Kilwa (900s to 1700s), also called Quiloa or Kilwa Kisiwani, was the richest city in eastern Africa from 1000 to 1500. Today no one lives there. It is just some broken down buildings in a nearly forgotten corner of Africa.
Kilwa stood on an island on the coast of what is now south-eastern Tanzania. Then it was in the land of the Zanj. Only the old buildings remain. Even the book that once told its story, the Kilwa Chronicle, is lost (though parts of it appear elsewhere). But the society of Kilwa has lived on, becoming the pattern for Swahili-speaking Africa.
Kilwa was the first city in eastern Africa to have a domed building, the city’s great mosque. It also had its largest stone building, the palace of Husuni Kubwa with a hundred rooms.
Kilwa grew rich by trading the gold, iron and men of Africa for the riches of the east: the cloth and jewels of India, the porcelain of China and the spices of the Indies.
It was a beautiful city built of stone and coral. Ibn Battuta, the Marco Polo of the Arab world, arrived there in 1331. He was amazed by its beauty.
The people were black Muslims who spoke Swahili. But by the time the Portuguese arrived in 1500 half the people were Christians from India and Abyssinia.
The city was founded by Ali bin al Hasan. He came in the 900s on a ship from Shiraz (south-western Persia).
Kilwa was as far south as Arab traders would go. Like Timbuktu, Kilwa got rich by controlling the trade between the Arabs and its part of Africa.
Its glory days came to an end in 1500 when the Portuguese arrived. It was Cabral who first came, on the same voyage in which he discovered Brazil. Two years later Vasco da Gama arrived and asked for tribute. In 1505 Francisco de Almeida came and destroyed the city, taking it outright. He built Gereza, a fort that later became a prison.
Some years later the Portuguese lost Kilwa to the Arabs. Later it was ruled by Zanzibar. But the city never recovered: the Portuguese had taken control of trade with the east.
In the 1700s Kilwa did see something of its old wealth return by selling slaves to Brazil. But then in the early 1800s the British brought an end to even that. Kilwa died. There was no reason to go there any more.
You can still see the remains of the mosque, the Kubwa palace, the old Portuguese fort and some other buildings. They are falling apart with the wind and the rain and the years.
It is not a tourist attraction, though the curious do show up from time to time.
In 1981 UNESCO made it a World Heritage Site, one of the several hundred places in the world worth preserving – not that UNESCO has any money to save what is left of Kilwa.
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was up its me again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im learning about kilwa !!!!!!!!!! WHAT!!
in your face brianna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I hope you know that Kilwa was built by Arabs, not negro people. Sorry for you and all other afrocentrist this place was build and made into a civilization by middle easterners.
From wikipedia:
“In the 9th century it was sold to a trader Ali bin Al-Hasan and over the following centuries it grew to be a major city and trading centre along that coast, and inland as far as Zimbabwe. Trade was mainly in gold and iron from Zimbabwe, ivory and slaves from Tanzania, and textiles, jewellery, porcelain, and spices from Asia.”
So it seems that the Arabs went to Kilwa mainly for trading purposes and that trading includes the trading of black slaves, and while they where in Kilwa it seems that the Arabs more than likely enslaved many black people and many converted to Islam through Arab influence.
So that means that Kilwa is a result of Arab invasion, not negro people.
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One of my long time interests is ancient world history (pre-1000 AD and BC times) in particularly architecture.
I have found it to be so difficult trying to find information about ancient cities in Africa on the internet – I know there has to be, it just makes sense that there would be – I know that a lot of ancient African cities were either claimed by European colonists or destroyed by them.
It pisses me off because whoever destroyed these cities or fudged written history destroyed part of world history which I consider part of MY history.
Just wondering, would you be interested in writing more about ancient African built places? I am enjoying your commentaries on the human race btw
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this is the coolest
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It is always the same racist views that you people hold about Africans,even Great Zimbabwe is said to have been build by Arabs or some aliens.It is only now for the first time to live in England or Europe that am seeing how black people are perceived as nothing,.I believe in African pride Namibian by nationality,i salute my African comrades and heroes who braved to fight their freedom against oppression.
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Nice overview, but I am still skeptical of Swahili Chronicles claiming Shirazi founders…The history of the Swahili Coast is more complex and cosmpolitan. I’m not saying Shirazis, Arabs, Indians, Abyssinians, and other people from around the region haven’t settled along the vast coast or contributed to its cultural mixing, but there is evidence of local populations living at most of these major towns in pre-Islamic times, like Shanga. Mark Horton and Kusimba have done archaeological work on the Swahili Coast, and points to African founders of most of these towns, coming from the interior of East Africa. Again, not saying these peoples were isolated from the vast Indian Ocean World, but people love to claim Arabs or Persians founded all the cities or trading towns on the Swahili Coast.
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@ talibmensah
I hope to do a post on Swahili civilization in the near future. If you or others have recommended online sources, that would be great.
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@abagond
Well, Basil Davidson’s dated documentary series included an episode on the Swahili Coast. Davidson’ was a respected authority in African history, and does a better job introducing the region than Henry Louis Gates (though his series could be useful, too)
Im not sure about online sources that are free, but there must be something out there. .
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