including Lamu, Mombasa and
Zanzibar. In relation to these three historical towns, very little is known about how the
vegetation looked like over their different historical periods. However, as it is known that
agricultural settlements existed along the coast as early as the first millennium (Chami, 1998),
it could be said that modification of ancient forests hence changes in the vegetation preceded
the historical towns. Variations in the vegetation over time have therefore been more or less in
terms of its forest content. As it is likely that agriculture and other activities along the coast
intensified gradually due to population increase and other societal changes, the forest content
could only have decreased over time. Coastal grassland and wooded grassland are a mosaic of
cultivated land, fallow, secondary thickets and some trees from original forests (White, 1983).
Woodland/bushland is found along the central and southern parts of the East African
coast and applicable only to Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara.
Water and Energy Resources

In all the five historical towns like other settlements along the coast, ground water was the
main water source, with sand dunes as the main collection areas of rainfall. Ground water was
extracted through digging of wells. As regards energy resources, archaeological findings
indicate charcoal and wood to have been used along the East African coast as early as the first
millennium. Charcoal and wood seem to have been the main energy sources for household
needs, lime production through burning of coral rag, and perhaps iron smelting. Wax could
have also been used for house lightning. Although there are abundant natural gas reserves
within the vicinity of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara, there is no evidence of use of gas in
the two historical towns.
Population Structure
Generally, the inhabitants of the East African coastal historical towns have been referred to as
the Swahili (Sk, 1970; Sutton, 1992; Allen, 1993; Mazrui, 1986; Fage, 1995; Horton, 1996;
Romero, 1997; Chami, 1998; etc.). However, what constitutes this population group in terms
of ethnic composition in different historical epochs of the East African historical towns has so
far been a matter of serious debate since the beginning of the twentieth century. Out of this
debate, two perspectives about the identity of historic Swahili have emerged. To be able to
understand the population structure of the five historical towns therefore, a critical review of
the two perspectives is imperative.
Swahili as Predominantly Asiatic
By the first perspective, historic Swahili are conceived as been essentially Asiatic. Proponents
of this view, e.g. Coupland (1956), Hollingsworth (1951), Kickman (1963, 1974), Chittick
(1965, 1984), etc., see the historic Swahili as consisting of people of Arabic and Persian
origin and from intermarriages between the Asians and African women.
Coupland (1956) portrayed the whole of historic East African coast as a colony of
immigrants from the Middle East. Coupland further observed that, indigenous inhabitants of
the region were relegated to the roles of wives and slaves for the immigrants. Earlier,
Hollingsworth (1951) had alleged an existence of a Persian or Arab-Persian Empire called
Zenj Empire along the East African coast before the 15th century. Accordingly, he argued that
civilization that took place in the region during that time was inherent in the Asian settlers.
Coupland and Hollingsworth observations were based purely on historical and cultural
narratives and assumptions.
The Asiatic perspective was supported further by Kirkman (1963, 1964), and Chittick
(1965, 1984). Kirkman (1963) in correlating physical evidence from his archaeological
excavations in Gedi and other sites of historical towns along the Kenyan coast with cultural
and historical narratives concluded that the sites were Arabic colonial settlements. A year
later, James Kirkman in his Men and Monuments on the East African Coast, reiterated the
Asiatic view as thus:
The historical monuments of East Africa belong, not to the Africans but to Arabs and Arabised Persians, mixed in
blood with the African but in culture utterly apart from the Africans who surround them. (Kirkman, 1964)
A similar historical interpretation was suggested by Neville Chittick in his archaeological

works in Kilwa Kisiwani (Chittick, 1965, 1974) and Manda in the Lamu archipelago
(Chittick, 1984).
In Kilwa Kisiwani, Chittick implied Asiatic connection of the towns inhabitants from
the names of a number of Kilwa rulers engraved on excavated locally minted coins. On the
basis of dynastic history, he claimed that the rulers were from a Persian city called Shiraz. To
Chittick, Kilwa Kisiwani was a Persian colonial settlement. He argued that the Persians had a
period of settlement in southern Somalia before they landed in Kilwa Kisiwani (Horton,
1996). It is important to note here that for some unknown reasons, Chittick in his later two
volumes work on Kilwa (Chittick, 1974) avoided association of the towns population with
Persians. Instead he advanced the towns population as an amalgamation of Arabs and
Africans by which albeit the latter constituted the greater part of the amalgam, they were
however absorbed into the society as wives, slaves or otherwise (ibid: 245). In Manda,
Chittick revived his old idea of colonisers from Shiraz in Persia. That he did on the basis of
mainly excavated imported pottery. He modified the idea a little bit by arguing that, the initial
point of settlement of the Shiraz Persians was not southern Somalia as earlier contended but
the Lamu archipelago (Chittick, 1984; Horton, 1996).
Chitticks position and perhaps that of Hollingsworth on the origin of historic Swahili
could have been partly influenced by the Kilwa Chronicles. The latter is a controversial
compilation in Arabic language of what was essentially an oral-historical composition about
Kilwa from its foundation to about 1550 when the compilation was made3. According to the
compilation, the founders of Kilwa originated from Shiraz in the land of Persia. They arrived
in Kilwa in a ship led by Ali bin al-Hasan one of sons of the sultan of Shiraz. The story goes
on to suggest that in addition to the ship that landed in Kilwa there were six other ships each
led by one of five other sons of the sultan and himself. Five of the ships landed in different
points along the East African coast including Mombasa, Pemba, and perhaps Shanga. The last
ship landed in the Comoro islands. Interestingly, the chronicles gave the reason for the
immigration of the whole sultanate to East Africa as being a bad dream the sultan had which
he claimed to have correctly interpreted as a prophecy of destruction of his country. From the
Kilwa Chronicles therefore, most of the early urban civilisations that sprang along the East
African coast before about the sixteenth century were a result of the immigrants from Shiraz
in Persia.
Swahili as Predominantly African
By denying Africans any significant link with historic Swahili people, the Asiatic perspective
implies that Africans per se had little to do if any with the evolution of historical towns in
their own region. This contradicts sharply with records of ancient travellers and geographers
who visited the East African coast, cultural evidence, and recent archaeological findings.
During his visit to Mombasa and Kilwa in 1331, Ibn Battuta, a famous Moroccan
traveller, described Kilwa Kisiwani as a large city along the coast whose inhabitants were
black meaning Africans (see Chittick, 1974; Sutton, 1990:81). Ibn Battuta went further,
mentioning that the inhabitants had tattoos on their faces, a facial feature that is common
among a number of Bantu speaking tribes including the Makonde who resides in the area
around Tanzania and Mozambique border. The area is within very close proximity of Kilwa
Kisiwani and Songo Mnara. Some Chinese descriptions of inhabitants of early settlements
along the East African coast also indicate strongly that the inhabitants were Africans (see
Allen, 1993:21-26).
If Arabs and Persians were the predominant inhabitants and builders of the East
African coastal historical towns as been advanced by the Asiatic perspective, then one would
expect to see considerable evidence of the fact in Swahili culture expressed in lets say value
orientations, life style, architectural and urban forms, etc. However, there is no significant
such evidence prior to the 19th century.
Contrary to the above, some features of the Swahili culture suggest an African
connection or at least a non-Asiatic origin of pre-19th century coastal urban civilisation. Such
features include some passage and graveside rites, and use of regalia items like regalia-drums
and ritualistic horns known locally as siwas4. These cultural features have had strong presence
in other parts of East Africa up to until recently and are known to have existed in the region
prior to Swahili civilisation (Allen, 1993). Furthermore, there are significant spatial
differences between East African and Asian historical towns. Particularly, Swahili historical
towns lack fundamental spatial features that characterise Asian and particularly Arabic
historical towns. Features lacking include central markets (suq or bazaar); some categories of
public buildings like public bathhouses (hammam) and caravanserai or hostelries for visiting
merchants. In Swahili towns, visiting merchants were hosted privately in patricians homes.
Also, some East African historical towns possess some spatial features which are not found in
3 For English translation of part of the Kilwa Chronicles, see Freeman-Grenville (1962).
4 Swahili siwa were carved horns made by local artisans through hollowing out of elephant ivory tusks or casting in bronze
(Allen, 1993; Romero, 1997)
any other region in the world. Such features include monumental pillar tombs, which are
uniquely East African. Equally uniquely East African is the ritualistic rectangular central
enclosure that characterised early Swahili towns (ibid:227; Horton, 1996:85).
Even Islam, which has often been perceived as a cultural evidence of the Asiatic
perspective, could have flowed from the Middle East to the East African coast without
appreciable numbers of Arabic or Persian immigrants. Like other major religions, it could
have been spread by some missionaries or as it will be seen later in this section, local people
who had acquired the faith after visiting the Muslim World or otherwise. Asiatic marks on the
Swahili culture can only be traced to from about 1832 - 1950 when immigrants from the
Middle East and particularly Aden and Hadramawt flocked to the East African coast at an
unprecedented rate (Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 1996:15; Allen, 1993:240). For instance, it
is from this period when Swahili women adopted the full-length veil of Hadrami5 women,
previously unknown in the region. Hadrami influences can also be traced from this period in
Swahili mosque design and even poetry.
Perhaps the most interesting and credible evidence against the Asiatic view is founded
in findings from recent archaeological surveys and excavations. For instance, an
archaeological interpretation based on recent archaeological excavations on the Kenyan north
coast suggests that historic Swahili were off-springs of a Pastoral-Cushitic group from the
Rift Valley and northern part of Kenya (see Horton, 1984, 1987, 1990; Abungu, 1989, 1994).
On the basis of excavated cattle and camel bones, Horton (1984, 1987) argued that the
Pastoral-Cushitic people founded a number of settlements in the northern coast of Kenya
between the eighth and tenth century. He envisaged that the settlements were market centres
that provided opportunity for the African inhabitants to come into contact with foreign
traders. The contact is believed to have resulted in increased knowledge about trade to the
inhabitants and some inter-marriages. According to Horton, the early coastal Cushitic
settlements were the origin of Swahili urbanisation. From the Kenyan northern coast, it spread
southwards to the rest of the East African coast through Cushitic immigrants or influence.
There is reasonable consensus that some early coastal settlements along the northern
coast of Kenya were of Pastoral-Cushitic origin. However, the theory that they were these
settlements that provided the beginning of Swahili urbanisation for the whole East African
coast has been questioned and even refuted all together (see Chami, 1998; Haaland, 1994;
Schmidt, 1994; etc.). Chami (1998) using materials from recent archaeological surveys and
excavations in the central coast of Tanzania asserted the existence of Bantu settlements along
the coast as early as the first five centuries of the first millennium. He continued that the
Bantu settlements evolved between the sixth and tenth century with changing trading
opportunities, new technologies, and population growth giving rise to a new form of coastal
urbanisation that spread to the northern and southern coasts of East Africa. According to
Chami therefore, the early urbanisation along the Kenyan northern coast was influenced by
the Bantu urbanisation in the central coast of Tanzania during the second half of the first
millennium.
