This is a timeline of Tanzanian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Tanzania and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Tanzania. See also the list of presidents of Tanzania.
Year | Date | Event |
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1.65 mya to 1.53 mya | Oldowan stone tool culture at Olduvai Gorge. [1] |
Year | Date | Event |
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3000BC | Evidence of indigenous pottery and agriculture dating as far back as this period is found in the Tanzanian coast and offshore islands. [2] |
Year | Date | Event |
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600BC | International trade goods including Graeco-Roman pottery, Syrian glass vessels, Sassanian pottery from Persia and glass beads dating to this century are found at the Rufiji River delta. [3] |
Year | Date | Event |
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100BC - 300AD | The earliest settlements in the Swahili coast appear on the archaeological record in Kwale in Kenya, Misasa in Tanzania and Ras Hafun in Somalia. [4] |
Year | Date | Event |
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~1AD - 50AD | The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, a Graeco-Roman manuscript is written. It describes the East African coast (Azania) and an established Indian Ocean Trade route [5] |
Year | Date | Event |
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100AD - 600AD | Centuries ahead of European metallurgists, the Haya people from the western shores of Lake Victoria manufacture carbon steel. [6] [7] |
Year | Date | Event |
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300AD - 1000AD | Growth of Azanian and Zanj settlements in the Swahili coast. Local industry and international trade flourish. [4] |
Year | Date | Event |
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614AD - 900AD | Starting with the first Hijrah (migration) of Prophet Muhammad's followers to Ethiopia, Islam spreads across Eastern, Northern and Western Africa. [4] [8] | |
630AD - 890AD | Archaeological evidence indicates that crucible steel is manufactured at Galu, south of Mombasa. Metallurgical analysis of iron artefacts indicates that the techniques used by the inhabitants of the Swahili coast combined techniques used in other African sites as well as those in West and South Asian sites. [4] [9] |
Year | Date | Event |
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1000AD - 1500AD | Emergence of the Swahili City States. [4] [10] | |
1000AD - 1200AD | The oldest Swahili texts in existence date to this period. They are written in old Swahili script (Swahili-Arabic alphabet) based on Arabic letters. [11] |
Year | Date | Event |
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1178 - 1195 | Suleiman Hassan (c. 1178–1195), conquers the rival nation of Sofala. |
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Year | Date | Event |
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~1331 | Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta visits Kilwa. [12] [13] |
Year | Date | Event |
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1400-1500 | The ancestors of the Iraqw are credited as the builders of the Iron Age settlement at Engaruka in Northern Tanzania. Complex irrigation systems supporting intensive agriculture supported an estimated peak population of 40,000. It is recognised as the largest abandoned system of irrigated agricultural fields and terraces in sub-Saharan Africa. [14] [15] [16] | |
1498 | 25 February | The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama is the first known European to reach the East African coast, landing at Kilimane, where he stayed for 32 days. [17] |
Year | Date | Event |
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1505 | August | Captain John Homere, part of Francisco de Almeida's fleet, captures the archipelago of Zanzibar, making it part of the Portuguese Empire. [18] |
Year | Date | Event |
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1698 | Zanzibar falls under the control of the Sultan of Oman. [18] | |
1700 | Over 100,000 slaves pass through Zanzibar as part of the Arab slave trade. |
![]() | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (January 2012) |
Year | Date | Event |
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1822 | United Kingdom signs a treaty with Sultan Seyyid Said to begin the abolition of slavery in Zanzibar. [19] | |
1840 | December | Omani Sultan Seyyid Said moves his capital to Zanzibar City. [18] [20] |
1848 | 11 May | German missionary Johannes Rebmann, accompanied by Johann Ludwig Krapf, become the first Europeans to report seeing Mount Kilimanjaro. [21] [22] |
1856 | Sultan Seyyid Said dies at sea and is succeeded by his sons Thuwaini bin Said, in Muscat and Oman and Majid bin Said, in Zanzibar. [23] | |
1857 | 26 June | British explorers Richard Burton and John Speke travel from Zanzibar to the East African coast and begin their exploration of continental East Africa. [24] |
1858 | 13 February | Burton and Speke reach Lake Tanganyika, the first known Europeans to do so. [24] |
1861 | 2 April | Zanzibar and Oman are split into two separate principalities with Majid bin Said becoming the first Sultan of Zanzibar. [25] |
