islamic archaeology in east africa: swahili archaeology

Comp. by: RJothi Stage: Galleys Chapter No.: 565 Title Name: EGADate:15/4/13 Time:14:54:47 Page Number: 1

1 I

2 Islamic Archaeology in East Africa:3 Swahili Archaeology

4Au1 Stephane Pradines

5 Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations,

6 Aga Khan University, London, UK

7 Introduction

8 At the beginning of the first millenium CE, the

9 discovery of the monsoon winds and the means to

10 use them created a nautical revolution, allowing for

11 major water crossings toward India and Ceylon.

12 Trading between East Africa and the Persian Gulf

13 intensified in the eighth century, but African rela-

14 tions with Islamic merchants were of a different

15 nature to those of earlier times, since they settled in

16 Africa, boosting urbanization. From the ninth cen-

17 tury onward, Muslim geographers Buzurg b.

18 Shahriyar and al-Mas‘udı mention regular trade

19 relations with East Africa, Zanzibar, Pemba, and

20 Sofala (Freeman-Grenville 1962: 9-17), while the

21 most famous story of a Persian navigator is of

22 course that of “Sindbad the Sailor,” who suppos-

23 edly reached the al-Qumr region, which includes

24 the Comoros Islands and northern Madagascar,

25 between 806 and 807. These sources indicate that

26 as early as the ninth century, there were major

27 shipping routes between Asia and Africa (Fig. 1).

28 The transition between the eleventh and

29 twelfth century was a period of change.

30 A number of urban East African centers devel-

31 oped at this time as did architecture in stone, used

32for public buildings, mosques, and enclosure

33walls. The Swahili city-states were established:

34Malindi and Mombasa were mentioned in 1154

35by al-Idrısı who spoke also of the island of

36Angazidja (Anjouan) and Sufala, the golden

37country. During the reign of Sulayman b.

38al-Hasan, from 1178 to 1195, Kilwa made

39a fortune from the gold trade from Sofala. For

40this period, the major chronicles of Swahili

41city-states are precious tools for the archaeolo-

42gist, the most famous being the Kilwa Chronicle

43(Freeman-Grenville 1962: 34-49).

44A new balance of power developed in the

45thirteenth century. The Swahili coast was divided

46into several independent sultanates, including

47Kilwa, Mombasa, Malindi, Pate, and Mogadishu.

48In 1212–1229, Yaqut noted the cities of

49Mogadishu, Merka, and Malindi, but not until Ibn

50Battuta’s work of 1331 do we have a precise

51description of the cities on the eastern coast

52(Freeman-Grenville 1962: 27-32). Ibn Battuta

53noted that Mombasa was large, with wooden

54mosques. Kilwa was supposedly one of the most

55beautiful towns in the world with stone houses

56covered with palm-leaf roofs or makuti; only

57certain mosques and the palace had hard flat

58roofs. From the fourteenth to fifteenth century,

59Kilwa continued to hold the monopoly for gold,

60trading gold from Yufi, situated a one-month walk

61from the coast. Sofala, a vassal of Kilwa city,

62maintained commercial relations with the Shona

63kingdom of Great Zimbabwe; the rise of Great

64Zimbabwe was intimately linked to the trading of

65gold with Islamized peoples.

C. Smith (ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2,# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013


66 Vasco da Gama discovered the route to India

67 and the East African coast in 1498. The European

68 objective was to control eastern trade markets.

69 They possessed two important technological

70 advantages that ensured their domination of the

71 Indian Ocean: the use of firearms and large, fast

72 boats, caravels. The Portuguese built some fifty

73 forts around the Indian Ocean, fromMozambique

74 to Malacca, occupying the coasts of Kenya and

75 Tanzania during the sixteenth and seventeenth

76 century. Despite founding some trading posts,

77 they quickly abandoned any attempt at political

78 hegemony and were content keeping control of

79 the sea routes. At the end of the seventeenth

80 century, the area saw significant conflict

81 involving Portuguese and Omani forces. After

82 the fall of Mombasa, the Imam of Oman sent

83 governors and garrisons to large cities such as

84 Pate, Lamu, Mombasa, Zanzibar, and Kilwa.

85 In 1828, an Omani garrison was installed at

86 Fort Jesus, and the Sultanate of Zanzibar

87 was founded.

88 The Sultanate of Zanzibar required a lot of

89 slaves to maintain its clove plantations, the main

90 export product. Large caravans were organized

91 by the Omanis who destroyed the indigenous

92 populations’ economy and introduced firearms

93 in exchange for slaves and ivory. These slave

94 caravans were funded by wealthy Indian mer-

95 chants, the banians. But the commercial force

96 of the Sultanate of Zanzibar was also its weak-

97 ness, its plundering economy being based solely

98 on slavery and the export of tropical products

99 such as ivory and cloves, the limited number of

100 these products increasing the precariousness of

101 the economic system. The direct slave trade

102 brought about important social changes, with

103 Swahilis using landward populations rather than

104 venturing beyond the coastline. For the first time

105 in the history of East Africa, Islam took root in

106 the interior lands of Kenya and Tanzania, right up

107 to the Great Lakes region. In 1876, the movement

108 of slaves toward the coast was strictly prohibited.

