Lamu Fort is a fortress in the town of
Lamu
Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island. ...
in northeastern
Kenya
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, capital = Nairobi
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, largest_city = Nairobi
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. Originally situated on the waterfront, the fort today is located in a central position in the town, about from the main jetty on the shore.
Lamu Fort was built between 1813 and 1821 with
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
i assistance. Initially it provided a base from which the Omanis consolidated their control of the East African coast but the town later lost its economic importance. During the
British colonial period
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, and after the independence of Kenya, the fort was used as a prison. Today it houses an environmental museum and library, and is often used for community events.
Building
Lamu Fort is a defensive structure that was erected at the southeast corner of the old stone town of Lamu.
The fort was built beside the Pwani Mosque, the oldest known mosque in Lamu, with origins in the 14th century. The fort originally lay on the waterfront, which then ran along the main street of the town but has since retreated.
Thomas Boteler, who visited Lamu in 1823, described the fort as "a large square building, with a tower at each corner, but constructed so slightly that in all probability the discharge of its honeycombed
ordnance
Ordnance may refer to:
Military and defense
*Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment.
**The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...
would soon bring the whole fabric to the ground." It had a "large
vaulted
In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...
entrance ...
ndconsisted of three stories of balconies, supported inside by
arch
An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it.
Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...
es. Captain W. F. W. Owen, who visited at the same time, noted that the fort was "one hundred yards square, and surrounded by walls from forty to fifty feet high."
Today the fort is in a central position in the town. It is situated about from the main jetty on the shore. The fort today is a massive two-story stone building. The squat and powerful structure contrasts with the elegant
Swahili architecture of the other buildings in the town.
History
Construction of the fort appears to have been started by
Fumomadi, Sultan of
Pate. The
Mazrui
The Mazrui or Mazar'i () were an Omani Arab clan that reigned over some areas of East Africa, especially Kenya, from the 18th to the 20th century. In the 18th century they governed Mombasa and other coastal places and opposed the Omani Al Bu Sa ...
leader Abdalla bin Hemed, in an uneasy alliance with Pate, was also involved in the construction. One story was built, but with the death of Funomadi in 1809 construction halted. In 1812 Lamu gained an unexpected victory at the
Battle of Shela
The Battle of Shela (or Kuduhu) occurred around 1812 on the sand dunes near the village of Shela on Lamu Island, in what is now Kenya, just south of the larger village of Lamu.
The people of Lamu won against superior forces from Mombasa and Pate. ...
over the forces of Pate and
Mombasa
Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
. The continued threat prompted them to call for help from Oman.
Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat and Oman
Sayyid Saïd bin Sultan al-Busaidi ( ar, سعيد بن سلطان, , sw, Saïd bin Sultani) (5 June 1791 – 19 October 1856), was Sultan of Muscat and Oman, the fifth ruler of the Busaid dynasty from 1804 to 4 June 1856. His rule commenced fol ...
(r. 1804–1856), was said to have assisted in the renewed construction, which began in 1813 and was completed around 1821.
Sultan Sayyid Said bin Sultan sent a governor to Lamu around 1814.
He provided a protective garrison of
Baluchi soldiers. According to Boteler, the main guard consisted of "about twenty Muscat soldiers, lounging on the stone benches on either side, with eye intent on vacancy, and armed with their shields, swords and pikes. A large assortment of matchlocks, suspended from the walls above them, resembled those used by the primitive small-arm men in England." However, the security offered by the fort encouraged construction around it during the 19th century, including a shopfront.
The importance of Lamu in the
Lamu Archipelago
The Lamu Archipelago is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. The islands lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga, near the Coast Province. It is a part of Lamu District.
The largest of the isl ...
grew at the expense of Pate in the years that followed the fort's construction. The Sultan used Lamu Fort as a base for defeating the Mazrui rebels in Mombasa, and for establishing control over the East African coast. He moved the capital of his sultanate to
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
. With its strategic importance lost, Lamu soon declined in economic importance in comparison to Mombasa and Zanzibar.
Lamu Fort was turned into a prison in 1910 by the British colonial administration. In the 1950s
Mau Mau detainees were held in the fort.
The fort continued to be used as a prison after the independence of Kenya until 1984.
It was then given to the
National Museums of Kenya
The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) is a state corporation that manages museums, sites and monuments in Kenya. It carries out heritage research, and has expertise in subjects ranging from palaeontology, archeology, ethnography and biodiversit ...
, who converted the fort into a museum with help from the
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ( sv, Styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete, ) is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Swede ...
.
The Lamu Fort was declared a scheduled monument on 15 May 1984. Restoration was undertaken carefully. A temporary exhibition was opened in 1993.
The fort today includes a museum with an exhibition on the ground floor mainly concerned with environmental conservation. The courtyard is used by the local community for meetings, weddings and public performances.
There are offices, laboratories and a workshop on the second floor, and a conference facility that is available for rent. The fort houses a library with an excellent collection of
Swahili poetry and reference material on Lamu.
The ramparts of the fort give panoramic views of the town.
3D Model with Laser-Scanning
The
Zamani Project
The Zamani Project is part of the African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes Database. Zamani is a research group at the University of Cape Town, which acquires, models, presents and manages spatial and other data from cultural heritage sites. ...
document cultural heritage sites in 3D to create a record for future generations. The documentation is based on terrestrial laser-scanning. The 3D documentation of the lamu Fort was carried out in 2006.
3D models, plans and images can be vie
here
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
Lamu Fortat the National Museums of Kenya website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamu Fort
Forts in Kenya
Lamu Archipelago
Monuments and memorials in Kenya
Swahili architecture