The growth of Islam among the Mijikenda of the Kenya coast, 1826-1933 David Colton Sperling Dissertation submitted for the Ph.D. degree School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 1988 -1- -2 ABSTRACT The Mijikenda peoples of the Kenya coast have been in contact with Muslims at least since the 17th century. The first Mijikenda conversions to Islam occurred in the 18th century through the influence of neighbouring Swahili peoples. Early Mijikenda converts migrated to Swahili towns, thereby establishing a pattern of urban islamization that kept Islam from spreading among the Mijikenda. Beginning in the 1830s, the East Mrican economy expanded, and Muslim commercial activity in the coastal hinterland increased. The migration of Muslims to settle near Mijikenda villages led to closer relations between Muslims and Mijikenda. By the middle of the 19th century, the cultural influence of Islam was evident among the Mijikenda, but few Mijikenda had become Muslim. This was due as much to an absence of proselytising by Muslims as to the strength and integrity of Mijikenda society. Differing Mijikenda settlement patterns north and south of Mombasa influenced the way Islam spread. North of Mombasa, Mijikenda Muslim converts continued to immigrate to towns and or to separate Mijikenda Muslim villages. South of Mombasa, beginning in the 1850s, Digo Mijikenda converts remained resident in their home villages, while centring their social and religious life as Muslims in town. Under the continuing influence of Swahili and other Muslims, including immigrants to Digo villages, Islam slowly gathered strength among the Digo. By the end of the 19th century, the Digo had already built several mosques, and educated Digo Muslims were teaching and actively proselytising among their fellow Digo. Colonial rule brought changes that affected the growth of Islam among the Mijikenda. Legal rulings in favour of Islamic law strengthened Islam, which eventually emerged as the majority religion among the Digo south of Mombasa. The economic decline of Muslim towns and villages weakened Islam north of Mombasa, where only a minority of Mijikenda became Muslim. -3 CONTENTS Listofmaps 4 List of appendices 5 Preface 6 Introduction 7 1 Historical Background 2 Muslim Influence in the Rural Hinterland, 1826-1865 3 Islamization north of Mombasa, 1865-1933 4 The expansion of Islam south of Mombasa, 1865-1933 5 The spread of Islam in the Gasi-Vanga hinterland, 1865-1933 6 Conclusions 12 44 72 101 144 171 Glossary 186 Appendices 187 Abbreviations 222 Bibliography 223 -4 MAPS 1 The East Mrican Coast 1500 A.D. 11 2 The Southern Kenya Coast (showing topography) 13 3 The Southern Kenya Coast (showing Muslim settlements)- 1570 A.D. 17 4 The Southern Kenya Coast -1700 A.D. 23 5 Northern Mijikenda Expansion (up to 1830) 28 6 Digo Migration and Expansion (17th-19th century) 30 7 Mijikenda-Swahili Relations (as they developed in the 16th-17th centuries) 33 8 Muslim Expansion and Settlement north of Mombasa, 1825-1890 52 9 Giriama and Mazrui Expansion north of Kilifi creek, 1845-1895 77 10 Northern Mijikenda Muslim communities and mosques (1895-1938) 98 llA Digo Mosques built (1892-1933) in the southern hinterland ofMombasa 107 llB Digo Mosques built (1892-1933) in the southern hinterland ofMombasa 128 12 Digo Mosques built (1898-1933) in Tiwi, Diani, Ukunda, Muhaka andKinondo 150 13 Digo Mosques built (1898-1933) in Msambweni, Kikoneni, Lungalunga and Pongwe-Kidimu 164 14 Duruma Migration and Expansion (1850-1920) 218 15 Kilifi District 1987 (showing locations) 219 16 Mombasa District 1987 (showing locations) 220 17 Kwale District 1987 (showing locations) 221 -5 APPENDICES 1 The Mijikenda Kayas 187 2 The Nine Tribes and their Relations with the Mijikenda 190 3 The Digo and the Kilindini 194 4 The Mijikenda, the Swahili and the Muslim tradition of Healing 197 5 Biographical Sketches 200 6 Letters of Charles Dundas 204 7 Ruling of the Court of Appeal for Eastern Mrica 207 8 A Story about the Digo 208 9 Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid of Gasi 211 10 Digo Mosques 213 11 Oral Informants 215 PREFACE The help of many people and institutions has made this study possible. It is first and foremost the work of countless Mijikenda men and women who have generously welcomed me and shared their history with me. Where appropriate I have acknowledged their help, and the help of others who provided information, in the footnotes. I am particularly indebted to the Office of the President of the Republic of Kenya for granting me research clearance, and to the Chief Archivist of the Kenya National Archives and his assistants, for providing me with many essential documents. In Mombasa, the officers of the Provincial Land Office, and the Librarians of the Law Court and Fort Jesus Library made their material readily available and offered me every assistance, for which I am grateful. In the course of my field work I came to meet the District Officers of Kwale, Mombasa and Kilifi Districts, and the Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs of various locations of these Districts. I am most thankful for their support. In spite of their numerous commitments, they invariably went out of their way to help me, and several of them took a personal interest in my work. A number of Kenya secondary schools (Kwale, Shimo la Tewa, Matuga, Allidina Visram, Coast Girls and Mariakiani) were most helpful in arranging for staff and senior students to work as research assistants in carrying out a mosque survey. I thank the Heads and staff of these schools and the students, who carried out their work with enthusiasm and diligence. I wish as well to thank Peter Muchangi who worked carefully and patiently to produce the maps. The study would not have been possible without the help of various overseas institutions, including the University of Birmingham Library (Special Collections), the Public Record Office (London), the Royal Geographical Society (London), the John Rylands Library (University of Manchester), Rhodes House (Oxford) and the Peabody Museum of Salem (Massachusetts). I am grateful to the archivists and librarians of these institutions, and to the library staff of the Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). My work has had the benefit of the earlier research of many scholars, whose works are mentioned in the Bibliography. In addition I wish to express my gratitude to those who have helped me in a more direct way: Terence Ranger for his initial counsel and inspiration, Isaria Kimambo for his personal help, Ahmed ldha Salim for his useful suggestions, Humphrey Fisher for his constructive criticism, and especially Andrew Roberts, my supervisor, for his untiring guidance and invaluable advice. -6- INTRODUCTION My interest in the history of Islam among the Mijikenda began in 1967 when I was a teacher in Nairobi. The Mijikenda live along the Kenya coast to the north and south of Mombasa. During a visit to the coast, I was struck by the presence of numerous small mosques and by the thoroughly Muslim character of village life south of Mombasa. In contrast, the rural areas north of Mombasa had fewer visible signs of Islam, and many villages no signs at all. These external impressions aroused my curiosity, and I read the studies of such writers as Champion, Prins and Trimingham,1 in an attempt to learn about the Mijikenda and the influence of Islam among them. I read that most of the pre-19th century links of Mombasa, the main centre of Islam along the southern Kenya coast, were with coastal settlements to the north. This seemed inconsistent with the predominance of Muslim influence that I had observed south of Mombasa, and I began to grapple in my mind with this discrepancy. A turning-point came later that year when I visited the Chiefs Office at LikonP (I had never been to a Chiefs Office before), and was received by Assistant Chief Babu Mbwana, a Digo (I had never met a Digo before). I hardly knew what to expect. It was my good fortune that Babu Mbwana was the one who received me that day. I remember our meeting with gratitude: he listened patiently as I explained my interest in the history of Islam among the Digo. "Why just the history of Islam?" he asked. "Why not the whole history of the Digo from the beginning?" From that moment on, he took my interest as his own. He introduced me to some of the old men and Muslim leaders of Likoni and Mtongwe, and I would come to speak with them from time to time, whenever I could, during College holidays. During the 1970s, my chances to visit the coast were few. My teaching reponsibilities kept me in Nairobi most of the time, but occasionally I would go to the coast and visit a Digo village south of Mombasa. Babu Mbwana had broadened my vision. My early conversations with the old men of Digoland were about their history "from the beginning". From them I first heard of Shungwaya, and came to know of the original Digo settlements at Kwale and Kinondo, and of the migration and expansion of the Digo throughout Kwale District and south into the mainland of Tanzania. My interest in how the Digo had become Muslim continued, too, and we would talk about early Digo Islam. 1 Arthur Champion, The Agiryama of Kenya (edited by John Middleton), London, 1%7; A.H.J. Prins, The Coastal Tribes of the Nonh-Eastern Bantu, London, 1952, and The Swahili-Speaking Peoples of Zanzibar and the East African Coast, London, 1%7; J.S.Trimlngham,lstam in East Africa, Oxford, 1964. 2 Likoni, on the mainland just south of Mombasa island, is in Mijikenda country. The area used to be inhabited exclusively by the Digo, one of the nine Mijikenda peoples, but is now a suburban residential area of Mombasa and has a mixed population. -7- -8 The Digo are a decentralized people, and the difficulty of building up a comprehensive picture of their past soon became evident. A village or clan elder would know many details about the history of his own village or clan, but usually had only a smattering of knowledge about neighbouring villages or other clans. The Digo have no appointed guardians of the past: some elders know a vast amount, others hardly anything, and the only way to discover a knowledgeable elder is by trial and error. As with peoples all over the world, the trial often lies in getting them to speak in proportion to what they know. The fragmented nature of the oral evidence presented difficulties of interpretation, but had at least one advantage: overlap of details between one village and another was often sufficient to allow correlation of material and to provide a cross-check on accuracy and consistency. Though I was very much a part-time amateur field worker, my early conversations with Digo elders proved to be invaluable. I did not realize it at the time, but I was in contact with the last living members of the last generation born in the 19th century. A number of them had learned at the knees of their grandfathers; and many of them had witnessed the rise of Islam, for their fathers had been among the first Digo Muslim converts. During the 1970s, much valuable research was done on the southern Kenya coast. Spear collected the oral traditions of the Mijikenda, and published an account of their history.3 Others, such as Berg, Brantley, McKay, Morton and Koffsky, studied various specific topics;4 and Salim published his history of the Swahili- speaking peoples.5 Towards the end of the 1970s, Cooper did extensive research on the plantation economy and agriculturallabour.6 These studies vastly increased our knowledge of the political and economic history of the region, but none of the studies focused on the history of Islam, or explained how Islam had spread from the urban centres to the Mijikenda peoples of the hinterland. As I came to know more about early Islam among the Digo, I was intrigued by references to their contacts with other Mijikenda Muslims north of Mombasa, and the fact that some of the first Digo Muslims had been converted to Islam 3 Spear collected some Digo traditions, but most of his research was done among the other Mijikenda peoples north of Mombasa. His doctoral dissertation (Spear, Thomas, 'The Kaya Complex: a History of the Mijikenda Peoples of the Kenya Coast to 1900', Ph.D. thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1974) was later published as a book under the same title (Spear, Thomas, The Kaya Complex: A History of the Mijikenda Peoples of the Kenya Coast to 1900, Nairobi, 1978). 4 FJ.Berg, 'Mombasa under the Busaidi Sultanate: the City and its Hinterlands in the Nineteenth Century', Ph.D. thesis, - University of Wisconsin, 1971; Cynthia Brantley Smith, 'The Giriama Rising, 1914: Focus for Political Development in the Kenya Hinterland, 1850-1%3', Ph.D. thesis, University of California (Los Angeles), 1973 (later published as Cynthia Brantley, The Giriama and Colonial Resistance in Kenya, 1800-1920, Los Angeles, 1981); William F.McKay, 'A Precolonial History of the Southern Kenya Coast', Ph.D. thesis, Boston University, 1975; Rodger Frederic Morton, 'Slaves, Fugitives, and Freedmen on the Kenya Coast, 1873-1907', Ph.D. thesis, Syracuse University, 1976; Peter L Koffsky, 'History ofTakaungu, East Africa, 1830- 1896', Ph.D. thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1977. 5 Ahmed I. Salim, The Swahili-Speaking Peoples of Kenya's Coast, 1895-1965, Nairobi, 1973. 6 Cooper, Frederick, Plantation Slavery on the East Coast of Africa, New Haven, 1977; and From Slaves to Squatters, Plantation Labor and Agriculture in Zanzibar and Coastal Kenya, 1890-1925, New Haven, 1980. -9 through these northern contacts. In 1979, I made my first visit to Takaungu, a town north of Mombasa that had often been mentioned to me by Digo Muslims. But after that visit, I was unable to follow up with further visits. The early 1980s were busy years for me professionally; months went by without a chance to visit the coast. Some of the old men I had first spoken with had died, and I had little time to develop new contacts. Many unanswered questions remained in my mind. I had an idea of how Islam had begun among the Digo, but this did not resolve the question of the unequal spread of Islam north and south of Mombasa. And I had no oral evidence about early Islam among the Mijikenda north of Mombasa. It was clear that only by broadening my study would it be possible to understand why influences emanating from Mombasa and other urban centres had affected the Mijikenda north and south of Mombasa in different ways. There were even more basic questions: how had Islam penetrated into the rural areas? Were the agents of Islam a uniform group? Were traditional relations between the Mijikenda and Swahili peoples important for the spread of Islam? What role did the early Mijikenda converts play in propagating Islam? How did they reconcile Islam with Mijikenda religious beliefs and practices? How were the first converts received by their own people? How had they transferred Islam to succeed- ing generations? And there was the question, too, of studying the effects of early Christian missionary activity, and of colonial rule: had these favoured or impeded the growth of Islam in any way? My work so far gave me a good foundation for further research into these questions. The first Mijikenda converts, the first Muslim teachers, the building of the first Mijikenda mosques, these were all part of the recent past, and there were still a few old people alive who had seen or heard of these people and events first- hand. A unique opportunity existed to gather the kind of details about the early spread of Islam that have proved difficult to recover in other parts of Africa,7 but time was running out. As well as collecting oral information, I needed to examine the archival evidence, colonial as well as pre-colonial. Few of the published accounts of early missionaries, explorers or colonial officers, referred to Islam in the rural areas. But was there perhaps more information in some of the original documents? Part-time research was clearly insufficient to make progress along these lines, and in 1984 I decided to undertake full-time research into the history of Islam among the Mijikenda peoples. Ideally, I should have incorporated the Digo of the Tanga Region of Tanzania, but I was already faced with the problem of gathering oral 7 In writing about the arrival of the first foreign Muslims in Hausaland, Hiskett has written: "The fact is we simply do not know when these movements of people really occurred, nor where the strangers come from." Mervyn Hiskett, The Develop- ment of Islam in West Africa, (London 1984): 70. -10 information over an area of several hundred square miles in Kenya. I kept the possibility open of extending my study to Tanzania, but in the end to include Tanga Region would have required at least a further three or four months of work, and I reluctantly gave up the idea. The starting point of the study was fixed: the background and circumstances of the earliest Mijikenda conversions to Islam. I left the end-date open, to be decided later. As I progressed in my field work, I realized that to explain the establishment of Islam among the Mijikenda, the study had to be brought up to at least 1910. But this date would have excluded consideration of internal tensions in Mijikenda society after the establishment of Islam, and of important effects of the first decades of colonial rule. With this in mind, I decided to bring the study up to the early 1930s. My main objective was to understand what I came to call 'rural islamization': how Islam spreads from town to countryside -or at least how it had done so among the Mijikenda- and once in the countryside, how Islam consolidates itself. This sounded simple enough, but in choosing what aspects of Islam to consider I faced the dilemma of all historians of Islam.8 Was my approach to be 'Islamic' (working through Islamic concepts, and studying Muslim practices and institutions) or 'phenomenological' (simply recording what Muslims and non-Muslims did, and how they related to each other) or 'sociological' (considering the social and cultural aspects of Islam)? Or 'religious' (looking especially at religious phenomena) or 'secular' (studying the political and economic forces that affected the spread of Islam)? As I gathered information, none of the approaches seemed adequate in itself. I found myself adopting a comprehensive approach, trying to consider all aspects of the growth of Islam as inseparable parts of a whole. In theory, a comprehensive approach should be ideal (doing away with the deficiency and distortion inherent in any single approach), but in practice it may be asking the impossible of an individual historian. My study has tried to include a bit of every- thing, and specialists in the above fields will no doubt find it inadequate. In spite of those inadequacies, it is my hope that it will shed some light on the history of Islam in Africa. 