1873 | Zanzibari Sultan Barghash bin Said stops the export of slaves over the sea. [26] | |
1876 | Barghash bin Said closes Zanzibar's slave market. [26] | |
1884 | 28 March | The Society for German Colonization is formed by Karl Peters in order to acquire German colonial territories in overseas countries. Peters signs treaties with several native chieftains on the mainland opposite Zanzibar. [27] |
1885 | 3 March | The German government announces its intention to establish a protectorate in East Africa. |
2 April | The German East Africa Company is formed by Karl Peters to govern German East Africa. | |
1886 | 1 November | An agreement is reached between Britain and Germany designating a 10-mile (16 km) wide strip of land along the coast as being controlled by Sultan Barghash bin Said, along with Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia. The area that is to become Tanganyika is assigned to Germany while the area to become Kenya is assigned to Britain. [28] |
1888 | April | The German East Africa Company leases the coastal strip opposite Zanzibar from Sultan Khalifah bin Said for 50 years. [29] |
1890 | 1 July | The Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty makes Zanzibar and Pemba a British protectorate. [18] |
1 August | The Sultan of Zanzibar signs an anti-slavery decree. [26] | |
1896 | 27 August | The Anglo-Zanzibar War is fought between Zanzibar and the United Kingdom. It lasted approximately 38 minutes and is the shortest war in history. [C] |
1897 | 5 April | Sultan Hamoud bin Mohammed issues a decree making slavery illegal in Zanzibar. [19] [26] |
1898 | 19 July | Following years of resistance, Chief Mkwawa of the Hehe is cornered by German soldiers and commits suicide in lieu of capture. [30] |
Year | Date | Event |
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1905 | July | The Maji Maji Rebellion starts as a violent resistance to colonial rule in Tanganyika. [31] |
1907 | August | The Maji Maji Rebellion ends, leaving between 200,000 and 300,000 rebels dead. [32] [D] |
1914 | 8 August | The East African Campaign of the First World War begins. [33] |
3 November | The Battle of Tanga, the first major military engagement of the First World War, takes place. [34] (to 5 November) | |
1916 | 4 September | Dar es Salaam is occupied by troops from the United Kingdom and South Africa. [35] |
1919 | 28 June | Following the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles divides German East Africa, with the United Kingdom acquiring the largest section which it names the Tanganyika Territory. [36] |
1920 | Sir Horace Byatt is appointed the first governor of Tanganyika. [37] | |
10 January | The British mandate over Tanganyika comes into force. [38] | |
1929 | The Tanganyika African Association is founded by members of the Tanganyika Territory African Civil Service association. [39] | |
1946 | 13 December | British mandate over Tanganyika is converted to a United Nations Trusteeship. [40] |
1954 | 9 June | Germany returns the skull of Hehe chief Mkwawa (died 1898) to Tanzania and it is put on display near Iringa. [41] |
7 July | Julius Nyerere forms the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and becomes its first president. [42] [43] | |
1961 | October | The University College, Dar es Salaam is established as one of three constituent colleges of the University of East Africa, with 14 law students. [44] |
9 December | Tanganyikan independence; Julius Nyerere as Prime Minister. [45] | |
14 December | Tanganyika becomes a member of the United Nations. [46] | |
1962 | 22 January | Julius Nyerere resigns as Prime Minister and is succeeded by Rashidi Kawawa. [45] |
9 December | Tanganyika becomes a republic with Julius Nyerere as its first president. [47] | |
1963 | 16 December | Zanzibar becomes a member of the United Nations. [46] |
19 December | Zanzibar receives independence from the United Kingdom, becoming a constitutional monarchy. [48] | |
1964 | 12 January | The Zanzibar Revolution by local Africans overthrows the Sultan of Zanzibar and his primarily Arab government. Sheikh Abeid Karume becomes the first President of Zanzibar. [49] |
26 April | The Republic of Tanganyika and the Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba unite to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. [46] | |
1 November | The United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar changes its name to the United Republic of Tanzania. [46] | |
1965 | 21 September | President Nyerere is returned to power in a one-party election. [50] |
1 October | Nyerere is sworn in for his second presidential term. [51] | |
1967 | 5 February | President Nyerere issues the Arusha Declaration, outlining the principles of Ujamaa . [52] |
1969 | 24 September | The Arusha Agreement is signed between the European Union and the East African states of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. [53] |
1970 | 1 July | Tanzania's first university, the University of Dar es Salaam is founded from the split of the University of East Africa into three national universities. [44] [54] |
1971 | 1 January | The Arusha Agreement is enacted. [53] |
1972 | 7 April | Vice President Abeid Karume is assassinated in Zanzibar Town. [50] |
11 April | Aboud Jumbe becomes the second President of Zanzibar and Vice President of Tanzania. [49] | |
