The coastal city of Mombasa
The coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya : In southeast Kenya, on the Indian Ocean, is the coastal city of Mombasa. Before Nairobi was given capital city status in 1907, it served as British East Africa’s first capital. The county of Mombasa presently has it as its capital. In Kenya, the town is referred to as “the white and blue city.” With a population of roughly 1,208,333 inhabitants as of the 2019 census, it is both the oldest city in the nation (about 900 A.D.) and second-largest after Nairobi. There are 3,528,940 people living in its metropolitan area, which is the second-largest in the nation.
Mombasa was once a major commerce hub due to its location on the Indian Ocean, and because of its strategic location, many nations have attempted to capture it. The founding of Mombasa is dated to 900 A.D. The Arab geographer al-Idrisi mentions it in 1151, indicating that it was already a thriving trading town in the 12th century. Around 1300, Mnara, the oldest stone mosque in Mombasa, was constructed. A regionally distinctive ogee arch may be found in the minaret of the 1570-built Mandhry Mosque. It served as the capital of a plantation culture that was dependent on slave labour centred on the ivory trade in the late pre-colonial era.
Mombasa played an important role in the intricate and extensive Indian Ocean commerce networks during the early modern era. At that time, its main exports included coconuts, millet, sesame, and ivory. Mombasa is now a town with a strong focus on tourism, one of the state houses, a very sizable port, and an international airport.
The History of Mombasa
Two kings, Mwana Mkisi and Shehe Mvita, are credited with creating Mombasa. The earliest lineages in Mombasa’s Thenashara Taifa (or Twelve Nations) are said to have their origins in Mwana Mkisi. Families connected to the Twelve Nations are still regarded as the city’s first occupants. A pre-Islamic queen named Mwana Mkisi built Kongowea, the first populated area on Mombasa Island. Both the city’s and the queen’s names have linguistic and spiritual ties to Central Africa. “Mkisi” is thought to be the incarnation of “ukisi,” which in kiKongo language means “the holy. “Similar to how “kongo” refers to the essence of civilizational order in central Africa, “kongowea” might be seen as the Swahili locative of “kongo.” Goodnight myths can be interpreted as a recognition of the Bantu-speaking origins of Swahili.
The first stone mosque was built on Mombasa Island by Shehe Mvitaff, who succeeded the Mwana Mkisi dynasty. Built about 1300, Mnara is the oldest stone mosque still standing in Mombasa. Shehe Mvita is regarded as a learned Muslim, which makes him more closely related to the current values of Swahili culture that people associate with Mombasa. People who live in Mombasa now are still connected to the old history associated with Mwana Mkisi and Shehe Mvita and the creation of an urban colony on Mombasa Island. The local Swahili traditions are preserved by the Thenashara Taifa (or Twelve Nations) Swahili lineages, who recount this old history today. A large portion of the earliest knowledge of Mombasa comes from Portuguese chroniclers’ writings from the 16th century.
During his journey to the Swahili Coast, the renowned Moroccan philosopher and traveller Ibn Battuta (1304–1368/1369) stopped in the region. Despite spending only one night there, he made note of the city. He claimed that the residents of Mombasa were Shafi’i Muslims, devout Christians, and upright individuals. Their mosques were expertly constructed from wood. Although the city’s precise founding date is unknown, it has a lengthy past. Mombasa was founded around 900 A.D. according to Kenyan school history books. Given that the Arab geographer al-Idrisi mentions it in his 1151 work, it must have already been a thriving trading town in the 12th century. Mnara, the earliest stone mosque in Mombasa, was constructed in 1300. The Mandhry Mosque, which was constructed in 1570, includes a minaret with an ogee arch that is unique to the area.
Mombasa was a significant hub for the trading of spices, gold, and ivory throughout the pre-modern era. It had trading ties with both China and India. These local historical events can still be related by oral historians today. The trading connections between Mombasa and the Cholas of South India are documented in Indian history. Mombasa was an important hub in the intricate and extensive Indian Ocean trade networks throughout the early modern era, and its main exports at the time included ivory, millet, sesame, and coconuts.