8 This dilemma came out clearly in the Boston University Conference (1973) on 'The Maintenance and Transmission of Islamic Culture in Tropical Africa.' See Louis Brenner's review of the Conference in African Religious Research, 3, 2 (November 1973):5-12. Chapter I. Historical Background The earliest peoples of the coastal region Our story begins in the coastal region of southern Kenya, between the Sabaki and the Umba rivers (Map 1). Here the land rises gradually from a narrow coastal plain (two to five miles wide) to an area of gently sloping hills and valleys. Some ten to twelve miles from the shore one ascends more steeply to a range of hills which reach a height of 1028 feet (Jibana) in the north and 1453 feet (Kwale) in the south (Map 2). The hills dominate the hinterland of Mombasa, but are less prominent north of Kilifi creek and south of the Ramisi river. In the past the coastal plain and the hills were covered in lowland rain forest; now only patches of forest remain, and scattered-tree grasslands and high grass-bush predominate.1 The southeast and northeast monsoons bring abundant annual rainfall (usually well over 30 inches) to the coastal region, mostly during the months of April-June (long rains) and November-December (short rains). Rainfall and moisture decrease as one moves inland; fifteen miles from the coast begins an area known as the Nyika,2 where drier conditions prevail and semi-desert vegetation appears. This region is now the homeland of the Mijikenda people;3 they have been here at least since the beginning of the 17th century. Here too live the descendants of Muslims who arrived in centuries past, beginning perhaps as early as the first or second century of the Muslim era. To understand how Muslims and the Mijikenda came to populate the region, we must go back to the beginning of the first millen- nium. Archaeological excavations and historical-linguistic studies give some clues about the early inhabitants of Kenya. Initially there were Cushitic-speaking cultivators, herdsmen, and hunters. During the early centuries of the first millen- nium there was an influx of Bantu peoples. The earliest evidence pointing to a Bantu presence on the Kenya coast comes from a 2nd century (A.D.) site near Kwale (southwest of Mombasa).4 The incoming Bantu were interspersed among the 1 Geographical data are taken from F.F.Ojany and RB. Ogendo, Kenya: A Study in Physical and Human Geography (Nairobi 1982),43,5 2.77-78,103-104. 2 Nyika is the Swahili word for a desolate wilderness. 3 Mijikenda is a 20th century name. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Mijikenda were known as the Nyika or Wanyika (=people of the Nyika], though most of them lived east of the Nyika proper. On the origin of the name Mijikenda, see page 29, footnote 81. 4 RC. Soper, "Kwale: An Early Iron Age Site in South-Eastern Kenya," Azania, II (1967): 1-17. Other Iron Age (presumably Bantu) sites have been discovered farther north, notably Wenje. Cf. D.W.Phillipson, "Some Iron Age sites in the tower Tana Valley," Azania,14(1979):155-160. -12- -14 Cushitic peoples, and gradually came to be the more numerous.5 On linguistic grounds Nurse and Spear identify the early homeland of peoples speaking Northeast Coastal Bantu languages as the area bounded by Mombasa, the Usambara and Pare mountains, and the Taita hills.6 Expansion north and south subsequently split these peoples into three groups: 1) Ruvu speakers (who went south); 2) Seuta speakers (who settled in the Usambara-Bondei-Zigua area); and 3) Sabaki speakers (who went north).7 Of interest to us are the Sabaki speakers, for they were forerunners of the Mijikenda and the Swahili, the main protagonists of our story. Some time before the 6th century, Sabaki speakers migrated north into their new homeland, the region between the Tana river and the Webi Shebelle of south- ern Somalia, and settled in predominantly agricultural areas. Linguistic evidence indicates that the economy of Sabaki speakers was based primarily on subsistence farming, but that it also included iron-working, pottery, hunting, fishing and cattle- keeping.8 Approximately at 500 A.D. there began a period of social and economic differentiation between: 1) Sabaki speakers who lived inland; and 2) Sabaki speakers who settled on the coast and at least partly adopted a maritime way of life. In time the Sabaki speakers living inland came to speak differently from those living on the coast, and various languages -including Mijikenda inland and Swahili on the coast- emerged to reflect this difference.9 In the last centuries of the first millennium and the early centuries of the second millennium, Swahili speakers spread along the entire East African coast.10 5 J.E.G. Sutton, "The Settlement of East Africa," in J. Kieran and BA. Ogot (eds.), Zamani (Nairobi 1973), 85-86. Phillipson postulates that the Bantu entered Kenya from the Urewe region by means of •a flanking movement around the southern margin of the Rift Valley highlands where the stone-tool-using pastoralists held sway." D.W.Phillipson, 1711! Later Prehistory of Eastern and Southern Africa, (London 1977), 110. 6 Derek Nurse and Thomas Spear, The Swahili, Reconstructing the History and Language of an African Society, 800-1500 (Philadelphia 1985), 43. 7 Thomas Hinnebusch, Derek Nurse and Martin Mould, Studies in the Classification of Eastern Bantu Languages (Hamburg 1981), 21-30. 8 Nurse and Spear, The Swahili, 47-51. 9 The five Sabaki languages are:Swahili, Mijikenda, Comorian, Pokomo and Elwana. Three of the Sabaki-speaking peoples lie outside our study: 1) the Comorians (of the Comoro islands); and 2) the Elwana and Pokomo, who live in the Tana river area. Linguistic evidence shows, for example, that the Pokomo and the Mijikenda (who both lived inland) continued in close contact after separating from the Swahili (who lived on the coast); some common linguistic features of Pokomo and Mijikenda are not shared by Swahili. Hinnebusch, Nurse and Mould, Studies, 113-116. 1° For historical purposes a definition of the Swahili peoples seems best based on language: the Swahili are the peoples who speak some form of the Swahili language and who have spoken no other language as their mother tongue for as long as can be remembered. Linked to our definition is the concept of Swahililand, the land where the Swahili live. Rather than being a single place, Swahililand encompasses many towns, scattered along the coast of East Africa, from southern Somalia to Mozambique, wherever there is a community of Swahili people. Defining the Swahili peoples of the 20th century has proved progressively more complex. Converts to Islam who adopt Swahili manners are popularly considered Swahili in that they have become detribalized, but under our definition, they are not true Swahili. With more and more persons (including non-Muslims) speak- ing Swahili and adopting a Swahili life-style, modern concepts of Swahili identity have been influenced by social change. See, for example, Carol M. Eastman, "Who are the Waswahili?", Africa, 41 (1971): 228-35, and A.I.Salim, "The Elusive 'Mswahili'- Some Reflections on his Identity and Culture," in J.Maw and D.Parkin, Swahili Language and Society (Vienna 1984), 215-227. -15 Some remained on the coast and the islands north of the Tana river, particularly the islands of the Lamu archipelago; some moved to the southern Kenya coast. Others went still farther south, to the Tanzanian coast, the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar, and the Comoro islands, thus bringing about a broad division between northern and southern Swahili peoples and dialects. The dividing line between northern and southern Swahili dialects is considered to be approximately at the southern boundary of Kenya.11 Mijikenda speakers continued to live in their homeland north of the Tana river until the middle of the second millennium. Some may have begun migrating south of the Tana as early as the 14th century, but the evidence is uncertain. Islam and the early towns of the coast Towns existed along the coast of East Africa long before the coming of Islam. The earliest documentary evidence of such towns comes from Graeco-Roman sources in Egypt dating back to the first and second centuries; some towns may then already have been several centuries oldP Some of these early towns, notably Rhapta, developed into commercial entrepots which traded both in local products (either locally produced or derived from the interior) and in overseas goods.13 When and where the first Muslims arrived on the East African coast, and where they came from, is not certain. A tradition from the Kilwa Chronicle, record- ed by de Barros, relates that the first Muslims to migrate to East Africa were Zaidiya refugees, presumably fleeing after the failure of their rising in Kufa (ca. 740 11 Sacleux was the first to consider Swahili dialects systematically, and to make a broad distinction between northern and southern dialects. He identifies KiGunya (that is, the dialect spoken by the Gunya Swahili), KiSiu, KiPate, KiAmu and KiMvita (the dialect spoken the Mvita Swahili in the Mombasa area) as the main northern dialects, and KiUnguja, KiMrima, KiMgao, KiHadimu, KiPemba and KiVumba as the main southern dialects. See Charles Sacleux, Grammaire des Dialectes Swahilis (Paris 1909), viii-x, and Dictionnaire Swahili-francais (Paris 1939), Vol. I, 7-14. Lambert, Whiteley, Chiraghdin and Mnyampala, and others, have expanded on Sacleux's work: H.E. Lambert, Ki-Vumba: A Dialect of the Southern Kenya Coast (Kampala 1957) and Chi-lomvu and Ki-Ngare (Kampala 1958); W.H. Whiteley, "Kimvita" in Journal of the East African Swahili Committee, 25 (1955):10-39, and The Dialects and Verse of Pemba (Kampala 1958); S.Chiraghdin and M.Mnyampala, Historia ya Kiswahili (Nairobi 1977); M.H. Abdulaziz, "The Dialects of Swahili," Ph.D. dissertation (University of London 1978); Thomas Hinnebusch and Derek Nurse, "Comorian: External Linguistic Affiliations," Paper at the African Studies Association Confer- ence in New Orleans, October 1985. 12 The Periplus Maris Erythraei (anonymous) and Geographia Ptolemaei. Extracts from these documents are in G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, The East African Coast: Select Documents from the first to the earlier nineteenth century, (2nd edition, London 1975), 1-4. The full documents can be found in J.W. McCrindle, Periplus Maris Erythraei (London 1879), G.W.B.Huntingford (trans and ed), The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, (Hakluyt Society, London 1980), and Edward L. Stevenson, Geography of Claudius Ptolemy (New York 1932). For a study of the dating of the Periplus, see Gervase Mathew, "The Dating and Significance of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea," in H. Neville Chittick and Robert I. Rotberg (eds), East Africa and the Orient (London 1975). As far as we know, none of the pre-Islamic East African coastal towns mentioned in these documents has yet been found. 13 L.P. Kirwan, "Rhapta, Metropolis of Azania," inAzania, 21(1986): 99-104. -16 A.D.).14 Judging from the earliest imported Islamic ware,15 archaeologists have concluded that early Muslim immigrants were most likely from the Persian Gulf area, but trade routes and migration need not coincide, and in this case there is no firm evidence that they did. More recently, an oral tradition has emerged (among the Swahili) which indicates that the first Muslims to reach the East African coast may have come over- land, via Ethiopia 16 and Somalia, rather than across the sea.17 This tradition (unrecorded in early written documents) deserves attention, and adds to the com- plexity of the evidence about the beginnings of Islam on the East African coast.18 Muslim immigrants settled in or near towns. In some instances, the towns may already have been in existence; the town of Shanga, for example, was a pre- Islamic settlement which later became Muslim.19 In other instances, Muslims may have founded their own settlements; extensive excavations at the site of the ninth- century Muslim town of Manda have uncovered no trace of pre-Islamic settlement.20 Whatever their settlement pattern, Muslims would soon have come into contact with the indigenous Swahili-speaking peoples of the coast. The beginnings of the islamization of the Swahili can be dated from these first contacts. The mingling of Muslim and pagan peoples, which began with the arrival of the first Muslims, constitutes a recurring theme in early descriptions of the East Mrican coast. Early Arab geographers refer to towns which were not Muslim, or where Muslims and non-Muslims lived side by side. Al-Mas'udi, in the 10th century, 14 Joao de Barros, Da Asia, in George M. Thea!, Records of South-Eastern Africa (London 1900), Vol. VI, 80-81 (Portuguese text), 233 (English translation). A translation of the text of the Kilwa Chronicle is in G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, The East African Coast, 34-49. For a discussion of the Chronicle, see G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, The Medieval History of the Coast of Tanganyika (London 1%2), 45-55. The date of the Zaidiya rising is given by HA.R Gibb and J.H. Kramers (eds), The Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden 1974), 634. 15 Much of the early ware, which Chittick terms Sassanian-Islamic, may have come from the port of Siraf on the eastern shores of the Persian Gulf. Cf. Neville Chittick, 'Discoveries in the Lamu Archipelago,' Azania, 2 (1%7): 374J7. 16 The beginnings of Islam in Ethiopia are said to date back to 614-15 A.D. when the Companions of the Prophet took refuge there. See Sir William Muir, The life of Mahomet (London 1894), 67, 78. For summaries of pre-Islamic relations between Arabia and Ethiopia (then called Abyssinia), see Philip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs (London 1964), 1054J, and Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People (London 1965), 48-53. Ullendorff also discusses the penetration of Islam, and points out that some of the Djabarti living in the Ethiopian highlands claim descent from the first Muslim refugees sent to Ethiopia by the Prophet. See pp594J2, 113--114. 17 Oral information, Ahmad Sheikh Nabhany, Mombasa, 16/11/86. Nabhany raised this point at a recent conference held in Lamu; see Richard Wilding (ed), "The Shanga Panel" (being a record of proceedings of a meeting, hosted by the Lamu Museum, National Museums of Kenya, to discuss archaeological findings at Shanga), Coast Museums Studies, Occasional Paper No. 1, Mombasa (March 1987), 7. 18 The 'Ethiopian origin' tradition implies -though it does not explicitly state- that the first Muslims to reach the East Africa coast were not themselves refugees from Arabia, but were indigenous Africans. In a personal communication of 15th August 1988, Humphrey Fisher has suggested that the emergence of the tradition at this time is part of a general tendency to seek origins within rather than outside Africa.This, of course, does not in any way reflect on the possible validity of the tradition. 19 M.C. Horton, "Early Muslim Trading Settlements on the East African Coast: New Evidence from Shanga," The Antiquaries Journal, 2 (1987): 290-323. 20 Neville Chittick, Manda: Excavations at an Island Port on the Coast of Kenya (Nairobi 1984), 217-220. -18 comments that the island of Kanbalu21 was inhabited by a mixed population of Muslims and idolatrous Zanj.22 Al-Idrisi, in the 12th century, says that Mogadishu, Marka and Barawa were Muslim towns, but that the other towns of the Berbera coast were pagan (as were the Zanj23 people), excepting the island of Unguja (Zanzibar), which had a mixed, predominantly Muslim population.24 In a 14th century account Ibn Battuta stresses the Muslim character of the towns he visited (Mogadishu, Mombasa and Kilwa), though he notes that the inhabitants of Kilwa were in a state of jihad with neighbouring pagan peoples.25 Many of the towns were small, and some could have been little more than villages with mostly mud-and-thatch dwellings and very few stone structures. At some time or other, many coastal towns seem to have had at least a few Muslim inhabitants, as shown by the existence of stone mosques. The evidence may be incomplete and misleading, however, for only stone structures endure tropical conditions, and coastal settlements without visible stone remains may have escaped detection. A comparable bias may exist in historical documents, since Muslim chronicles, which stress the influence and civic role of Muslims, are the main source of information about the early coastal towns. The number of towns grew steadily, especially after the 13th century, when immigration from the Arabian peninsula increased.26 By the 16th century, towns existed along the entire East African coast. Along the southern Kenya coast alone there were more than twenty Muslim towns, all either on islands or on the shore, or within five miles of the shore (Map 3). Portuguese documents describe Malindi and Mombasa, but give scanty information about other towns.27 Consequently most of our information about the towns of the southern Kenya coast at that time comes 21 Kanbalu (also spelled Qanbalu or Kambalu) has long been identified with the island of Pemba. Some writers have suggested that Kanbalu was in the Comoro islands (James Kirkman, Men and Monuments on the East African Coast, (London 1964), 203; Gill Shepherd, "The Making of the Swahili," Paideuma, 28 (1982): 129-47) or the Lamu archipelago (M.C.Horton, "Early Muslim Trading Settlements," 318-19). 22 C. Pella!