1976 | Archaeologist Mary Leakey and her team discover homoinid fossil footprints at Laetoli, south of the Olduvai Gorge. [55] [56] | |
1977 | 5 February | Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and Zanzibar's Afro-Shirazi Party merge to become Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). [57] |
18 April | The border between Tanzania and Kenya is closed. [58] | |
25 April | The constitution of Tanzania is adopted. [48] | |
1978 | 27 October | Ugandan forces under Idi Amin invade Tanzania, starting the Uganda–Tanzania War, also known as the Liberation War. [59] |
1979 | 11 April | Tanzanian troops capture the Ugandan capital of Kampala, heralding the end of the Uganda–Tanzania War and Amin's regime. [60] |
1983 | Tanzania's first AIDS diagnosis is made in Bukoba district, Kagera Region. [61] | |
17 November | The Tanzania–Kenya border reopens. [62] | |
1984 | 31 January | Ali Hassan Mwinyi is sworn in as the third President of Zanzibar and Vice President of Tanzania. [62] |
1985 | 5 November | Julius Nyerere retires and Ali Hassan Mwinyi becomes the second President of Tanzania. [63] Mwinyi is succeeded as vice president by Joseph Sinde Warioba. [64] |
1990 | October | Ali Hassan Mwinyi wins a single-party election with 95.5% of the vote and is sworn in for a second presidential term. [65] |
1992 | 28 May | The Civic United Front is formed. [18] |
1995 | 29 October | Tanzania holds its first multi-party election. [66] |
23 November | Benjamin Mkapa is sworn in as the third President of Tanzania. [67] | |
1973 | February | The Tanzanian parliament moves from Dar es Salaam to the new capital of Dodoma. [68] |
1998 | 7 August | The United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya are simultaneously bombed. [69] |
1999 | 14 October | Julius Nyerere dies of leukaemia in London. [52] |
30 November | The East African Community Treaty between Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda is signed in Arusha. [70] | |
2000 | 7 July | The East African Community Treaty comes into force. [70] |
29 October | Benjamin Mkapa is re-elected as President of Tanzania, with 72 percent of the vote. [71] | |
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
2001 | 28 January | Demonstrators in Zanzibar protesting the 2000 elections, clash with police and 32 people are killed. [72] |
5 July | Ali Mohamed Shein becomes Vice President of Tanzania. [48] | |
December | The government controversially decides to spend £28m on a new air traffic control system. [73] | |
2002 | 24 June | The Igandu train disaster kills more than 200 people and is Tanzania's worst train crash. [74] |
July | Mkapa's government is criticized for purchasing a £15m presidential jet shortly before reaching an agreement with the UK for £270m in aid. [75] | |
2003 | December | The Kipunji, a new species of monkey, is found in Tanzania—the first new African monkey species since 1974. It is also independently discovered in July 2004. [76] |
2005 | 14 December | General elections are held. [48] Anna Senkoro of the Progressive Party of Tanzania–Maendeleo is the first woman in Tanzania to run for president. [77] |
21 December | Jakaya Kikwete is sworn in as the fourth President of Tanzania. [78] | |
30 December | Edward Lowassa is sworn is as Prime Minister. [79] | |
2006 | 11 May | Scientists announce that the Kipunji monkey found in 2003 belongs to a new genus of African monkey—the first to be discovered since 1923. [80] |
9 August | $642m of Tanzania's debt is cancelled by the African Development Bank. [81] | |
2008 | 6 February | A parliamentary committee reports on corruption within the cabinet. [82] |
7 February | Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and two other ministers resign following the report on corruption. President Kikwete dissolves the cabinet. [83] | |
2021 | 17 March | John Magufuli, President of Tanzania, dies. [84] |
19 March | Samia Suluhu Hassan is sworn in as Tanzania's first female President. [85] |
Kenya maintains relations with various countries around the world. Its closest ties are with its fellow Swahili-speaking neighbors in the African Great Lakes region. Swahili speaking neighbours mainly include countries in the East African Community such as Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. There's also the DRC which has a significant Swahili speaking population.
Swahili, also known by its native name Kiswahili, is the native language of the Waswahili who are found along the East African coast and litoral islands. Due to concerted efforts by the government of Tanzania, Swahili is one of three official languages of the East African Community (EAC) countries, namely Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is a lingua franca of other areas in the African Great Lakes region and East and Southern Africa, including some parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mozambique, the southern tip of Somalia, and Zambia. Swahili is also one of the working languages of the African Union and of the Southern African Development Community. The number of Swahili speakers, be they native or second-language speakers, is estimated to be approximately 200 million.
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania.