Caravans of ivory continued to be a significant economic driver. Through trade with other African port cities, the Persian Empire, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and China, Mombasa developed as the pre-colonial Kenya’s principal port city throughout the Middle Ages.
The Portuguese influence
The first known European to set foot in Mombasa was Vasco da Gama in 1498, who was met with hostility. The Portuguese captured the town two years later. The sultanate was renamed Mvita (in Swahili) or Manbasa (in Arabic) in 1502 after it separated from Kilwa Kisiwani. Since then, there have been several Portuguese incursions into the city: first under Francisco de Almeida in 1505, then under Afonso de Albuquerque in 1522 to put an end to the sultan’s nephew’s attempt at mutiny in Pemba and Zanzibar, and finally under Nuno da Cunha once more in 1528 after the Malindi sultan failed to pay tribute.
Mombasa and other coastal cities in Southeast Africa were effectively taken over by the Ottoman Empire in 1585 under the command of Emir Ali Bey. Malindi, though, remained devoted to Portugal. The Zimba conquered the Zambezi towns of Sena and Tete, and in 1587 they captured Kilwa, killing 3,000 people in the process. The Zimba massacred the Muslims in Mombasa, but they were stopped in Malindi by the Segeju, who spoke Bantu, and they returned home. In response, the Portuguese invaded Mombasa for a third time in 1589, and four years later they constructed Fort Jesus to rule the area.Kalonga Mzura formed a partnership with the Portuguese in 1608 and fielded 4,000 warriors to aid in the conquest of their enemy Zimba, who were commanded by chief Lundi, between Lake Malawi and the Zambezi.
Following the construction of Fort Jesus, the Portuguese placed Mombasa under the control of the Malindi royal family. Dom Jeronimo, the governor of Mombasa in 1631, massacred the Portuguese soldiers there and routed the Portuguese relief force. Dom Jeronimo left Mombasa in 1632 and went to sea as a pirate. The Portuguese established direct sovereignty over Mombasa in the next year after their return.
Omani Rule
After Fort Jesus was taken in 1698, the town was governed by the Imamate of Oman, who was a vassal of the Omani rulers on the island of Unguja, which frequently resulted in uprisings by the local population. Oman selected three governors in succession (Wali in Arabic and Liwali in Swahili)
Between December 12, 1698, and December 12, 1728, Imam Sa’if ibn Sultan was alive. Between March 12 and December 1728, Nasr ibn Abdallah al-Mazru’i: After Shaykh Rumba Mombasa was briefly placed under Portuguese dominion again by Captain-major Lvaro Caetano de Melo Castro (12 March 1728–21 September 1729), four new Omani Liwali ruled the city until 1746, when the final one declared independence.
‘Ali ibn Uthman al-Mazru’i lived from 1746 to 1755. Masud ibn Nasr al-Mazru’i lived from 1755 to 1773. Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Mazru’i lived from 1782 to 1811; Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Mazru’i (born in 1782 and died in 1814).
Abdallah ibn Ahmad al-Mazru’i lived from 1812 until his death in 1823.1823–1826: Sulayman ibn ‘Ali al-Mazru’i.Mombasa was under British protectorate rule from 9 February 1824 to 25 July 1826, which was represented by governors. In 1826, the Omani monarchy was reinstated, and seven liwalis were chosen. Said bin Sultan of Muscat and Oman formally annexed it on June 24, 1837.
British Rule
Mombasa was given up to the British East Africa Association, subsequently known as the Imperial British East Africa Company, on May 25, 1887. In 1895, the British took control of it.The Uganda Railway, whose construction began in 1896, soon established it as the sea terminus and the capital of the British East Africa Protectorate. The city’s fortunes improved after a large number of workers from British India were brought in to construct the railway. In 1898, the Sultan of Zanzibar gave the British a formal presentation of the town. Between 1887 through around 1906, Mombasa became the seat of the Kenya Colony Protectorate of Kenya. Medical professionals cautioned that the terrain was swampy and asked Sir James Hayes Sadler, then Commissioner of the East Africa Protectorate, to relocate the capital.
One of Mombasa’s most well-known landmarks, the Mombasa Tusks, was first built in 1952 to honour Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to the city by the British administration of the Kenya Colony.