109 The prohibition of the slave trade and the

110 development of steam navigation eventually

111 destroyed the supremacy of the Omani fleet.

112 The opening of the Suez Canal imposed one last

113 blow on the Sultanate causing it to lose its

114primary markets. The last sultan, Sa‘ıd Barghash,

115died in 1888, and Zanzibar became a British

116protectorate on 1 July 1890.

117Definition

118One Territory, One Population, One Religion

119Wa-swahili, or “shore people,” designates the

120inhabitants of the East African coastline and

121signifies above all a culture with a common

122language, Kiswahili, and the same religion,

123Islam. Arab-Persian geographers referred to the

124inhabitants of the East African coast as the Zanj.

125The Portuguese also noticed a difference between

126continental Africans and the people of the coast,

127who in light of their religion and customs they

128equated with “Moors” or “Kaffirs.” It was at the

129beginning of the nineteenth century that the first

130use of the term “Swahili” appeared, with settlers

131trying to classify and differentiate the different

132populations of Africa. The Swahilis have defined

133themselves as such since the colonial period but

134differentiate between themselves according to

135their region, island, or town of origin. Despite

136some common ground, Swahili identity remains

137multiple, incorporating populations of diverse

138background, both Cushitic and Bantu.

139Swahili culture extends from Mogadishu in

140Somalia, through Kenya, Tanzania, north

141Madagascar, and Comoros, to the bay of Sofala

142in Mozambique. As well as religion and

143language, these coastal populations share the

144same social organization and architecture. More

145than 450 Swahili archaeological sites have been

146registered spread over 3,000 km of the coastline

147(Pradines 2004: 18-20). The lifestyles on the east

148coast, Comoros, and Madagascar were homoge-

149nous due to the dissemination of new ideas and

150techniques by maritime travellers. Swahili

151culture reflects neither a specific ethnic group

152nor a particular nationality.

153The Swahili civilization stands at the

154periphery of the Muslim and African worlds,

155resulting in the development of a unique coastal

156culture based on trade. In fact, its marginal

157position is linked to our vision of the Indian

158Ocean, which separates Africa, Arabia, and

I 2 Islamic Archaeology in East Africa: Swahili Archaeology


159 Asia. But the ocean also provides a connection

160 between these very different cultures: the

161 Swahilis are thus dynamic players, equal to

162 Arab, Persian, and Indian traders. Swahili

163 archaeology is at the crossroads of Islamic

164 archaeology and African archaeology.

165 Historical Background

166 The explorers of the late nineteenth century were

167 the precursors for current multidisciplinary

168 research. In 1856, Charles Guillain wrote the

169 first historical report on the east coast of Africa,

170 while R. Brenner visited sites in the archipelago

171 of Lamu, Mambrui, andMalindi in 1868. Richard

172 Burton mentioned ruins in Zanzibar and Tangan-

173 yika in 1872. But it was Georges Revoil who

174 carried out the first archaeological research,

175 digging several trenches in Mogadishu in 1882.

176 He published several books and articles on

177 Somalia and northern Kenya, notably his travel

178 accounts in Le Tour du Monde (1885, 1888).

179 Revoil’s contribution is not only material and

180 textual: he produced many sketches and

181 photographs. These iconographic documents are

182 very important for archaeology, because they

183 show buildings that today have disappeared or

184 fallen into ruin. Photographs were also taken by

185 Sir John Kirk who visited Gedi and Lamu in

186 1897. Captain J. Stigand published photographs

187 of Lamu, Takwa, and Pate in 1913. F. B. Pearce

188 initiated the first research into Zanzibar and

189 Pemba in 1920; he was followed by W. H.

190 Ingrams in 1931 and L. Buchannan 1 year later.

191 The ruins of Kilwa were declared heritage-listed

192 monuments and were restored by a German team

193 in 1935. The prewar period was thus character-

194 ized by a rising awareness of the historical value

195 of Swahili archaeological sites.