(ed), Les Prairies d'or (Paris 1962), 84, 93. 23 The word Zanj (sometimes Zinj), derived from the Arabic word zanj (pl. zunuj or zanuj) meaning "a black person", was commonly used by the Arabs of mediaeval times to refer to the black peoples of East Africa. Gibb notes that it was a term "ultimately derived from Persian or Sanskrit, probably in the language of the seamen of the Persian Gulf." (Gibb, Ibn Battuta, II, 373, footnote 45). 24 J.S.Trimingham, "The Arab Geographers and the East African Coast," in H.N. Chittick and RI. Rotberg (eds), East Africa and the Orient (New York 1975), 115-146. A short extract from Al-Idrisi is in Freeman-Grenville, The East African Coast, 19-20. 25 HA.R. Gibb (trans), The Travels of Ibn Battuta, A.D. 1325-1354 (Cambridge 1962), Vol II, 377-380. Gibb concludes that the "jihad against the heathen tribes is obviously slave-raiding." (p.380, footnote 63.) Relevant passages (in translation) of Ibn Battuta's account of his visits to Mogadishu, Mombasa and Kilwa, can also be found in Said Hamdun and Noel King, Ibn Battuta in Black Africa, (London 1975), 15-20. 26 J. de V. Allen, "Settlement Patterns on the East African Coast, AD 800-1900," paper presented to the VIIIth Pan-African Congress for Pre-history and Quarternary Studies, Nairobi 19n, Table I, and "Some Aspects of Swahili Economic History," Department of History, University of Nairobi, Staff Seminar Paper No. 6, December 1976, p5. 27 The Roteiro, thought to be the only surviving eyewitness account of Vasco da Gama's voyage, mentions Benapa, Toea and Nuguoquioniete as three places between Mombasa and Malindi, but gives no details. E.G. Ravenstein (trans and ed),A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama (London 1898), 40. -19 from archaeological findings. In some areas (Gede, Kilifi, Diani) towns formed distinct clusters; Kirkman has referred to the towns of Kilifi as a "city-state".28 The main religious inspiration for the Islam of the coastal Swahili towns seems to have come from southern Arabia. In the early 14th century, Ibn Battuta observed that the inhabitants of Mombasa were Sunni Muslims: "They are Shafi'ites in rite, pious, honourable and upright."29 New Muslim settlements in the 14th and 15th centuries, and an increase in the number of mosques built in stone, point to the growing strength and prosperity of Islam. And the creation of a local style of religious architecture indicates that Islam was evolving in a distinctly indigenous way.30 Sharifs who settled on the Kenya coast beginning perhaps in the 15th or early 16th century played an important role in shaping local Muslim culture.31 At the same time, towns such as Malindi and Mombasa were linked to the larger cosmo- politan Muslim world through regular overseas trading contacts. In the early 16th century, the Portuguese found "merchants from Cambay" residing at Malindi, and Muslims "wearing Turkish coats and caps" in Mombasa.32 It is unlikely that any towns were populated solely by Muslims; many towns may have continued to be inhabited entirely or mainly by pagan peoples. But gradually and in varying degrees, some towns became centres of Muslim influence. Migration of non-Muslims from rural areas into the towns must have occurred, and in many places would have been greater than immigration from overseas. With the passing of time, Muslim settlers and their descendants became indigenized. The indigenous peoples of the coast were no doubt influenced in turn, but evidence available allows only general conclusions about islamization (that is, the assimilation or conversion of non-Muslims to Islam) in this period, for we know few details about the non-Muslim peoples of the region. There is no record of their relations with Muslims, and we have almost no information about the effect of Islam on African culture during these early centuries. In towns where Muslims and non-Muslims resided together, non-Muslims (including slaves) were undoubtedly converted to Islam, but how many were 28 James Kirkman, "Mnarani of Kilifi: The Mosques and Tombs," Ars Orienta/is, Ill (1959): 95-112. 29 Gibb, Ibn Battllta, II, 379. Ibn Battuta's statement is the first documentary evidence that the Swahili were Sunni at that time. There is evidence of earlier Shi'ite influences on the Swahili coast: cf. G.S.P.Freeman-Grenville, "Shi'i rulers of Kilwa," The Numismatic Chronicle, 138 (1978): 187-198; Randall L. Pouwels, "Tenth century settlement of the East African coast: the case for Qarmatian/Isma'ili Connections,• Azania, IX (1974): 65-74. 30 See P.Garlake, The Early Islamic Architectllre of the East Afiican Coast (Nairobi 1966). 31 B.G. Martin, "Arab Migration to East Africa in Medieval Times," IJAHS, VII, 3 (1974): 367-390. In the 14th century, Ibn Battuta saw shari[s at Mogadishu and "a group of the sharifs of Hijaz" at Kilwa; he commented that shari[s visited Kilwa "from Iraq and Hijaz and other places", but makes no mention of sharifs at Mombasa. Hamdun and King, Ibn Battuta, 16-17, 20. It is not certain when the first sharifs settled on the Kenya coast. 32 A.Da Silva Rego and T.W.Baxter (eds), Documentos sobre os Portugueses en Mocambique e na Afiica Central (Lisbon 1962), Vol I (1497-1506), 533,535. -20 converted is a matter of conjecture. We can assume that quite a bit of assimilation of non-Muslims to Islam took place, particularly through the marriage of non- Muslim women to Muslim men. Such cultural mixing would have contributed to the steady growth of Islam among the Swahili peoples.33 There is no evidence of Muslim influence in the interior, or even in the immediate rural hinterland. Non- Muslims who became Muslim were assimilated into town life or had already been residing in towns before their conversion. Islam remained an urban religion. The hinterland and town peoples of the early 16th century Our knowledge about the peoples of the southern coastal hinterland at the beginning of the 16th century comes from oral traditions, archaeological findings, and Portuguese documents. The evidence is slight, but seems sufficient to suggest some broad conclusions about these peoples. Portuguese documents refer to the inhabitants of the region as Musungulos, probably the Portuguese rendering of a name used by the people of Mombasa and Malindi.34 The people whose name today most closely resembles the name Musungulos are the Walangulo (also known as the Sanye); they are Cushitic- speaking hunters.35 Gray equates the Musungulos with the Walangulo thus: "Mozungullos is clearly a Portuguese corruption of the Kiswahili word Walangulo. The tribe in question is evidently the Wa-Sania, who now live on the banks of the Tana River."36 Oral traditions of the Giriama support this conclusion; the Giriama consider the hunting people whom they found in the hinterland of Mombasa in the 16th century to have been the ancestors of the Walangulo.37 And an early Portuguese 33 Many historians have written about the Swahili peoples. Pouwels has recently published a cultural-religious study, and Nurse and Spear a historical-linguistic study, of the origin and development of Swahili culture and civilization; and Nicholls and Salim have written extensively about the history of the Swahili in the 19th and 20th centuries. C.S. Nicholls, The Swahili Coast (London 1971); A.I.Salim, The Swahili-Speaking Peoples of Kenya's Coast, 1895-1965 (Nairobi 1973); Derek Nurse and Thomas Spear, The SwahilReconstrncting the History and Language of an African Society, 800-1500 (Philadelphia 1985); Randall L Pouwels, Hom and Crescent: Traditional Society and Cultural Change, 800-19()() (Cambridge 1987). 34 Portuguese accounts also mention the Galla, as well as the Mosseguejos, a pastoral people who appear in the vicinity of Malindi in 1571: Strandes, 141-143. The Mosseguejos may be ancestral to the Segeju who now Jive mainly in northeastern Tanzania, but debate about this continues. See "Notes on the Wasegeju of Vanga District," KNA, DC/KWL/3/5; A.C. Hollis, "The Wasegeju," Rhodes House, MSS.Afr. s.1272 a,b; E.C. Baker, "Notes on the History of the Wasegeju," 1NR, 27 (1949): 16- 41; Derek Nurse, "Segeju and Daisu: A Case Study of Evidence from Oral Tradition atid Comparative Linguistics," History in Africa,9 (1982):175-208. 35 Arthur M.Champion, "Some Notes on the Wasanye," JEAUNHS, 17 (1922): 21-24; Daniel Stiles, "Hunters of the Northern East African Coast: Origins and Historical Processes," Africa, 51 (1981): 848-62. 36 Sir John Gray, "Rezende's Description of East Africa in 1634," TNR, 23 (June 1947): 22. Until recently, the Sanye were present farther south, in eastern Tsavo and in the Malindi area, near Arabuko and Gede, but they are now disappearing from that region. 37 Thomas T. Spear, The Kaya Complex: A History of the Mijikenda Peoples of the Kenya Coast to 19()() (Nairobi 1978), 30-31. -21 reference suggests the presence of hunters: Duarte Barbosa, writing in c.1514, described the people of the mainland as trading with Mombasa in "honey, wax and ivory," trade items of a hunting people.38 From this evidence we can infer that there were Cushitic-speaking people in the coastal hinterland in the early 16th century, and that they were most likely the people (or some of the people) referred to by the Portuguese as Musungulos. Archaeological evidence that Bantu people were also present in the region has been cited by Kirkman. On the basis of pottery found at Gede, he concluded that the Musungulos were Bantu who had been present since the beginning of the 15th century or earlier.39 He identified them as "...either an advance party of fugitives [from Shungwaya] or a branch of eastern Bantu who had never been settled at Shungwaya."40 Early Bantu people most likely practised hunting as well as agriculture.41 For this reason the difference between Bantu and Cushitic hunting peoples would have been obscure to visiting foreigners, and it is not surprising that the Portuguese (whose knowledge of the peoples of the region was sketchy) used one name to refer to different peoples of the hinterland. Settlement in the rural areas seems to have been sparse. By the 16th century, the Bantu may have been more numerous than the Cushitic peoples, but evidence is inconclusive, and there is no firm basis for estimating Bantu and Cushitic popula- tions. Nor, with a few exceptions, can we tell the size of towns. Some towns were relatively large. Martin has estimated that the population of Malindi was 5,500 at the beginning of the 16th century;42 in 1506, Mombasa was described as "a very big city" with a population of "10,000 souls of whom some 3,700 are fighting men."43 The original town of Gede (Gedi) covered an area of some 45 acres, and had seven mosques and many stone houses; Kirkman concluded, from the quantity of porce- lain found there, that the town must have had a "large and prosperous population."44 38 Duarte Barbosa, A Description of the Coarts of Eart Africa and Malabar (translation and preface by Henry EJ.Stanley), (Hakluyt Society reprint, London 1970), 12; ManselL. Dames (ed and trans), The Book of Duarte Barbosa, (1-Iakluyt Society, London 1918), Vol I, 21. 39 Notes by J. Kirkman, appended to the "Notes on the History of the Wa-nyika" (1914) by Kenneth Macdougall in KNA, DC/KFI/3/3, Political Record Book, 1911-1921; see also Kirkman's discussion of locally-made "finger-nail indented" pottery, in Men and Monuments on the Eart African Coart (London 1964), 33, and The Arab City of Gedi: Excavations at the Great Mosque (London 1954), 74-n. 40 Justus Strandes, The Portuguese Period in Erut Africa (translated by Jean F. Wallwork and edited by J.S. Kirkman), (Nairobi 1971), 305 (originally published as Die Portugiesenzeit von Deutsch- und Englisch-Ostafrika, Berlin 1899). 41 Even after adopting a predominantly agricultural economy, the Mijikenda continued to be keen hunters. In 1845, Krapf wrote: "The Wanika [Mijikenda]...are always out on hunting excursions and kill with their arrows every animal." Krapfs Journal, entry for 30 January 1845. CMS, CAS/016/168. 42 Esmond Bradley Martin, The History of Malindi (Nairobi 1973), 19-20, 28. 43 "Account of the Voyage of D. Francisco de Almeida, Viceroy of India, along the East Coast of Africa," 22 May 1506, in Rego and Baxter, Documentos, Vol I, 531,537. 44 James Kirkman, Gedi (Nairobi 1970), 7, 8-9, 15-16. Gede is a Galla word; the original name of the town is not known. Though Kirkman points out that the name is more properly spelled Gede, he continues to use the popular spelling Gedi. -22 We know that in some places the inhabitants of the hinterland constituted a semi-urban population, being settled in the environs of towns.45 Massive town walls, sometimes as much as nine feet high in the case of towns such as Gede, Mtwapa, and Vumba Kuu,46 suggest that relations between town and country, and between towns, could be hostile, but in comparison with what the next two centuries were to bring, the beginning of the 16th century must be considered a time of peace. Disruption and change: the migration from Shungwaya, the abandonment of mainland towns, and the Portuguese intrusion Events of the 16th and 17th centuries brought far-reaching changes along the Kenya coast. By the 16th century the Mijikenda (and other peoples) were moving into the southern coastal region; according to tradition they dispersed from a place called Shungwaya (Singwaya),47 which was somewhere north of the Tana river.48 Their migration resulted from conflict with their northern neighbours the Oromo (sometimes referred to as the Galla), who were themselves moving south under pressure from the Somali.49 The 16th century also saw the Portuguese settling on the Kenya coast, first at Malindi, where a trading factory was established in 1509, and later, in 1593, at Mombasa.50 By the 17th century the Oromo had reached the hinterland of Malindi and Kilifi, rendering unsafe large stretches of the coastal plain north of Mombasa. As a consequence most of the mainland towns north of Mombasa were abandoned during the late 16th and early 17th century. The aggressive southward advance of the Oromo is usually considered the main cause of the abandonment of mainland towns, but other factors, such as shortage of water, inter-town warfare, and raiding by the Mosseguejos,51 Zimba52 and Portuguese, most likely contributed as well. 45 At times, some two thousand persons may have been living outside the town walls of Malindi. Martin, Malindi, 28. 46 Thomas H.Wilson, The Monumental Architecture and Archaeology of the Central and Southern Kenya Coast (Nairobi 1980), 1,52,101. Most walls seem to have been constructed to defend against attack by land. 47 Singwaya is the spelling used by those who prefer the Mijikenda version of the name. 48 V.L. Grottanelli, "A Lost African Metropolis," Afrikanistische Studien, 26 (1955): 231-242; H.N. Chittick, "The Book of Zenj and the Mijikenda," JJAHS, 9 (1976): 68-73; T.T. Spear, "Traditional Myths and Historians' Myths: Variations on the Singwaya Theme of Mijikenda Origins,• History in Africa,1(1974): 67-84. 49 LV. Cassanelli, "The Benaadir Past: Essays in Southern Somali History," Ph.D. dissertation (University of Wisconsin 1973), 21-29,43-54, and The Shaping of Somali Society (Philadelphia 1982); I.M. Lewis, "The Somali Conquest of the Hom of Africa," JAB, I, 1 (1960): 213-239; E.R Turton, "Bantu, Galla and Somali Migration in the Hom of Africa: A Reassessment of the Juba/fana Area," JAH, XVI, 4 (1975): 519-537. 50 Strandes, 115, 140-141. The hostility of the people of Mombasa prevented the Portuguese from settling there earlier. By 1593, Mombasa had been weakened by successive Portuguese attacks and "by devastations wrought by the Zimba" (Strandes, 161). See footnote 52 below. 51 See p.20, footnote 34. 52 The Zimba, who are mentioned by eye-witness Portuguese accounts, were a "war-like tribe" from "south on the Zambesi" who ravaged the Kenya coast in 1589. Standes, 154-161. -24 Some towns, like Gede, were abandoned and then temporarily reoccupied; other towns, such as Kilifi and Mnarani, evidently were burned; an unnamed settlement near Malindi suffered attack and destruction at the hands of the Portuguese.53 Whatever the causes, the period between 1550 and 1650, when most of the population movements seem to have occurred, was one of turmoil and change. The settlement pattern of town and country, of Muslims and non-Muslims alike, was severely disrupted. What took place seems to have been not a loss of population, but a regrouping for the sake of protection. Muslims from the mainland towns north of Mombasa sought refuge in safer island towns; many moved to Mombasa island. Some may have moved to towns farther south, and some to Pemba island. Others may have moved north to towns of the Lamu archipelago. The last of the northern mainland towns to be abandoned was Mtwapa, which was inhabited at least until the early 18th century (Map 4).54 For a short period the Oromo may have raided south of Mombasa, but the raiding was not sustained.55 South of Mombasa, conflict between two Swahili peoples, the Vumba and the Shirazi,56 precipitated similar kinds of change. The Vumba and the Shirazi had both been in the region since the 14th or the early 15th century:57 the Vumba at 53 J. Kirkman, "Historical Archaeology in Kenya," The Antiquaries Journal, 31, 1-2 (1957): 16-28; Gedthe Palace (The Hague 1%3); and Men and Monuments, 96-91. Boteler mentions that the town of Kilili "was attacked, sacked, and burnt by the Galla." Captain Thomas Boteler, Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery to Aftica and Arabia (London 1835), Vol II, 2. The Portuguese attack is mentioned in a letter from Joao de Sepulveda, Mozambique, 10 August 1542 to the King of Portugal, in which he writes: "The King of Malindi asked me to destroy some neighbouring place with whom he had been at war for many years, which I did..,• in Rego and Baxter, Documentos, Vol VII (1540-1560), Lisbon 1971, p.133; the place is not named. 