The Swahili people comprise mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the Swahili coast, an area encompassing the Zanzibar archipelago and mainland Tanzania's seaboard, littoral Kenya, northern Mozambique, the Comoros Islands and Northwest Madagascar.
Mikindani is a historic coastal town located in Mtwara-Mikindani District of Mtwara Region in Tanzania. The name comes from the Swahili word mikinda which means "young coconut trees". Therefore, the term "Mikindani', literally means "the place where there are young coconut trees" in old Swahili language. Mikindani is part of the city of Mtwara and is governed by the Mtwara Mikindani Municipal Council. The site is a registered National Historic Site.
Swahili architecture is a term used to designate a whole range of diverse building traditions practiced or once practiced along the eastern and southeastern coasts of Africa. Rather than simple derivatives of Islamic architecture from the Arabic world, Swahili stone architecture is a distinct local product as a result of evolving social and religious traditions, environmental changes, and urban development.
Tanzania is a Christian majority nation, with Islam being the largest minority faith in the country. According to a 2020 estimate by Pew research center, Muslims represent 34.1% of the total population. The faith was introduced by merchants visiting the Swahili coast, as it became connected to a larger maritime trade network dominated by Muslims. This would lead to local conversions and assimilations of foreign Muslims, ultimately causing the eventual formation of several officially Muslim political entities in the region. However, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), 55.3% of the population is Christian, 31.5% is Muslim, 11.3% practices traditional faiths, while 1.9% of the population is non-religious or adheres to other faiths as of 2020. The ARDA estimates that most Tanzanian Muslims are Sunni, with a small Shia minority, as of 2020.
Kizimkazi - officially Kizimkazi Mkunguni, but also known as Kizimkazi Mtendeni - is a fishing village on the southern coast of Zanzibar, Tanzania, and was once a walled city. It is situated three miles southeast of the Kizimkazi Mosque. In recent years, Kizimkazi has become a major tourist attraction, as daily boat tours are organized to bring visitors off shore to watch bottlenose dolphins and swim with them.
Islam is the most prominent religion on the semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago and could be considered the Islamic center in the United Republic of Tanzania. Around 99% of the population in the islands are Muslim, with two-thirds being Sunni Muslim and a minority Ibadi, Ismaili and Twelver Shia. Islam has a long presence on the islands, with archeological findings dating back to the 10th century, and has been an intrinsic part in shaping mercantile and maritime Swahili culture in Zanzibar as well as along the East African coast.
Chambani is a historic site and village located in Mkoani District of Pemba South Region. Its one of several National Historic sites on the island of Pemba. The site is located nine kilometres south of Chake-Chake, close to several sets of ruins, notably the Pujini Ruins, a 15th-century citadel, located close to the village of Pujini, two kilometres to the north.
Dimbani - officially Kizimkazi Dimbani - is a village on the Tanzanian island of Unguja, part of Zanzibar. It is one of a pair of villages located close to the southern tip of the west coast, the other being Kizimkazi Mtendeni.
Mkama Ndume Ruins was a medieval Swahili settlement palace ruins located in Chake Chake District of Pemba South Region that was abandoned in the 16th Century prior to Portuguese arrival and is known for its fortification. The site is located 10 km (6.2 mi) east of the town of Chake-Chake. The settlement was ruled by a leader named Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman, who was known for his cruelty towards his subjects thus earned his infamous nickname Mkama Ndume meaning milker of men in old Swahili. The settlement ruins bear this nickname.
Kilwa Kivinje Historic Site is protected historic site located on Kilwa Kivinje ward in Kilwa District in Lindi Region of Tanzania's Indian Ocean coast. The site is home to medieval Swahili ruins and some surviving Swahili buildings from the late 19th century. The settlement is considered to be the refuge of the earlier inhabitants of Kilwa Kisiwani who had fled Vasco da Gama sacking of the city in 1505 and also absorbed more refugees fleeing the Madagascar pirates in 1822.
Chwaka is a medieval Swahili historic site next to the village of Chwaka located in Micheweni District of Pemba North Region, Tanzania. There is an excavated Swahili mosque on the site. The location of these ruins is 6 km (3.7 mi) from the small town of Konde, at the end of a trail that extends 900 m (3,000 ft) in the direction of the village of Tumbe on the way to the village of Myumoni.
Mtambwe Kuu or Mtambwe Mkuu is a Medieval Swahili historic site located in Chake Chake District of Pemba North Region. A town wall, a mosque, tombs, and residences are among the several stone constructions at the Mtambwe Mkuu site in northwest Pemba. The oldest indications of occupation date from the eleventh century and persisted successfully and unbrokenly until the fifteenth century. It was once again occupied in the nineteenth century. A cache of over 2,000 gold and silver coins from the 10 and eleventh centuries were found during an excavation at the location, demonstrating Pemba's Swahili involvement in the regional trade networks at the time.
Shamiani is protected historic site located inside Mkoani District of Pemba South Region in Tanzania. The site is home to partially excavated abandoned medieval Swahili ruins with a brief occupation period from about 14th to 16th century.
Msuka Mjini Ruins is protected historic site located inside Micheweni District of Pemba North Region in Tanzania. Msuka Mjini has a Swahili mosque from the fifteenth century preserved in ruins on the Kigomasha peninsula on the island. The date 816AH is carved on the interior of the circular mirhab.
Mkia wa Ng'ombe Ruins is protected historic site located inside Micheweni District of Pemba North Region in Tanzania. The settlement was established around the 15th CE and abandoned in the 16th century. There are ruins of a mosque, tombs and some stone buildings. The site is critically endangered to further erosion.
Kisimani Mafia is a national historic site located in Miburani ward in the Mafia Archipelago of Pwani Region's Mafia District. They are Mafia's oldest ruins, which are close to the district's capital of Kilindoni. The earliest strata of mosques, according to archaeologist Neville Chittick who performed excavations there in the 1950s, date from about the tenth and eleventh centuries. However, many of them have since been washed into the Mafia Channel.
Lindi Historic Town is a historic area located in the present day small city of Lindi, Lindi Municipal District of Lindi Region in Tanzania. The historic part of town covers the wards of Makonde, Ndoro, Mikundi, Mitandi and Msanjihili wards. The area has building from Swahili, Arab and German tradition reflecting the settlement's history.
Kunduchi is a Medieval Swahili National Historic Site located in Kunduchi ward, located in Kinondoni District of Dar es Salaam Region in Tanzania. There is an excavated 15th-century mosque on the site. An 18th-century cemetery with the biggest collection of pillared tombs in East Africa, situated in a baobab woodland, and embellished with Ming era's porcelain plates. The pottery discovered here demonstrates the medieval town's affluence and trading connections with imperial China.
Kua or Ruins of Kua is a Medieval Swahili, National Historic Site located in Jibondo ward of Mafia District in Pwani Region of Tanzania. The site is located on Juani Island of the Mafia Archipelago. As of 2016, the site is currently on the list of 50 at-risk cultural heritage sites in 36 countries.
Bagamoyo Historic Town or Bagamoyo Stone Town, is the historic section of Bagamoyo town in Bagamoyo District of Pwani Region. Due to its historic significance spanning centuries and empires, Old Bagamoyo is a National Historic Site of Tanzania. The settlement was first inhabited in the 8th century as a Zaramo village and then a Swahili stone settlement, satellite to Kaole. One of the most significant trading hubs on the coast of East Africa, Bagamoyo served as the last halt for ivory caravans making their way on foot from Lake Tanganyika to Zanzibar.
