0:00 Intro 2:30 Who is a Swahili? 4:11 How early did Arab Inhabit the Swahili Coast? 10:30 Propaganda Campaigns against Arab History in East African Coast 14:16 Using labels such as “Migrants” and “Foreigners” on Arabs 18:35 Denying Arab Identity…
Written By Abdi Mohamud Swahili Coastal region of East Africa starts from Mogadishu in southern Somalia to its northern end to Kilwa in the south of Tanzania, the Bay of Sofala in present-day Mozambique, the further, the northern tip of…
In this transcribed oral history recorded originally from a Bajuni Shaykh, we learn of a story that details the origin of many towns on the Banadir as well as the Swahili coast. Introduction The author is Shaykh Fāḍil bin ʿUmar…
He was three years old, when Otto Kerstan, a German explorer met his father, the Aboubakar ben Abdullah ben Suméit, in 1864 at Itsandra Mdjini (Ngazidja Comores). His father Aboubakar ben Sumeit is from Shiban city in Hadharmout (Yemen) and…
The Portuguese arrival in the Indian Ocean in the 1490s paved way for a power struggle in who controlled the ocean, major changes into the monopolisation of the ocean was when they came into contact with the Banadir ports. Trade…
The Omani Sultanate in Zanzibar were known to be the pinnacle players in the success of the Swahili coast of East Africa, from defeating Portugal in naval warfare and monopolising trade in the Indian Ocean, to giving jurisdictions to independent…
They traveled in the fabled dhows; white crescent sails blown by ocean winds, three hundred years ago, as soldiers of fortune, to the east coast of Africa; to build an empire for the Sultan Of Oman who had conquered their…
Sheikh Nurein ibn Ahmad Sabir Al Hatimi was a famous scholar hailing from Barawa. During his time he was appointed as Chief Qadhi of Barawa by the Sultan of Zanzibar Sayid Barghash (1870-1888). A famous story or incident that occurred…
Sheikh Umar bin Qulatayn (also spelled as Kulatein, Kulatayn, Qulatein) bin Mudhir was an Islamic scholar following the Sufi Order of Qadariyah. Coming from Barawa, he traces his lineage to Hadramaut in Yemen and belonged to the Nadhiri family. He…
Mwana Fatima Hadji Mbarawa was the grandmother of Mwana Fatima (photo) bint Said Abdallah ibn Said Bakar ibn Mwigni M’kou. The name “Mbarawa” on her surname which was associated with his father Hadji’s first name, seems to refer to the…
يحوي مسائل فقهية ولمحات تاريخية –إدريس بن بابه باحامد –هو الشيخ الفقيه عبد العزيز بن عبد الغني الأموي، المعروف بقاضي زنجبار، لم أجد من كتب عنه كثيرا وفصّل في ذكر مآثره وحياته، إلا أنه اشتهر بعلمه وتمكنه في مجال القضاء…
Written by Riadh A. AlBusaidi, April, 2018 After the 1964 Zanzibar revolution, the Sultan’s Palace was turned into a museum. I have read articles and I have seen short ‘documentary’ films talking about the origins of this palace. I would…
Below are excerpts taken from various sources and select documents determining the formation of city states and the commonalities it had based on migration, trade and language. In this instance, this article will examine the Hatimi clan and how they…
Photos collated by Yassin Juma
Djoumbe Fatima was the Queen of Mohéli in Comoros from the age of five until her death. Her reign started after the death of her father, King Ramanateka, also known as Sultan Abderahmane. Djoumbe Fatima, like the majority of people…
The very intense interactivity between the islands before colonization makes possible a common history of the Comoros archipelago:All the Sultans of Mayotte claim to be descendants of the daughter of Mtsamboro Fani who was the wife of Chirazzi (Shirazi) Othman…
This is one of the few photos available of the Comorian woman in the late nineteenth century. Accepting to take pictures in 1898 by French resident Henri Pobeguin, these two women of Moroni, Moina Darini wa Mougne Abbas (wife of…
