#kilwa

[whencyclopedia]

Kilwa

Kilwa, an island located off the coast of East Africa in modern-day southern Tanzania, was the most southern of the major Swahili Coast trading cities that dominated goods coming into and out of Africa from and to Arabia, Persia, and India. Kilwa flourished as an independent city-state from the 12th to 15th century CE largely thanks to the great quantity of gold coming from the kingdom of Great Zimbabwe to Kilwa's southern outpost of Sofala. Kilwa boasted a huge palace complex, a large mosque, and many fine stone buildings at its peak in the 14th century CE. The arrival of the Portuguese in the early 16th century CE spelt the beginning of the end of Kilwa's independence as trade declined and merchants moved elsewhere.

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[whencyclopedes]

Zanguebar

Zanguebar, o también Costa Suajili, en la costa oriental de África es una región en la que se encontraron los nativos africanos y los árabes y acabaron creando una identidad única a partir del siglo VIII conocida como cultura suajili. Suajili es el nombre de su idioma y significa "gente de la costa". En la costa florecieron varias ciudades comerciales independiente e importantes, tales como Mombasa, Mogadiscio y Zanzíbar.

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[panafrocore]

The Great Mosque of Kilwa

The Great Mosque of Kilwa is a congregational mosque on the island of Kilwa Kisiwani, in Kilwa Masoko in Kilwa District in Lindi Region of Tanzania, Africa. It was likely founded in the tenth century, but the two major stages of construction date to the eleventh or twelfth and thirteenth century, respectively. It is one of the earliest surviving mosques on the Swahili coast and is one of the…

[edhesse]

All 13 wonders I built in The Head of Cyrus Challenge in the order they ...

[tropic-havens]

Kilwa District, Tanzania

[bookishfeylin]

Hi there! I read your post about Egypt and Cleopatra, and now I am really curious about the African Kingdoms you mentioned and was wondering if you could tell us more about them please, they sound really interesting.

Oh, there's SO much I could tell you, and there's so many African kingdoms that have been woefully understudied--and many more aside from the ones I mentioned. They all have their own rich histories, cultures, political intrigue, and it's an actual tragedy that they aren't discussed more. I'm still researching myself, so I'll just review some of my favorite things from each kingdom.

Aksumite/Axumite Empire: Located in modern-day Ethiopia, this empire existed from the 1st to 8th century CE, though its prime was from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE. The Axumites converted to Christianity of their own free will over 1,000 years before colonialism and as a result have ancient churches, some made of stone and carved from the earth itself. They also were the first African kingdom to mint their own coins, and their capital city of Axum had, at its peak, 20,000 people living in it. Also, I love the Dungur palace. Here's a reconstruction of what it looked like:

LOOK AT IT.

Source: x

Kongo: Located in central Africa around modern-day Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries. This kingdom had a rich social hierarchy, apparently had ambassadors to Europe, and some people practiced Catholicism, which led to their own branch of Christianity led by a woman named Beatriz Kimpa Vita in the 1600s who believed she had visions that informed her Jesus actually came from Kongo. Yeah.

Sources: x, x

Loango: A neighbor of Kongo, but one we know much less about due to Kongo having a long, well-documented history of interacting with Europe (see: the ambassadors), and Loango... does not. But we do know they also had a rich social hierarchy, and we have this map of their capital city.

Sources: x, x

Great Zimbabwe: From 1100- 1500, located in modern-day Zimbabwe, this was a city of the Zimbabwe empire that was either used for storing grain or as a royal residence. Either way, the ruins of said city look like this:

Here's a reconstruction:

Sources: x, x, x, x

Ghana/Mali/Songhai: These were three successive empires from West Africa, with Ghana being the first from the 7th to 13th centuries, Mali being the second from the 13th to 16th centuries, and Songhai being the last one from the 15th to 16th centuries. If you learn about a non-Egyptian African civilization at all in school, chances are it's the Ghana empire and its successive empires, and they're most famous for gold, Timbuktu (with its ancient mosques, library, and university), and Mansa Musa.

Sources: x, x, x, x, x

Ashanti/Asante Empire: Located in modern day Ghana, this kingdom lasted from the eighteenth century to the twentieth century. This kingdom is most well-known for its role in the slave trade. The Ashanti had well-built roads and architecture, and a little fun tidbit about them is that, after the introduction of guns, they actually had a minor firearms industry.

Here's their capital, Kumasi:

Source: x, x

Swahili Coastline: The coastline was made up of MANY city-states that saw their prime in the 11th to 15th centuries--including Mombasa, Zanzibar, and Kilwa--that participated in the Indian Ocean trade route, and pottery from as far away as China has been found in these cities. Many of these cities also practiced Islam and had their own mosques. Kilwa is my personal favorite:

These cities were built of stone, but Kilwa's palace, in particular, was built of coral. Its architecture led to the city being described by Ibn Battuta as one of the most beautiful in the world, which is part of why it's so fascinating to me.

