Nyangwe is a town in
Kasongo
Kasongo, also known as Piani Kasongo, is a town and a Territory, located in the Maniema Province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Geography
Kasongo lies east of the Lualaba River, northwest of its confluence with the Luama River ...
,
Maniema
Maniema is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Its capital is Kindu.
Toponymy
Henry Morton Stanley explored the area, calling it Manyema.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One , ...
on the right bank of the
Lualaba in the
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
(territory of
Kasongo
Kasongo, also known as Piani Kasongo, is a town and a Territory, located in the Maniema Province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Geography
Kasongo lies east of the Lualaba River, northwest of its confluence with the Luama River ...
). It was an important hub for the Arabs for trade goods like ivory, gold, iron & slaves: it was one of the main
slave trading
The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and Slavery and religion, religions from Ancient history, ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The socia ...
states in the region at the end of the 19th century.
[Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One , Vol. Two ]
The town was founded around 1860, and a first
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
named
Dougombi (métis) established in 1868.
Ramazani Munia Muhara (
Manyema
Manyema (WaManyema) (Una-Ma-Nyema, eaters of flesh), are a powerful and, in the past, warlike Bantu people in the southeast of the Congo basin in Nyangwe ( Kasongo) in Maniema, Democratic Republic of Congo and in the city of Kigoma, Kigoma regio ...
) was the
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
the town by the time of the
Congo-Arab war during 1892–1894 in
Kasongo
Kasongo, also known as Piani Kasongo, is a town and a Territory, located in the Maniema Province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Geography
Kasongo lies east of the Lualaba River, northwest of its confluence with the Luama River ...
,
Maniema
Maniema is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Its capital is Kindu.
Toponymy
Henry Morton Stanley explored the area, calling it Manyema.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One , ...
It is believed the first contact with
WaSwahili
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, ...
traders from
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 ...
(from the
Monarchy of Zanzibar descended from
Omani Empire
The Omani Empire ( ar, الإمبراطورية العُمانية) was a maritime empire, vying with Portugal and Britain for trade and influence in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence or control ...
) in Nyangwe dates back to the
Abbasid expeditions to East Africa where it is reputed that
Abbasid Caliphs
The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
The family came t ...
sent punitive expeditions to the
Islamized
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occurre ...
city-states of the Somali coast and
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 ...
set up governors there where
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
victory saw the both:
* the impositon of the kharāj
* acceptance of the doctrine of the createdness of the Quran
by
837 CE
Indeed, the 9th-century writer
al-Jāḥiẓ
Abū ʿUthman ʿAmr ibn Baḥr al-Kinānī al-Baṣrī ( ar, أبو عثمان عمرو بن بحر الكناني البصري), commonly known as al-Jāḥiẓ ( ar, links=no, الجاحظ, ''The Bug Eyed'', born 776 – died December 868/Jan ...
records an
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 expedition to East Africa in the late 7th century, but it was defeated.
The sultans of Mogadishu,
Mārka,
Barāwa,
Faza
Faza is a small town on the North coast on Pate Island, within the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya's former Coast Province.
Faza was known by the name of Ampaza by the PortugueseSvat Soucek, « The Portuguese and the Turks in the Persian gulf » in '' ...
, Sīwī, Bata,
Manda
Manda may refer to:
Places
* Kafr Manda, Arab town in the Lower Galilee
* Manda Upazila, an upazila in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
* Manda, Kale, a village in Burma
* Manda, Guinea, a town in the Labé Region
* Manda, Jammu, India, ...
(Munda), Ṭaqa,
Lamu (Āmu),
Ūzi,
Malindi
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Sabaki River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi was 119,859 as of the 2019 census. It is the largest urban centre ...
(Malūdi), Uyūmba,
Kilifi
Kilifi is a town on the coast of Kenya, northeast by road of Mombasa. The town lies on the Kilifi Creek and sits on the estuary of the Goshi River. Kilifi is capital of the Kilifi County and has a population of 122,899 (2009 census).
Kilifi is ...
, Basāsa,
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 ...
, Kilwa and Waybu (possibly a tributary of the
Shebelle
The Shebelle River ( so, Webi Shabeelle, ar, نهر شبيلي, am, እደላ) begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. ...
) are among those who accepted the emissary.
[James McL. Ritchie and Sigvard von Sicard (eds.), ''An Azanian Trio: Three East African Arabic Historical Documents'' (Brill, 2020), pp. 78–80.] Gervase Mathew dates this to 766–767 and considers it a military expedition.