The findings from recent archaeological excavations indeed suggest that the
inhabitants of early settlements along the East African coast during the first millennium were
Africans. However, what have remained unresolved are the conflicting claims about where
the early African urbanisation along the East African coast started and its subsequent
spreading to other parts of the coast. The main argument so far has been on whether it
originated in the northern Kenyan coast or the central Tanzanian coast by Cushitic and Bantu
speaking people respectively. My belief is that such point of influence is unlikely to have
existed at that stage of the urbanisation of the East African coast. In other words, African
5 Originating from Hadramawt
settlements that existed along the East African coast before about 10th century are likely to
have evolved independently involving different Bantu and Cushitic groups that had no
common cultural or linguistic bases. It is this lack of common cultural tradition that the
African settlers of the early settlements along the East African coast are not classified as
Swahili but rather the precedents of Swahili people.
If as it is now indicated that Swahili people are descendants of the Africans who
settled along the East African coast in the first millennium, the question then is how and when
did this process of metamorphosis from non-Swahili to Swahili took place? How did the
identity of Swahili people evolve over different historical epochs of the East African coast?
Why were the African roots of Swahili people suppressed by the proponents of the Asiatic
perspective? These are crucial questions that must be addressed if other aspects of society in
the five historical towns are to be adequately understood.
Realisation and Evolution of Swahili Identity
As indicated elsewhere, e.g. Allen (1993), Chami (1998), etc; pre-Swahili settlements attained
the common cultural and linguistic base hence became Swahili per se with the spread of
Islam. There is some archaeological evidence that suggests existence of some Muslim
population along the East African coast by the eighth century. Horton (1996:419-421) in his
recent archaeological surveys and excavation of Shanga in the Lamu archipelago unveiled a
small mosque built at the town centre during the late eighth century with capacity of
accommodating only a fraction of the town population. Albeit each generation replaced the
mosque with a building a little larger thus indicating a growing Muslim population, the latter
still represented a small portion of the overall population of the town. Horton drew a logical
conclusion that only a small number of Shanga inhabitants were Muslim by the eighth century
and that the few Muslims seem to have been local traders who converted through contact with
overseas merchants. It is very likely that such small groups of local Muslims existed in other
towns along the East African coast during that time as well. That, however, does not in strict
terms make the towns Muslim.
It was from the 11th century onwards, when Islam was introduced in full-scale and
consolidated along the East African coast (Allen, 1993; Romero, 1997; etc.). It is strongly
believed that the first propagators of Islam were a group of citizens of Great Shungwaya (ibid;
Horton, 1996). The latter is a ruined settlement opposite Pate Island in Kenya on the northern
coast. According to Allen (1993), the Shungwaya alias Shirazi6 propagators were descendants
of the Pastoral-Cushitic settlers of the East African northern coast during the first millennium.
They became Muslim converts after had spent some time in the Muslim world especially
Shiraz in Persia under the Buwayhid rule. On their return home, they spread their new faith in
their homeland and the region as a whole. While the Shungwaya Muslims could have been
inspired with Shiraz Shiite Islam and particularly the Buwayhid court, on returning home did
not adopt Shiite Islam wholesale. Instead the Muslim ex-pastoralists modified the Middle
Eastern Islam to suit the society of Great Shungwaya and other Eastern African coastal
settlements resulting in an East African variant of Islam or what is known as the Shirazi
Islam.
Naturally, the northern coast was the first to adopt Islam under the influence of the
Shungwaya Muslims. Islam provided the medium to the different African communities to
build up a common cultural tradition and language known as Swahili. By the beginning of the
14th century, Islam and the inherent Swahili cultural package had spread all over the East
African coast. This point of maturity of Swahili culture and language is confirmed by the
6 It is believed that Shungwaya attained the name Shirazi around the 11th century with the adoption of Islam, perhaps as a
gesture of admiration by the then Shungwaya ruler, of Shiraz in Persia and particularly the Buwayhid court (see Allen,
1993:115-116)
earlier mentioned Ibn Battuta who during his visit to the East African coast in the early 1330s,
referred to the coast as Sawahil country (Allen, 1993:138; Chami, 1998). The early Swahili
people were known as Shirazi Swahili on the virtue of their association with Shirazi Islam and
traditions.
Albeit Shirazi Islam originated in northern coast, it was, however, in the southern
coast where it survived and flourished. In the northern coast, Shirazi Islamic system was
interrupted by what is known as the Arab-Waungwana system (see Horton, 1996; Allen,
1993). As regards the five historical towns, while the Shirazi Islamic system became
dominant in Zanzibar, Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara, in Lamu and Mombasa the ArabWaungwana system replaced it almost totally. As it will be shown in later parts of this paper,
the two systems formed the backbone of the political and socio-cultural organisations of East
African coastal historical towns.
Ethnic Composition
The ethnic composition of Swahili people has changed considerably over time. The early
Swahili population comprised mainly of Africans and perhaps some few mixed people from
short-term sexual relations between African women and foreign traders (see Romero, 1997:3)7
. The population grew by natural increase and absorption of mainly non-Swahili African
immigrants until the beginning of 14th century, after which time significant numbers of nonAfrican immigrants started getting absorbed. Absorbed non-Africans were mainly Arabs from
Oman. Some Persians were also absorbed but were relatively few in numbers until an influx
of them into Zanzibar in the 18th and 19th centuries (see Allen, 1993:118). Some Indian
immigrants were also absorbed during the 19th and 20th centuries particularly in Zanzibar and
Mombasa. Nevertheless, despite this absorption over time of non-African immigrants, Swahili
people have remained decidedly African in ancestry and culture.
So far I have treated the African ancestry of Swahili people without specification into
tribes. Prior to the 16th century, such specification could only be guessed. This is because
nothing much is known about African tribes along the East African coast before this time due
to the fact that tribes in the region before then did not exist as significant social units. More
reliable African tribal specification of the Swahili people could only be made from the 16th
century onwards following the evolution of tribal consciousness.
Specifications that have been attempted for the period prior to the 16th century have
been through relating post 16th century tribal traditions along the coast to those of pre 16th
century Swahili and pre-Swahili Africans. It is in this way Allen (1993) for example,
associated the 16th and 17th century Katwa, Segeju, Bajuni, Pokomo, and Mijikenda8 tribes
with the inhabitants of Great Shungwaya hence implying that early Swahili population
particularly in the northern coast could have comprised people or descendants from these
tribes. With bias to Katwa and Segeju tribes, Allen demonstrated some parallels between the
tribes and the early Swahili population in terms of food types, settlement forms, symbolic
values, regalia items, and language.
Prejudice and Limited Historical Understanding
At this juncture, one would wonder why the proponents of the Asiatic perspective fell short of
recognising the African roots of the Swahili people. To the largest extent, the reason could be
considered a matter of mere prejudice and perhaps limited historical understanding of the East
African coastal settlements.
7 Traders from the Persian Gulf, India and other far-flung places are known to have had contact with the East African coast
long before the realisation of Swahili tradition (see Horton, 1996, Romero, 1997)
8 Mijikenda is a tribal group consisting of nine tribes, namely: Digo, Duruma, Rabai, Kambe, Ribe, Jibana, Conyi, Kauma
and Giriama.
10
The prejudicial background of the Asiatic perspective is rooted in the perception of

Africa by Western imperialists, colonialists and even neo-colonialists who came to the
continent during the 19th and 20th century. Most of the imperialists and colonialists came to
Africa with the conviction that the continent was far behind human progress and had therefore
no urban civilisation past. Simple arguments like absence of well-articulated social structures
consisting of lets say nobility, bourgeoisie, peasantry and proletariat were used to rationalise
their position. Accordingly, any remains of such civilisations whenever encountered were
simply attributed to some non-African groups which were deemed to be superior to Africans
(see Allen, 1993). This falsification of African history was embraced in the colonial doctrine
with the purpose for stripping Africans their confidence so as to make them vulnerable to
colonial patronisation and control.
Precursors of the Asiatic perspective, most of which being Westerners themselves
either subscribed to the above colonial perception of Africa or were influenced by it.
Accordingly, their efforts were more or less geared towards only providing evidence in
support of the perception. It is not surprising therefore that they received greatest intellectual
respectability from colonial administrations in East Africa. Some of their works were even
adopted by colonial governments as standard history textbooks for schools (see ibid). Neither
is it surprising that archaeological excavations and interpretations by some of the precursors,
e.g. Chittick (1965, 1974), deliberately focused on imported materials. Furthermore, other
non-Africans like Arabs and Persians seized the opportunity provided by the colonial attitude
to elevate their status along the East African coast through fabricating stories and
exaggerating their contribution to the coastal civilisation9.
Prejudice that denies Africans ties to their own historical urban spatial forms has been
observed elsewhere, e.g. Elleh (1997). Elleh questions the rationality of associating Egyptian
pyramids with Arabs whilst there is reasonable evidence that their construction took place
long before the Arabic migration into Northern Africa. It is also only after highly publicised
evidence from some recent archaeological works like those by Reisner and Freidrich Hinkel
that Sudans Nubian historical towns along the Nile, e.g. Gebel Barkal and Meroe, were
recognised as having African origins. The archaeological findings in Sudan and particularly
contents of tombs, paintings and engravings in building structures suggested firmly that the
rulers - pharaohs of the ancient Sudanese towns, like Taharka, were Africans. Hitherto these
findings, the Sudanese towns despite their geographical location were unquestionably taken to
be Arabic. Even the large complex of stone built ruins of Great Zimbabwe in the heart of the
African continent had until recently been regarded as Phoenician (Allen, 1993).
Limited historical understanding has been argued by some more moderate critics of
the Asiatic perspective, e.g. Sutton (1990), as being the cause of its shortcoming. Lack of
adequate and appropriate archaeological data during the largest part of the 20th century, about
historical settlements along the East African coast has particularly been cited. But again,
while this could have been so, one has to however realise as indicated earlier the contribution
of prejudice to the situation. According to Sutton (1990), in addition to limited historical
knowledge, the Asiatic perspective was also influenced by tendency of some modern time
Swahili people of associating their family trees to imaginary Arabic ancestors. Sutton
observes that as follows:
The misapprehension that the Swahili and their cultural history are Arab or half Arab is based on a shallow
historical understanding. The claims of many Swahili families, for reasons of prestige within Muslim society, to a
distant Arab origin have encouraged an exaggerated notion of Arab settlement of the coast in earlier centuries. The
9 It is important to note here that Arabic and Persian distortion of the history of the East African coast had started long before
Western colonisation of the region perhaps for religious purposes. An example is the earlier mentioned Kilwa Chronicles
mystical narration about the founders of Kilwa Kisiwani and other historical towns along the East Africa coast.
11
contacts and variety of influences deriving from them are undeniable; yet the Swahili remain an East African
people. (Sutton, 1990:60)
Political Organisation
Up to until the beginning of the 19th century, major East African coastal historical towns were
city-states10. How these city-states, commonly known as Swahili city-states, were politically
organised has been a matter of growing interest particularly among archaeologists and
anthropologists over the recent years. Accordingly, reconstruction of this aspect in the citystates have been attempted by various authors, e.g. Kusimba (1999), Allen (1993), Middleton
(1992), Nurse and Spear (1984); etc.