The African Great Lakes nation of Tanzania dates formally from 1964, when it was formed out of the union of the much larger mainland territory of Tanganyika and the coastal archipelago of Zanzibar. The former was a colony and part of German East Africa from the 1880s to 1919’s when, under the League of Nations, it became a British mandate. It served as a British military outpost during World War II, providing financial help, munitions, and soldiers. In 1947, Tanganyika became a United Nations Trust Territory under British administration, a status it kept until its independence in 1961. The island of Zanzibar thrived as a trading hub, successively controlled by the Portuguese, the Sultanate of Oman, and then as a British protectorate by the end of the nineteenth century.
Zanzibar is an insular autonomous region of Tanzania. It is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja and Pemba Island. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre, Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.
The Makua people, also known as Makhuwa, are a Bantu ethnic group found in northern Mozambique and the southern border provinces of Tanzania such as the Mtwara Region. They are the largest ethnic group in Mozambique, and primarily concentrated in a large region to the north of the Zambezi River.
Abeid Amani Karume was the first President of Zanzibar. He obtained this title as a result of a revolution which led to the deposing of His Majesty Sir Jamshid bin Abdullah, the last reigning Sultan of Zanzibar, in January 1964. Three months later, the United Republic of Tanzania was founded, and Karume became the first Vice President of the United Republic with Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika as president of the new country. He was the father of Zanzibar's former president, Amani Abeid Karume.
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, southwestern Somalia and Northwest Madagascar. The original Swahili distinguished themselves from other Bantu peoples by self-identifying as Waungwana. In certain regions, this differentiation is even more stratified in terms of societal grouping and dialect, hinting to the historical processes by which the Swahili have coalesced over time. More recently however, Swahili identity extends to any person of African descent who speaks Swahili as their first language, is Muslim and lives in a town on the main urban centres of most of modern-day Tanzania and coastal Kenya, northern Mozambique and the Comoros, through a process of swahilization.
Popobawa, also Popo Bawa, is the name of an evil spirit or shetani, which is believed by residents of Zanzibar to have first appeared on the Tanzanian island of Pemba. In 1995, it was the focus of a major outbreak of mass hysteria or panic which spread from Pemba to Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, and across to Dar es Salaam and other urban centres on the East African coast.
Following Tanganyika's independence (1961) and unification with Zanzibar (1964), leading to the formation of the state of Tanzania, President Julius Nyerere emphasised a need to construct a national identity for the citizens of the new country. To achieve this, Nyerere provided what has been regarded by some commentators as one of the most successful cases of ethnic repression and identity transformation in Africa.
The Iraqw People are the Cushitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting the northern Tanzanian regions. They are a significant group in originating in southwestern Arusha and Manyara regions of Tanzania, near the Rift Valley. The Iraqw people settled in the southeast of Ngorongoro Crater in northern Karatu District, Arusha Region, where they remain the majority ethnic group. In Manyara region, the Iraqw are a major ethnic group in Mbulu District, Babati District and Hanang District.
Godfrey Mwakikagile is a prominent Tanzanian scholar and author specialising in African studies. He was also a news reporter for The Standard — the oldest and largest English newspaper in Tanzania and one of the three largest in East Africa.
Kinjikitile "Bokero" Ngwale was a Tanzanian spiritual medium and a leader of the 1905–1907 Maji Maji Rebellion against colonial rule in German East Africa.
Tanganyika was a colonial territory in East Africa which was administered by the United Kingdom in various guises from 1916 to 1961. It was initially administered under a military occupation regime. From 20 July 1922, it was formalised into a League of Nations mandate under British rule. From 1946, it was administered by the UK as a United Nations trust territory.
The Swahili coast is a coastal area of the Indian Ocean in East Africa inhabited by the Swahili people. It includes Dar es Salaam; Sofala ; Mombasa, Gede, Pate Island, Lamu, and Malindi ; and Kilwa. In addition, several coastal islands are included in the Swahili coast such as Zanzibar and Comoros.
Wolfgang Dourado was a former attorney general, and later Chief Justice, of Zanzibar.
The Shirazi people, also known as Mbwera, are an ethnic group inhabiting the Swahili coast and the nearby Indian ocean islands. They are particularly concentrated on the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba and Comoros.
General elections were held in Tanzania on 25 October 2015. Voters elected the president, members of Parliament, and local government councillors. By convention, the election was held on the last Sunday of October and was supervised by the National Electoral Commission (NEC). Political campaigns commenced on 22 August and ceased a day before the polling day.
This is a timeline of the History of Kenya comprising important legal and territorial changes as well as political, social, and economic events in Kenya, read more at History of Kenya.
Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in Afrika südlich der Sahara