54 I am indebted to Dr. Richard Wilding, the Coast Archaeologist of the National Museums of Kenya, for taking me around the site of Mtwapa and for information about his current excavations there. Though many inhabitants of Mtwapa left, it is not certain that the town was ever fully abandoned. According to Mtwapa traditions the Oromo did not attack the town, and a few Mtwapa families continued to reside there throughout the 18th century. (Kobana Salim, Mtwapa, 22/10/87.) Evidence about exact dates is scanty. Taylor, writing in the 1880s, mentioned the existence of Mtwapa "100 years ago", which would mean it was occupied in the late 18th century (Taylor Papers, Vol IV, Section F, SOAS Manuscript Collection, MS 47755). Occupation during the 17th and 18th centuries could have been seasonal, with a good deal of movement back and forth from Mombasa. Some Mtwapa may have been persons of dual residence: integrated and accepted as residents of Mombasa, at the same time as they regularly visited their home town of Mtwapa. 55 A.C.Hollis, "Notes on the History of Vumba, East Africa," Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, XXX (1900): 281; Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 19/12/67. 56 The Shirazi are said to have been among the first settlers on the East African coast, but details of early Shirazi settlement on the southern Kenya coast are unknown. After trying unsuccessfully to get information about the Shirazi in that area, Thompson wrote: "No satisfactory account could be obtained of their origin, and they were quite unable to give any account of themselves." File Memo "Persian immigration from Shiraz", signed by Thompson, Acting District Commissioner, Vanga Dis- trict, 17 July 1917, KNA, DC/KWL/3/5. For a general discussion of Shirazi settlement in East Africa, see Arthur E.Robinson, "The Shirazi Colonizations of East Africa,• TNR, 3 (April1937): 40-53. 57 When the Vumba first arrived in the region, they were probably not Muslim. According to Vumba traditions, the first five rulers of Vumba Kuu were not Muslim; the beginning of Islam dates to the reign of the sixth ruler, Mwana Chambi Niomvi, in the late 15th century. The country was suffering from drought and famine (according to other versions, there was sickness, or the ruler's daughter was sick), and Mwana Chambi Niomvi invited Sharif Hasan of Zanzibar, well-known for his supernatural powers, to come to Vumba Kuu to pray for rain. After successfully ending the drought, Sharif Hasan stayed, married the daughter of Mwana Chambi Niomvi, and converted him and other members of the ruling clan to Islam. Oral information from Saggaf Ba-Alawi, Mombasa, 28/8/87; the same tradition is recorded by Robinson, as related by Omari bin Stambul, when he was chief Qadhi of Tanga. A.F. Robinson, "The Shirazi Colonization of East Africa: Vumba," TNR, 7 (1939): 93. -25 Vumba Kuu,58 and the Shirazi at Mwiyuni, Mdragoni, Kifundi and Munge (and possibly Tumbe), all now ruined settlements (Map 2).59 Early in the 17th century,60 the Vumba fought and conquered the Shirazi "by the help of the friendly Wadigo".61 The old Shirazi towns were for the most part abandoned, and only a few scattered Shirazi remained in the area.62 The war, and subsequent Shirazi migration, left the Vumba undisputed rulers of the southern Kenya coast. Later in the same century, insecurity and possibly internal rivalry led to the abandonment of Vumba Kuu;63 the Vumba moved first to Kigomeni and later to Wasin island (Map 4).64 By the 18th century, the Muslim settlements at Diani, Tiwi and Ukunda had also been abandoned, but it is not certain who the inhabitants were or where they went.65 By the early 18th century, most Muslims had moved to island towns; Muslim control over the mainland coast between the Sabaki and the Umba rivers had all but ceased. After several centuries of prosperity and expansion, Islam had been forced to retreat and was now confined to the islands of Mombasa and Wasin. 58 According to traditions recorded by Hollis, Vumba Kuu (the main town of the Vumba) was founded at the beginning of the 13th century. The genealogies of the Vumba rulers do not support such an early foundation, nor do preliminary archaeological findings corroborate this date, which seems too early by at least a century. (A.C. Hollis, "Notes on the History ofVumba, East Africa" in JRAI, 30 (1900): 275-297; Wilson, Monumental Architecture, 2-3.) Robinson considers that Vumba Kuu was a settle- ment founded by Shirazi "said to have come from Shungwaya." (Robinson, "The Shirazi Colonizations," 49.) If Robinson is correct, then the Vumba may have settled in the region at approximately the same time as other Shirazi groups, and only later come to prominence as the Vumba. Cursory archaeological surveys have been done at Vumba Kuu; there are no plans for a more comprehensive excavation of the site, and it is unlikely there will be new evidence about the origins of the town in the near future. 59 T.A.Dickson, Mombasa, 9 October 1925, to Acting Chief Native Commissioner, "Ruins and Inscriptions," KNA, CP/47/1165; Wilson, Monumental Architecture, 23-39. 60 The Vumba-Shirazi war is said to have taken place when Mwana Chambi Chandi Ivor was the ruler of Vumba Kuu, that is, in c.1615 (Hollis, 281-2). 61 The Birini clan of the Digo are remembered as having helped the Ba-Amiri Vumba, the ruling Vumba family at the time (Hollis, 280-2), but the special ties that developed thereafter between the Digo and the Vumba were limited in scope. The Wakamadhi clan of the Segeju are also said to have helped the Ba-Amiri Vumba against the Shirazi (Testimony of the Segeju elders of Moa, 10/10/48, E.C.Baker, "Wanyika and Wadigo notebook," pp.79-80, Rhodes House, Oxford, MSSAfr.r.84). Some Segeju traditions do not admit that the Digo helped the Vumba against the Shirazi (Interview with Sondo wa Vurizi and Rashid bin Muhammad Lamnunyi, Manza, 29/9/48, E.C. Baker, "Wanyika and Wadigo notebook," Rhodes House, MSSAfr.r.84), but in this case the traditions collected by Hollis seem more consistent and more reliable. 62 After the war, many Shirazi migrated south to escape the humiliating terms of surrender to which they were subjected, and settled along the northern Tanzanian coast, where they still live today. Other Shirazi migrated north and settled at Mombasa and Jomvu (Uthman Mwinyiusi, Mkomani, 20/9/87). Others may have settled around Galu, Diani and Tiwi, and in the area south of Gasi, where they are said to have stayed until the second half of the 19th century. See Chapter V, p.144. 63 McKay states that Vumba Kuu was abandoned because of Galla raids (William Francis McKay, "A Pre-Colonial History of the Southern Kenya Coast," Ph.D. dissertation (Boston University 1975): 46), but there is no evidence of sustained Galla raid- ing south of Mombasa. It has also been suggested that the town was abandoned at a later date, when "...about 1700 A.D. the whole territory was over-run by a horde of cannibals the Wadoe who came from near Dares Salaam." (File Memo "Visit to Vanga," no date, KNA, DC/KWL/5/2). According to Hollis, however, when the Wadoe overran the country in the 17th century, they did not harm the Vumba; Hollis says the Vumba moved to Wasin because they feared attack from Mombasa (Hollis, 281-82). Rather than attribute the abandonment of Vumba Kuu to raiding by one specific group, it may be more correct to postulate a general decline of security in the region in the 17th century. 64 Kigomeni and Wasin became the seats of rival Vumba groups. The site of the old town of Kigomeni (abandoned in 1822) lies in Tanzania south of the Umba river. (McKay, 55-56,75-89.) From the beginning, Wasin was the main residence of the Sharifs (descendants of the Prophet Muhammad) of the Ba-Alawi family. (File Memo, "Wassin", KNA, DC/KWL/3/1.) 65 See Appendix III. -26 The pattern of Mijikenda settlement Traditions of the Mijikenda about their migration from Shungwaya (Sing- waya) have been documented and interpreted by Spear.66 The traditions have been dubbed fabrications,67 but their overwhelming consistency (collected over a wide area and time) would seem to confirm them as genuine.68 Efforts have been made to relate Mijikenda traditions to the traditions of other peoples who claim Shungwaya origin (the Segeju, the Kilindini, the Pokomo, and the Gunya).69 From the whole corpus of these traditions, it has been argued that Shungwaya comprised a large, multi-ethnic community (including Cushitic-speaking and Bantu-speaking peoples), spread over a wide region, with Muslim as well as non-Muslim inhabitants.70 On the basis of age-sets, starting with the Amwendo age-set of the Giriama, Spear estimates that the Mijikenda arrived in south-eastern Kenya in the second half of the 16th century. There is evidence that their migration was not a mass movement of large numbers but rather a continuing flow of small fragmented groups, some of which had probably arrived no later than the early 16th century. Still under threat of Oromo attack, they established palisaded villages (known as kayas11) in the forests of the inland ridge of hills which runs from Kilifi creek south to the Ramisi river;72 hunters of the area, with whom they established friendly rela- tions, showed them hidden and inaccessible sites.73 The first Mijikenda migrants to arrive from Shungwaya most likely found 66 Thomas T. Spear, The Kaya Complex, 16-43, and Traditions of Origin and their Interpretation: The Mijikenda of Kenya (Athens, Ohio 1982). 67 R.F. Morton, "The Shungwaya Myth of Miji Kenda Origins: A Problem of Late Nineteenth Century Kenya Coastal History," /JAHS, V, 3 (1972): 397-423, and "New Evidence Regarding the Shungwaya Myth of Miji Kenda Origins," IJAHS, X, 4 (1977): 628-643. 68 Thomas T. Spear, The Kaya Complex, 21, and "Traditional Myths and Linguistic Analysis: Singwaya Revisited," History in Africa, 4 (1977): 230-245. 69 A.HJ. Prins, "The Shungwaya Problem: Traditional History and Cultural Likeness," Anthropos, 61 (1972): 9-35; James de V. Allen, "Shungwaya, the Mijikenda, and the Traditions" (review article), IJAHS, 16, 3 (1983): 455-484. For traditions of other Shungwaya peoples see: A. Wemer,"Some Notes on the Wa-Pokomo of the Tana Valley," Journal of the Africa Society, XII (1912/13): 359-384; RG. Darroch, "Some Notes on the Early History of the Tribes Living on the Lower Tana, collected by Mikael Samson and Others," JEAUNHS, 17 (1943/44): 244-54; E.C. Baker, "History of the Wasegeju," TNR, 27 (1949): 16-41; H.E. Lambert, Chi-chiftmdi (Kampala 1958). 70 A.H.J.Prins, The Coastal Tribes of the North-Eastern Bantu (London 1952), 43; James de Vere Allen, "Shungwaya, the Segeju and Somali History," Archaeology and History, Vol II (proceedings of the Second International Congress of Somali Studies, held at the University of Hamburg, August 1983), 35-72; Randall L. Pouwels, Hom and Crescent, 10-16. 71 See Appendix I. 72 The pastoralist Oromo, perhaps unaccustomed to hilly forested terrain, seem to have concentrated their marauding and main attacks to the coastal plain. 73 Spear, The Kaya Complex, 1,50. Hunters are said to have settled in kaya Giriama at the time, giving rise to several Giriama sub-clans. -27 other Bantu peoples in the area, and either absorbed them or pushed them south.74 As more Mijikenda arrived, particularly from the second half of the 16th century to the early 17th century, they came to be the dominant people.75 In time, the tradi- tions of earlier Bantu peoples were lost, and the Mijikenda migration from Shung- waya became the starting point for the history of settlement in the area.76 Two broad groups emerged according as the Mijikenda settled north or south of Mombasa; this early settlement pattern had important long-term consequences for future expansion and relations with neighbouring Muslim peoples. The southern Mijikenda, now known as the Digo, are generally regarded as the first to have migrated from Shungwaya (which corresponds with their southernmost position); linguistic analysis confirms that they separated from the northern Mijikenda before the latter split into constituent groups.77 The northern Mijikenda (the Kauma, Chonyi, Jibana, Kambe, Rabai, Ribe, Duruma and Giriama) founded kayas to the north and northwest of Mombasa (Map 4). With the Oromo still threatening them, their primary concern was security. As a result, they continued to reside within the stockades of their original kaya settle- ments. Although local expansion took place to establish subsidiary kayas, these were few and invariably near the original kayas (Map 5).78 The northern Mijikenda remained restricted in their area of residence until the Oromo threat subsided in the second quarter of the 19th century. Though the northern Mijikenda had a common system of generation-sets and age-sets (Miji. rika), political and religious leadership came to be centred in individ- ual kayas, which were governed by the senior elders sitting together in council (Miji. kambi).79 The elders of different kayas would consult regarding matters of common interest; and major events, such as the initiation of a new age-set, were decided by a 74 G.W.B.Huntingford, "'be Peopling of the Interior of East Africa by its Modem Inhabitants," in R Oliver and G. Mathew (eds), History of East Africa (London 1%3), Vol I, 91. See also pp. 6-7 above. According to the traditions of the Bondei of northern Tanzania, they were displaced by the Digo from the coastal plain south of Mombasa. Saidi Pimwe, Dar es Salaam, July 1948, (interviewed by E.C. Baker), Rhodes House, MSSAfr.r.84, E.C.Baker, "Wanyika and Wadigo Notebook," p.43; H.M.T. Kayamba, "Notes on the Wadigo,• TNR, 23, (1947): 80-81. 75 Spear, The Kaya Complex, 4, 14, 16, 27-33, 64. 76 With the exception of some of the Rabai who trace their origin to Rombo, in Chagga country near Mount Kilimanjaro, and claim to have settled at Rabai before the arrival of the Mijikenda; the Rabai subsequently adopted Mijikenda culture and language, and are now considered Mijikenda. Cf. Spear, The Kaya Complex, 33-34, and "Note on the origin of the Warabai" in the Quarterly Report for Rabai sub-district for the Quarter ending 31st December 1911, KNA, CP/MP/11. 77 PA.S. Sedlak, "Sociocultural Determinants of Language Maintenance and Language Shift in a Rural Kenyan Coastal Community," Ph.D. thesis (Stanford University 1975), 141. 78 MapS is based on information from the following sources: Alice Werner, "Bantu Coast Tribes of the East Africa Protec- torate," Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, XLV (July-December 1915): 327-29, 344; Spear, The Kaya Complex, 30- 32; SA. Robertson, "Preliminary Floristic Survey of Kaya Forests of Coastal Kenya,• Malindi 1987; Henry W. Mutoro, "The Spatial Distribution of the Mijikenda Kaya Settlements on the Hinterland Kenya Coast,• Transafrican Journal of History, 14 (1985): 78-100. 79 Cynthia Brantley, The Giriama and Colonial Resistance in Kenya, 1800-1920, (Los Angeles 1981), 14; Spear, The Kaya Complex, 58-63. joint meeting of the elders of all kayas. Some intermarriage and migration between kayas took place. Despite these common social bonds and cultural affinities, each of the kayas developed its own character, and individual northern Mijikenda peoples were identified primarily with their individual kayas.80 They were Giriama, Ribe, Chonyi, etc., long before they came to think of themselves as Mijikenda.81 The southern Mijikenda (Digo) founded kayas south of Mombasa, at Kwale and at Kinondo (Map 4). Being a safe distance from the Oromo, and in an area with abundant fertile land, they soon spread out, in some cases long distances, to estab- lish independent secondary kayas. This pattern of expansion continued for two centuries; by the second quarter of the 19th century, in contrast with the northern Mijikenda who were still living in or near their original kaya villages, the southern Mijikenda had spread throughout the coastal plain south of Mombasa (Map 6).82 There is evidence that when the southern Mijikenda first arrived south of Mombasa, they comprised several groups, and only later came to think of them- selves collectively as Digo. The Kitab al Zanuj mentions the "Digo, Shimba, Longo, and Sifi" as the first four groups to migrate from Shungwaya;83 and the Mombasa Chronicle84 lists the "Tiv, Darumah-Mutavi, Shibah, Lughuh, and Diju" among the 80 Spear, The Kaya Complex, 46-49, 58-62. 81 Krapf and Rebmann observed the individual character of the kayas when visiting them in 1844 and 1848. CMS, CAS/016/28, letter of Krapf to the Lay Secretary, 25/9/1844, and CA5/024/52A, Journal of RevJ. Rebmann, entries for 9- 12/1/1848. The name Mijikenda, meaning "nine towns" (nine = Swa. kenda; towns = Swa. miji) seems to have been first used in 1924 by the Digo of the nine villages immediately south of Mombasa, who adopted the name (in its Mijikenda form Midzichenda) to describe their newly-established Central Council. (Cf. Digo District, Station Diary, entry for 5th April 1924. KNA, DC/KWL/5/1.) The name was taken up by all the Mijikenda in the 1940s when the nine Mijikenda peoples came together to form the Mijikenda Union. Saidi Sulayman Mwagogo, Kilifi, 11/6/86. 82 Map 6 is based on information given by the following: Hamisi Mwatuwano, Waa, 16/12/67; Muhammad bin Matano Mwakutanga, Mtongwe, 20/8/69; Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 27/4/70; Abdallah Mwatari, Diani, 14/1/75; Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 31/1/75; Ngumi bin Shaykh Mwinyi, Msambweni, 24/8/85; Juma Nyevu, Makwenyeni, 25/7/87; Mwabaka Kombo, Jego, 21/10/87; Swalehe Pembe, Chwaka, 23/10/87. 83 E.Cerulli, Somalia, Scritti vari Editi ed /nediti (Rome 1957), Vol I, 234, 256; pages 233-251 of this book contain the Arabic text of the Kitab al Zanuj (Book of the Zanj), and pages 253-292 an Italian translation. The Digo, Shimba and Longo are men- tioned in Digo traditions and are clearly Digo groups. It is tempting to assume an orthographic error and to equate the Sifi of the Kitab al Zanuj with the T!wi (the TIV of the Mombasa Chronicle), another group mentioned inDigo traditions; otherwise the Sifi must remain unidentified. In the light of our present knowledge about the Digo, the transliteration from Arabic by Cerulli, showing Shamba and Lungo (identified by him as tribes in Tanzania, ref. footnote 1, p.256) should be revised to Shimba and Longo, the names of Digo groups. 