Of these attempts, I find that by Allen (1993) most interesting. While most authors
present more or less static models of political organisations over different historical epochs,
Allen presents a dynamic political arena involving two broad forms of political organisation
or what he calls modes of dominance, namely the Shirazi and the Arab-Waungwana modes of
dominance. The two forms of political organisation are inherent in the Shirazi and ArabWaungwana Islamic systems that were mentioned earlier. The two forms of political
organisation were also related to modes of production, socio-cultural organisation, and other
aspects of society. Both forms of political organisation represented centralised governments
whose autonomy varied over the different historical epochs of the East African coast.
Prior to the 16th century, East African coastal historical towns were fully autonomous
city-states. During the 16th century and the 17th century, they became dependent city-states
under domination of Portuguese rule. Exceptional was Lamu, which for reasons to be
discussed later remained largely independent from the Portuguese. To the other towns, full
autonomy was never to be regained. With the departure of the Portuguese in the end of the
17th century, the coastal historical towns including Lamu this time became dependent citystates under domination of Oman. The latter exercised a form of indirect rule that allowed the
towns to retain reasonable amounts of autonomy. The towns lost their autonomy as city-states
in 1840 when they became municipalities under the Zanzibar Empire.
Essence of the Shirazi and Arab-Waungwana Modes of Dominance
Shirazi mode of dominance is inherent in the Shirazi Islam discussed earlier. It therefore owns
its origins to the Muslim ex-pastoralists of Great Shungwaya, the founders of early Swahili
settlements. The Shirazi mode of dominance was based on an African tradition characterised
by African rituals and ceremonies, and a highly ranked patriciate involving a chain of
titleholders. These features will be discussed further in proceeding sections of this paper. The
Shirazi mode of dominance provided the basis for political organisation for the whole of the
East African Swahili coast until the emergence of the rival Arab-Waungwana mode of
dominance.
According to Allen (1993), the Arab-Waungwana mode of dominance originated in
Pate, a town in the Lamu archipelago, in the beginning of the 15th century. From there it
spread and by the 16th century it had supplanted the Shirazi mode of dominance in the East
African northern coast including Lamu and Mombasa. In the southern coast, Shirazi form of
political organisation continued in Zanzibar until when the town fell under indirect rule of
Oman in 1785, while in Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara it continued until the abandonment
of the towns sometimes in the beginning of the 19th century.
It seems that Arab-Waungwana mode of dominance emerged out of economic agenda
by some Pate ex-pastoralists especially merchants and perhaps some Shirazi Muslims. It is
10 The concept of city-state has historical derivation including the Greek polis and the Italian civitas. Within this context, a
city-state could be considered to comprise a town which may include its immediate hinterland, and which has autonomous
centralised government with the vital means of exercising legal order over the population. A city state may also have a fairly
well articulated economic and social structures
12
probable that the pioneers of the new doctrine were disgruntled with the Shirazi system in
terms its role in furthering their economic and particularly trading interests. They therefore
contemplated the new organisational order by which they would emerge as leaders with
control over the political machinery hence economic affairs.
In justifying the new order, the pioneers criticised the Shirazi system as non-Islamic
mainly because of its associated African rituals and galaxies of titleholders. Accordingly, they
claimed that the new doctrine would advocate a higher state of Islamic purity through
adopting a tradition of Arab origins (Allen, 1993; Donley-Reid, 1984). Some of the key
features of this tradition were: egalitarianism by which each and every Arab-Waungwana
patrician was alike, adoption of personal names associated with the family of Prophet
Muhammad, and possession of manuscripts of the Holy Quran (see Allen 1993:201, 208).
It is strongly believed that the pioneers of the Arab-Waungwana system in conceiving
the new organisational order borrowed heavily from Ibadite Islam for two major reasons.
First, the system was conceived during the same period as that when a group of Ibadite
Muslims connected with the wealthy Nebhan dynasty of Oman settled in Pate Town. Second,
its main features particularly egalitarianism, are similar to those of Ibadite Islam. That
notwithstanding, as the rivalry between the new mode of dominance and its forerunner were
more or less about political power, any use of Ibadite Islam by the pioneers of the ArabWaungwana system could only have been a pretext for overthrowing Shirazi regimes. Ibadite
Islam provided ideological support for the pioneers, which was antithesis to the old system
they sought to overthrow. In later years, however, Ibadite Islam could have gained ground in
Arab-Waungwana settlements.
Administrative Styles
Generally, patrician groups were the ruling class in both Shirazi and Arab-Waungwana
settlements. In the earlier years of these settlements, patricians were solely of ex-pastoralist
origins although later on some non-pastoralists were absorbed. In both settlements, patricians
sought to perpetuate their dominance over other social groups although they had no tangible
means for doing so in case they were challenged. For example, they had no monopoly of local
economies or technologies. Neither had they organised police or military forces. Furthermore,
in most cases, the patricians were minorities among alien and potentially hostile groups. To be
able to impose their control therefore, the patricians had to use peaceful but effective
mechanisms.
One such mechanism was use of magical tactics. The later together with all associated
paraphernalia, e.g. regalia items, cloths, houses, manuscripts, etc. were used by patricians to
represent themselves as unique and irreplaceable (see Allen, 1993). To ensure continuity,
magical powers were hereditary monopoly of patricians who were supposed to be the only
ones capable of using them for let say general public good or specific purposes like
vanquishing hostile military forces, rain making, and bringing good harvests and general wellbeing. Magical tactics were reinforced with patricians trading connections and intermarriages
with influential locals.
The foregoing presents in a very broad sense, administrative mechanisms for overall
settlement control and influence provided by the Shirazi and Arab-Waungwana modes of
dominance. In specific terms, the two modes presented centralised governments with varying
degrees of local involvement and governance. This form of two-tier administrative system or
what has been referred to by others e.g. Allen (1993:223), as small-scale federal structure
permitted for both strong and weak central governments. Strong central governments meant
low local involvement in the city-states decision making process as well as weak local
governance while weak central governments implied the vice versa.
13
The two-tier system in the above sense gives a possibility that over its various
historical periods, the East African coast could have experienced various sorts of political
regimes. The latter could have ranged from dictatorial and tyrannical in the case of some
strong central governments to democratic in the case of moderately strong or weak central
governments. It is doubtful, however, that very strong central governments could have existed
or local population could have totally been excluded from political affairs of city-states. This
is reflected from what could be inferred from earlier discussions of this paper that Swahili
settlements existed through a more or less voluntary coming together of a number of diverse
population groups. Such groupings could never have materialised without some kind of
corporate decision making that gave each group some participation in matters pertaining to
the settlements.
Central Government
The central government was the supreme political organ in Swahili citystates. In both Shirazi
and Arab-Waungwana regimes, this body was led solely by the patriciate and supported by an
elected council. The latter was known as nyumba ya enzi in Lamu and probably other ArabWaungwana settlements (Horton, 1996:426; Middleton, 1992; Strandes, 1961). The council
provided the basis for local involvement, which will be discussed separately under local
involvement and governance.
The leading patriciate consisted of the city-states overall leader and his officials. In
Shirazi regimes, the leading patriciate was highly ranked with a hereditary overall leader at
the top and a chain of lower titles beneath. Titles used are likely to have varied with time and
place. During the 18th and 19th centuries, titles included jumbe11, diwani, mwinyi mkuu,
waziri, amiri, shehe, akida, tajiri, etc. These titles were ranked separately and differently in
different settlements. For instance, while mwinyi mkuu was the highest title in pre-19th century
Zanzibar, elsewhere it was relatively a junior title. That applied also to jumbe, which was
lowly ranked in the pre-19th century Zanzibar but the highest title elsewhere. Some titles may
have been held for life while others could have been held only for a certain period of time. An
examples here is amiri who in 19th century Shirazi settlements on the north Tanzanian
mainland coast was the head of youths12 thus presumably a youth himself (see Allen,
1993:200).
According to Allen (1993), Shirazi titles were remunerated with dress and economic
privileges. Where jumbe was the top title, only the titleholder was permitted to wear a turban
when dancing Swahili ritualistic dances like the Bagamoyos Ngoma Kuu (the Great Dance),
while only a waziri could wear a cap. All other patrician titleholders had to dance bareheaded.
Furthermore, the top titleholder was entitled special parts of slaughtered oxen and caught
sharks or dugongs, and had rights in shipwrecks.
In sharp contrast to Shirazi central government leadership, Arab-Waungwana
leadership was simple and less stratified. With the exception of the overall settlement leader
and heads of some lineages and mnages who were usually senior to other members of the
units, all other Arab-Waungwana adult patricians were considered to be equal. Neither were
the few exceptional positions accorded special benefits. This form of egalitarianism and its
possible origin were discussed earlier in this paper.
There seems to have been some kind of electoral procedures that governed accession
to central government political power in both Shirazi and Arab-Waungwana settlements. In
Shirazi settlements with their chains of titles, the procedures may have varied with type of
11 Jumbe was known as yumbe in northern coast dialect, and in some places like Lamu it was used only in reference to the
structure that accommodated the elected council (see Allen, 1993:201; Romero, 1997:20). The structure which is now
extinct, was located on the extreme northern end of the historical town.
12 Youths constituted the armed forces of Swahili city-states.
14
title, place and time. For example, in the early 19th century Shirazi settlements where jumbe
was the most senior title, only descendants of jumbes could be elected to the top
administrative post. Accession to titles beneath the jumbe apparently required similar
procedure. I presume similar procedure also existed for accession to mwinyi mkuu and
subsequent lower titles in pre-19th century Zanzibar.
In Arab-Waungwana settlements, accession to overall settlement leadership seems to
have been more democratic than in Shirazi settlements but not uniform in all settlements. In
Lamu for instance, overall settlement leadership alternated in four years terms among the
heads of the towns wards (see Horton, 1996). Wards were important political organs along the
East African coast and were commonly known as mitaa or mtaa in singular. While the Lamu
example could have applied in several Arab-Waungwana settlements, in some settlements
accession to central government power could have been more or less dynastic involving
sultans or heads of some powerful patrician clans or families. The Mazrui clan who ruled
Mombasa from 1726 to 1837 has been cited with some reservations as one of such dynasties
(Ogot, 1981; Allen, 1993). However, whether a sultan or a clan head, Arab-Waungwana
dynastic overall settlement leaders were dependent upon support of elected members of the
council (see Horton, 1996).
The Council, Local Involvement and Governance
The leading patriciate could be seen as resembling modern times national or federal
governments with the highest titleholder/overall leader as the head of state and other
titleholders as the various heads of ministries/departments. The council in turn could be seen
as been synonymous to present day house of parliament or what is known as bunge in East
Africa, with its members as present day members of parliament.
As a political organ, the council therefore provided the premises for local participation
in the affairs of city-states as whole. The council was constituted of representatives from all
mitaa and was led/chaired by the city-states overall leader. Mitaa were therefore the basic
local political organs for local involvement in matters pertaining to the whole city-state.
Socially, mitaa were of three types: mitaa for patricians, mitaa for commoners, and mitaa for
refugees. All mitaa involved single or several lineages or what is commonly referred to as
clans. The mitaa were spatially represented and distinct. The spatial manifestation of mitaa
will be discussed in detail in later parts of the ongoing study.
