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Chwaka, Pemba
Chwaka (''Magofu ya mji wa kale wa Chwaka'' in Swahili ) is a Medieval Swahili historic site next to the village of Chwaka located in Micheweni District of Pemba North Region. There is an excavated Swahili mosque on the site. The location of these ruins is 6 km from the small town of Konde, at the end of a trail that extends 900 meters in the direction of the village of Tumbe on the way to the village of Myumoni. The archaeological site is clearly marked from the road and is open to the public. On the entire island of Pemba, these ruins are among the best kept. This location has early 13th-century inscriptions. However, Harun Bin Ali, the son of Mkame Ndune of Pujini. The settlement, which covered an area of 20 hectares, featured a grand palace-fortress, banquet halls, two mosques, an ironworks, and a harbor in a nearby creek. The town was ababdonded in the 16th century. The massive mosque's walls and its gate arches are still in place today. Remains (bowls, ceramics) that we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micheweni District
Micheweni District (''Wilaya ya Micheweni'' in Swahili) is one of two administrative districts of Pemba North Region in Tanzania. The district covers an area of . The district is comparable in size to the land area of Cook Islands. The district has a water border to the east, north and west by the Indian Ocean. The district is bordered to the south by Wete District. The district seat (capital) is the town of Konde. According to the 2012 census, the district has a total population of 103,816. Administrative subdivisions Constituencies For parliamentary elections, Tanzania is divided into constituencies. As of the 2010 elections Micheweni District had four constituencies: * Konde Constituency * Mgogoni Constituency * Micheweni Constituency * Tumbe Constituency Divisions Wards Micheweni District is administratively divided into ten wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of pat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pemba North Region
Pemba North Region or North Pemba Region (''Mkoa wa Pemba Kaskazini'' in Swahili) is one of the 31 regions of Tanzania. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Saint Lucia. and the administrative region is located entirely on the island of Pemba. Pemba North Region is bordered to the north by Indian Ocean, south by Pemba South Region and the west by Pemba channel. The regional capital is Wete. According to the 2012 census, the region has a total population of 211,732. Administrative divisions Districts Pemba North Region is divided into two districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ..., each administered by a council: References Pemba Island Regions of Tanzania {{Pemba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coral Rag
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. A coral "group" is a colony of very many genetically identical polyps. Each polyp is a sac-like animal typically only a few millimeters in diameter and a few centimeters in height. A set of tentacles surround a central mouth opening. Each polyp excretes an exoskeleton near the base. Over many generations, the colony thus creates a skeleton characteristic of the species which can measure up to several meters in size. Individual colonies grow by asexual reproduction of polyps. Corals also breed sexually by spawning: polyps of the same species release gametes simultaneously overnight, often around a full moon. Fertilized eggs form planulae, a mobile early form of the coral polyp which, when m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swahili Culture
Swahili culture is the culture of the Swahili people inhabiting the Swahili coast. This littoral area encompasses Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique, as well as the adjacent islands of Zanzibar and Comoros and some parts of Malawi. They speak Swahili as their native language, which belongs to the Bantu language family. Graham Connah described Swahili culture as at least partially urban, mercantile, literate, and Islamic. Swahili culture is the product of the history of the coastal part of the African Great Lakes region. As with the Swahili language, Swahili culture has a Bantu core that has borrowed from foreign influences. History and identity The medieval sites along the Swahili coast represent a cultural tradition with diverse local traditions that can be traced to the ninth century. This has developed into the modern Swahili culture. Currently, there are 173 identified settlements that flourished along the Swahili coast and nearby Islands from the ninth to the seventeenth cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swahili Architecture
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. What is today seen as typically Swahili architecture is still very visible in the thriving urban centers of Mombasa, Lamu and Malindi in Kenya and Songo Mnara, Kilwa Kisiwani, and Zanzibar in Tanzania. The distribution of Swahili architecture and towns provides important clues about trade relationships among different regions and societal systems. Exotic ornament and design elements also connect the architecture of the Swahili coast to other Islamic port cities. Many of the classic mansions and palaces of the Swahili coast belonged to wealthy merchants and landowners, who pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islamic Architecture
Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic area historically ranging from western Africa and Europe to eastern Asia. Certain commonalities are shared by Islamic architectural styles across all these regions, but over time different regions developed their own styles according to local materials and techniques, local dynasties and patrons, different regional centers of artistic production, and sometimes different religious affiliations. Early Islamic architecture was influenced by Roman, Byzantine, Iranian, and Mesopotamian architecture and all other lands which the Early Muslim conquests conquered in the seventh and eighth centuries.: "As the Arabs did not have an architectural tradition suited to the needs of a great empire, they adopted the building methods of the defeated Sassan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swahili Language
Swahili, also known by its local name , is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent litoral islands). It is a Bantu language, though Swahili has borrowed a number of words from foreign languages, particularly Arabic, but also words from Portuguese, English and German. Around forty percent of Swahili vocabulary consists of Arabic loanwords, including the name of the language ( , a plural adjectival form of an Arabic word meaning 'of the coast'). The loanwords date from the era of contact between Arab slave traders and the Bantu inhabitants of the east coast of Africa, which was also the time period when Swahili emerged as a lingua franca in the region. The number of Swahili speakers, be they native or second-language speakers, is estimated to be approximately 200 million. Due to concerted efforts by the government of Tanzania, Swahili is one of three official languages (th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swahili People
The Swahili people ( sw, WaSwahili) 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 (the civilised ones). In certain regions (e.g. Lamu Island), 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. The name ''Swahili'' originated as an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria And Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The V&A is located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area known as "Albertopolis" because of its association with Prince Albert, the Albert Memorial and the major cultural institutions with which he was associated. These include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Royal Albert Hall and Imperial College London. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. As with other national British museums, entrance is free. The V&A covers and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stone Town
Stonetown of Zanzibar ( ar, مدينة زنجبار الحجرية), also known as Mji Mkongwe ( Swahili for "old town"), is the old part of Zanzibar City, the main city of Zanzibar, in Tanzania. The newer portion of the city is known as Ng'ambo, Swahili for 'the other side'. Stone Town is located on the western coast of Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago. Former capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate, and flourishing centre of the spice trade as well as the slave trade in the 19th century, it retained its importance as the main city of Zanzibar during the period of the British protectorate. When Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined each other to form the United Republic of Tanzania, Zanzibar kept a semi-autonomous status, with Stone Town as its local government seat. Stone Town is a city of prominent historical and artistic importance in East Africa. Its architecture, mostly dating back to the 19th century, reflects the diverse influences underlying the Swahili culture, g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Swahili Settlements Of The East African Coast
Swahili settlements of the East African coast date from as early as the first century CE when eastern Bantu people on the east coast of Africa began adopting the Swahili language and culture and founded settlements along the coast and islands. Below is a list of Swahili settlements founded between 800 CE to 1900 CE. Northern coast, Tanzania * Manza * Toten Island * Tanga * Yambe Island * Tongoni *Mnarani * Mushembo *Pangani * Bweni Dogo * Ras Kikokwe * Kipumbwe * Kiungani * Sange * Kisikimto *Ushongo * Mkwaja * Bimbini * Mafui * Uzimia * Buyuni * Saadani * Utondwe *Winde * Mkadini *Bagamoyo * Kaole Southern Coast, Tanzania * Mbegani * Mbweni * Ukutani * Kunduchi * Msasani * Dar es Salaam * Mjimwema * Mbuamaji * Kimbiji * Mbuamaji * Kigunda * Funza * Jino Baya * Sala * Kutani * Bandarini * Kisiju * Kwale Island * Koma Island * Kisimani, Mafia * Kua Juani * Mwanamkuru * Mbutu Bandarini * Ras Dege * Kanyegwa Mfunguni * Ras Kutani * Jambe Juani * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeology Of Pemba Island
Pemba Island is a large coral island off the coast of Tanzania. Inhabited by Bantu settlers from the Tanga coast since 600 AD, the island has a rich trading, agricultural, and religious history that has contributed to the studies of the Swahili Coast trade throughout the Indian Ocean. The first evidence of inhabitation is in the seventh century AD at a site called Tumbe in Micheweni District of the island. Linguistic and archaeological data suggest there is potential that the first inhabitants migrated from the mainland. Towns continued to be founded around the island after Tumbe, and agricultural and ceramic artifacts show the people were farmers. 600–1000 AD The main site on the island between 600 and 1000 AD was the city of Tumbe. There is ample evidence that this city was a trading center in the Indian Ocean. Clustered around the main city were smaller sites dating to the 8th to 10th centuries AD. The archaeobotanical evidence from Tumbe and the surrounding areas point ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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