196 The first archaeological dig on a medieval

197 Swahili site can be traced to 1948. A disciple of

198 Mortimer Wheeler, James Kirkman, was sent to

199 Kenya to excavate and develop the Gedi site.

200 Wild stories had been circulating about this lost

201 city, which was believed to be the work of

202 Phoenicians or Egyptians stranded on the African

203 coast. The excavations lasted 10 years, until

2041958, and the results were published in 1954

205and 1963. Kirkman also investigated two other

206major sites, the city of Ungwana in the bay of

207Formose and the fort of Jesus de Mombasa

208(Kirkman 1966, 1974). The museum of Fort

209Jesus opened to the public in 1960 and was

210managed by Kirkman until 1972. As early as

2111948, Kirkman founded the Coastal Archaeology

212Unit of the National Museums of Kenya. This

213department was originally based in Lamu but

214was transferred to Fort Jesus. It currently

215occupies offices in the former courthouse of

216East Africa, in Mombasa. The role of this

217department is to record, monitor, and protect

218more than 120 historical and archaeological

219sites along the coast of Kenya, its researchers

220conducting rescue and research operations on

221endangered sites. Kirkman made numerous exca-

222vations and topographical surveys in Takwa,

223Kilepwa, Kioni, Mnarani of Kilifi, Jumba la

224Mtwana, Kinuni, and even at Ras Mkumbuu on

225the island of Pemba. The 1950s were also marked

226by archaeological surveys conducted by

227Mortimer Wheeler and Gervase Mathew at

228Kilwa and at Songo Mnara. In 1964, James

229Kirkman published Men and Monuments on the

230East African Coast. Significantly, he refused to

231attribute the invention and use of coral limestone

232architecture to the people of Africa, preferring to

233see it as the result of Arab or Persian colonies.

234Only foreigners could be the cause of urbaniza-

235tion, according to Kirkman; towns were

236established as Arab trading posts, not as

237African cities.

238A second important figure in Swahili archae-

239ology, Neville Chittick, became the director of

240the British Institute in Eastern Africa in 1962.

241This institute, founded in 1960, had as its

242principal goal the promotion of archaeological

243research in East Africa. Chittick was particularly

244interested in the medieval cities on the Kenyan

245and Tanzanian coasts. During the 1960s and

2461970s, he undertook two major excavations: one

247in Kilwa in south Tanzania and the other in

248Manda in North Kenya (Chittick 1974, 1984).

249Chittick also initiated excavations in Songo

250Mnara, in Kisimani on the island of Mafia, in

251Pate in the Lamu archipelago, explorations in

Islamic Archaeology in East Africa: Swahili Archaeology 3 I


252 Somalia, and surveys in Mogadishu. Problems

253 with Neville Chittick’s work comprise his lack

254 of interest in the successive ancient occupations

255 of Kilwa and the classification of African pottery

256 as a homogeneous group called “cooking pots.”

257 This attitude sprang from previous research; even

258 today, the cities of the African coast are studied

259 primarily through their imported material

260 and monumental architecture, with African

261 contributions being minimized or ignored.

262 In 1966, the work of Peter Garlake, The Early

263 Islamic Architecture of the East African Coast,264 was published and is considered a milestone in

265 the study of Swahili architecture. Garlake created

266 a systematic inventory of all the ruins on the

267 Tanzanian, Kenyan, and Somali coasts. He

268 analyzed the evolution of local Swahili architec-

269 ture and integrated it into the wider Islamic

270 world. In the 1970s, Thomas Wilson identified

271 450 to 500 stone establishments extending from

272 Warsheikh to the north of Mogadishu, to the bay

273 of Sofala in Mozambique. Wilson’s work

274 arguably initiated reflection on the articulation

275 of Swahili territories (1978, 1980).

276 In a 1962 publication, Freeman-Greville

277 conceded that Swahili towns could be of African

278 origin. In 1974, James de Vere Allen affirmed the

279 African origin of the Swahili town in his presen-

280 tation, “Town and Country in Swahili Culture,”

281 during the Leo Frobenius symposium in Cologne.

282 In a 1981 article, he argued that Swahili urbani-

283 zation and culture were the exclusive preserve of

284 Africans. Unfortunately, this research on

285 “africanity” resulted in aberrations during the

286 1980s. The posthumous work of James de Vere

287 Allen mentions the presence of an African state in

288 the ninth century, the great Shungwaya. Allen

289 argued that this state, located in what is now

290 southern Somalia, consisted of Cushitic-speaking

291 peoples who later dispersed in order to found the

292 Swahili towns. This afrocentrist vision was pure

293 fantasy, not based on any archaeological or

294 historical evidence. More moderate views were

295 presented in the General History of Africa

296 published by UNESCO; for example, Henri

297 Mutoro declared: “The material forms assumed

298 by Swahili culture present no analogy with Arab

299 or Persian civilizations. There is no exact

300correlation between Swahili stone constructions

301and Middle Eastern, Arabic and Persian architec-

302ture, which leads one to suppose that it drew its

303inspiration from the latter” (Masao & Mutoro

3041990: 645).

305After the colonialist vision of Arab-Persian

306trading posts, Europeans andAfricans both became

307engaged in the elaboration of a new ideological

308construct, the Africanization of Swahili cities,

309a theory supported by the myth of Shungwaya.