Each mtaa had a leader or leaders. Often, a patrician mtaa had one leader who was
also the representative of the mtaa in the council. Leadership of a non-patrician mtaa was
corporate involving several elders or wazee wa mitaa. Only one elder could, however,
represent a mtaa in the council at any time. The leadership structural difference between
patrician and non-patrician mitaa reflected differences in their structural contents and the
importance of clans in the local politics of city-states. Unlike patrician mitaa, which in most
cases involved a single clan, commoners and refugees mitaa were constituted of various
clans.
The significance of involvement of mtaa leaders and particularly non-patrician mtaa
leaders in decision making process of city-states varied with the strengths of central
governments. In cases of weak central governments, involvement of mtaa leaders in decision
making was high. In cases of strong central governments, involvement of mtaa leaders was
low, but vital. By their clans, mitaa represented different groups each with their wishes, ideas
and interests. It would have therefore been very difficult to administer a city-state without
involving them.
Mitaa system enhanced local involvement in the decision making process at city-state
level. Through their leaders, mitaa could participate in political affairs pertaining to city-states
15
as wholes. As regards local governance, i.e. internal affairs of mitaa, it was clans that played
fundamental role.
Matters that fell under clan autonomy seem to have varied among city-states.
Nevertheless, one such matter was administration of trade. This took place in the form of a
dynamic system of sponsorship of foreign traders by patrician clans. The system was tailored
to enable patricians exert control over foreign traders and to monopolise trade with outsiders
hence entrenching their economic interests. The system was also claimed to ensure security of
foreign traders especially from hostile non-Swahili population groups.
In early Shirazi settlements, foreign traders had to be attached to patrician clans to be
able to get through into rectangular central enclosures that served among other functions as
market places and were restricted only to members of patricians clans. With the ArabWaungwana mode of dominance, the sponsorship system was modified by which sponsorship
of trade was redefined to involve accommodation of foreign traders in stone houses (see
Horton, 1996:413). That implies that only owners of stone houses could sponsor foreign
traders. Because patricians had sole right for building and living in stone houses in ArabWaungwana settlements, the redefinition was thus very superficial as it simply just
emphasised the role of patrician clans in the trade sponsorship. The sponsorship system
literally forbade all foreign traders from carrying out trading activities in any part of citystates without involving the clans. Punishment for those who contravened the system could be
very severe including castration (see Freeman-Grenville, 1981).
Other matters that could have been under clans autonomy included military
organisation, taxation, justice, land ownership and distribution, marriage and inheritance
(Freeman-Grenville, 1962; Allen, 1993; Mazrui, 1995; etc.) The clans system was operative
almost in all coastal settlements until the end of the 18th century. From 1840 onwards, the
autonomy hence the powers of Swahili city-states diminished drastically as most decisions on
city-states at all levels were made by the Sultan of Zanzibar or by some colonial or postcolonial administrations. This not withstanding however, clans have remained important in
some matters like marriage and inheritance up to the present time.
Values
Value orientations were fundamental societal aspect of East African coastal city-states. They
included symbolic values in the form numerous beliefs, rites and customs. These values
influenced and shaped almost all the other aspects of society. Most of the beliefs, rites and
customs were spiritual/religious, and even those, which could be categorised as secular had
some religious background. The most important of these values appear to have been graveside
rituals; rites of passage; rites and customs related to accession to power; communal sacrificial
ceremonies; and communal festivities. Discussion about belief in magical powers which was
indeed an important symbolic value in the historical Swahili society was made earlier and
would not be repeated in full again.
Graveside rituals were until recently common in most Swahili settlements (Allen,
1993). They reflected the Swahili societys concern with ancestors. Prominence of
monumental tombs including pillar-tombs along the East African coast could be related to
these rituals. According to Al-Idrisi, the tombs were anointed with fish oil and worshipped.
Along the East African coast, graveside rituals and monumental and pillar tombs have been
associated mainly with Shirazi Islam. They may therefore have been derived from Shirazi
Islams non-Islamic African precursor although alternative provenance is possible as similar
features excluding pillar tombs which are uniquely Swahili, could be traced in many other
parts of the Islamic world. Also uniquely Swahili is the graveside rite of strewing broken pots
over graves at funerals and various occasions thereafter. While the custom could have been
16
part of funeral ceremonies, its practice after funerals and prestige value of vessels that were
broken may mean that it may also have been a way of giving sacrifice to ancestral spirits.
Rites of passage marked the different age-sets that characterised the historical Swahili
society, in the form of a series of promotions particularly among males from adolescence to
warriorhood, from warriorhood to adulthood, and in some settlements from adulthood to
elderhood. Each promotion carried with it special rights and obligations. The whole system
of social promotions was extended to all sections of the society regardless of lineage or
locality hence giving every male equal chance for a period of military power as a warrior and
of political power as an elder, entitlement to marry, etc. Swahili rites of passage owed their
origins to non-Islamic African origins. They were islamised with the realisation and evolution
of the Swahili culture through simply adding Muslim prayers either at their beginning or end
or instituting separate but parallel Islamic rituals.
Among important Swahili rites of passage were those concerned with marriage, i.e.
wedding rituals. One such ritual had considerable cultural importance in both Shirazi and
Arab-Waungwana settlements. That was the great marriage or harusi kuu in Swhili terms.
Unlike the ordinary Swahili marriage which could have made as many times as wished,
harusi kuu could be made only once in ones lifetime.
In Shirazi settlements, the features of harusi kuu could be inferred from Comoro, once
pro-Shirazi and where the ritual, known there as harusi ya ada (fee marriage), has been
practised up to the modern times. In this context, harusi kuu was a rite of passage not only for
the bride who had to be a virgin, but for the groom as well although in his case he could have
had previously contracted in ordinary marriage. To the groom, harusi kuu could have been
very costly indeed. He had to spend considerable sums to acquire some prescribed jewellery
that he had to present to the brides family. The jewellery was then displayed in a seven day
musical public procession around the settlement. It was only after the jewellery presentation
and procession that the marriage contract could be made. In most Shirazi settlements, one
never became an adult until he or she had passed through harusi kuu. There were therefore
people who remained children throughout their lives because they could not afford the costs
of the marriage in case of men, or had lost their virginity through ordinary marriage or
otherwise in the case of women. Harusi kuu could have also had far-reaching political
implications, as it seems that it may have been a prerequisite for accession to senior political
positions at some points of the history of some Shirazi settlements.
In Arab-Waungwana settlements, the features of harusi kuu were quite different from
those described above. The brides family was responsible for presenting her with jewellery
and there were no one-week long public processions involved. The custom was that the
groom would move into the brides residence after marriage. The residence was within her
parents stone house and often upstairs. It could also be separate but adjoining the parental
home. An important part of the wedding ritual was an indoor self display by the bride in all
her finery after consummation, in front of material items that reflect the brides family wealth
(see Allen, 1993:232-233). Arab-Waungwana harusi kuu was therefore largely an indoor
activity. Also, although it reflected socio-economic status, it had no much political
significance.
Rites and customs related to accession to power were more pronounced in Shirazi than
Arab-Waungwana settlements. In the former settlements, where jumbe was the overall leader,
descendants of jumbe aspiring for the top political position had to successfully go through a
pre-election process before they could be elected. The process involved making sizeable
presents to a number of prescribed members of the patriciate, and undergoing certain extra
rites or quasi-rites of passage (see ibid). A similar process was required for accession to titles
beneath the jumbe. It is possible that accession to titles beneath the jumbe, as well as
17
accession to mwinyi mkuu and subsequent lower titles in pre-19th century Zanzibar could have
required a similar process.
Communal sacrificial ceremonies, albeit fairly rare, had considerable ritualistic
importance particularly in northern coast. They were commonly known locally as zinguo.
Zinguo ceremonies were practised at different times of the year in different places. In
Mombasa, they took place on the Swahili Solar New Year Siku ya Mwaka, while in Lamu
the ceremonies could take place at any time of a communal crisis. Broadly, the ceremonies
involved walking an ox along the original boundaries of a settlement under the leadership of
the head of one of the senior patrician families. After the walk, the ox was ceremonially
killed. The meat was then communally eaten except certain organs that were set aside
allegedly for the spirits (see Allen, 1993:231). The central belief underlying zinguo
ceremonies was that they purified settlements through chasing evil spirits and retaining good
ones. Zinguo ceremonies may have been among the earliest rituals organised by the founders
of Swahili settlements. They are likely to have derived from pre-Swahili and particularly expastoralist rituals. With exception of been islamised especially in Arab-Waungwana
settlements, it is doubtful that Swahili zinguo ceremonies differ significantly from their preSwahili precursors.
Perhaps the most important Swahili communal festivities were those for celebrating
the Swahili Solar New Year and end of the long fast of the holy month of Ramadhan. These
festivities involved variety of activities that may have varied between settlements.
Notwithstanding, extravagant feasts and musical street processions seem to have been
common in most Swahili city-states during such occasions (see Romero, 1997:37). Special
dances like the earlier mentioned Bagamoyos Ngoma Kuu could also have been important
especially in the southern coast.
Social and Aesthetic Values
Albeit dominant, symbolic values were not the only values that characterised historical
Swahili society. There were some social and even aesthetic values as well. Social values were
related to let say the ideologies that could be inferred from the forms of political organisations
that were discussed earlier. Egalitarianism, which was inherent in Arab-Waungwana system
and collectivism as described by the corporate leadership patterns of both Shirazi and ArabWaungwana systems are, indeed, some of such social values.
Aesthetically, Swahili society and patricians in particular seem to have had a
pronounced belief in man-made landscapes as opposed to natural landscapes. With exception
of natural Indian Ocean, Swahili settlements lack significant natural enclaves. Aesthetic
features of the settlements will be discussed further in later parts of the ongoing study.
Regalia Items
Activities associated with Swahili beliefs, rites and customs were characterised with use of
royal or state regalia instruments. These included a side blown horn locally known as siwa,
regalia drums, thrones known locally as kiti cha enzi (chair of power in singular), and a broad
bladed spear known locally as fumo. With their reputed magical powers, the instruments had
considerable meaning to symbolic functions and ceremonies without which could have
rendered the activities invalid.
Of all the regalia instruments, however, they were probably siwa and regalia-drums,
which had most symbolic significance. In most Swahili settlements, no leader could have
assumed power unless the siwa or regalia-drum had been played at all his or her previous rites
of passage and were to be played at all subsequent ones. In Lamu and other northern Swahili
settlements, regalia-drums were played competitively at patrician weddings. In some Swahili
settlements, regalia-drums could have been played at all rites of passage of all inhabitants
18
(Allen, 1993). Siwa and regalia-drums were also played at zinguo ceremonies, end of the holy
month of Ramadhan, and funerals of some important leaders.
Besides their symbolic roles, regalia items could have had other roles. The siwa for
instance, could also have been an important instrument for forging political/ideological or
military alignments among city-states. For example, one mechanism used by rulers of early
Arab-Waungwana settlements to spread their political doctrine to other city-states was
sending siwa to rulers of the states, acceptance of which could have meant alignment of the
recipient city-states with Arab-Waungwana system (see ibid:230).
Social Class
East African coastal historical towns were stratified societies which could be described in
terms of three categories of social class, namely: upper class, middle class and lower class.
However, not all towns were characterised by all the three social class categories during all
their historical periods.
