HISTORY OF MOMBASA

Mombasa, also known as coastal region or Pwani is the second largest city in Kenya located in Kenya’s Eastern coastline bordering the Indian.

The history of the city is a mixture African Persian Arab, Portuguese and British influences which contributed to the rich cultures found in the city today.

A photo showing Moi Avenue in Mombasa which attracts tourists
 with its elephant horns appearance. Photo by Fatma Khassim.

Mombasa is the greatest trading center with several items such as glasses ,brass, copper, and rhino horn passing through the coast was originally inhabited by the Africans Bantu people.

The main language spoken within Mombasa is Swahili as the mother tongue as it reflects the mixed origin and complex history of the Swahili people.

Most of the residence believes in myths and heroes based on Islamic sources, being a Swahili is excitable connected to being a Muslim.

An aerial oblique view of Mombasa City. Photo by Fatma Khassim.

Swahili Muslim recognized the five pillars of faith that are basic to Islamic practice worldwide;

   1. Believe in Allah as the Supreme Being.

   2. Praying five times a day.

   3. Fasting from dawn to dusk during the moth of Ramadhan.

   4. Giving charity.

   5. Making a pilgrimage hajj to the city of Mecca.

 Mombasa was thriving sophisticated city with established trade routes to china by the 15^th century and Persia. A round this time the Portuguese explorer Vasco Dagama discovered the city while on voyage around Africa to find a sea route to India.

The Fort Jesus in Mombasa was used as a barrack and a slavery house.
 Photo by Fatma Khassim. 

 After less than five years the Portuguese returned to attack the city. Five years later Almeda another Portuguese seafarer plundered the port and 23 years later they mounted another raid.

 The invaders then occupied Mombasa building the impressive Fort Jesus and dominated the entrance to the old harbor between 1593 and 1598.

By the late 1800 Mombasa became the base of exploration for British to Kenyan interior. In 1988 the Imperial British East African Company set up headquarters in Mombasa. British rule became official in 1895 when they leased a stretch of the coastal including the port city from the sultan of Zanzibar.

The British affirmed Mombasa’s importance as East Africa’s most vital port when they completed a railway in 1901 stretching from Mombasa to Uganda. Today the city remains one Africa’s major links to the rest of the world.

     

BY Fatma Khassim