310Current thinking is that there is no Arab or African

311culture, but rather a Swahili culture, which is truly

312hybrid; scholars thus moved away from

313nationalist or propagationistic debates. In the

3141970s, Pierre Verin initiated archaeological

315research in the north of Madagascar (1975). His

316team, engaged too with the study of the Comoros,

317included Claude Allibert who continued

318the research started by Henry Wright in the

3191980s (Wright 1984).

320In 1980, Mark Horton undertook excavations

321in Shanga, in the Lamu archipelago (1996). Six

322field excavations, held between 1980 and 1988,

323clarified the Islamization of this coastal area.

324Horton was the first archaeologist to focus on

325the early phases of coastal sites, in keeping with

326Africanist views and bearing in mind the

327historical continuity linking the Islamized

328populations to the cities of the first millennium

329CE. In 1986, Paul Sinclair launched a project

330looking at the urbanization of East Africa and in

331particular of Mozambique. This project united

332institutions in Botswana, the Comoros, Kenya,

333Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia,

334Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Zanzibar, strengthen-

335ing archaeological research in these developing

336countries and collecting and publishing the

337results of excavations carried out by local

338researchers (Sinclair et al. 1993). Major African

339archaeologists emerged in the early 1990s,

340including George Abungu in Kenya, Felix

341Chami in Tanzania, Ricardo Duarte in

342Mozambique, and Ahmed Jama in Somalia,

343who work on coastal sites in East Africa

344with complete scientific autonomy (Duarte

3451993; Jama 1996).



346 Key Issues/Current Debates

347 The Swahili Mosque: Architecture and Islamic

348 Expression in Sub-Saharan Africa

349 The origins of Islam and the first Swahili

350 mosques in East Africa are evidenced by the

351 results of Mark Horton’s excavations in Shanga

352 (Lamu, Kenya) and the author’s own research in

353 Gedi (Kenya), in SongoMnara, and Sanje ya Kati

354 (Kilwa, Tanzania) (Horton 1996; Pradines 2009)

355 (Figs. 2 and 3). Swahili mosques have a rectangu-

356 lar prayer hall flanked by narrow lateral wings

357 usually comprising one-third of the width of the

358 central hall. These mosques do not have a minaret

359 and are bordered by a small courtyard where

360 ablutions are practiced. Some mosques comprise

361 a central row of pillars, facing the mihrab. The

362 niche of the mihrab is in the form of a square, not

363 integrated into the wall but jutting outside the

364 mosque. The plans of Swahili mosques have

365 a number of similarities with their counterparts

366 in South Arabia, notably on the shores of the

367 Hadramaut and Oman. Thus, in the fifteenth

368 century, the mihrab of the Great Mosque of

369 Gedi was decorated with 13 blue and white

370 porcelain vessels inserted into the tympanum

371 and the lower side of the apse. This use of

372 ceramics as a decorative element of the qibla or

373 the mihrab is also evident in Oman in the

374 Shawadhna of Nizwa mosque, dated 1530 and

375 decorated with an inlay of cut blue and white

376 porcelain.

377 According to oral traditions in many Swahili

378 cities, the first stone mosques were associated

379 with the Shirazis. The so-called Shirazi mosques,

380 of eleventh- to twelfth-century date, seem to have

381 had consistent proportions; thus in Gedi, the first

382 mosque was c. 10 by 7 m. In Tanzania, the great

383 mosque of Kilwa was erected between 1131 and

384 1170 (Freeman-Grenville 1962: 34-38). Its initial

385 rectangular plan does not differ from the model

386 previously described, measuring 11.8 by 7.8 m.

387 Also in the Bay of Kilwa, the Island of Sanje ya

388 Kati houses a large mosque founded in the second

389 half of the eleventh century; with its lateral

390 wings, the mosque measures 10.21 by 9.46 m.

391 The Shanga mosque, the final construction phase

392 of which dated from the fourteenth century, may

393have been founded earlier. What is certain is that

394a mosque was constructed in Shanga between

3951015 and 1035, decorated with blocks of sea

396coral. The eleventh-century building forms

397a rectangle measuring 11.22 by 7.21 m. During

398archaeological excavations at Tumbatu (Island of

399Zanzibar), Catherine Clark and Mark Horton

400unearthed the foundations of a Friday mosque

401from the twelfth century.

402It was during the eleventh century that Swahili

403builders adopted coral to construct their mosques.

404This material was used for walls until the twelfth

405century. Its extraction was not easy, and it was

406thus used for fine sculptures around the mihrab.

407The sea coral was replaced by limestone coral

408from the thirteenth century. This fossil rock

409forms the geological substratum of the entire

410eastern coast. The blocks were taken from

411open-air quarries, not far from the construction

412site. The first buildings were assembled using

413coral stones cut in rectangular blocks and set in

414lime mortar. At the end of the fourteenth century,

415stone mosques became widespread and eventu-

416ally reached large dimensions, such as that in

417Gedi, 26 m long. From this period, the walls of

418the buildings were erected using a formwork of

419irregular stones embedded in lime mortar.