Social Class Composition
The upper class consisted of patricians and characterised all coastal Swahili towns and
historical periods. Patricians were believed to have been descendants of the founders of the
towns or otherwise. In Shirazi regimes, patricians claimed their descent to Muslim expastoralists of Shungwaya, the founders of early Swahili settlements. They enjoyed high
political standing largely on the virtue of their descent to the founders of the towns. In ArabWaungwana regimes, patricians also known as Waungwana consisted of free men, i.e. people
who were not slaves or slave descendants. Albeit founding Arab-Waungwana patricians were
ex-pastoralists and probably ex-Shirazi Muslims, they however asserted claims of origin in
the Arab World (Allen, 1993; Donley-Reid, 1984). In both Shirazi and Arab-Waungwana
regimes, patricians enjoyed considerable economic and political privileges. In ArabWaungwana regimes such privileges included: right to landed property ownership, right to
build and live in stone houses, right to own private wells, right to trade with foreign traders,
and right to elect town and mosque officials (Sinclair and Hkansson, 2000; Kusimba,
1999:140; Allen, 1993:218).
In the earlier years of the coastal urban civilisation, patricians were distinct from the
rest of the society in terms of culture. Descendants of founders of towns could have
substantiated their origin backgrounds thus easily found their way into patrician ranks.
However, with passage of time cultural gaps were progressively reduced, making
descent/ethnicity claims by aspirants for patriciates very difficult to proof. Consequently, by
the 19th century, patricians descent claims were often rhetorical or utterly nominal (see Allen,
1993; Donley-Reid, 1984).
The middle class comprised of commoners. It is very likely that all East African
coastal historical towns comprised fluid middle classes throughout their histories. In earlier
Shirazi regimes, commoners included settlers who were not ex-pastoralists who accompanied
the founders of the coastal towns from Shungwaya. In later years, likewise in ArabWaungwana regimes, commoners included all Swahili people except slaves, who had no
descent to the founders. According to Kusimba (1999) Arab-Waungwana commoners also
included descendants of freed slaves or what he calls Wazalia. In Arab-Waungwana regimes,
although the middle class seems to have provided skilled craftsmen necessary for building
stone towns, they were not allowed to live in stone houses or own wells. They were required
to live in mud and thatch houses and share public well (Allen, 1993:218). In post-16th
century Lamu, it is known that very poor commoners were not even allowed to put on shoes
in the streets (ibid).
19
The third category, lower class consisted mainly of slaves. The later known locally as
Watumwa or Mtumwa in singular, are known to have existed as a social group almost
throughout all historical periods of the East African coast. However, from the late 18th century
onwards their numbers increased considerably perhaps due to the emergence at that time of
slave trade as a lucrative commercial activity along the coast and the world at large. In
Zanzibar during the 19th century, slaves and those with slave descent became numerous. This
was partly due to rapid expansion of plantation economy, which resulted in increased demand
for slave labour. Also contributing the increase in slaves in Zanzibar was an attitude of
patricians, Arab-Waungwana at that time, by which all those who were not Waungwana were
demoted to slave or ex-slave ranks (see Allen, 1993:217). Because of he demotion, social
class in Zanzibar was reduced to only two categories consisting of patricians at the top and
slaves and ex-slaves at the bottom.
Social Class Mobility
There was a strong barrier between patricians and other social class categories. The barrier
was rigidly preserved through various mechanisms that included prohibition of intermarriages
up to until recently. For long, this social barrier was central to Swahili ways of life and had
considerable implications on the other aspects of society. Nevertheless, the barrier was not
always insurmountable. According to Allen (1993), there were crossings of the barrier by
individuals and even lineages in both directions. The crossings seem to have been very few in
the early years of East African coastal historical towns. Most crossings at this stage of the
coastal urbanisation were based on Islamic pedigree and physical appearance. In the later
years, however, the crossings became more frequent as the memories of the founders of the
towns became obscurd with passage of time.
Furthermore, passage of time saw the emergence of wealth as an important criterion
for social elevation. In both Shirazi and Arab-Waungwana regimes, importance of wealth as a
social marker led into many promotions by which non-descendants of founders of settlements
were absorbed into patrician ranks. There were demotions as well, by which some patricians
were relegated to lower social class ranks. A good example of the latter is that of some
patrician new comers to post 16th century Lamu, who due to their impoverishment were
relegated to commoners.
Life Style
Information regarding life style per se in Swahili city-states prior to 19th century is very
limited. In this study, available information has been supplemented by inferences from
information about other aspects of society that are closely related to life style like values,
political organisation and even economic conditions. Some of the inferences will be revisited
and re-examined in later stages of the ongoing study in the light of the findings from analysis
of Swahili urban spatial forms.
Within the above context and confining to the scope of the study, Swahili city-states
seem to have been characterised by pronounced propinquity that sprung out of extended
family patterns. The latter are inherent in almost African cultures although it could also have
been enhanced by Islam which overtly allows polygamy. In Arab-Waungwana settlements,
extended family patterns were reinforced further with the rites of passage that were discussed
earlier. Extended family patterns in Swahili city-states promoted intensive close kinship
interactions and activities and living close to each other. The city-states could also have been
characterised by local friendship patterns that are likely to have been shaped by social class.
20
Economic Conditions
Trading was the main economic activity in East African coastal historical towns. It took place
between the towns and the Middle and Far East, and other parts of the world. There was trade
between the towns and their hinterland as well (Chami, 1994; Sinclair, 1995; Radimilahy,
1998).
At international scale, trading along the East African coast and in the five historical
towns in particular was characterised by importation of goods from overseas, which were
exchanged with local goods. The latter included commodities brought into the coastal towns
from the mainland through coastal-hinterland trade. However, prior to 19th century, while
archaeological findings have confirmed some historical claims of vast range of imports, not
much success has been achieved with regards to exports.13.
At the local scale, trading transactions seem to have been carried out by barter (see
Horton1997: 412). In Kilwa Kisiwani and possibly Songo Mnara, transactions could have also
been carried out with gold, with locally minted copper currency probably used for small cash
transactions especially in Kilwa Kisiwani (Chittick, 1974).
The above notwithstanding, trade patterns along the East African coast could be better
understood in terms f four historical periods, namely: 1000 - 1500, 1500 - 1700, 1700 - 1880,
and 1880 onwards.
Trading From 1000 - 1500
As indicated earlier, expansion of overseas trade along the East African coast, was parallel
with islamisation hence Swahilisation of the coast from the 11th century. It resulted in
increased material wealth in the form of built urban artefacts like permanent buildings and
streets, hence rapid expansion of early small farming and fishing villages into city-states. To
some of the coastal historical towns like Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara, the period from
11th to end of the 15th century presented their most and only glorious years. Largest parts of
these towns were built during this period. In Kilwa Kisiwani for example, all its prestigious
stone buildings like the Husuni Kubwa Palace and the Great Mosque date back to this period.
During this period, ivory, gold, timber, ambergris and rice were the principle exports
from the East African coast. Most of the exports originated from the hinterland. Of the five
historical towns, ivory was an important export commodity of Kilwa Kisiwani, Mombasa and
Lamu. In Kilwa Kisiwani, exported ivory around the 12th and 14th century is claimed to have
originated as far-flung places as Mozambique and Zimbabwe (see Sutton, 1990:60). It is
believed that some of the ivory from these origins could have found its way through Kilwa to
towns on the northern coast where monsoon winds are more favourable, from where it was
then exported. Generally, ivory was exported to Oman from where it was then re-exported to
India and China (Sutton, 1990:62; Horton, 1996:414-415).
Gold is known to have been an important export commodity in Kilwa probably by the
early 12th century (Freeman-Grenville, 1962). Mombasa is also believed to have participated
in gold trade but only to limited extents. Arabic sources from al-Masudi onwards indicate
that the gold originated from Sofala in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and perhaps even northern
Transvaal in South Africa (Sinclair, 1987; Sutton, 1990; Horton, 1996).
Another important export was timber. Historical evidence suggests that timber from
the East African coast was exported to the Middle East as early as the 10th century for
building and boat construction. Exported timber included mangrove poles and hard woods.
The latter included Combretum schumannii and Terminalia brevies. These types of hard
woods were once available in much of the East African coast until their modification by man
13 Exports here include goods originating in the coastal towns as well as those brought into the towns through trade or
otherwise from the hinterland. Imports imply goods brought into the towns from elsewhere excluding the hinterland.
21
activities. Timber and mangrove poles in particular were obtained mainly from the Lamu
archipelago.
Ambergris14 has been mentioned as an important export of the Lamu archipelago in
earlier historical records like those by Al-Masudi and Abu al-Mahasin (Freeman-Grenville,
1962; Horton, 1996). Historical records of ancient travellers like Ibn Battuta also mentioned
rice as an important export of the East African coast. Rice is recorded to have being exported
from Kilwa Kisiwani to Aden in the Middle East during the 15th century. Because soil
conditions in the island are unsuitable for rice production, and that it is unlikely that any large
quantities of rice were produced on the mainland, rice exported from Kilwa Kisiwani must
have originated elsewhere. The most probable source was Madagascar. The latter is known to
have produced surplus rice and to have had trading links with Kilwa Kisiwani at that time (see
Chittick, 1974:244).
Other exports included iron, cooper, cotton cloth, myrrh, tortoise shells, rock crystal,
honey, wax, animal skins, rhino horns, and even living giraffe.
As indicated elsewhere in this section, exports seem to have been exchanged for
manufactured goods from the Middle East, India and China. From the Middle East imported
goods included white cotton cloth, glassware and ceramics. Imports from India were limited
to ceramics. However, with the exception of the decorated red ware, Indian ceramics were in
low demand in East Africa due to their generally very low quality (Horton, 1996:418). From
China, imports included silk and ceramics as well. It is probable that bulk of imported
Chinese goods found their way to East Africa indirectly via India and the Middle East.
Trading From 1500 - 1700
During the 16th and 17th century, the East African coastal towns witnessed a steep decline of
their sea-borne trade. As trade was the cornerstone of the coastal economies, to many towns,
this period was to be their last. To many others, the period meant decline or stagnation in their
population and physical growth. The decline in trade has been linked to the Portuguese who
controlled most of the East African coast during this period. Their maritime trading styles,
ruthless attacks of coastal settlements, and lack of interest in local development have
particularly been cited as the roots of their disruptive influence on the coastal trade.
Kilwa Kisiwani was the first victim of the changed fortunes with the occupation of the
town by Portuguese in 1505. Even after the Portuguese abandoned the town seven years later,
Kilwa Kisiwani trade never recovered (see Chittick, 1974a). The continued decline of trade in
Kilwa Kisiwani is believed to have been mainly due to its loss of grip of the gold trade,
caused by Portuguese control over the gold sources of Sofala and the rest of the Mozambican
coast. Furthermore, trade in Kilwa Kisiwani suffered a heavy blow from the Portuguese
ambition to exert regional control over trade in the Indian Ocean, through prevention of free
movement of goods. In this direction, the Portuguese took trading monopoly in ivory and
other goods like cloth and beads. Cloth and beads were used by the Portuguese to exchange
for gold in Sofala. They imposed and collected trading taxes and levies. Even worse, trading
vessels were captured vessels and their cargoes confiscated.
