Located about 300 km south of Dar es Salaam next to the Tanzanian coast, the Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani played an important role in the transoceanic Indian Ocean trade along the Swahili coast. The island of Kilwa is the site of the greatest mercantile towns on the East African coast. Dated between the 5th and 15th centuries CE, the site is regarded as a wealthy port which served as the hub of trade between the Indian Ocean and the interior of East Africa. During its height, it served as an important stopover for merchants travelling from the Middle East to the Swahili coast, including the Comoro islands and northern Madagascar, for trading purposes. Kilwa Kisiwani even minted its own currency in the 11th to 14th centuries.
In 1981, the Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara were inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List under the World Heritage Convention of Outstanding Universal Value. In 2014, the site was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger owing to the continuous deterioration and decay of the property, which has led to the collapse of the historical and archaeological structures for which it was inscribed.
Click on the images to enlarge.
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Kilwa gereza along the coast of Kilwa
© Stephanie Wynne-Jones -
Big mosque in Kilwa Kisiwani
© Stephanie Wynne-Jones -
Big audience court in Kilwa Kisiwani
© Stephanie Wynne-Jones
The Great Mosque of Kilwa Kisiwani is the oldest standing mosque on the East African coast.
Sources
1. Chittick, N.H. (1974). Kilwa: An Islamic Trading City on the East African Coast. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa
2. Horton M. C. & Clark C. M.(1985). Archaeological Survey of Zanzibar, Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa [Link]
3. Ichumbaki, E.B. and Mapunda, B.B. (2017). Challenges to the retention of the integrity of World Heritage Sites in Africa: the case of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara, Tanzania. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa [Link]
4. Sutton, J.E.G. (1998). Kilwa: a history of the ancient Swahili town with a guide to the monuments of Kilwa Kisiwani and adjacent islands. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa
5. Trimingham, J. (1975). “The Arab geographers.” In East Africa and the Orient: Cultural Syntheses in Pre-Colonial Times, edited by N.H. Chittick and R. Rotberg, 115–146. London: Holmes and Meier
6. UNESCO World Heritage. “Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara” [Link]
7. Wynne-Jones, S. (2005). “Urbanization at Kilwa, Tanzania AD 800–1400.” PhD dissertation, University of Cambridge.