[Gervase Mathew, "The East African Coast until the Coming of the Portuguese", in R. Oliver and G. Mathew (eds.), ''History of East Africa'', Volume 1 (Clarendon Press, 1963), pp. 94–127, at 102.]
Nyangwe and the greater part of
Kasongo
Kasongo, also known as Piani Kasongo, is a town and a Territory, located in the Maniema Province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Geography
Kasongo lies east of the Lualaba River, northwest of its confluence with the Luama River ...
,
Maniema
Maniema is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Its capital is Kindu.
Toponymy
Henry Morton Stanley explored the area, calling it Manyema.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One , ...
later became the capital of the
Sultanate of Utetera (under the control of the
Sultanate of Zanzibar
The Sultanate of Zanzibar ( sw, Usultani wa Zanzibar, ar, سلطنة زنجبار , translit=Sulṭanat Zanjībār), also known as the Zanzibar Sultanate, was a state controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar, in place between 1856 and 1964. The Sul ...
) descended from the
Monarchy of Zanzibar between 1696 and 1890 CE and thus, an offshoot of the
Omani Monarchy
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 ...
before the death of
Said bin Sultan
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 ...
in 1856 when the empire was divided between his sons into two sultanates: an African section called the
Sultanate of Zanzibar
The Sultanate of Zanzibar ( sw, Usultani wa Zanzibar, ar, سلطنة زنجبار , translit=Sulṭanat Zanjībār), also known as the Zanzibar Sultanate, was a state controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar, in place between 1856 and 1964. The Sul ...
through
Majid bin Said and an Asian section called the
Sultanate of Muscat and Oman ruled by
Thuwaini bin Said.
It is believed it was established after the Arabs drove out the original inhabitants in and around the village. As a result, the original inhabitants of the place called the Wagenya had become distrustful of any foreigners visiting the region.
David Livingstone
David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...
was the first European to visit the town in 1871. Livingstone stated that on July 15, 1871, and he witnessed approximately 400 Africans massacred by three Arabs who worked for Livingstone's associate, the Arab ruler and slave trader Dugumbe. The cause behind this attack is stated to be retaliation for actions of Manilla, the head slave who had sacked villages of Mohombo people at the instigation of the Wagenya chieftain Kimburu. The Arabs attacked the shoppers and Kimburu's people.
[See also Jeal, Tim (1973). ''Livingstone.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Pp. 331–335.][
Researchers who scanned Livingstone's diary stated that he feared that his own men might have been involved in it.
The account describing the massacre was changed in the "Last Journals" published in 1874.] While his published journal blamed Dugumbe's men, it is Manilla who seems to be leading the raid and breaking the treaty with Kimburu according to the researchers who decoded his diary. In the diary, he states that he had sent the Banian slaves, liberated slaves who were sent to him by John Kirk, to assist Manilla's brother which may indicate their role in the attack. In addition, the field diary doesn't contain any record of Livingstone refuting the Muslims who accused the English of the massacre. In the published journal however, the events are changed and much of the reprobate behaviour of Banian slaves mentioned by Livingstone is omitted.
It was the last known town for people coming from the East, and Livingstone thought that the Lualaba was the high part of the Nile River
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...
.
Verney Lovett Cameron
Verney Lovett Cameron (1 July 184424 March 1894) was an English traveller in Central Africa and the first European to cross (1875) equatorial Africa from sea to sea.
Biography
He was born at Radipole, near Weymouth, Dorset, son of Rev Jonatha ...
visited the town in 1874. In 1877 Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa
Cen ...
followed the river downstream from Nyangwe with local reigning Tippu Tip
Tippu Tip, or Tippu Tib (1832 – June 14, 1905), real name Ḥamad ibn Muḥammad ibn Jumʿah ibn Rajab ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al Murjabī ( ar, حمد بن محمد بن جمعة بن رجب بن محمد بن سعيد المرجبي), ...
, and as he arrived in Boma, he established that this was the Congo River
The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...
.
Hermann von Wissmann Hermann von Wissmann may refer to:
* Hermann Wissmann (1853–1905), German explorer and administrator in Africa
** ''Hermann von Wissmann'' (steamship), a German steamer
** Hermann von Wissmann (ship, 1940), became in 1950 the Belgian Kamina
* He ...
visited Nyangwe in 1883.
Notes
{{coord, 4, 13, S, 26, 11, E, source:frwiki, display=title
Populated places established in 1860
Populated places in Maniema
Lualaba River