84 The Mombasa Chronicle relates the history of Mombasa from Portuguese times up to the early 19th century. The original manuscript of the Chronicle is presumably lost, and only two copies of the text are known to survive. One was published (in Arabic with an English translation) by Capt.W.F.Owen in his book Narrative of Voyages to explore the shores of Africa, Arabia and Madagascar (London 1833), Vol I, pp.414-422; from a letter we know that LtJ.B.Emery obtained the manuscript of the Chronicle in Mombasa sometime during the years 1824-26: "I saw two or three small manuscripts written in the Sohilie lan- guage and Arabic character, but of rather modem date; one of them, relating to the history of Mombasa, I had translated into Arabic, and presented it to Captain Owen on my arrival in England; it is published in his voyage." (Letter of J.B.Emery, St.Heliers, Jersey, 5th February 1834, to W.D.Cooley, Esq., RGS, Emery MS File.) The other known eopy of the text is a French translation published by M.Guillain (who obtained it during his visit to Mombasa in 1848) in his book Documents sur l'Histoire, Ia Geographie et le Commerce de /'Afrique Orientale (Paris 1856), Vol I, 614-622. -29- -31 "cities of the Vanikat"85 which sent representatives to Oman in 1729.86 These southern Mijikenda groups corresponded to geographical areas: the Shimba, Mtaye, and Longo were inland to the west; the Digo and Tiwi were along the shore to the east. As the southern Mijikenda expanded farther south, other broad groups emerged: Kinondo, Gwirani, and Umba (Map 6).87 Krapf mentions visiting in 1848 a village of the "Lungo [Longo] tribe, a branch of the Wadigo tribes of the Wanika" just south of Mombasa;88 by that time, evidently, the name Digo was already in use as a general term for the southern Mijikenda. The various Digo groups gradually coalesced, until by the early 20th century they came to consider themselves one people, and the separate group names fell into disuse.89 Each Digo kaya was governed by a council (ngambi) of elders who took precedence following the order in which their matrilineal clans had settled in the kaya; the senior elder (mwanatsi; pl. anatsi) of the kaya was almost always chosen from among members (by matrilineal descent) of the founding clan.90 As Digo migrated to new areas, the number of clans increased. The founding of a new kaya often marked the founding of several new clans. Initially clans were territorial, but intermarriage between clans and migration from one kaya to another (which was far more prevalent than among the northern Mijikenda) brought about an extensive network of kinship links between persons residing in different kayas. If a woman married a man from another kaya, she would leave her home kaya to go to live in the kaya of her husband. Links with her home kaya were maintained, however; for, in accordance with the prevailing matrilineal system, an elder son would return to the kaya of his mother to inherit his maternal uncle's property. At times he might even inherit the leadership of his uncle's clan or of the 85 That is, the towns or villages of Nyikaland, the country of the Wanyika. See p.12, footnote 3. 86 The Mombasa Chronicle in Owen, Narrative, 418. In Guillain's translation of the Chronicle, thirteen "Wanika towns" are listed, ftve of which are clearly Digo: M'taoue [Mtaye], Tihoui [fiwi], M'taoue Chimba [Mtaye Shimba], Lounggo [Longo], and Debgou (Digo]. (Guillain, Documents, Vol I, 620.) The Darumah-Mutavi are evidently the inhabitants of kaya Mtaye (an early offshoot of kaya Kwale), which had a mixed population of Digo and Duruma. Kaya Mtaye, originally founded by Shimba Digo from Kwale, was gradually occupied by neighbouring Duruma who intermarried with the Digo. This information was given to H.B. Sharpe, the D.C., by the RevJ.B.Griffiths (who had been initiated as a Duruma elder) in 1924. See the District Station Diary of Shimoni-Vanga District, entry for 1st May 1924, KNA, DC/KWL/5/1. 87 By 1925 the areas of these groups had been superseded by the administrative divisions set up by the colonial Government. KNA, DC/KWL/3/5, "Description of the old Wadigo districts," H.B.Sharpe, the District Commissioner of Digo District, 1st October 1925. 88 Krapf, Travels, Researches and Missionary Labours during an Eighteen Years' Residence in Eastern Africa (London 1860}, 267. 89 As often happens in such situations, much of Digo awareness of their identity came about because others saw them as one people. In 1924 the name ofVanga District was changed to Digo District. KNA, DC/KWL/1/10, Digo District Annual Report 1924. 90 In following matrilineal custom the Digo differed from the northern Mijikenda who were patrilineal. Werner collected oral evidence which indicates that the northern Mijikenda may have been matrilineal at some time in the past. Werner, "Bantu Coast Tribes," 338-40. -32 whole kaya. A daughter would continue to live in her father's kaya until marriage, when she might move to a kaya different from that of either her father or her mother. Thus, within one generation a Digo could come to have close relatives in several different kayas. Over many generations this created what Gerlach has called a multilineal (as opposed to patrilineal or matrilineal) set of kinship links, "a complex, intertwined network of relationships, much like a spider's web" throughout the whole of Digo country.91 Though widely dispersed, the Digo had close relations with persons of other kayas. In practice this meant (and means to this day) that a Digo could choose out of many possible kinship relationships those which best suited different circumstances. By the end of the 19th century, this network of rela- tions made it easy, and sometimes even necessary, for Muslims (Digo as well as non- Digo) to move from one Digo kaya to another. In this way, in some instances, a strong Muslim influence was brought into areas which were not Muslim.92 The Mijikenda and the Swahili Soon after the Mijikenda reached the coastal hinterland of southern Kenya, possibly in the 16th and certainly by the early 17th century, they came into contact with neighbouring Swahili. The main Swahili peoples in the area were: 1) the Kilifi, the Mtwapa, and the Jomvu, on the mainland north of Mom- basa; Kilifi, Mtwapa and Jomvu were also resident in Mombasa town by that time; 2) the Mvita and the Malindi (many of whom had moved from Malindi to Mombasa at the end of the 16th century), in Mombasa town;93 3) the Kilindini, Tangana, and Changamwe, on the mainland south and west of Mombasa;94 4) the Vumba and the Shirazi, some fifty miles south of Mombasa.95 The Swahili of Mombasa formed, or were in the process of forming, two distinct confederations (which exist to this day), known as the Nine Tribes (Swa. Miji 91 Luther P. Gerlach, "The Social Organization of the Digo of Kenya," Ph.D. thesis (University of London 1960), 103,147. 92 See, for example, Chapter IV, pp.114,120. 93 The names given are the ones normally used in Swahili, but one can also find people using more Arabicized names such as Mtwafii for Mtwapa, Mambasii for Mvita, Kilifii for Kilifi, Jaufii for Jomvu, etc. 94 Other Swahili groups were also present in the area: 1) the Junda, Ng'ombeni, and Nyali, on the mainland north of Mom- basa (in the areas now called Kisauni and Nyali); and 2) some immigrant northern Swahili (the Shaka, Ozi, Pate, Faza, Katwa, Siu and Gunya) in Mombasa. With the exception of the Gunya, these groups figure less prominently than the main Swahili groups in the history of Mijikenda-Swahili relations. 95 See pp.24-25. -34 Tisia) and the Three Tribes (Swa. Miji Mitatu).96 The Mvita (the earliest inhabitants of Mombasa),97 and the Jomvu, Mtwapa, and Kilifi (their close allies), are consider- ed the four senior members of the Nine Tribes. There is consensus that four other groups, immigrant from northern Swahili towns, are members: the Shaka, Faza, Gunya, and Pate. There is less agreement about the ninth member of the Nine Tribes, and about the Swahili peoples that should be included by virtue of being sub-groups of the Nine Tribes.98 The Kilindini, the Tangana, and the Changamwe resisted assimilation into the Nine Tribes; instead, they founded a second town on Mombasa island, the town of Kilindini, some time in the early 17th century, and formed their own confedera- tion, the Three Tribes.99 Over a period of time, close relations developed between the Mijikenda and seven of the Swahili peoples of Mombasa, as follows: Mijikenda 1) Giriama 2) Rabai 3) Jibana Chonyi 4) Ribe Kambe Kauma Swahili Mvita Jomvu Mtwapa Kilifi Nine Tribes (senior members) 5) Duruma Changamwe 6) Shimba/Longo (Digo) -- Tangana 7) Digo/Tiwi (Digo) ----- Kilindini Three Tribes With the exception of the Ribe/Kambe and the Kilifi, and the Giriama and the Mvita, relations developed between the Mijikenda and Swahili groups living nearest each other (Map 7).100 Traditions say little about how these relations 96 FJ.Berg, "The Swahili Community of Mombasa, 1500-1900," JAH, IX, 1 (1968): 35-56. The Nine Tribes are also referred to in Swahili as Tisa Taifa and the Three Tribes as Thalatha Taifa. 97 The word Mvita is also an old name for the town of Mombasa. 98 See Appendix II. 99 FJ.Berg, "Mombasa under the Busaidi Sultanate: the City and its Hinterlands in the Nineteenth Century," Ph.D. thesis (University of Wisconsin 1971), 32,40-42. According to tradition, the Kilindini, Tangana, and Changamwe are refugees from the northern Kenya coast who came together on the mainland south of Mombasa. The joint foundation of Kilindini town on Mom- basa island is customarily taken as the beginning of their confederation. They are sometimes referred to collectively as the Kilindini. See "Hadithi ya Wachangamwe• (Story of the Changamwe) in H.E.Lambert, Chi-lomvu and Ki-Ngare, 89-103; and Guillain, Documents, Vol II, 240-43. 100 See Appendix II. -35 evolved, but they are known to have existed for centuries; it is likely that they developed while the Kilifi were still resident on the northern mainland at Kilifi, and while the Changamwe, Tangana, and Kilindini, were on the southern mainland, near the Mijikenda groups with which they affiliated.101 Both Krapf (1845) and Guillain (1848) noted these relations. Guillain gave a partial list of the Mijikenda groups, over which, he was told, the Swahili had suzerainty: Here is how suzerainty is divided out among the Swahili chiefs: the Giriama have recourse to the shaykh of the Mvita; the Chonyi, to that of the Mtwapa; the Kauma, Kambe, Ribe, to that of the Kilifi; the Rabai, to that of the Jomvu or the Malindi; all the others depend on the Kilindini shaykhs. 102 Krapf did not mention specific pairings of Mijikenda and Swahili groups; he did, however, record details about what their relations entailed: When one...is chosen a Sheikh or protector of the Wanika he has to pay the sum of 600 dollars which is divided amongst the fellow chiefs and the Wanikas. He gains little more than the honour of being a chief and perhaps some show of authority or a few commercial advantages in Wanika land. When he visits them, they must give him food, but they expect the givin§: of a present on his part; when they visit him at Mombas he must provide them with food and lodging.1 3 The Wanika tribes are nominally dependent upon Mombaz, and are governed by four Suahili sheikhs who live in Mombaz; but the connection between the town and these tribes is extremely loose and undefmed...104 The earliest Muslim influence among the Mijikenda came from their Swahili affiliates. Mijikenda-Swahili relations were especially important for the spread of Islam among the Mijikenda in the 19th century, and in some cases these relations have continued to promote the spread of Islam to the present day. 101 Kobana Salim, Mtwapa, 1S/5/86; Samuel Ndune, Mnarani, 23/8/86; Saidi Sulayman Mwagogo, Kilift, 11/8/86; Muham- mad Ahmad Matano, Kuze, 15/10/87. For the Kilindini and the Digo, see Appendix III. 102 "Voici comment Ia suzerainete en est repartie entre les chefs souahheli: Gueriama ressort du cheikh des Oua-M'vita; Tchiogni, de celui des Oua-M'touapa; Kaouma, Kambe, Ribe, de celui des Oua-Kilifi; Rabaye, de celui des Oua-Djonvou ou des Melinde; tous les autres dependent des cheikhs oua-kilindini." M. Guillain, Documents, Vol II, 244. Guillain omits the Jibana, and suggests that the Malindi had special relations with the Rabai. The Rabai have no tradition of special relations with the Malindi, but perhaps such relations did exist for a period. Otherwise Guillain's description agrees with present traditions of the Mijikenda about their relations with the Swahili. Guillain uses the general term Kilindini to refer to the Three Tribes. By "all the others depend on the Kilindini shaykhs", he evidently means the Duruma and the various Digo groups, and their rela- tions with the Changamwe, Tangana and Kilindini. 103 Kraprs Journal, entry for 25th March 1845, CMS, CAS/016/37. In the same Journal entry, Krapf states that there are twelve "Muhamedan protectors" in Mombasa. At that time, Krapf may have thought that each of the leaders of the Nine Tribes and Three Tribes had some special relationship with the Mijikenda. When he wrote his book in the late 1850s, he referred, more correctly as regards the northern Mijikenda, to only four such "protectors". See footnote 104. Boteler also observed that Mijikenda visitors to Mombasa were provided for: "Wannekahs, who visited Mombas on public business, were subsisted by the Shekh.." Boteler, Narrative, Vol II, 207. 104 Krapf, Travels, 119-120. The "four sheikhs" referred to would have been the leaders of the four senior members of the Nine Tribes (the Mvita, Mtwapa, Jomvu, and Kilili). In using the name "Wanika" (Wanyika], Krapf was following Mombasa practice of the time. Some time in the 18th century, the Mombasans began to refer to the Mijikenda peoples (who up until then had been called Musungulos) as the Wanyika, that is, the people of the Nyika, though in fact only the Giriama lived in the Nyika proper, and the other Mijikenda were living in more fertile areas nearer the coast (see Chapter I, p.12, footnotes 2 and 3). -36 Relations between the Mijikenda and the towns, early 17th to early 19th century Our knowledge of the southern Kenya coastal region in this period is based mainly on three written sources: Portuguese documents (for the years up to 1729), the Mombasa Chronicle (for the years up to 1824), and the History of the Mazmi (for the years 1698-1835).105 In addition, traditions collected by Hollis give some information for the area of Vumba and Wasin, which is scarcely mentioned in the written sources.106 Altogether a general picture emerges of trade, politics, and war during this period. Before the early 18th century, with few exceptions, the Mijikenda are referred to by the group name Musungulos; consequently, it is only possible to generalize about them and their relations with the towns. It is unlikely that all Musungulos were Mijikenda,107 but Mijikenda peoples clearly constituted a good part of the Musungulos population. Portuguese documents of the 17th century men- tion only two Musungulos peoples, the Rabai and the Chonyi, both identifiable as Mijikenda. The earliest documentary evidence for other Mijikenda is a 1728 Portuguese report listing fifteen "Reis Cafres" said to have been subject to Portuguese jurisdiction in Mombasa. Ten of the fifteen were in the Mombasa hinter- land, and seven of the ten are identifiable as Mijikenda.108 By the early 17th century, if not before, the Mijikenda most likely dominated the mainland north and south of Mombasa. At that time relations between the Mijikenda and the towns were unsettled: the Mijikenda regularly raided Mombasa island, at times against the Portuguese or against the Swahili, and on other occa- sions, it would seem, simply for gain.109 One Swahili ruler is known to have taken refuge among the Mijikenda: in 1611 Hasan bin Ahmad, fearing a Portuguese move against him, went to "Arabaja" (Rabai), where nonetheless he was killed for a Portuguese payment of 2000 pieces of cloth.110 By the 1630s relations may have been more settled: the Mijikenda were being given payments of cloth as an inducement to refrain from raiding, 111 and they 105 Shaykh Al-Amin bin Ali Al-Mazru'i, "The History of the Mazrui Dynasty of Mombasa" (English translation by James M. Ritchie), undated mimeo, Fort Jesus Library, Mombasa. 106 Hollis, "History of Vumba,• 278, 282-92. 107 See pp.20-21. 108 Livro das Moncoes #94-B, folha 618r.&v., anonymous, no date, enclosed in Viceroy of India to Crown, Goa, 10 January 1728 (folha 615r.), Historical Archive of Goa, Panaji, Goa, India. I am indebted to Dr. Edward Alpers for sending me a copy of this report, which he found in the Archives in Goa. 109 Raids are recorded for the years 1610, 1611, 1612, 1614 and 1625. Strandes, 168-169; Gray, "Rezende's Description", 10, footnote 22. 110 Strandes, 170. 111 Rezende wrote: •...in the countries in the interior, such as that of the Mozungullos, fifty score of linen cloth are paid." Gray, "Rezende's Description," 10. -37 were supplying tobacco, ivory, and grain to the island. But life in Mombasa was still insecure. In spite of the construction of three Portuguese forts "to prevent the Mozungullos from crossing from the mainland to the island," raids continued: The Mozungullos Caffres on some dark nights...pass between the forts. They do not come in large numbers, but they inflict great loss.112 The people who live in the interior on the mainland in the vicinity of Mombasa are Caffres called Mozungullos, who have neither law nor king nor any other interest in life except theft, robbery and murder. So far as can be seen, they do not exceed three or four thousand in number. They are remark- ably timid and fight with poisoned arrows... There always exists in Mombasa a continual fear of the Mozungullos crossing to the island. They are rarely seen and cause much mischief. These Mozungullos Caffres were regarded as the vassals of the King of Mombasa, Dom Jeronimo. But their submission was mainly obtained by giving them cloths. They were in reality quite different from vassals.U 3 From Alley's account, we know that raids took place later in the 17th century: ...a small fort called the Macoopan which guards the inormost part of the Island from the incur- tions of the Musungoolos, the inhabitants of the mainland contenent who now and then (none the less) are so bold to venture over and sack the towne, while the Portuguese are forced for their safety into the Fort as happened about 6 months hence.114 Trade was sporadic, and supplies of grain uncertain. In the middle of the 17th century, Portuguese settlers on Zanzibar and Pemba were sending maize to the Portuguese garrison at Mombasa, which had difficulty obtaining supplies from the mainland.115 There was open rivalry between the Swahili and the Portuguese, and the Mijikenda were enmeshed in the conflict between the two. During the Rising of 1631, and again in 1632 when the Portuguese tried to recapture Mombasa, the Mijikenda supported the Swahili.116 Later that year Pedro Rodrigues Botelho, the Portuguese Captain of Mombasa, claimed that he had: "...won over the Musungulos ...by sending them presents of cotton goods."117 During the siege of Fort Jesus (1696-98) by the Omani Arabs, the Mijikenda for the most part helped the Portuguese, though some are said to have taken the Arab side.118 When the Portuguese retook the Fort in 1728, the Omanis offered, as part of the armistice terms, to dismiss the 1500 Mijikenda who were fighting for 112 Ibid., 9. 