420The Islamization of the African coasts was

421connected with Shi‘ite communities from the

422Persian Gulf, and the oldest-known Swahili

423mihrab is indicative of these transoceanic influ-

424ences. The mihrab of Kizimkazi on the island of

425Zanzibar is decorated with a passage from the

426Qur’an and bears the date 1107 (Flury 1922).

427The niche is decorated with floral kufic inscrip-

428tions along the capitals and within the apse. The

429islands of Bahrain and Zanzibar share this

430particular type of mihrab (Kervran 1990: 31,

43148). In Bahrain, the Suq al-Khamis Mosque has

432a floral kufic inscription with a shi‘a inscription

433mentioning the Twelver imams.

434International Perspectives

435Ports and Maritime Trade

436Archaeological research on the Swahili is linked

437to navigation and trade in the Indian Ocean.



438 Mogadishu, in Somalia, formed the northern

439 boundary of the Swahili cultural area. The stretch

440 of coast between this city and the Lamu archipel-

441 ago is nicknamed the benadir, an Arabic-Persian

442 word meaning “the coast of ports.” The southern

443 boundary of Swahili culture is the Bay of Sofala

444 in today’s Mozambique. It is within this area that

445 Muslim traders came to search for gold. In the

446 medieval era, Arab geographers divided the

447 African coast into four regions: sailors first

448 reached the land of the barbarians or Bilad al-

449 Barbar; next, they arrived at the land of Zanj or

450 Bilad al-Zanj, situated between the Somali river

451 Shebele and the island of Zanzibar; then, they

452 arrived at the land of Sofala, Bilad al-Sufala,453 a zone between the mouths of the Zambezi and

454 Limpopo rivers, also called Sofala the Golden or

455 Sufala al-dhahab; and finally a number of sailors

456 went all the way to the mysterious land of

457 Wak-wak, the large island of Madagascar. Long-

458 distance trade is thus at the center of Swahili

459 culture. Coastal cities formed an interface

460 between the African highlands and the merchants

461 of the Indian Ocean.

462 East Africa exported mostly raw materials;

463 these commercial products are mostly invisible

464 to archaeologists, comprising organic materials

465 such as ivory, skins, cloth, or wood. One of the

466 most prized products was ivory. Tusks were

467 generally sold raw throughout the cities of

468 Vumba, Mombasa, Malindi, Lamu, and Pate.

469 The polishing of ivory occurred in the importing

470 countries, for example, in Fatimid Cairo. In addi-

471 tion to income earned from trade and fishing,

472 Swahili urban elites owned plantations enabling

473 them to meet their needs. Populations from the

474 coastal hinterland provided other agricultural

475 products, from hunting or gathering. Various

476 Swahili agricultural products were exported,

477 such as coconut and rice. Archives from the

478 customs of Aden, dating from the fifteenth

479 century, mention imported rice from Kilwa, but

480 Neville Chittick argued that rice was only

481 transited via Kilwa and actually came from

482 Madagascar. Cloves were introduced in Zanzibar

483 in 1818 by Sultan Sa‘ıd and became the principal

484 export of Pemba and Zanzibar. Mangrove timber

485 was exported in large quantities to countries in

486the Persian Gulf, under the Arabic name of saj or487mwangati in Kiswahili. The Swahilis also traded

488woodwork, such as doors or sculptured

489pediments, to Oman and Kuwait.

490Al-Idrısı speaks of several large iron-mining

491centers located between Malindi and Mombasa.

492Iron might have been the primary source of

493income for this region, and India may have

494imported large quantities of the metal to make

495steel weapons (Freeman-Grenville 1962: 19-20).

496The author’s research in Gedi confirmed that iron

497production was very important in levels dating

498from the twelfth to thirteenth century. According

499to Muktahar ibn Tahir al-Maqdisı, the Zanj coun-

500try provided the Arabs with a lot of gold in the

501tenth century. The profits from trade played

502a significant role in the prosperity of the kingdom

503of Great Zimbabwe which operated many mines.

504The mined gold was sent to Sofala, a vassal local-

505ity in Kilwa Kisiwani from the twelfth century.

506The gold was redistributed by Kilwa, which thus

507held a monopoly until the fifteenth century. In

5081501, Cabral boarded and searched two boats in

509Kilwa filled with gold (Freeman-Grenville 1962:

51059-60). The “yellow metal” became the main

511African product of interest to the Portugese who

512later settled in Mozambique in the hinterland of

513Sofala (Horton 1996: 383). African gold, but also

514rock crystal, were raw materials that were in high

515demand under the Fatimids. Elements of rock

516crystal were found at several sites on the Swahili

517coast, in Gomani on the island of Tumbatu, in

518Gedi, Manda, and Shanga. This mineral is foreign

519to coastal areas and came from the Kerio Valley

520and the Rift Valley.

