Dictionary of islamic architecture

Nine-domed mosque, Kilwa, Tanzania. Note pillar above central dome
Tanzania

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separate L-shaped passages which lead into a long
reception room that opens on to a courtyard on one
side and a small private room (harem) on the inner
side. Sometimes there are additional buildings in
the courtyard and sometimes there are two separate
entrances. It is thought that the two identical halves
may represent the family houses of two wives
rather than a men’s and a women’s section.
Nineteenth- and twentieth-century Islamic
architecture in Tanzania is best represented in the
cities of Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam. Bagamoyo
was the capital of German East Africa before the
First World War and contains the various elements
associated with a small colonial capital. The
architecture is an interesting mixture of styles
including Omani Arab, German, German
Orientalist (i.e. Ottoman) and Swahili. Many of the
more important government buildings are built in
the style of Omani palaces with external verandas
and carved wooden doors—the important addition
of steel girders enabling larger spaces to be covered
without support. After the defeat of the Germans
in the First World War, Dar es Salaam replaced
Bagamoyo as capital. Like the Germans in
Bagamoyo the British in Dar es Salaam built official
buildings in an Oriental style with modern
materials; some of the more notable ones are the
National Museum with its Turkish tiles and the old
hospital.
See also:
East Africa, Kilwa, Zanzibar
Further reading:
H.N.Chittick, 
Annual Reports of the Department of
Antiquities,
Dar es Salaam 1958–64.
G.S.P.Freeman-Grenville, 
The Medieval History of the Coast
of Tanganyika,
London 1962.
P.S.Garlake, 
The Early Islamic Architecture of the East
African Coast,
Memoir No. 1 of the British Institute in
Eastern Africa, London and Nairobi 1966.
Tanganyika Notes and Records,
Dar es Salaam 1959
onwards.