113 Ibid., 11-12. 114 William Alley, "Account of Mombasa in 1667-68" (extracts from the Original Manuscript Log-Book of the Mombaz Frigott, of which Alley was in command), Rhodes House, Manuscript Collection, MSSAfr.s.6. 115 Marvin P. Miracle, Maize in Tropical Africa (London 1966), 96, and A.CA. Wright, "Maize Names as Indicators of Economic Contacts," Uganda Journal (March 1949): 64. 116 G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, The Mombasa Rising against the Portuguese, 1631 (Oxford 1981), xxvi-xxvii, 13-15; Gray, "Rezende's Description,• 11, footnote 33a. 117 Strandes, 182. 118 Ibid., 217, 229, 235. -38 them.119 The following year the Mijikenda united with the Swahili against the Portuguese, because among other reasons, according to one chronicle, the Portuguese had not given the Mijikenda as many presents of cloth as had been promised.120 What appear to have been changing or divided Mijikenda loyalties may have been the alliance of some Mijikenda with the Portuguese, and of some with the Swahili or the Omanis; other Mijikenda perhaps were not averse to playing the opposing sides off against each other. Portuguese accounts of these years make no mention of Islam, apart from noting that the inhabitants of the towns were Muslim; and there is no evidence to suggest that Islam had an influence on rural pagan peoples. Towns were then so few and so isolated that their effect as centres of Muslim culture was negligible; and the most important town, Mombasa, was occupied by the Christian Portuguese for most of the 17th century. At the same time, the rise of the Mijikenda, coupled with the decline of Muslim authority, changed the relations of Mombasa with the hinterland: the strong presence of Christianity and paganism clearly weakened the influence of Islam.121 After the Portuguese withdrawal from Mombasa in 1729, Swahili and Mijikenda leaders travelled together to Oman: Then the people of Mumbasat [Mombasa] seized the keys of the fort, and every tribe placed a man of their own in it, that nothing of what was in it should be lost. Then they went to Uman to the Imam..And of the people of Mifta [Mvita, that is, Mombasa], there went one man of each tribe: and of Vanikat, one man from each city..And the cities of Vanikat are Ribah [Ribe], Shuni (Chonyi], Kambah [Kambe], Gauma [Kauma], Jibanah [Jibana], Rabayi [Rabai], Jiryamah [Giriama], Darumah-Mutavi [Duruma-Mtaye], Shimbah [Shimba], Lughuh [Longo], Diju [Digo]. These people went to Uman to the Imam Saif-ibn Sultan, and told him their situation with regard to the Portuguese, and the wars that had been between them. So the Imam...sent Muhammad ibn Said of Maamar as Governor of Mumbasat; and he granted to the rople of Mumbasat all that was in the fort, except the gunpowder, the lead (or tin), and the copper.U This episode is the first major instance of Mijikenda-Swahili cooperation attested to by documentary evidence. We can only speculate about the reasons why the Swahili of Mombasa took the Mijikenda leaders (who were almost certainly pagan at the time) with them to Oman: possibly as a reward to those who had been loyal during the years of struggle against the Portuguese, and to ensure future support. The Swahili may also have felt the need to convince the Imam of Oman that they had the backing of the peoples of the hinterland; it is unlikely the Imam 119 Ibid., 247. 120 Ibid., 98 (footnote referring to Noticias da India), 253. 121 The work of the Augustianian Mission (established in 1597) may have deterred the spread of Islam among pagan Africans in the town of Mombasa. According to Mission records, in 1600 the Christian population of Mombasa included "an African chief"; their 1626 report for Mombasa states that there were 668 baptisms that year. Freeman-Grenville, The Mombasa Rising, xxxii. 122 The Mombasa Chronicle, in Owen, Narrative, 417-18; the visit to Oman is also mentioned by Shaykh Al-Arnin, 15-16. -39 would have agreed to commit himself unless assured that the people of the countryside surrounding Mombasa were peaceably disposed. Whatever the reasons, the journey seems to have marked the beginning of even closer ties between the Swahili and the Mijikenda. Some time in the 1730s Muhammad bin 'Uthman al-Mazrui was appointed Liwali (Governor) of Mombasa; the next hundred years of the history of Mombasa is the story of Mazrui rule.123 Much of the History of the Mazrui deals with the intrigues of Mombasa politics and Mazrui efforts to maintain peace between the two Swahili confederations. The Swahili sometimes took refuge with their Mijikenda al- lies; during the Liwaliship of Mas'ud bin Nasur (1754-1779) some Kilifi fled from Mombasa to Ribe, and "...since there was friendship and agreement between the people of Ribe and the people of Kilifi, they refused to deliver them up [to Ma'sud bin Nasur]."124 Occasionally, during their own internal feuds, Mazrui turned to the Mijikenda, the classic example being that of Ali bin Uthman who took refuge among the Duruma and later, as Liwali of Mombasa, rewarded the "people of Vanikat" for granting him aid and asylum in their country.125 And on occasion the Mazrui asked the Mijikenda for military help, as happened, for example, when they attacked Zanzibar in 1753.126 By the end of the 18th century strife between the Mijikenda and the people of Mombasa had declined. The town was no longer an alien bastion threatened by hostile pagans of the rural hinterland:127 hostility had given way to cooperation. But the History of the Mazrui, a political and military history, does not allow us to assess what this cooperation meant to the Mijikenda, for it mentions only one individual Mijikenda by name,128 and gives no details of personal relations between the Mijikenda and the Muslims of Mombasa; and from it we learn nothing about the culture or religion of the Mijikenda, or about the influence of Islam on the Mijikenda during this period. 123 The emigration of the Mazrui to the Kenya coast began after the Omani capture of Mombasa in 1698, when Omani ruler Sayf bin Sultan appointed Nasur bin Abdallah ai-Mazrui the first Liwali (Governor) of Mombasa. In the early 1740s Muham- mad bin 'Uthman ai-Mazrui declared himself independent from Oman, after which the Mazrui continued to rule Mombasa un- til it was conquered by Sayyid Said bin Sultan in 1837. Shaykh AI-Amin, 6,18,22. The accepted English transliteration of the Arabic is Mazru'i, and of the Arabic plural, Mazari' (sometimes Mazari'a). For convenience, the conventional English spelling of the name, Mazrui, is used for both the singular and the plural. 124 Shaykh AI-Amin, 27. In 1887, Taylor recorded details of the same incident. SOAS, Taylor Papers, MS 4n51, 17. 125 Shaykh AI-Amin, 20; the Mombasa Chronicle, in Owen, Narrative, 420-421. Friendship with the Duruma, and this incident in particular, are still remembered in Mazrui traditions. Muhammad Abdallah Mazrui, Takaungu, 18/9/87. 126 Shaykh AI-Amin, 23. 127 The contrast between the hinterland Mijikenda and town Muslims was less pointed than the words 'rural' and 'urban' imply: the Swahili of the 18th and 19th centuries depended on agriculture, and fit Weber's description of 'the semi-peasant urbanite' who had a parcel of land that fed him; Swahili settlements of that time would be better described as 'semi-rural' towns. Cf. Max Weber, The City, (New York 1966), 70-71. 128 The Mijikenda mentioned by name is the Digo leader Kubo Mwakikonga. Shaykh AI-Amin, 41-43. -40 The Evidence from Emery's Journal We might never have known in what ways or how closely the Mijikenda and the people of Mombasa were cooperating, had it not been for Acting Lieutenant James Emery of the British Navy, who arrived in Mombasa at the end of August 1824 and resided there for the next twenty-three months.129 Emery's Journal gives a first-hand account of life in Mombasa during those months:130 the Mijikenda would capture runaway slaves and be paid to return them; when disputes arose among the Mijikenda, the Swahili went to the mainland to mediate; the Mazrui Liwali consulted with Mijikenda chiefs, and Mijikenda elders were called to Mombasa to be informed that the Liwali no longer had authority, since the town had been handed over to the British; the Mijikenda would be given cloth as presents, or be paid their annual payment; and the Mijikenda regularly brought their produce into town to trade.131 Relations between the Swahili and the Mijikenda involved a whole range of ordinary and extraordinary contacts, and were characterized by respectful interdependence. Emery records only one instance, clearly exceptional, of personal violence between them.132 In a general assessment of these relations, Emery speaks of the Swahili as being united with the Mijikenda "in closest alliance."133 By the 19th century the total Mijikenda population was considerably larger than the population of Mombasa town. Emery estimated the population of Mom- basa at between 5,000 and 6,000, but gave no estimate of the total Mijikenda population.134 Twenty years later (in 1844) Krapfs estimates were 8,000 to 10,000 129 For nearly two years, Emery was the head of what he called the British Establishment of Mombasa. The circumstances surrounding the Establishment are summarized in Freeman-Grenville, "The Coast, 1498-1840," 159-160. The reasons for with- drawing the Establishment are explained in the letter of J.B.Emery, St.Heliers, Jersey, 19th May 1835, to W.D.Cooley, Esq., RGS, Emery MS File. 130 "A Journal of the British Establishment of Mombasa 1824-26" by Lt. J.B. Emery is in the Admiralty Records of the Public Record Office, 52/3940; extracts from the Journal are published in Sir John Gray, The British in Mombasa 1824-1826 (London 1957). Emery's Journal, the first extensive eyewitness account of Mombasa since the 17th century, is an invaluable primary source. Boteler (who visited Mombasa three times, in December 1823, October-December 1824 and January-February 1825) and Owen (who spent six days in Mombasa in February 1824) both left a record of their visits to Mombasa, but Emery's Journal gives details of everyday life not found in the other accounts. See Owen, Narrative, Vol I, 367-369, 403-412; and Boteler, Narrative, Vol II, 2-22, 174-214, 235-6. The next contemporary witness of Mombasa (and the southern Kenya coast) was Krapf, who arrived in 1844 (See Chapter II, p.46). Like the Mombasans of the early 19th century, Emery refers to the Mijikenda as the "Whanekas" [Wanyika}. 131 Emery's Journal, entries for 3 November 1824, 25 February 1825, 12 July 1825, 31 July 1825, 6 September 1825, 10 October 1825, and 21 February 1826. 132 "The old man who called people to prayers was killed last evening on his return home from his shamba on the main[land} by a Whaneka...• Emery's Journal, entry for 22 July 1825. 133 Lieutenant Emery, R.N., "Short Account of Mombas and the Neighbouring Coast of Africa,• Journal of the Royal Geog- raphical Society, III (1833): 280-283. 134 Letter of J.B. Emery to W.D.Cooley, 19 May 1835, RGS, Emery MS File. On 2nd December 1833, W.D. Cooley (of the Royal Geographical Society) wrote to Emery asking for details about the East African coast; the letters of reply written by Emery give valuable supplementary information not found in his Journal. -41 for the town of Mombasa and 50,000 for the Mijikenda.135 In military terms the greater size of the rural population may have been off- set by town possession of firearms, but the town was by no means secure in case of attack. During the only dispute between the Swahili and the Mijikenda which Emery recorded, he told the Swahili how unwise it would be to provoke fighting with the Mijikenda. He observed that no fighting took place because "both parties were afraid." A month later Emery reminded the Swahili to keep friends with the Miji- kenda since they "are the whole support of the island."136 He was well aware that Mombasa depended for its sustenance on trade with the Mijikenda. Innumerable entries in his Journal refer to the Mijikenda bringing goods into town: "a great many Whanekas came into town with fruit and vegetables," "the Whanekas are daily com- ing into town with articles of trade," "inhabitants [of Mombasa] occupied collecting ivory and gum [copal] from the Whaneka who are daily coming in and out of the town."137 The Mijikenda supplied Mombasa with their own produce (ivory, gum copal, grain, cassava, fruit, and vegetables) and with goods (ivory, rhinoceros horn and skins) which they obtained from the Kamba, and to a lesser extent from the Galla, in the interior. At this time the Mijikenda still controlled most of the trade between the interior and the coast: direct contacts between Muslim traders and peoples in the interior were infrequent.138 In this respect the situation in Kenya was different from that of the Tanzania coast south of Tanga, where Muslim traders had penetrated inland and established trading relations with peoples of the interior by the end of the 18th or early in the 19th century.139 The Swahili and Mazrui obtained goods from the Mijikenda in three ways: 1) the Mijikenda brought the goods into the town of Mombasa; 2) the Swahili and Mazrui went to the mainland villages to look for the goods; 3) the Swahili and Mazrui met the Mijikenda at a market town such as Jomvu. We cannot be abso- lutely certain which of these three ways produced the largest volume of trade, but Emery's account indicates that the carrying of goods into Mombasa by the 135 Krapf, Travels, 118, 159. 136 Emery's Journal, entries for 11 July 1825, 12 July 1825, 13 July 1825, and 16 August 1825. 137 Emery's Journal, entries for 3 November 1824, 21 February 1825, and 10 December 1825. Emery only refers to the "Whanekas" in general, so it is not possible to know which of the Mijikenda peoples had more regular trade with Mombasa or what were the specific articles each was trading in at that time. 138 Emery wrote: "Many of the Whaneekas are acquainted with the Merremengow [Kamba) language; therefore through them...merchants trade with that inland tribe." Letter of J.B. Emery, St. Helier's, Jersey, 20 December 1833, to W.D. Cooley, RGS, Emery MS File. See J.Lamphear, "The Kamba and the Northern Mrima Coast," in R. Gray and D. Birmingham (eds), Pre-ColonialAftican Trade (London 1970), 75-101; see 83,86-87. 139 Abdul Sheriff, Slaves, Spices & Ivory in Zanzibar (London 1987), 159-162; EA. Alpers, Ivory and Slaves in East Central Africa (London 1975), 161. -42 Mijikenda was the more regular way of supply.142 The first mosques in Pungu (or Pungu Tuliani) Mosque and the K.ingwede Mosque) were built by Muhammad Mwaganyuma and Hamisi Mwapodzo, during 37 See Chapter III, p.92, footnote 123. 38 Colonial records show that "Mohamed Mwaganyuma" was a trader at Pungu in 191;3. ("List of traders", Political Record Book, Mombasa District, KNA, DC/MSA/8/2.) His son, Ali bin Muhammad may also have been trading at Pungu in his own right; the same list of traders shows an "Ali bin Mohamed selling calico and American cloths" at Pungu. According to oral evi- dence, Ali bin Muhammad also traded in rubber. (Ngumi bin Shaykh Mwinyi, Viungujini, 20/9/87). 39 The Swahili word mwalimu, meaning "teacher", is derived from the Arabic mu'allim, meaning "teacher". The modern equivalent would be to call someone "Professor". 40 The closest English equivalent to falaki is astrology, but in Swahili falaki implies not just to predict or interpret events, but the ability to control events as well. The Swahili word falaki is derived from the Arabic word falaq, meaning the heavenly firmament (and all the bodies in it). 'llm al-falaq means "astrology" (and "astronomy") in Arabic. 41 Ngumi bin Shaykh Mwinyi, Viungujini, 20/9/87. 42 Mwapodzo also had contact with the Baluchi: Baluchi soldiers are said to have come and camped near the mosque which he built. But the Baluchi are not remembered as having converted him. Mbarakali Mwapodzo, Msukoni, 9/12/85. -111 the 1890s. Mwaganyuma's son Ali, who had returned from his studies in Mtanganyiko, became the first Imam of the Pungu Mosque.43 Mwapodzo brought in a Gunya teacher by the name of Mbarakali to teach his children and to take charge of the Kingwede mosque. After Mbarakali left, Mwapodozo sent one of sons, Saidi, to study under Ramadhan wa Muhoro at Mkomani (Kisauni).44 Another early mosque in the area was built at Bombo Ganjoni, in c.1902, by Sulayman Abdallah Mwanyemi,45 helped by Mwinyikombo Mangisi and others; Sulayman became the first Imam of the mosque. In c.1912, Muhammad Mkongoma Mwajamanda, the chief of Ng'ombeni, built the Ng'ombeni (or Mwatembe) Mosque.46 Before then, the Muslims of Ng'ombeni would gather for Friday prayers at the Kingwede Mosque, and after the Kingwede Mosque collapsed, at the Pungu Mosque. Muhammad Mkongoma didn't study (though he had the chance, he didn't want to), but one of his brothers, Abdallah Mwaruwa Mwajamanda, is said to have been the first person from Ng'ombeni to study the Qur'an. Abdallah studied first at Mkomani (Kisauni) and then at Kuze under Ma'allim Ahmad Matano,47 a well- known Kilindini teacher. When Abdallah finished his studies, he came back to teach at Ng'ombeni.48 Other pioneers of Islam in Ng'ombeni, like Jumaa Saidi Mwat- suluka, later Imam of the Denyenye Mosque, also studied at Mkomani (Kisauni). Mwinyihamisi Manzu, son of Abdallah Mwavyema, first studied at Bombo under Sulayman Abdallah Mwanyemi. Later, he studied under Ma'allim Ahmad Matano, a Kilindini who was teaching at Kuze in Mombasa.49 When Mwinyihamisi finished his studies, he came back to Ng'ombeni and built the Denyenye Mosque (in 43 Ali is said to have returned from Mtanganyiko with his teacher, Omari Ngoma; though Omari did not stay at Pungu long, he would surely have helped out at the Pungu Tuliani Mosque while he was there. Omari named one of his sons Muhammad, after Muhammad Mwaganyuma. Uthman bin Shaykh Mwinyi, Pungu, 14/4/87. 