521The trade in humans was another aspect prized

522in Arab countries. Before the fifteenth century,

523most slaves came from Kenya and from the Horn

524of Africa, where the ports of Zeyla and Berbera

525were reputed for this merchandise. Few Portu-

526guese texts concern the sale and export of slaves

527between the sixteenth and seventeenth century.

528Yet Ibn Battuta recounts that the holy war against

529Kilwa infidels was undertaken primarily to find

530slaves, more likely to represent trading on

531a commercial than a domestic level. The quantity

532of slaves exported to the Persian Gulf must have

533been considerable because a reported 500,000



534 outraged Zanj attacked al-Basra in 869 and

535 retreated to al-Mukhtara in lower Iraq, where

536 they were defeated in 883. The quest for slaves

537 had begun under the Sassanids in the fifth century

538 and became industrial in scale in the nineteenth

539 century under the Sultanate of Zanzibar. Slave

540 traders collected slaves in the ports of Masselage

541 in western Madagascar, in the archipelago of

542 Kerimba in Mozambique, Kilwa Kisiwani, or in

543 Zanzibar. The dhows then returned through Pate

544 all the way to Jeddah and Mocha in the Red Sea.

545 Some slaves were shipped back to Turkey,

546 Muscat, Sur, and to the Sindh. The French islands

547 of Bourbon and Mascarene (Mauritius and

548 Reunion) exchanged many slaves for firearms

549 especially between 1775 and 1804. Following

550 the British ban on this trade, the Omani slave

551 ships took refuge under the French flag from

552 1873 to 1891.

553 Swahili communities imported a lot of goods

554 from the Persian Gulf. In the middle of the ninth

555 century, the port of Siraf became a major trading

556 center with East Africa. Al-Masudı notes that

557 vessels from Siraf left for Sofala and Waq-Waq

558 (Madagascar). From the thirteenth to the fifteenth

559 century, Africa was connected to other centers, in

560 Yemen with Aden and in India with the Gujarat

561 and the Deccan. This trade continued after the

562 Portuguese intrusion. Finally during the nine-

563 teenth century, trade was largely controlled by

564 Oman. The Swahili imported a lot of

565 manufactured products, including Islamic and

566 Chinese ceramics, glass, metalwork, and even

567 carved stones for their mosques and cemeteries

568 (Pradines 2010: 221-237) (Fig. 4). The study of

569 these imports, in particular the ceramics, allows

570 us to draw a new history of the Swahili coast and

571 its contacts with other cultures of the Indian

572 Ocean world.

573 Future Directions

574 Urbanization and the Genesis of the Swahili

575 House

576 The majority of Swahili towns were allegedly

577 founded between the tenth and twelfth centuries.

578 The first stone buildings date to the tenth century

579in Shanga and to the end of the eleventh century

580in Kilwa and Gedi (Horton 1996; Pradines 2010:

58127). The growth of the population in the four-

582teenth century created demographic pressure,

583which led to the abandonment of some sites and

584the creation of new towns. From the fifteenth

585century onward, Swahili towns were surrounded

586by stone walls, as notably at the Kenyan sites

587of Pate, Ungwana, and Gedi (Pradines 2004:

588328-334).

589These urban fortifications gave the developing

590political power some security and reinforced the

591distinction between town and country. The

592emergence of domestic architecture in stone

593differentiated from traditional African houses

594symbolized hierarchy among the Swahili

595community. Only rich merchants and individuals

596from powerful lineages could live in stone

597houses. This change in habitation is confirmed

598by observations at Gedi where architecture

599profoundly altered at the beginning of the

600fifteenth century.

601The restructuring of the cities on the east coast

602is related to the apex of Swahili trade. This

603widespread phenomenon has been observed

604from the Lamu archipelago, to northern Kenya

605and all the way to Kilwa in southern Tanzania. In

606the sixteenth century, many Swahili ports were

607abandoned by commercial traffic because of the

608Portuguese intrusion in the Indian Ocean.

609The towns were then protected by forts, such as

610the Portuguese fort ofMombasa or the Omani fort

611of Kilwa. From the eighteenth century, the Omani

612presence led to a renaissance in Swahili architec-

613ture and urbanism. The towns gained height with

614multistorey buildings.

615The genesis of the Swahili house is still

616subject to discussion, between supporters of

617a local evolution, including Mark Horton and

618John Middleton (Horton & Middleton 2000:

619119), and those favoring exogenous influences,

620including Linda Donley-Reid, Abdul Sheriff, and

621the current author (Donley-Reid 1990: 114-126;

622Sheriff 2002: 76; Pradines 2004: 111-112). This

623new technology was first reserved for mosques

624and palaces, before becoming more widespread,

625being used for a group of large private houses in

626the fourteenth century. Stone buildings became



627 emblematic of the power of the wa-ungwana628 patricians/nobility and represented the very

629 notion of the Swahili city (Fig. 5).