Source: x, x

Of course, this barely scratches the surface. There are many more kingdoms all over the continent and a variety from ancient and pre-medieval times that deserve much more love.

And this image doesn't even cover them all!

So yes, ancient and medieval Africa deserve much more love, more research and more hype, and hopefully one day soon they'll get just that.

[tradewaiters]

For today’s episode we look at the winners of the Cartoonist Co-op 2024 Mini-Comic Awards: Fancies by Alex Cara, Marrow A.K.A. Rodney’s Law by Sloane Hong, Crossed Signals by Narrenstrich, Bottom’s Up! by Barbara Benas, and The Bird Daughters by Madeline McGrane. We’ll talk about the unique magic of minicomics, turning dreams into comics, and how to choose which bird hybrid assassins you want as your overlords.

Also mentioned in this episode: Letters to an Absent Father by Mare Odomo Pennies by Neil McCrae Snowball in Hell by Der-shing Helmer Lockdown: Tales from Aotearoa by various Lesbian Nuns: Breaking the Silence edited by Nancy Manahan & Rosemary Keefe Curb Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti The Accursed Vampire by Madeline McGrane Sunflowers by Keezy Young Smile by Raina Telgemeier Diabetes Funnies and Postmodern Minicomics by Colin Upton Shortbox Lucky Drop The Cartoonist Cooperative and Maida Kilwa by J Dalton

Music by Sleuth

You can find us at: J Dalton Jam Jeff Ellis

Our next episode will be on Roaming by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

You can also follow the TradeWaiters on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and Ko-Fi.

[hassibah]

I know that wrt the general discussion of the Congo a lot of online discourse has been about consumer boycotts but the Canadian role has been a lot more direct and specific. The majority of the world's mining companies are based in Canada and multiple have been accused of direct involvement in human rights abuses. In 2010 a Canadian company was taken to court over their complicity in atrocities in the town of Kilwa in 2004.

Miningwatch in general is a good resource for further info.

You can watch below Jesuit priest Jacques Nzumbu discussing the relationship between Canadian mining and human rights abuses. He wouldn't name the companies out of concerns for his safety

[budget-estate-spot-tz]

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[whencyclopedes]

Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta (1304-1368/69) fue un explorador marroquí de Tánger cuyas expediciones le llevaron más lejos que a cualquier otro viajero de su época y que dio como resultado su obra famosa, La rihla de Ibn Battuta. El erudito Douglas Bullis señala que “rihla” no es el título del libro, sino el género, rihla significa viaje en árabe y una rihla, literatura de viajes.

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[moneeb0930]

The five ancient coins, believed to have been minted in present-day Tanzania, date back to the 8th to 15th century AD. They were made of copper, silver, and gold and are thought to have been used as trade currency. The discovery of these coins on the remote and isolated Wessel Islands off the coast of Northern Territory in Australia has led to speculation that ancient East African traders may have reached the continent long before the arrival of Europeans.

The Kilwa Kisiwani with its ancient capital city located on the coast of present-day Tanzania in East Africa, was a powerful empire that controlled the trade of gold, ivory and other valuable goods from the African interior to the Indian Ocean.

The exact explanation for the presence of these coins remains a mystery, and further research and studies are needed to confirm their origin.

How did the five coins from distant Kilwa wind up in the isolated Wessel Islands? Was a shipwreck involved? Could it be that the Portuguese, who had looted Kilwa in 1505, reached the Australian shores with coins from East Africa in their possession? Or was it that Kilwan sailors, renowned as expert navigators all across the sea route between China and Africa, reached Australia? Did they trade with the Indigenous population? Or docked and left? Maybe some stayed.

[blueboxphenomenon]

Australia's Cryptids The Monks Are Keeping You Safe From

Down-under, there have been as many paranormal events as anywhere else. Over the years many strange things have happened there. Ned Kelly himself once spoke of strange creatures in the bush. There have also been multiple UFO sightings.

The trust territories are patrolled by the RAF, whose reports are entirely credible. A famous cryptid of the region is the yowie. Like bigfoot, it is a large hairy hominid. Kadnook is especially notorious.

A hunded or so sightings of strange lights and weird beasts have come out of there. Bunyips are one of the ones to really look out for. Of its favourite habitats is the swamp. Usually it is described as a large black seal-like animal. The Aboriginal mythology however refers more to a devil or evil spirit.

Macfarlane's interpretation of the beast is most well known, but one should refer to the Aboriginal mythology on this matter. Overall, it is universally regarded as an aquatic creature. Nowadays, the foremost cryptid of Australia is the Australian Tiger. Knowing this species is extinct makes sightings of it alive in the modern era a cryptid by the true definition of cryptozoology. Still many scientists refuse to act upon Australian Tiger sightings, so this species may be doomed to true extinction if it really is out there.

I for one believe it is. The drop-bear should not be considered a cryptid.

