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Kilwa

Type Object Region East Africa Time c. 950–1505

Kilwa (Kilwa Kisiwani) was the core city-state of Swahili civilization on the southeastern coast of Tanzania, rising around the 10th century, famed f…

Timeline

  1. c. 950–1050Kilwa Island · TanzaniaKilwa Island, with its natural harbor and monsoon routes, became a coastal settlement where Bantu farmers and Arab and Persian merchants converged, and began building mosques and houses of coral stone.
  2. c. 1100–1200Kilwa Sultanate · Swahili CoastIn the 11th–12th centuries the Kilwa Sultanate controlled coastal trade from Sofala to Zanzibar, minted coins, and collected tariffs; coral-stone buildings such as the Great Mosque marked the consolidation of the city-state's political and religious power.
  3. c. 1200–1400Kilwa · Indian Ocean trade sphereThe 13th–14th centuries were Kilwa's apogee; the palace of Husuni Kubwa, mosques, and residential quarters expanded, and the city became a gold and ivory trade center linking the Persian Gulf, India, and the East African interior.
  4. 1505Kilwa · TanzaniaIn 1505 a Portuguese fleet captured Kilwa, burning the palace and seizing trade; the city-state's hegemony ended and the site gradually fell into ruin, now preserved as archaeological remains and a World Heritage Site.

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