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Along the southern coast of Tanzania, the
ancient ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani give themselves
slowly to the encroaching jungle and the
relentless cycles of the tide. Once the very
epicentre of Swahili culture and civilisation,
all that is left of Kilwa Kisiwani are the old
building blocks of the town -- fire baked
limestone, coral blocks, a few shattered tiles.
Nothing else remains except the lush coconuts
and old trees that give witness to habitation
here many years ago.
The ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani were once the centre
of trade along the entire East African coast and
the driving force behind the complex networks of
trade caravans and dhow expeditions that
encouraged the Swahili to thrive and prosper.
During its heyday in the 13th to 15th century,
trade with Sofala in Mozambique, India to the
east, and Arabia to the north propelled Kilwa’s
fortunes to unbelievable heights. Together with
the nearby ruins of Songo Mnara, archaeologists
and historians consider Kilwa one of the most
important sites of Swahili civilization in the
region.
The coral and limestone walls of the old mosque,
sultans’ palaces, and merchants’ houses are all
the more sumptuous in their rather dilapidated
state – fig tree roots weave in and out of old
windows and the rustle of the ocean palms never
far away. |