44 Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. 45 Sulayman Abdallah was the grandson of Kassim Mwanyemi, who had come to Mombasa from Chumbageni (near Tanga) in the 19th century. Kassim Mwanyemi was already a Muslim when he arrived. Kassim Mwanyemi taught Muhammad Mwaganyuma and Mwaganyuma's children at Pungu, at the time Ali bin Muhammad Mwaganyuma was studying in Mtanganyiko. When Ali bin Muhammad returned from Mtanganyiko, Kassim Mwanyemi and his family went to live at Bombo. (Uthman bin Shaykh Mwinyi, Pungu, 21/10/79.) 46 The 1913 List of Mosques shows one mosque at Ng'ombeni, belonging to Mohamed Mwajamanda. KNA, DC/MSA/3/1/71. In 1922, Mwajamanda was the Headman of Ng'ombeni Location, and was described as a "charming- mannered old man." Handing-over Report of G.K. Knight Bruce, Vanga District, 30 October 1922, KNA, DC/KWL/2/1. 47 See Chapter II, p.51, footnote 43. 48·Muhammad Ahmad Matano, Kuze, 15/10/87; Muhammad Ali Garongo, Denyenye, 26/10/87. 49 The relationship between Ahmad Matano, Mwinyihamisi's teacher, and Abdallah, Mwinyihamisi's father, illustrates the continuing influence of Kilindini-Digo relations on the spread of Islam: "Abdallah himself hadn't studied, and wanted his son, Mwinyi Hamisi to study. In Mombasa, Mwinyihamisi first stayed at Miembeni, with a friend of his father's, but later Ahmad Matano took Mwinyihamisi into his own home. Ahmad would go to visit Abdallah at Ng'ombeni, and stay for two or three days, during which time Ahmad would pray at the Denyenye Mosque built by Mwinyihamisi. Abdallah, who had a lot of cattle, used to send milk to Ahmad in Mombasa. Mwinyihamisi was the first Digo to study tajwid [the art of reading or reciting the Qur'an In accordance with established rules of pronunciation and intonation]. His father told him, 'When you reach the Subhana [one of the Suras of the Qur'an], I'll get you a wife,' which is what happened." Muhammad Ahmad Matano, Kuze, 15/10/87. -112 c.1923), and began to teach.50 Early history and the first converts at Waa The village of Waa, founded in the 17th century by people from kaya Kwale, is one of several villages founded by the Digo as they expanded throughout the coastal plain during the 17th and 18th centuries. There is no tradition of earlier settlement in the area. Soon after settling at Waa, one of the founders of the village, Mwamchera Ngoma, died and was taken back to be buried at Kwale. Mwachacha, who had helped to found the village with Mwamchera, carried on consolidating the settlement, together with Mwazua Ngoma, Mwamchera's maternal nephew.51 In the 19th century, some seven generations after the founding of Waa, Mwasavai Dzilala became the leader of the village. As a direct descendent of Mwachacha, Dzilala was related to the founders of Waa; he had moved there from Ukunda as a young boy in c.1840. As Mwasavai grew up and matured, he gained prestige in the village because of his ability to settle disputes. When Mwamgasi Jefwa, the previous leader, died, Dzilala claimed precedence over Jefwa's nephews and was accepted by the villagers as their new leader. As senior elder of the village, Dzilala was in contact with the elders of neigh- bouring villages, and with Muslim leaders and traders in Mombasa. He is said to have been converted by "an Arab friend, Mbwana," with whom he travelled on busi- ness trips. Another early convert at Waa was Mwinyi Kombo Mwakovyolo, a fisherman, who was converted by "his Mtangana friend, Babu Hija, from Pemba." A third early convert was a friend of Dzilala, Mwalimu Mwachapora Kidegere, "a rich man, with lots of land, goats and cattle." Though the first conversions at Waa took place in c. 1865, the village seems to have remained isolated from effective Muslim influence until early in the 20th century. The village was farther away from Mtongwe and Mombasa than Pungu, and did not attract Muslim immigrants as Tiwi did.52 Though some of the early Muslim converts at Waa raised their children as Muslims, they did not recruit teachers to come to Waa, nor did they send their children away to Qur'an school until later in the century, and the first mosque at Waa was built some twenty years later than at Pungu or Tiwi. 50 Muhammad Ali Garongo, Denyenye, 26/10/87. Once back from Mombasa, Mwinyihamisi quickly acquired prestige as a teacher, and many Digo are said to have gone to learn tajwid from him. Ngumi bin Shaykh Mwinyi, Viungujini, 21/9/87. 51 These details, and following information about the early history of Waa, are from interviews with Hamisi Mwatuwano, Waa, 14/12/67 and 17/12/67, and Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 26/1/72. 52 See pp.118-119 below. -113 5 When Mwasavai Dzilala died, his son Sulayman Mwaronga Dzilala took over as senior elder of the village.53 He was a man of influence, and a practising Muslim. In c.1912, Sulayman is said to have built the first mosque at Waa.54 Before the construction of this mosque, Waa Muslims had been going to the mosque at Pungu for Friday prayers and 'Id celebrations. In 1922, the District Officer described Sulayman Dzilala as "a good Mohamedan...he most certainly runs his location better than anyone else, and if given work to do he does it well. He is always listened to when in the Native Council."55 The Coast Technical School, commonly known as the Waa School, was opened by the government at Waa in 1921. The original proposal to put the school at Tiwi had been opposed by Digo Muslims of Tiwi; when choosing Waa as an alternative site, the government must have known that it was a village where Muslim influence was less pronounced. But even in areas that were ostensibly less Muslim at that time, popular sentiment and behaviour was influenced by a strong Muslim undercurrent. In the Annual Report for 1921, C.B.Thompson, the District Officer, noted there was a "poor local response" to the school; the Digo could be induced to send their children to the school "only by constant exhortation."56 At the end of the next year, the new District Officer, H.H. Trafford, wrote: The establishment of an industrial school at Waa is not appreciated, this in part may be due to the Mohammedan element who fear that their children will receive religious instruction, even the pagans are holding back for the same reason, as they are naturally imbued with Islamic ideas... 7 Reluctant Digo parents, who had already begun to identify government schools with Christian teaching, would have been fully endorsed by Sulayman Dzilala. At a Joint Chiefs' Council meeting in c.1926, the District Commissioner 53 Mwasavai Dzilala died in 1911. When applying for a land title in 1915, his son Sulayman stated that he had inherited the land "from my father four years ago." (Land Title Application No. 6027/475/9 of 6 May 1915. Provincial Land Office Archives, Mombasa.) According to colonial records, Sulayman was the headman of Waa in 1913, though he was not officially gazetted as such until20 October 1921. (District Commissioner, Mombasa, to Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 24/1/1913, enclosing a list of the headmen of Tiwi District, KNA, CP/1/6/11; and "List of Headmen of Sub-locations of Magajoni, Tiwi, Waa and Pungu," KNA, DC/KWL/3/3.) 54 Oral evidence about the first Waa Mosque is not unanimous: most informants agree that Sulayman Mwaronga built the first Waa Mosque, but others say that in c.1910, soon before dying, Mwasavai Dzilala built a small mud-and-thatch mosque, which was later re-built and expanded by his son Sulayman. The mosque survey done by the District Commissioner in 1913 shows three mosques at Matuga and only one ancient mosque (in ruins) at Waa. (List of Mosques in Tiwi (1913), KNA, DC/MSA/3/1/71.) This agrees with oral information which indicates that mosques were built in Matuga before Waa. It is possible that Mwasavai Dzilala built a small family msala whose existence was not widely known and which was soon replaced by a community mosque built by his son Sulayman. 55 Handing over Report of O.K. Knight Bruce of 30/10/1922, KNA, DC/KWL/2/1. In recognition of Sulayman Mwaronga Dzilala's abilities he was elected by his fellow Headmen to succeed Muhammad Mwamguso as President of the Joint Council [of Headmen] in 1924. "Notes on Headmen," KNA, DC/KWL/3/3. 56 The purpose of the School, which was opened on the 16th May 1921, was "to educate young Africans in crafts and trades." (KNA, 1921 Annual Report, Vanga District, DC/KWL/1/7.) By 1924, the enrolment of the Waa School was 134 pupils, but less than half -61- came from the coast, and of the 61 many were not Digo. (1924 Annual Report, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/10.) 57 Annual Report 1922, Vanga District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/8. -114 tried to persuade the Chiefs of Kwale District to encourage parents to sent more children to Waa School. At the meeting, Sulayman Dzilala is said to have spoken against the idea, and against mission education.58 The early mosques of Matuga Since the initial settlement in the 17th century, new immigrants had arrived at Waa, from Kwale and also from other Digo villages. As the population increased, the people of Waa expanded towards Matuga, and eventually the population of Matuga came to be larger than that of Waa.59 Oral informants agree that the first mosque in the Matuga area, the Bujuni Mosque, was built by Mwalimu Saidi before the First World War, in c. 1909. Mwalimu Saidi, the son of Hamisi Mwapodzo of Pungu, was one of the first Digos to study the Qur'an. Mter finishing his studies, he taught for a while at Pungu, but then moved to Matuga to inherit from his maternal uncle there. When he came to Matuga, in c. 1895, he was already a married man with children. At that time, all Matuga residents are said to have been "Digos, not Muslims." Mwalimu Saidi brought some of his pupils with him from Pungu. His approach towards his fellow Digo and their customs was different from that of his teacher Mwalimu Ali. Instead of condemning Digo customs, he is said to have taken part in traditional Digo dances, as a way of gaining acceptance within the community, at the same time as he began to attract a small group of the men towards Islam.60 The second mosque in Matuga, the Makao Merna Mosque, was built in Mnyenzeni village in c. 1911 by Bakari Mwagakurya. Bakari's father, Gakurya, one of the early converts of the area, had sent Bakari to study at Tiwi. When Bakari finished his studies, he went to be the head tutor and assistant to Mwalimu Saidi at Bujuni. When Mwalimu Saidi went back to Pungu about ten years later, in c. 1925, Bakari Mwagakurya transferred the Qur'an school from Bujuni to Makao Merna. As well as teaching the Qur'an, Bakari practised healing.61 The third mosque in 58 When asked about some Digo children with Christian names who had studied at the mission school in Kwale, Mwaronga is said to have replied, speaking in Digo to the assembled Chiefs in the presence of the District Commissioner, "'Tell me, tell me, is there anyone in Digo country called Timothy?' 'No,' they replied. 'Tell me, tell me, is there anyone in Digo country called Albert?' 'No,' they replied. Then, turning to the District Commissioner, Mwaronga told him, 'I don't know those children.'" Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 31/8/73. · 59 In 1861, von der Decken found two villages -Matuga and Chigato- in the Matuga area, both "surrounded by thorn hedges and with a gate." Von der Decken, Reisen, I, 234. 60 Mwinyihaji Said Kinyongo, Mwaivu, 15/1/86. 61 Bakari appears in the colonial records as one of five "medicine-men" at Matuga. Of the five, three have Muslim names: Bakari, Muhammad Manguze and Khamis bin Sulayman. "Names of medicine-men in Tiwi District (1914)." KNA, DC/MSA/3/2/22. -115 Matuga, known at Tsumo's Mosque (or Mtsangatifu Mosque), was built by Hasan Tsumo62 in c. 1912. Another early convert, Tsumo was the headman of Mtsangatifu village. In c. 1900, he sent his son, Ali, to stay with an uncle (Tsumo's brother) in Mombasa, and there Ali studied the Qur'an. The founding and growth of Tiwi The present village of Tiwi lies some 13 miles south of Mombasa. It was founded by Digo who migrated north from kaya Chinondo in the late 17th century. In the early 18th century, Tiwi was the centre for a sub-group of the Digo known as the Tiwi or the Tiv. In the Book of the Zanj, the Tiwi are mentioned as one of four Wanyika groups living south of Mombasa.63 According to the Mombasa Chronicle, the "people of Tiv" were represented in the delegation sent from Mombasa to Oman in 1729, for they had assisted in the expulsion of the Portuguese from the Fort in that year.64 Throughout the 18th and early 19th century, Tiwi carried on regular trade with Mombasa. Like many other Digo villages, Tiwi also developed trade relations with the Tangana Muslims of Mtongwe, after the founding of that village in the 1830s. Compared with villages to the north such as Kiteje, Bombo, and Pungu, Tiwi was not so well placed for trade with Mtongwe and Mombasa; nevertheless Tiwi lay within the economic hinterland of Mombasa, for it was possible to make the trip from Tiwi to Mombasa and back in one day. One could set out early before dawn, arrive in Mtongwe or Mombasa in the morning, carry out one's business, and return home by late evening the same day. Tiwi was at the southern limit of such day trips, and so was more exposed to Muslim influence from Mombasa than were other Digo villages further to the south. Persons travelling to Mombasa from villages south of Tiwi needed an overnight stop, either on the way or in Mombasa itself. Consequent- ly trade with Mombasa from these villages was less convenient and less frequent. Communications between Tiwi and Mombasa were frequent and well established. In 1906 the Public Works Officer reported: ..between Likoni ferry and Tiwi, a distance of more or less twelve miles, the road is in very good condition, averaging a width of 8 feet. Over this section there is a fair amount of foot traffic, as all the natives are compelled to use this road solely, when coming to Mombasa, while further on, in the neigh- bourhood of GasI doubt very much if the road is much used. 65 . 62 Riziki Hasan Tsumo, Mtsangatifu, 31/12/85. Tsumo is said to have come to Matuga from Pamkote near Tanga (fanganyika). 63 E. Cerulli, Somalia (Scritti Vari Editi ed lnediti), I, Rome 1957, p. 256. 64 Capt. W.F. Owen, Narrative of Voyages to explore the Shores of Africa, Arabia and Madagascar, I, London 1833, p. 418. 65 Public Works Officer, Mombasa, to Sub-Commissioner, Mombasa, 25/9/1906. KNA, Coast Province, MP/1/166. -116- Being close to the shore, Tiwi was accessible by sea, and was visited by small boats from Mombasa and other coastal villages. The Digo of the area were active fishermen. In 1850, on a boat trip south of Mombasa, Krapf stopped at Tiwi where he met "a great number of Wanika on the beach" and was surrounded by "a multi- tude of Wanika engaged in fishing"; but he left no description of the village.66 Located midway between Gasi and Mombasa, Tiwi was an important settle- ment. According to Taylor, who lived in Mombasa in the 1880s, Tiwi was the largest village on the Kenya coast south of Mombasa, with an estimated population of 3000, compared to 2500 for Vanga, 2200 for Wasin and 1300 for Gasi.67 Eliot names Tiwi as one of the three "chief towns" south of Mombasa, the other two being Gasi and Vanga.68 After the digging of a well near the market place in 1904, Tiwi's popula- tion increased.69 Together with the towns of Pungu, Kwale and Kinango, Tiwi was the site of a traditional weekly market (Digo. chete), and eventually, in 1913, came to have a daily market. In 1926, the Government established a dispensary at Tiwi.70 Tiwi was an important administrative centre for the colonial government.11 In order to assist the Liwali of Vanga and the District Commissioner at Shimoni, the British established Mudir tes at Tiwi and at Gasi. The post of Mudir of Tiwi, estab- lished before 1904, undoubtedly added to the Muslim character of the town. Mudirs were influential persons, who worked as magistrates, tax-collectors, marriage- officers, and general advisers. And there is evidence that the Mudir of Tiwi used his position to encourage the spread of Islam; he is said to have requested the building of the first mosque at Vuga in the early 1920s, after visiting the village and finding no mosque there.72 In the absence of regular visits by the District Commissioner 66 Kraprs Journal, entry for 4th February 1850, CMS, C/A5 /M2. 67 The figures are based on a hand-written population estimate made by William Taylor in 1882-83. SOAS Manuscript Collection, MS 47758, Taylor Manuscripts, Vol. VIII. 68 Sir Charles Eliot, The East Africa Protectorate, London 1905, p.57. 69 In 1904 the Mudir of Tiwi, Said bin Abdallah, requested permission to dig a well at Tiwi. Inward Correspondence Miscel- laneous, Letter from H.M.'s Sub-Commissioner, Mombasa, to the P.C., Mombasa, 15/11/1904. KNA, Coast Province, MP/1/81. Said bin Abdallah was succeeded as Mudir of T!wi by Omar bin Muhammad (formerly Kathi of Mambrui) in No- vember 1905. (Sub-Commissioner, Mombasa, to the Collector, Malindi, 31 October 1905. KNA, Coast Province, MP/1/70.) A hut count taken in 1913 showed the following number of huts in the main villages of Tiwi sub-district south of Mombasa (Handing-Over Report of 30/10/1922, KNA, DC/KWL/2/1): • Tiwi - 428 Ng'ombeni -234 Vuga - 84 Mtongwe - 339 Waa - 166 Shimba Kundutsi - 48 Likoni - 273 Pungu - 163 Bombo- 37 Matuga - 271 Kiteje - 101 Mwambara - 22 70 Annual Report for Digo District, 1926, KNA, DC/KWL/1/12; and Annual Report for Digo District, 1927, KNA, DC/KWL/1/13. 