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See also:
Jerusalem
Further reading:
K.A.C.Creswell, A
Short Account of Early Islamic
Architecture,
ed. J.W.Allan, Aldershot 1989.
O.Grabar,
The Formation of Islamic Art,
Yale 1973.
domical vault
A dome which rises from a square or rectangular
base without the intervention of a drum, squinches
or pendentives.
domical vault
70
Ground plan of the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem. Note exposed rock surface in centre (after Creswell)
domical vault
71
East Africa
Muslim areas of East Africa have traditionally been the
coastal strip which extends for over a thousand miles and
includes the coasts of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania (including
Zanzibar) and northern Mozambique, This area has a
homogeneous culture, known as Swahili, which is distinct
from but related to both the Arabic Islamic world and the
Bantu-speaking peoples of the interior.
Historical Background
The first documentary evidence concerning the East
African coast comes from the first-century CE
Periplus of the Erythraen Sea and the fourth-cen-
tury geography of Ptolemy. The origins and history
of Islam on the East African coast are obscure,
although historical sources have been supple-mented
recently by information from archaeological
excavations to produce at least an outline picture.
Historically the earliest Islamic settlements on the
coast took place during the eighth century and this
has been confirmed recently by excavations at
Shanga in Kenya.
The Swahili culture has traditionally been based
on Indian Ocean trade with Arabia, India and the
Far East and it is probable that this is how Islam
arrived in East Africa rather than by conquest or a
policy of colonization. Although it is likely that
some Arabs and Persians may have settled on the
coast, the overwhelming majority of the population
had African origins as is demonstrated by the
Swahili language itself which is essentially a Bantu
language with many Arabic loan words. There is
little documentary evidence of the early period
before the arrival of the Portuguese although there
are several early buildings which are dated by
inscriptions. The earliest of these is a Kufic
inscription in the Kizimkazi Mosque in
Zanzibar
dated to 1107 CE, although the mosque was rebuilt
in the eighteenth century according to another
inscription in the building. Other early dated
monuments are in Somalia, including the Great
Mosque of Mogad-ishu built in 1238 and the
mosque of Fakhr al-Din in 1269.
In addition to inscriptions there are also various
early accounts by travellers. In 1331 the coast was
visited by Ibn Battuta who travelled as far south as
Kilwa in southern Tanzania and described the people
and buildings of the coast, and also in the early
fourteenth century a Chinese embassy visited and
described the coast.
Through analysis of trade goods, architectural
features and local artefacts, archaeology has
provided a more detailed model of how Swahili
culture developed in the centuries prior to the
Portuguese. In the earliest phase of settlement
(eighth-ninth century) the main trading partner
seemed to be the Persian Gulf; later on with the
collapse of the Abbasid caliphate trade seems to
be more connected with the Red Sea and ultimately
Egypt. During these two early periods the towns
of the Lamu archipelago such Manda and Shanga
seem to have risen in wealth and importance. Later
in the thirteenth century the area around Kilwa in
southern Tanzania seems to have risen rapidly in
wealth and importance along with the city of
Mogadishu in Somalia. This change can partly be
explained through the history of local dynasties
and partly through the growth of the gold trade
which originated in Zimbabwe and made its way
via Sofala, Kilwa, Mogadishu and Yemen to the
Middle East.
In the sixteenth century the coast was opened to
Europeans when the Portuguese established a base
in Mombasa as part of the sea route India. For the
next two hundred years until the mid-eighteenth
century the Portuguese tried to control the trade of
the coast against the rival claims of the Dutch and
the Omanis. Whilst the rivalry of the maritime
powers disrupted trade, the stability of the coastal
towns was threatened by the Galla, a nomadic tribe
from Somalia, who sacked and pillaged towns as far
south as Mombasa. In the mid-eighteenth century
the Omanis at last won the struggle for supremacy
E
72
East Africa
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