Because of the decline in commerce, Kilwa Kisiwani stagnated and decayed. With
exception of the construction of a fortress by the Portuguese immediately after they occupied
the town, no significant building activity took place during this period (ibid). The fortress,
known locally as Gereza, is believed to have being abused physically by the Portuguese
before they abandoned the town.
In other coastal towns, the arrival of the Portuguese had equally far-reaching
repercussions on their trade. In Zanzibar, the Portuguese imposed control over trade indirectly
14 Ambergris is a wax excretion from the stomach of the sperm whale
22
through installing loyal local rulers (see Sheriff, 1995). It is difficult to establish the extent of
Portuguese disruptive influence on trade in Zanzibar, as the town had not yet emerged as a
significant trading centre along the East African coast by the time of their arrival. However,
as the Portuguese period in Zanzibar was accompanied by only a handful of physical
developments that included construction of a small factory and a small chapel (ibid:8), trade
in the town could not have flourished.
Unlike in Kilwa Kisiwani and Zanzibar, in Mombasa Portuguese arrival was met with
fierce resistance from its inhabitants (see Ogot, 1981). It took the Portuguese almost a century
and several bitter attacks of the town before they could take control of the town. In the first
attack in 1505, the town was looted of its gold, silver, ivory, fabrics, cattle, etc. (Strandes,
1971; Siravo and Pulver, 1986). The attack was followed by two more similar attacks in 1526
and 1589 before the Portuguese finally captured the town and constructed Fort Jesus15 in 1594
as their stronghold. To enforce their trading monopoly they established a customs house in the
town in 1634.
Portuguese attacks on Mombasa had only short-term effects on trade. Implying from
Duarte Barbosa, Mombasa continued to be prosperous even after the first attack. Writing in
1517 - 18, Barbosa described Mombasa as been full of food with men who were great
barterers and dealt in cloth, gold, ivory, and other wares (Freeman-Grenville, 1962). After the
capture of Mombasa by the Portuguese, however, trade in the town observed a long term
decline, and by the beginning of the 17th century, it had been broken down completely
resulting in very poor human living conditions. This eventuality is illustrated by Bernardino
when writing about Mombasa in 1602:
.inhabitants are Moors who, although formerly rich, now live in utter poverty. (Freeman-Grenville, 1962: 157).
The Portuguese occupied Mombasa until 1698 when they were defeated in a battle for control
of the town by Omani Arabs (Ogot, 1981; Siravo and Pulver, 1986).
After capturing Mombasa, the Omani Arabs pursued further the Portuguese and within
a few months they had taken possession of most of the East African coast. The Omani Arabs
involvement in the war against the Portuguese was out of an alliance between them and
Swahili city-states, aimed at helping the city-states regain their independence from the
Portuguese. However, after kicking out the Portuguese, the Omani Arabs converted the East
African coast into their protectorate. The Omani exercised an indirect rule of the city-states
through appointees of the Omani sultanate (Siravo and Pulver, 1986; Romero, 1993).
Lamu trade situation does not seem to have been significantly affected by the arrival
of the Portuguese to the East African coast. While other coastal towns experienced steep
decline in trade resulting from the disruptive influence of the Portuguese, in Lamu trade
seems to have continued almost as usual and by the middle of the 17th century it has emerged
as the largest ivory market on the East African coast. Lamus geographical location seems to
have been the cause for this situation. Been near the northern end of the East African coast,
Lamu was on the periphery of the Portuguese influence along the coast. Its location also
provided a closer proximity to the Red Sea hence easy trade links with the Middle East.
The influence of the Portuguese on the decline of trade along the East African coast is
not disputed. Nevertheless, recent discussions in, e.g. Sinclair and Hkansson (2000),
Kusimba (1999), Pearson (1998), Frank (1998), Sheriff (1987), etc., do not believe that this
was the sole factor for the decline. One strong argument is that Portuguese naval capacity and
other resources were very small compared to the overall volume of trade in the Indian Ocean
(see Sheriff, 1987; Frank, 1998, Sinclair and Hkansson, 2000). Under such circumstances
15 Fort Jesus is one of the most important historical artefacts in Kenya today
23
therefore, it is argued that for the Portuguese to have effectively controlled trade in the region,
there must have been favoured by some other factors.
Two such factors have been suggested. One was the recession in Europe during the
17th century, which could have reduced the demand for imported goods including those
originating from East Africa via Middle Eastern markets. Two was the monetary crisis in Asia
during the same period caused by shortage of silver which could have affected the availability
of credit to traders involved in the East African trade (Frank, 1998).
Even earlier, Chittick (1974) had mentioned the Zimba as another factor contributing
to the decline of coastal towns. According to Chittick, the Zimba, a marauding tribe
originating along the Zambezi River, are believed to have overran Kilwa Kisiwani in about
1592 killing and eating its inhabitants. The cannibals are believed to have spread their terror
northwards reaching as far as Malindi, north of Mombasa.
Trading From 1700 1880
Trading along the East African coast recovered quickly after the departure of the Portuguese.
During the 18th century most Swahili city-states witnessed growing economies accruing from
improved trading conditions. With the exception of gold, most of the principal export
commodities that characterised the coastal trade in earlier historical periods continued to be
important during this period. Furthermore, and perhaps most significant during this period
was the emergence of slaves as lucrative commercial commodity. Slavery existed in Swahili
city-states prior to the 18th century albeit not commercially significant then. It was possibly
introduced by the Arab-Waungwana mode of dominance as it is in Arab-Waungwana regimes
where the phrase watumwa (slaves) was used for the first time as a social category of Swahili
settlements.
Commercialisation of slaves in the coastal city-states was influenced by a number of
factors that included the arrival of Omani Arabs, and demand for slaves from Arabia, the
Americas and elsewhere (see Siravo and Pulver, 1986). Most slaves were obtained from the
hinterland, and according to Romero (1993), as far-flung places as todays Malawi and
Mozambique. Slaves were marched overland along caravans to some entrepts16 along the
coast from where they were shipped to Kilwa Kisiwani and Zanzibar. In Kilwa Kisiwani and
Zanzibar the slaves were either sold in markets there or transhipped to other city-states like
Mombasa and Lamu or elsewhere in the Indian Ocean world and beyond.
In Kilwa Kisiwani, slave trade was particularly enhanced by the extension of French
slave trade to the East African coast. According to Chittick (1974:vol1), in the 1770s the
French began buying slaves at Kilwa Kisiwani for export to their colonies in the Indian Ocean
region and other places. Demand for slaves at Kilwa Kisiwani appears to have been high
involving many buyers. As a result, in 1776 the French had to sign a contract with the ruler of
Kilwa Kisiwani for supply of a thousand slaves per year in priority of others.
In Lamu, accumulated wealth from the economic prospects offered by the 18th
century, stimulated substantial physical growth that involved construction of stone houses,
mosques, roads, etc. Most of the historical urban spatial structures in the town today were
generated during this period. The economic prosperity also led into better living standards for
towns population. According to Siravo and Pulver (1986), land-owning merchants who lived
in stone houses led a life of luxury. They wore imported cotton, silk and leather sandals and
decorated their houses with Chinese porcelain. They ate among other foods imported rice with
domestic work been carried out by slaves.
16 These consisted of what are considered as new Swahili towns, i.e. towns that emerged along the East African coast during
the 18th and 19th centuries as a result of thriving slave and ivory trade. Bagamoyo and Kilwa Kivinje are good examples of
such towns
24
To the other city-states, physical urban growth resulting from the improved economic
conditions along the coast during the 18th century was less significant. One possible reason for
this could be that because many Swahili city-states, unlike Lamu, had been destroyed or made
to degenerate by the wars or the economic decline during the Portuguese era, most urban
investments had to be directed into redevelopment rather than new development.
In Kilwa Kisiwani, only a handful of new physical developments are believed to have
taken place during the 18th century that includes construction of Makutani palace together
with its defensive walls (Chittick, 1974a). It is also believed that buildings that surround the
palace were built during the same time. Furthermore, this period witnessed the reconstruction
of the Gereza by Omani Arabs after they took control of town in 1784 (see ibid:242). In
Songo Mnara, physical developments that took place during this period were more or less
cosmetic involving mainly extension of existing buildings (Garlake, 1966:91).
The situation seems to have been similar in Zanzibar and Mombasa. In both towns,
map analyses show very little change to their spatial forms during the 18th century. In
Zanzibar particularly, the composition of urban solids seem to have remained more or less
static consisting predominantly of temporary mud houses and only a few permanent stone
buildings (see Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 1996).
In the beginning of the 19th century, the booming Swahili commercial sector that had
hitherto been dominated by maritime trade involving mainly slaves and ivory was given a
further impetus with introduction of plantation economy. In Zanzibar, plantations were
introduced on its hinterland from the 1830s. Commercial crops that were grown included
cloves, coconuts, sesame and gum and were exported through the towns port. The port also
handled imported essential inputs to the plantations like slaves, textiles, etc. Plantations have
also been reported to have being introduced on the mainland of Lamu during this period
(Romero, 1993). In Lamu plantations, sesame seems to be the main commercial crop that was
grown.
The economic boom continued even after the Sultan of Oman, Seyyid Said,
transferred permanently his administrative capital to Zanzibar in 1840 in order to exert direct
rule to the East African coastal city-states (see Siravo and Pulver, 1986). It is believed that his
decision to move his court to the East Africa coast was out of his recognition of the
agricultural and trade potentials of the region and which he was determined to exploit. His
arrival was therefore positive for the plantation economy along the coast. He attracted
important families from Oman to the coast, some of which became landowners in the
blossoming plantation agriculture.
In addition to the diversification of the commercial sector, the 19th century saw
expansion of Swahili international commercial trade beyond the Indian Ocean region to
include Europe and North America. American and European ships brought in cotton textiles
and other manufactured goods like firearms, ammunition, and regulator clocks (Aga Khan
Trust for Culture, 1996; Siravo and Pulver, 1986). The later can still be seen in Mosques in
Lamu. The ships took away agricultural products from plantations, slave and ivory. In
Zanzibar which had became the main seaport for the East African coast with the arrival of
Sultan Seyyid Said, the tonnage of American and European shipping reached 27 662 tonnes
by 1871 (see Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 1996:18).
There were also major changes in the composition of local stakeholders in the
commercial sector along the East African coast from 1840. Prior to 1840, local stakeholders
in the commercial sector were mainly Swahili and Arabic merchants. However, from 1840,
Sultan Seyyid Said encouraged merchants from India to settle and set up businesses along the
coast resulting in the number of Indian participants in the commercial sector to increase
significantly.
25
In Zanzibar, the economic prospects offered by the expansion of its commercial and
agricultural sectors during the 19th century resulted in large-scale physical development
involving large-scale construction of permanent stone structures for the first time in its
history. The accelerated physical growth of the town could also have been enhanced by the
administrative status of the town. As the capital of the Oman rule along the East African
coast, Zanzibar and particularly the Sultan had access to revenues generated elsewhere within
the region, some of which could have been used for financing urban development projects
within the town. Most of the historical towns spatial structures were built during this period.
In Lamu and Mombasa, urban physical development during the 19th century was less
impressive, probably because part of their commercial revenues ended up in Zanzibar coffer.