630 Mark Horton has argued for continuity in the

631 evolution of Swahili houses, from traditional

632 earth-built dwellings to large houses in stone, in

633 terms of consistent traits in the plans of the

634 buildings and in the use of space. Unfortunately,

635 examples prior to the fourteenth century are

636 virtually nonexistent. A further problem is the

637 existence of very similar architecture in Yemen,

638 the occupation of which by Indian merchants is

639 confirmed by historical sources. Horton also

640 asserts that stone architecture is a local invention

641 reinforced by Fatimid technologies from the Red

642 Sea. He cites multiple examples of architecture in

643 coral limestone in the Dahlak Islands, Er Rih,

644 Aydhab, and Suakin. However, this technology

645 was not only found on Egyptian and Sudanese

646 shores, with examples existing on the coast of the

647 Hadramaut and in the Persian Gulf, in Bahrain,

648 and in Qatar where coral blocks are called hagar

649 al-bahr, or “stones of the sea.”

650 It is more likely that domestic Swahili

651 architecture from the fifteenth century was

652 strongly influenced by Indo-Persian cultures

653 between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

654 Two elements reflect the role of India in the

655 genesis of Swahili habitations: the division of

656 space into narrow, parallel rooms and the use of

657 niches for wall ornamentation. Linda

658 Donley-Reid has identified three types of Indian

659 house, which are very similar to Swahili habita-

660 tions. The southern region of Gujarat, fromMum-

661 bai to Broach, exhibits houses with two or three

662 parallel rooms and a lateral circulation zone.

663 Women live at the back of the building, which

664 has an exit separate from the main entry situated

665 in the facade. Houses to the north of Gujarat,

666 from Broach to Cambay, have three parallel

667 rooms with a central passage. There is no door

668 at the back, and the walls are decorated with

669 niches in a style very close to that found in Lamu.

670 In Gedi, the plans of the houses in the

671 northeastern area are very significant: they

672 present narrow, elongated rooms, all parallel

673 except for one forming a side corridor. Some

674 rooms have symmetrically arranged niches in

675the walls. As just noted, the room layout and

676the wall decorations are characteristic of

677Gujurati homes. Domestic units in Shanga had

678niches during the fourteenth century (Horton &

679Middleton 2000: 118). These cavities were

680organized in a symmetrical fashion, with

681a balancing of space still found in Swahili houses

682today. From this, we infer that the organization of

683central secluded rooms (ndani) and of niches in

684modern, traditional Swahili homes dates back to

685the fourteenth century. The origin of this form of

686niche comes from Gujurat and not from the Afri-

687can coast, as ornamentation with niches is found

688in Zabid and Mocha in Yemen, towns strongly

689influenced by Indian architecture from Surat.

690Niches found inside homes in Gujurat and

691Kutch obey a certain harmony, a regularity of

692space. This balance is based on symmetry of

693architectural elements. The plaster niches in

694Indian Bohras’ houses are like miniature

695mihrabs; the alcoves, called gokala, are often

696associated with magical squares containing the

697name of Allah.

698In conclusion, it must be said that archaeolog-

699ical research on Swahili settlements is still in its

700infancy. To progress further, what is needed is

701collaboration between specialists working in

702Africa, Arabia, Persia, India, and even China.

703Cross-References

704 Au2▶Abungu, George H.O.

705▶Art History and Islamic Archaeology

706▶Ceramics as Dating Tool in Historical

707Archaeology

708▶Chami, Felix Arkard

709▶Chinese Porcelain: Late Ming (1366-1644)

710and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties

711▶Colonialism and Orientalism in Islamic

712Archaeology

713▶ Fortifications, Archaeology of

714▶ Indian Ocean Archaeology

715▶ Iran, Islamic Archaeology in

716▶ Iraq, Islamic Archaeology in

717▶Late Medieval and Early Modern Islamic

718Archaeology


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719 ▶Maritime Archaeology and Islamic

720 Archaeology

721 ▶Maritime History

722 ▶Medieval Archaeology

723 ▶Medieval Urbanism

724 ▶Nationalism and Archaeology

725 ▶ Shore/Coastal Archaeology

726 ▶Urban Archaeology

727 ▶Urban Emphasis in Islamic Archaeology

728 References

729 ALLEN, J. de V. 1981. Swahili culture and the nature of

730 East coast settlement. International Journal of African731 Historical Studies 14.2: 306-334.732 CHITTICK, N. 1974. Kilwa: an Islamic trading city on the733 East African coast. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern734 Africa.

735 - 1984.Manda: excavations at an island port on the Kenya736 coast. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa.

