The Mazrui or Mazar'i () were an Omani Arab clan that reigned over some areas of

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

, especially

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, from the 18th to the 20th century. In the 18th century they governed

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 ...

and other coastal places and opposed the Omani

Al Bu Sa'id Dynasty The sultan of the Sultanate of Oman is the monarchical head of state and head of government of Oman. It is the most powerful position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an e ...

that ruled over

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 islan ...

. On at least one occasion they attacked

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'amb ...

allying with the Portuguese. When the British

East Africa Protectorate East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Britai ...

was established in the late 19th century, the Mazrui were one of the groups that most actively resisted the British rule, along with the Kikuyu and Kamba people.

Notable people

* Ali Mazrui, academic and writer

Notable people

Footnotes

Further reading