Furthermore, it is important to note that as the political centre for the East African coast,
Zanzibar became the focus of economic activities in the region thus eclipsing Lamu,
Mombasa, as well as other coastal towns in importance. As a result, the economic growth
experienced by the two city-states during the 19th century is likely to have been a lot less than
that of Zanzibar. In Lamu, physical growth during this period involved mainly construction of
Lamu Fort and development by Indian merchant settlers of a row of commercial/residential
buildings along the waterfront, creating what is today Lamus bazaar street or what is locally
known as Usita wa Mui. In Mombasa, physical development during this period seems to have
concentrated along Ndia Kuu and Mbarak Hinawy Road (King and Proceci, 1990).
Whereas the post-Portuguese era economic prosperity stimulated physical growth in
Zanzibar, Mombasa, Lamu and some other towns along the coast beyond the 18th century, in
Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara it did not. By the beginning of the 19th century, the two
city-states had drastically declined both physically and demographically although there is no
evidence of any changed economic circumstances and particularly commercial trade in the
southern part of the East African coast at that time. Neither have any serious political or other
societal problems been reported. The decline of the two city-states has been described by
James Prior, a surgeon of the survey ship, H.M.S. Nisus in his account of Kilwa in 1811. Prior
observed Kilwa Kisiwani to have had degenerated to a rambling village with a population of
only about two to three thousand people. His account also indicated the nearby Songo Mnara
to had declined into ruins (Chittick, 1974).
While Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara were degenerating into ruins, Kilwa Kivinje,
located on the mainland just opposite Kilwa Kisiwani was emerging as an important port and
centre for trading in slaves, ivory and copal. By 1840s, it had become the most important
town in the area having likely absorbed many of the inhabitants of the two formerly
prosperous city-states including the Omani governor of Kilwa Kisiwani (see Chittick, 1974).
Trading From 1880 Onwards
From 1880 onwards, trading and economic pattern as a whole changed dramatically due to
two major factors, namely banning of slave trade and introduction of European colonial rule
in East Africa.
Slave trade along the East African coast was banned from 1873 when the British
forced Sultan Seyyid Barghash of Zanzibar to sign a treaty to that effect. Albeit slavery per
se, was not abolished until 1897, the ban on slave trade had serious implications on the coastal
commercial agriculture that depended entirely on slave labour. It made procurement of slaves
by plantation owners very difficult, expensive and above all illegal. Most landowners were
reluctant to revert to paid labour, and even those willing to do so could not find it easily or
had no adequate capital. With declining labour input, maintenance conditions of plantations
along the coast deteriorated very quickly. By 1890s, many plantations had been abandoned
and agricultural output had declined dramatically.
26
The ban on slave trade was to be a prelude to a new political era along the coast. Up
until the end of 1870s, European interest in East Africa had been largely commercial,
exploratory and humanitarian. That, however, changed drastically in 1880s to territorial with
the Germany initiated Scramble for Africa, and by 1890s East Africa including the Swahili
coast had been split between Britain and Germany. Zanzibar and Kenya were allocated to
Britain to form the British East African Protectorate that also included Uganda; while
Tanzanias mainland then known as Tanganyika was allocated to Germany.
With absorption of the East African coast into German and British spheres of
influence, Zanzibar lost its political status as the capital for the region as both German and
British colonial administrations decided to select other towns as their capitals. For the German
colonial administration in Tanganyika, Bagamoyo was made the capital for a short while
before it was replaced by Dar es Salaam in 1891(see Kimaryo, 1996). For the British East
African Protectorate, Mombasa was selected as the capital until 1907 when it lost the role to
Nairobi (see King and Proceci, 1990).
Beside been headquarters of the colonial administrations, Dar es Salaam and
Mombasa became the major seaports and commercial centres for the East African region
instead of Zanzibar and Lamu. To facilitate quick and smooth flow of goods between the
ports and the hinterland, and colonial establishment in the hinterland, railroads were proposed
between the ports and their hinterland. By the turn of the 19th century railroads stretching
from Dar es Salaam to Lake Tanganyika and from Mombasa to Kisumu on the shores of Lake
Victoria had been built.
With international trade taken over by Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, trade in Zanzibar
and Lamu shrunk, and coupled with declining commercial agriculture, it marked the end of
the post-Portuguese economic prosperity of the two former city-states. To Lamu in particular,
this turn of events was catastrophic. It stagnated physically and declined demographically as a
substantial part of its population left the town in search of greener pastures in Malindi and
Mombasa.
While most coastal towns were declining economically, Mombasa was thriving as the
capital of the British East Africa Protectorate. Its commercial sector grew rapidly attracting
many new stakeholders from Britain, India and Zanzibar. The commercial sector was further
boosted by the laying down of a telegraph line to Malindi and Lamu in 1891 and the
beginning of the construction of the railroad to Kisumu in 1895. The last decade of the 19th
century also witnessed large-scale physical development of the town. This development
constitutes most of the historical buildings in the historical town today and particularly those
along Ndia Kuu, Mbarak Hinawy Road and the Government Square, and around the Old Port.
Even after the capital was shifted to Nairobi, Mombasa continued to enjoy economic
prosperity as largest seaport in Kenya.
Perhaps the most significant economic consequence of the introduction of European
colonial rule in East Africa has been that on Swahili entrepreneurs per se. The colonial
administrations introduced new trade regulatory regimes involving licences, deposits and
other fiscal requirements that were beyond the economic capacity of most Swahili
entrepreneurs. As a result Swahili entrepreneurs lost a large part of their share in the coastal
commercial trade to Europeans and Indians who could meet the new requirements. So, even
in coastal towns like Mombasa, little of the wealth from booming commerce during the
colonial period seems to have passed to their majority Swahili inhabitants.
Coastal-Hinterland Trade and Local Consumption
As indicated earlier, coastal-hinterland trade supplied commodities to the coastal historical
towns for export. Exports that were obtained in this way were mentioned and discussed.
However, how far into the hinterland export goods were procured is still a matter for debate.
27
Whereas and as indicated earlier, some historical sources suggest that such exports, e.g. ivory,
originated as far-flung places as Zimbabwe and Mozambique, Koponen (1988) and Sheriff
(1988) give quite a different suggestion. They suggest that exported ivory and other
commodities could have originated from the immediate hinterland, about 300 km from the
coast or even from the coastal belt per se. These suggestions are based on documentary
material with very sparse archaeological evidence in their support.
Not all the commodities obtained from the hinterland or produced locally were
exported. Some were traded and consumed locally. Such commodities may have included
honey, wax, fish, rice, cloth and cattle. In fact for most export commodities, certain
percentages were used locally. For instance, not all gold was exported. Some was used locally
for coin minting, making jewellery, and decoration of mosques and palaces particularly in
Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara. Furthermore, some iron from the hinterland was reworked
to produce iron artefacts for local markets, while some timber was used for boat and building
construction.
Other Economic Activities
Another economic activity in Swahili city-states was fishing. The activity is known to have
being carried out in all Swahili city-states throughout the history of the East African coast. In
the very early Swahili settlements, fishing was probably the most important economic activity
and main source of food.
Agriculture was also practised. Records of ancient travellers suggest cultivation to
have been important agricultural activities in the coastal city-states. For instance, Ibn Batuta
in 1331 described Mombasa as being plentiful of bananas and lemon citron (Ogot, 1981).
Furthermore, Portuguese sources between the 16th and the end of the 17th centuries point out
that fruit trees, vegetables and herbs were cultivated in gardens and irrigated from wells in
Kilwa Kisiwani (Chittick, 1974: 244). Certain types of grain like millet and perhaps rice could
have been cultivated in some city-states as early as the 14th century (ibid). Commercial crops
that were introduced during the 19th century were outlined earlier.
Another agricultural activity was animal husbandry. In Kilwa Kisiwani and possibly
other Swahili city-states, it involved animal rearing of sheep, cattle, goats and chicken
(Chittick, 1974: 244). Bee keeping for honey production seems to have also been an important
agricultural activity. In some places like Kilwa Kisiwani, honey was harnessed from beehives
made from hollowed out tree-trunks and hung from trees (ibid).
Industrial production, which has also been reported as another economic activity along
the East African coast, will be discussed separately under technological conditions.
Technological Conditions
Observational results, archaeological and documentary sources suggest existence of
technological knowhow along the Eastern African coast that was capable of supporting a
thriving industrial base. The latter was characterised by textile making, coin minting,
manufacturing of metal implements and ornaments, production of building materials, building
construction and boat building. These forms of industrial production, albeit small-scale by
modern standards, were quite significant by the world standards of their time.
Textile Making
Textile making flourished in Kilwa Kisiwani and the Lamu archipelago during the 16th
century and earlier (Chittick, 1974; Sutton, 1990; Horton, 1996). Good archaeological
evidence for textile working in these areas is provided by excavated spindle whorls. The latter
are of various shapes and sizes; and made from clay, stone or drilling rubbed potsherds. There
is, however, very flimsy archaeological evidence for actual textile that was produced mainly
28
due to low durability of textile under the usually wet and dry coastal soil conditions.
Information about actual textile is therefore mainly from documentary sources. On the basis
of the latter, Kilwa Kisiwani particularly, is believed to have had large quantities of cotton
cloth, much of which could have been used for trading with the hinterland (see Chittick,
1974:240). After the 16th century, there was an increased importation of textile by the coastal
towns suggesting a possible decline of the local textile industry or production of inferior
quality product by the industry or perhaps dramatic increase in local demand for textile (ibid).
Coin Minting
Findings from archaeological excavations indicate that coin minting took place along the East
African coast from late 10th century onwards. Earliest activity took place in Kilwa Kisiwani
and the Zanzibar area and involved minting of copper coins (Horton, 1996; Sutton, 1990;
Chittick, 1974). The copper used for coin minting was probably from Zimbabwe (Sutton,
1990). Copper coins were probably used for local trading transactions although discovery of
Kilwa Kisiwani copper coins in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe suggests that they could have
been used for external trade transactions as well (see ibid).
In addition to copper coins, gold coins could have been minted in Kilwa Kisiwani
during the reign of al-Hassan ibn Sulaiman from 1320 - 1333 (Horton, 1996), using gold
accruing from Sofala and other parts of Southern Africa.
Silver coins could also have been minted in Kilwa Kisiwani and Shanga in the Lamu
archipelago (ibid; Sutton, 1990). It is likely that the silver that was used for coin minting
originated from a small silver deposit near Kilifi in Kenya, as no other pre-20th century
sources of silver in the region and sub-Saharan Africa at large has been reported. Otherwise
and as suggested elsewhere, e.g. Horton (1996), it was imported as raw metal or silver coins
obtained from elsewhere could have been melted down to provide metal for local coin
minting.
None of the coins that have been excavated in Kilwa Kisiwani, Shanga and other
places along the East African coast are of types previously known elsewhere. Their
inscriptions are in Arabic language and script reflecting the Islamic background of Swahili
society. Coins bear names of some Swahili rulers, e.g. known Ali ibn al-Hasan of Kilwa
Kisiwani, and unknown Muhamad and Abd Allah of Shanga and Ali ibn Ahmad of Mtambwe
Mkuu in Pemba (See Horton, 1996)). Inscriptions on coins display good standard of
engraving of dies in terms of particularly lettering and decoration.