737 DONLEY-REID, L. 1990. A structuring structure: the Swahili

738 house, in S. Kent (ed.) New directions in archaeology:739 114-126. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

740 DUARTE, R. 1993. Northern Mozambique in the Swahili741 world: an archaeological approach (Studies in

742 African Archaeology 4). Uppsala: Central Board of

743 National Antiquities.

744 FLURY, S. 1922. The kufic inscriptions of Kizimkazi

745 Mosque, Zanzibar, 1107 A.D. Journal of the Royal746 Asiatic Society 21: 257-264.747 FREEMAN-GRENVILLE, G.S.P. 1962. The East African coast748 (select documents from the first to the earlier749 nineteenth century). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

750 GARLAKE, P. 1966. The early Islamic architecture of the751 East African coast. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern752 Africa.

753 HORTON, M. 1996. Shanga. The archaeology of a Muslim754 trading community on the coast of East Africa.755 Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa.

756 HORTON, M. & J. MIDDLETON. 2000. The Swahili. Oxford:757 Blackwell.

758 JAMA, A. 1996. The origins and development of Mogadi-759 shu AD 1000 to 1850 (Studies in African Archaeology760 12). Uppsala: Uppsala University Department of

761 Archaeology.

762KERVRAN, M. 1990. La mosquee al-Khamis a Bahrain:

763son histoire et ses inscriptions. Archeologie Islamique7641: 7-51.

765KIRKMAN, J. 1954. The Arab city of Gedi: excavations at766the Great Mosque, architecture and finds. London:767Oxford University Press.

768- 1963. Gedi, the palace. The Hague: Mouton.

769- 1964. Men and monuments on the East African coast.770London: Lutterworth Press.

771- 1966. Ungwana on the Tana. The Hague: Mouton.

772- 1974. Fort Jesus: A Portuguese fortress on the East773African coast. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

774MASAO F. & H. MUTORO. 1990. La cote d’Afrique orientale

775et les Comores, in Histoire Generale de l’Afrique7763: L’Afrique du VIIe au XIe siecle: 625-656. Paris:777UNESCO.

778PRADINES, S. 2004. Fortifications et urbanisation en779Afrique orientale (Cambridge Monographs in African

780Archaeology 58, British Archaeological Reports).

781Oxford: Archaeopress.

782- 2009. L’ıle de Sanje ya Kati (Kilwa, Tanzanie). Un

783mythe Shirazi bien reel. Azania 44 (1): 49-73.

784- 2010. Gedi, une cite portuaire swahilie. Islam medieval785en Afrique orientale (Monographies d’archeologie

786islamique). Cairo: Institut Francais d’Archeologie

787Orientale.

788REVOIL, G. 1885 & 1888. Voyage chez les Benadirs, les

789Comalis et les Bayouns, en 1882-1883, in Le Tour du790Monde: 1-80; 129-208 and 385-416.

791SHERIFF A. 2002. The spatial dichotomy of Swahili towns:

792the case of Zanzibar in the nineteenth century. Azania79337: 63-81.

794SINCLAIR, P.J.J., J.M.F. MORAIS, L. ADAMOWICZ & R.T.

795DUARTE. 1993. A perspective on archaeological

796research in Mozambique, in T. Shaw, P.J.J. Sinclair,

797B.W. Andah & A. Okpoko (ed.) The archaeology of798Africa: food, metals and towns: 409-431. London:

799Routledge.

800VERIN, P. 1975. Les Echelles Anciennes du Commerce sur801les cotes nord de Madagascar. Unpublished PhD

802dissertation, Universite de Lille III.

803WILSON, T. 1978. The monumental architecture and804archaeology, north of the Tana River. Report prepared805for National Museums of Kenya.

806- 1980. The monumental architecture and archaeology of807the central and southern Kenyan coast. Report

808prepared for National Museums of Kenya.

809WRIGHT, H. 1984. Early seafarers of the Comoro Islands:

810the Dembeni phase of the IXth-Xth centuries AD.

811Azania 19: 13-39.


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0 1000 km N

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Islamic Archaeology in East Africa: Swahili Archaeology, Fig. 1 Map of the Indian Ocean marking the locations of

the principal medieval ports

Islamic Archaeology inEast Africa: SwahiliArchaeology,Fig. 2 Excavations of the

great mosque of Gedi

(Malindi, Kenya)



Islamic Archaeology inEast Africa: SwahiliArchaeology,Fig. 3 Excavations in

front of the mihrab of the

mosque of Songo Mnara

(Kilwa Islands, Tanzania)

Islamic Archaeology inEast Africa: SwahiliArchaeology,Fig. 4 Pillar tomb of

Kunduchi with Chinese

porcelains, Tanzania



Islamic Archaeology inEast Africa: SwahiliArchaeology,Fig. 5 Survey of the stones

houses of Gedi (Malindi,

Kenya)


islamic archaeology in east africa: swahili archaeology

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