It is actually a joke played on tourists. So if an Australian warns you about drop-bears, remember they're just referring to the harmless koala.

Most UFO stories and cryptid sightings can be written off as drunken tales. Eureka Stockade might be a good place to search for blue box sightings. Many historical events such as this tend to attract it. Otherwise the mythology of Australia is quite unique. Read all about it. You wont regret it.

Considering how wonderful the monks are and how well they protect us, you can rest assured you will be safe exploring the outback. Really, it would be highly unlikely that an alien creature would bring you harm. I am sure any threats to human life have been dealt with by them. Melbourne's many statues of the monks are a testament to this. Everyone enjoys a life of freedom thanks to the monks.

Whether you believe in UFOs and cryptids or not, sometimes strange things do happen. It is good to ask questions, as only then can the monks guide us. Little by little, we will learn. Learn the monk's truth.

Kilwa Sultanate coins have been found in Australia. It is interesting that they should appear there as they have come all the way from East Africa. Lake Mungo, a possible home of the bunyip, is where the oldest human remains in Australia were excavated. Like, totally rad!

Unknown lights in the sky are much more interesting than cryptids, however.

Well, some reports anyway. Entirely too many of them are made up.

Koalas may be the true identity of the drop bear, but what about Burrunjor? Now unreported for 40 years, it is believed to be extinct even by cryptid standards. Often called “old three toes”, this reptilian cryptid is thoughts to be a survivor of the Cretaceous period. Will more dinosaurs show up in Australia?

The outback vampire, yara-ma-yha-who, is a sort of red goblin. He has a large head and no teeth. Even without teeth, it manages to drain its victim's blood due to vampirit suckers on its fingers. You better hope you never meet this red frog-man!

All rivers have their monsters. Really, it's not just Loch Ness! Even Hawkesbury has its lake monster.

Lake Hawkesbury is home to a plesiosaur-like monster. It was discovered in the 1800s. And it was referred to as the Moolyewonk. Ready to visit Australia yet? So many mysterious creatures to see!

[tropic-havens]

Kilwa District, Tanzania

[panafrocore]

Husuni Kubwa Palace: A Brief History of Kilwa's Magnificent Ruins

Located on the island of Kilwa Kisiwani in modern-day Tanzania, Husuni Kubwa Palace stands as a testament to the opulence and ambition of Sultan al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman during the early fourteenth century. Constructed at the peak of Kilwa’s influence as a significant sultanate in the Swahili Coast trade network, the palace was a stunning architectural feat built from jagged blocks of coral known as…

[afam24]

part 2

Sub Saharan history

*Angola*

When the Portuguese arrived in Kongo ( Angola), Mbanza Kongo was already a large town, perhaps the largest in sub-equatorial Africa, and a 1491 visitor compared its size to the Portuguese town of Évora.

Swahili

Before seeing the images of Swahili, it's important to read this important note.

From Wikipedia on Swahili People ( architecture)

Previously thought by many scholars to be essentially of Arabic or Persian style and origin, archaeological, written, linguistic, and cultural evidence instead suggests a predominantly African genesis and sustainment. This would be accompanied later by an enduring Arabic and Islamic influence in the form of trade and an exchange of ideas. Upon visiting Kilwa in 1331, the great Berber explorer Ibn Battuta was impressed by the substantial beauty that he encountered there. He describes its inhabitants as "Zanj, jet-black in colour, and with tattoo marks on their faces", and notes that "Kilwa is a very fine and substantially built town, and all its buildings are of wood" (his description of Mombasa was essentially the same). Kimaryo points out that the distinctive tattoo marks are common among the Makonde. Architecture included arches, courtyards, isolated women's quarters, the mihrab, towers, and decorative elements on the buildings themselves. Many ruins may still be observed near the southern Kenyan port of Malindi in the Gede ruins (the lost city of Gede/Gedi?)

Fine traditional architecture of the Swahili. Some of the homes are 600 or 700 years old and modern looking in the interior.

From Basil Davidson 1984 Africa series (10:00 minutes)

Ancient Nubian Homes. 

Understand that the ancient homes are no different than the modern. Same finished off look with the colorful patterns painted on the interior and outside

Interior

Sophistication of ancient Nubians Nubians over 3000 years ago with fine linens

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On a boat 3400 years ago

*Nubian Deffufa*

Kerma had structures called Deffufas. In a sence, they were sort of like early Nubian pyramids in terms of scale. The city was independently Sudanese and below the 2nd contact. Nubians aligned with Egypt were North of that. The general date is about 4000 to 5000 years ago, but some say it goes back much further due to settlements underneath

More detail on Europe' dependency on African gold in the Middle ages ( Scroll down to Portuguese-African Gold Trade

Mozambique Manyikeni is a Mozambican archaeological site

Other ruins in the southern portion of Africa are Tsindi, Khami, Dzata, Bumbusi...

Traditional South African Homes

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The people wore clothing just as colorful as the homes