Manufacturing of Metal Implements and Ornaments
Archaeological excavations at Kilwa Kisiwani and Shanga near Lamu have revealed many
remains of metal implements and ornaments (Chittick, 1974; Horton, 1996). Presence of
tuyres, crucibles and slag suggests that metals used for making the implements and
ornaments were likely worked on site.
Metal implements were mainly of iron and copper. On the one hand, iron implements
included knives, spears, hoes, clasping brackets, nails, arrowheads, chains, hooks, bolts,
pipes, scoops, axes, cannon balls, coconut scrappers and vessels. On the other hand, copper
implements were made from pure copper or alloyed copper and entailed kohl sticks, awls,
pipes, fishing hooks, vessels, wires, needles, pins, knives, bells, bindings, plaques, staples,
studs, rivets, decorative washers and nails.
Metal ornaments were mainly of copper and bronze and included bracelets, ear and
finger rings, chains that often formed parts of necklaces, pendants and bangles.
29
Production of Building Materials

Almost all the building materials used in the construction of permanent buildings in historical
towns along the East African coast were produced locally. They include coral, lime, concrete,
timber, and metal sheeting.
Coral
Coral were obtained in two varieties, namely reef coral or what is also referred to as porites
solida, and coral rag or what is also known as terrestrial coral (Garlake, 1966; Chittick, 1974;
Horton, 1996). Reef coral is a fine grained light-weight live coral. It grows in large cylindrical
balls on the sea bed from where it can be obtained. When wet, it is soft and can be moulded
into different forms and shapes, and allows for intricate decorations and inscriptions. When
dry, however, it is hard and brittle. In Kilwa Kisiwani, the Lamu archipelago and other
historical towns along the East African coasts, reef coral was obtained through under water
quarrying and shaped through a labour intensive process into rectangular blocks of about 30
cm long and 20 cm wide and deep. The blocks were used for construction of masonry. Reef
coral was also used for making voussoirs of arches, doorjambs, soak pits, roofing blocks, as
well as ornamental works in, e.g. mihrab in mosques (Chittick, 1974; Horton, 1996). While in
the Lamu archipelago and Shanga in particular, coral reef was the main building material only
in stone buildings preceding the 12th century, in Kilwa Kisiwani, it was used almost
exclusively in stone buildings throughout the towns different historical epochs.
The other variety of coral, coral rag, is fossilised coral that is found in deposits inland
from the shore. It occurs in different grades that depend on age and degree of weathering, and
is denser and harder than reef coral. Although more durable than reef coral, coral rag is
difficult to work and as such, while it can be used for masonry construction, it is unsuitable
for fine detailing in buildings. In the Lamu archipelago, coral rag became a normal building
material for masonry from the 12th century onwards. In Kilwa Kisiwani, it was used only in
very rare cases like the construction of monolithic columns in the Great Mosque (Chittick,
1974).
Lime
Lime was manufactured along the East African coast from the 11th century (Horton, 1996).
The manufacturing process entailed burning coral in kilns using mangrove poles. A Swahili
lime kiln was simple and required no permanent structure. It consisted of a bed of mangrove
poles over which coral nodules were heaped. Firing of the poles took three days after which
the resultant lime was slaked with sea water (ibid; Chittick, 1974). Similar lime kilns are still
being used along the coast today.
By the beginning of the 14th century lime had became a major building material along
the coast. It was mixed with locally derived sand to produce lime mortar that replaced mud
mortar as bonding material. Lime was also used on its own to produce lime plaster. The latter
was mainly used for rendering of walls, floors and roofs (Chittick, 1974:23).
Concrete
Concrete was produced in Kilwa Kisiwani and other parts of the East African coast from the
14th century (ibid). It consisted of coral chips or small rubble mixed with sand and lime. It
was used for construction of roofs, vaults and domes.
Timber
Timber was produced from local mangrove trees and other types of hard woods. The latter
include the earlier mentioned species, i.e. Combretum schumannii and Terminalia brevies.
Timber provided the main building material in the early years of the East African coastal
30
historical towns. Even in the later years, timber continued to be an important building material
along the coast. Mangrove poles in particular were used and are still been used as wall posts
as well as main components of roof structures.
Metal Sheeting
Copper as well as iron sheeting was made (Horton, 1996). Copper sheeting in particular was
used for binding wooden building structures. It was, however, also used for binding other
objects like wooden boxes.
Building Construction
Archaeological findings have so far revealed only one pre-14th century permanent stone
building along the East African coast, the Great Mosque at Kilwa Kisiwani. The mosque,
perhaps the first Friday mosque in the early Shirazi community was built in the late 11 th
century (Chittick, 1974; Sutton, 1990:70-71). It is probable that they could have been more
such pre-14th century stone buildings, but then, they must have been very few indeed for their
remains to have being missed by the intensive archaeological excavations that have been
taking place along the coast since the 1960s. Otherwise, the bulk of pre-14th century building
construction activity in Swahilli city-states involved construction of impermanent and perhaps
semi-permanent buildings. The latter consisted of daub-walls and were roofed with either
makuti, a type of Swahili shingle made from coconut leaves, or dried wild palm fronds
(Chittick, 1974; Horton, 1996).
The beginning of the 14th century saw the beginning of fully-fledged introduction of
permanent urban artefacts, e.g. buildings and streets in Swahili city-states. Permanent
buildings in particular, included palaces, mosques and houses. In Kilwa Kisiwani and many
other parts of the East African coast, the buildings consisted of walls constructed of random
rubble or roughly squared coral blocks cemented together by lime mortar and finished with
lime plaster. Floors were laid on over foundations of rammed coral chips and rendered with
what Chittick (1974) notes, high quality lime plaster. Roofs consisted of random stones set in
plaster mortar and laid over timber in most cases. However, in prestigious buildings, e.g.
Husuni Kubwa palace in Kilwa Kisiwani, roughly rectangular coral blocks were used instead
of random stones. Above mortar set stones, or coral blocks, thick layers of concrete of the
type mentioned earlier was poured. Upper sides of concrete surfaces were rendered with lime
plaster to make them waterproof. Technical aspects of Swahili building construction will be
discussed further under urban solids in later parts of the ongoing study.
The scale of construction of permanent urban artefacts in Swahili city-states from the
th
14 century onwards varied with the different historical epochs of the Swahili civilisation.
This variation was discussed in earlier sections of this paper. As such it will not be discussed
further.
Boat Building
Portuguese references to Swahili sea-going boats coupled with graffiti on walls of ruined
buildings provide valuable evidence of existence of technical capacity for boat building along
the East African coast (Chittick, 1974, Sutton, 1990). The most commonly referred and
engraved boat is mtepe, a type of boat that has been used in Kilwa Kisiwani and other parts of
the East African coast until the early part of the 20th century.
Inferring from engravings on walls of the ruins of the Great Mosque and Husuni
Kubwa in Kilwa Kisiwani, the historical mtepe had a curved and projecting prow. A cord with
bobble and what could have been palm fronds hung from the prow. At the base of the prow
was an oculus. The sail was rectangular and likely to have been of matting. The rudder was
31
high as in recent mtepe. However, unlike the raked stern of recent mtepe, that of historical
mtepe was vertical. The planks of historical mtepe were sewn together as in recent mtepe.
Other Industrial Activities
There was also production of terracotta and stone objects. On the one hand, terracotta objects
included spindle-whorls, lamps, burners, vessels and pot-stoppers (Chittick, 1974, Horton,
1996). On the other hand, stone objects included querns, grinders and sharpening stones.
Querns and grinders were made from sandstone, or coral rag while sharpening stones were
made from sandstone.
Concluding Remarks
This paper yields substantial information about the features and dynamics of the local
environment through which East African coastal historical towns evolved. In a later stage of
the study, this information is compared with the features of the urban spatial forms of the
historical towns to explain why the features were generated in an attempt to unveil the
meanings of the forms. The paper also sheds some light on some important issues pertaining
to the local environment of East African coastal historical towns. This latter significance of
the paper will be elaborated further as thus.
First, it provides a basis for explaining the decline and degeneration of Kilwa Kisiwani
and Songo Mnara into ruins in the 19th century. The decline of the towns took place at a time
of fairly pleasant societal conditions, indicating a likelihood of been a result of natural
environmental factors. Possible shore sedimentation, massive shore vegetation outgrowth and
perhaps decreasing sea level that were mentioned earlier could have incapacitated the citystates as ports hence cutting them off from the lucrative maritime trade on which their
economies depended. These natural environmental conditions are clearly evident in the area
today. The ruined historical towns are currently surrounded with muddy shallow coastal
waters and thick mangrove bushes. As a result, they are accessible only by very small boats
that have to anchor some distance from land. Given the slow pace of natural environmental
processes, the present natural environmental conditions could be safely backdated to the 19th
century. It would be worth examining other Swahili towns that were abandoned like Gedi,
Jumba la Mtwana, Mtwapa, etc. in the light of these factors.
Second, it confirms the view that historic Swahili people were indeed Africans. More
specifically, it shows that the African perspective about the origins of historic Swahili people
is not only supported by credible historical and archaeological evidence, but also Swahili
value orientations, life style, administrative styles, architecture and urban design.
Third, it clarifies the concepts of Swahili mtaa and clan, which have so far been used
interchangeably, though may not always represent the same meaning. A clan only reflected a
mtaa when the latter is single lineage. As such, in Swahili city-states that could only have
applied to Patrician mitaa. Otherwise in other types of mitaa, i.e. those for commoners and
refugees, clans were constituent parts of mitaa. Furthermore, multi-lineage mitaa facilitated
local involvement in city-state affairs while matters pertaining to local areas were confined to
their constituent clans.
Fourth, it suggests that construction of permanent urban artefacts that assumed
substantial scale during different historical epochs of the East African coast was a material
product that accrued from flourishing economies and not Islam per se as been purported in
some quarters. For example, it was shown that construction of permanent urban artefacts
assumed substantial scales when the coastal economies were flourishing. Furthermore, we
saw that the whole coast was islamised by the 14th and 15th centuries, and yet, it was only
Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara that observed significant construction of permanent urban
artefacts during this period.
32
Fifth, it shows that contrary to what has been suggested previously elsewhere, e.g.
Chittick (1974:245), Swahili urban civilisation did not evolve out of total intellectual and
scientific vacuum. Observed ability in Swahili city-states to produce a variety of spindle
whorls from different local materials, well engraved and decorated coins, a variety of metal
implements, permanent building materials including concrete, different types of complex
stone buildings reflects societies where competent craftsmen with variety of technical skills
were available. Given that Swahili urban civilisation spanned several centuries, the skills must
have been preserved, enriched and disseminated within and from one generation to another
through some kind of local educational mechanisms. Besides, some of the skills are still been
used today in Lamu, Zanzibar, Mombasa and other places along the East African coast.
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1

EAST AFRICAN COASTAL HISTORICAL TOWNS

Soils and Vegetation

Water and Energy Resources

A similar historical interpretation was suggested by Neville Chittick in his archaeological

The prejudicial background of the Asiatic perspective is rooted in the perception of

Production of Building Materials

Horton, M. (1996), Shanga.The Archaeology of a Muslim Trading Community on the Coast of

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