71 The name Tiwi was used by the colonial government for one of the four administrative sub-districts of Mombasa District, the other three divisions being: 1) the island of Mombasa; 2) Mtwapa; and 3) Changamwe. In 1914 the sub-district of Tiwi included the present locations ofLikoni, Ng'ombeni, Waa, Tiwi, and Tsimba. KNA, DC/MSA/3/1 (see Map 17). 72 Mwijaka Mwanzori, Chirimani, 2/2/86. The person referred to was probably Said bin Omar, who was appointed Mudir of Tiwi in August 1921. Annual Report for Vanga District, 1921. KNA, DC/KWL/1/7. (Mombasa), the Mudir supervised the work of the headmen and elders of the area. In this work, over a period of some twenty years, his influence must have gone much deeper than suggesting that mosques be built.73 With the administrative reorganization of Vanga District in 1922, the office of Mudir of Tiwi was abolished, and Muslim litigants were advised to go to the Mudir of Gasi. Marriages and divorces in Tiwi came to be performed by a Digo Muslim, who would take the fees to Mombasa and obtain a license.74 This system, cumbersome as it was, indicated the growing religious responsibilities of Digo Muslims. Muslim traders and early conversions Beginning in the middle of the 19th century the number of Muslim traders visiting Tiwi (and other Digo villages south of Mombasa) increased. One of the items of trade was tobacco; von der Decken's map of 1868 (based on his 1861-62 journey) shows tobacco plantations ("Anbau von Tabako") near Tiwi.75 By the 1880s, relations with Muslims had led to the conversion to Islam of some of the Digo of Tiwi, among them Mwinyihaji wa Bwika, the senior elder (Digo. mwanatsi) of the village. Mwinyihaji was a man of means; he is said to have had "much land under cultivation and many cattle." He was also a man of forceful character, adept at settling disputes and a good speaker. All of these attributes (which the British later recognized when appointing him Headman of Tiwi) made him an important convert to Islam.76 Other persons of his age were converted in Tiwi at this time, including Muhammad Mwasakara Bwika, a brother to Mwinyihaji by a different mother, Mwakongoa, Nasoro Changani and Muhammad Nzoa. Like Mwinyihaji, some of these converts were already grown men at the time of their conversion, but none of them was to have the same impact as Mwinyihaji in promoting the spread of Islam.n 73 In 1916, G.H. Osborne wrote: "The separation of Tiwi District from the rest of Wadigo is not altogether satisfactory. With the exception of Mr. Dundas, the D.C.'s of Mombasa have never so far as Iknow in 10 years experience regularly toured Tiwi District, which has been therefore left to the Mudir of Tiwi. His innuence on the ngambis [elders' councils) can only have a Mahomedan Law tendency to the detriment of Wadigo customs ruling decisions. The innuence of Tiwi ngambi decisions is bound to affect Vanga District ngambis, and unless we desire Mahomedan law to be the prevailing law inland, considerable confusion will ensue and tend to increase.• District Commissioner, Vanga, to Provincial. Commissioner, Mombasa, July 1916. KNA, CP/42/867. 74 Handing-Over Report, Vanga District, 30/10/22. KNA, DC/KWL/2/1. 15 C. von der Decken, Reisen in Ost-Afrika, Leipzig 1869. 16 District Commissioner, Mombasa, to the Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, enclosing a detailed list of the Headmen of 1iwi District, 24/1/1913. KNA, DC/MSA/3/1. n Abdallah Makanzu, Diani, 5/12/61. -117- -118 Mwinyihaji wa Bwika is said to have been converted by Mwijaka, the Tangana elder of Mtongwe.78 According to another source, he was converted by Mbaruk bin Rashid, the Shaykh of Gasi. 79 Either account could be true, for Mwinyihaji knew both these leaders. According to his grandson, however, Mwinyi- haji's conversion came about because of his friendship with Muhammad bin Haji, a Tangana from Mombasa; Muhammad bin Haji had married a Digo woman from Tiwi, and used to come to visit members of her family there. Another early Digo convert was Muhammad Mula, who opened a shop in Tiwi for Muhammad bin Haji; one of Mula's sisters was married to a Tangana in Mombasa.80 Besides being more trustworthy, since it is a family account, this last version of Mwiniyihaji's conversion is more convincing than the other versions. The Tangana had been trading with the Digo and marrying Digo women for several generations, and close personal relations between Digo and Tangana families are known to have existed in other Digo villages such as Kiteje and Bomba. At the time of his conversion, Mwinyihaji wa Bwika was a married man with two children. When his wife refused to become a Muslim, he sent her away: He had two children by his Digo wife, then he sent them away. He told his ftrst wife to become a Muslim and she refused. He told his wife, 'I had better convert you,' but she refused, saying, 'this Islam isn't for me.' So he sent them away, but the two children didn't become Muslims; they went off with their mother.81 Mwinyihaji's attitude was uncompromising towards others who did not become Muslim: Some converts said, 'As long as you're not a Muslim, don't come to my place.' A brother could even say that to his brother - Mwinyihaji wa Bwika was one of those.82 During the Mwachisenge famine (1884-85), some Muslim traders took up residence in Tiwi. The villagers welcomed the presence of traders during the famine, since the traders arranged to have food brought to the village. In the years immedi- ately following the famine more Muslim immigrants arrived; some of them were given land to cultivate. The decision to allow immigrants to settle at Tiwi was taken by the elders of the village; as the senior elder, Mwinyihaji wa Bwika was instrumen- tal in the adoption of this decision. The presence of immigrants increased Muslim influence in the village, and they are said to have converted several persons during the 1890s. 78 Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 26/1/72. 79 Mwamtano Mwakutanga, Ukunda, 16/8/68. 80 Mwinyihamisi Bwika, Ttwi Mkoyo, 13/12/79. 81 Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 26/1/72. 82 Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. -119 Among these early Muslim immigrants were Majaliwa, Beidi, Abdurrahman Chomvi, Abdirabbi Abdallah, Shekeli, Juma Heri and Nasir Vidzoya. They were a mixed group, though resident Muslims of longstanding Mombasa families were notably absent: Beidi was a Makua, Abdurrahman Chomvi was a Chonyi convert, Shekeli was a Mandiri Arab from Mombasa who "came to Tiwi with his slaves, and afterwards went to Diani; he later freed his slaves when he went to Zanzibar", Juma Heri was a Nyamwezi (married to a Digo) who was trading in coconuts, Nasir Vid- zoya was a Zigua who was trading in salt. Beidi, Juma Heri and Nasir Vidzoya ("Makua","Nyamwezi" and "Zigua") were evidently of slave origin, but it is not clear whether they had already been freed by the time they came to Tiwi, or whether they were acting as agents or under some obligation to an owner. Shekeli is said to have come in order to "buy people". The phrase does not necessarily mean that he was a slave-dealer; he may simply have been looking for people who wanted to move to town to work in exchange for food during the famine. As well as doing business, Majaliwa practiced medicine: "People who were sick would go to him and he would tell them that they had an 'Arab devil', that they would get better if they became Muslims". Both Abdirabbi and Nasir Vidzoya, though not particularly well educated themselves, are said to have done some teaching.83 One of the more successful immigrants was Borafia bin Shibu, an ex-slave of Mbaruk bin Rashid, who arrived in Tiwi shortly after 1896; by 1915 he owned a shop, a mosque, and two plots of agri- culturalland.84 Tiwi continued to attract Muslim traders from Mombasa during the famine of 1899. At that time, the District Commissioner wrote: I am informed by elders of Tiwi and Diani districts that both Arabs and Baloochis frequently arrive at their villages with loads of clothes and rice, etc. which they offer for sale. 85 In 1915, the British Government required non-Digo Muslims to move away from Tiwi (and other Digo villages), unless they gave proof of ownership of property or had filed application for Title Deeds to land in the area. This action was part of an effort to separate "natives" and "non-natives" into distinct residential areas, and to get Digo claimants to withdraw their applications for Title Deeds, on the grounds that individual ownership of land was contrary to customary law.86 By definition, a Digo who filed an application for a Title Deed (as was done by numerous Digo Muslim converts) was considered a "Swahili" (that is, a detribalized "non-native") and no longer a Digo, but such applications were vigorously discouraged, and 83 Abdallah Makanzu, Diani, 5/12/67. 84 Tour Diary, Mombasa District, entry for 18 October 1915. KNA, Coast Province, MP/1140. 85 Vanga Inward, 1899-1900, report by the District Commissioner, 8 August 1899, KNA, Coast Province, MP/67/16. 86 See pp.l30-131 below. -120 eventually disallowed. Abdurrahman filed an application for a Title Deed, as did Makarani, who claimed in his application to be a "Swahili". The District Commis- sioner wrote in his report: "Makarani, who now says he is a Mdigo, has not with- drawn his application; I have told him that unless he does so, I must consider him to be a Swahili."87 The first Teachers and Mosques at Tiwi About 1894 Juma Matungale, the first Muslim teacher (as opposed to immigrants or traders who did some teaching),88 came to live in Tiwi. He came from Kurwitu north of Mombasa (or, according to another account, from Mavueni near Takaungu), and is said to have been educated in Mombasa. Matungale's mother was a Digo from Kitsanga village in Tiwi. By the time Matungale came, he was already a mature married man.89 Shortly after Matungale's arrival, in c.1898, the Mkoyo (Sokoni) Mosque was built. This was the first mosque to be built in the greater Tiwi area, and the third to be built under Digo influence south of Mombasa, the other two being the Pungu Mosque and the Kingwede Mosque (Map llA). Informants agree that Mwinyihaji wa Bwika built the Mkoyo Mosque, and that Matungale was its first Imam.90 According to a mosque survey carried out in 1913, the mosque at Tiwi had been "built by all people of the village." This may have been a reference to a communal effort of Muslim converts, under Mwinyihaji's leadership; it is unlikely that non-Muslims were allowed to participate.91 Matun- gale, and others, may well have encouraged Mwinyihaji to build the mosque. No doubt he was responding to the wishes and needs of the small but growing Muslim community of the village. Until that time, Muslims of Tiwi had gone either to Mtongwe or Mombasa for the 'Id and Ramadhan celebrations, but as one informant put it, "Mombasa was too far away." The nascent Muslim community had come of age. The first Mkoyo Mosque was a modest building (made of mud and thatch) whose simplicity belied its importance: Islam, reinforced by the growth of Islamic in- stitutions, was penetrating southwards. As soon as the mosque was built, it attracted 87 Tour Diary of C.Dundas, District Commissioner, Mombasa, entry for 18 October 1915. KNA, Coast Province, MP/1140. 88 For a study of the overlapping roles of merchants and scholars, see Nehemia Levtzion, "Merchants vs. Scholars and aeries in West Africa: Differential and Complementary Roles,• in Nehemia Levtzion and Humphrey J. Fisher (eds), Rural and Urban Islam in West Africa, beingAsian and African Studies, Volume 20, Number 1, March 1986, pp.26-43. 89 Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. 90 Mwinyihamisi Bwika, Tiwi, 11/12/85; Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. 91 The list of mosques is given in KNA, DC/MSA/3/1/71. -121 Digo Muslim converts (still few in number) from the nearby villages of Ukunda, Diani and Matuga. As the only mosque for several miles around, the Mkoyo Mosque was adopted by the Muslims of the greater Tiwi area for their weekly com- munity prayers.92 Matungale set up a Qur'an school (Sw. chua) and began to teach the children of some of the early converts: among these first pupils were Muhammad Gakurya, Msikiti Mwinyihaji, and Nasoro Changani. After Matungale had been teaching for some four or five years, another teacher, Makarani bin Fadhili, arrived. Fadhili, a Kauma Muslim, was married to Biamu binti Mwahema, a Digo woman from Tiwi whom he had met at Mtanganyiko when she went to visit her relatives there. Fadhili had fought for Mbaruk bin Rashid (of Gasi) during Mbaruk's rising of 1895-96. When Mbaruk withdrew into German East Africa in 1896, Fadhili returned to Mtanganyiko, only to find that his wife and his son had already gone to Tiwi; he then followed them there. The arrival of Fadhili and his family at Tiwi is considered to have been a home-coming.93 Fadhili's son, Makarani, was one of the better edu- cated Digo of the time. He had studied under Mwinyi Mole94 at Mtanganyiko, and under a Gunya teacher, Ramadhan wa Muhoro, at Mkomani (Kisauni), and had done some teaching before coming to Tiwi.95 Doubling the number of Muslim scholars in Tiwi was not without its compli- cations; Matungale and Makarani could not both preside at the Mkoyo Mosque, and a dispute eventually arose, including a difference of opinion about which of the two was more qualified as a teacher. Here Mwinyihaji wa Bwika showed his mastery at arbitration. He called together the elders of Kitsanga (the village of Matungale's relatives) and put the problem to them. One of the elders, Mwarandu, offered land for a new mosque, and Matungale's relatives invited him to move to Kitsanga, where they gave him land and welcomed him. Thus the Kitsanga Mosque came to be built (also of mud and thatch) in c.l904, approximately six years after the Mkoyo Mosque, and Juma Matungale became its first Imam, leaving the Mkoyo Mosque to Makarani. The Kitsanga Mosque, described as an "off-shoot of the Mkoyo Mosque", was used only for daily prayers. The Mkoyo Mosque remained the Friday mosque of the area. 96 92 Ibrahim Makarani, Tiwi, 13/12/85. 93 Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. 94 See Chapter III, p.92, footnote 123. 95 Saidi Sulayman Mwagogo, Kilifi, 31/8/87. Makarani was a friend of Saidi bin Hamisi Mwapodzo, since they had studied together under Ramadhan wa Muhoro; Saidi used to come from Matuga to visit Makarani at Tiwi; and Ramadhan wa Muhoro, Makarani's old teacher, would also come to visit Makarani at Tiwi. Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. 96 Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. According to the 1913 survey of mosques, there was only one mosque at Tiwi; though aware of the Friday mosque at Mkoyo, he was evidently not aware of the smaller mosque at Kitsanga. List of Mosques in Tiwi District, 1913, KNA, DC/MSA/3/1/71. -122 Juma Matungale began to teach at his new home in Kitsanga, while Makarani took over teaching Matungale's pupils and other new pupils at Mkoyo, in- cluding children of Mwinyihaji wa Bwika and of some of the other early converts. Between them Juma Matungale and Makarani Fadhili were responsible for giving religious education to early converts and to the children of early converts in Tiwi.97 The building of a third mosque, the Chikola Mosque, in 1914, came about in a different way. Many, though by no means all, of the early Digo converts wanted their children to receive schooling. This was not easy, given the scarcity of teachers in the rural areas. A solution adopted by some of the converts (if they could afford it) was to arrange for a Muslim teacher to come and live near their home as a pri- vate tutor to their children. Muhammad Nzoa did just this when he invited Mwalimu Nasir to Tiwi Chikola in approximately 1909-10. Nasir, a Segeju from Vanga, had been educated in Mombasa. He came to Chikola to give classes to Salim Mwanzoa, the son of Muhammad Nzoa; in addition to teaching, Nasir did work as a tabibu. With the arrival of other students, what began as private tuition to one student gradually developed into a proper Qur'an school, which Mwalimu Nasir eventually handed over to his first student, Salim Mwanzoa. As Salim was nearing completion of his studies, the villagers ("proud to have an educated son of the village") asked Mwalimu Nasir to supervise the building of a mosque for them. And so the Chikola Mosque came to be built, and Nasir became its first Imam. It was a local, family mosque; the Muslims of Chikola continued to go to the Mkoyo Mosque for Friday prayers. When Nasir died, Salim became the Imam of the Chikola Mosque.98 Expansion in the 1920s During the years after the building of the Mkoyo Mosque, more persons in Tiwi were converted, and the number of Muslims grew slowly. The first converts had been men; in turn they converted some of their wives. The first women Muslim con- verts are said to have been women of Mwinyihaji wa Bwika's family. Some women, such as Mwanajuma (the Segeju wife of Mwalimu Nasir) of Tiwi Chikola, were also active in converting other women.99 More important than the continuing conver- sions was the growing number of young men (second-generation Muslims) who were undergoing or had completed study of the Qur'an. 97 The "children" were of all ages, in some cases young men who were able to take on responsibilities soon after finishing their studies. Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. 98 Muhammad Salim Mwanzoa, Chikola, 23/12/85; Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. 99 Mwaidi Swaleh Mwadzitso, Tiwi Pongwe, 12/12/85; Mwanalima Abdallah Matumbo, Matuga, 16/12/85. -123 Mwinyihaji wa Bwika died in 1913, and was succeeded as headman by Muhammad Mwagwaya, wealthy, influential and no less ardent a Muslim than Mwinyihaji.100 In the same year Mwagwaya gave land to the Government for a "dai- ly market" to be set up at Tiwi; in the Deed of Gift for the land, he refers to himself as "Muhammad bin Mwagwaya El-Muslim, Mzee [senior elder] of Tiwi," and declares that the land is a "perpetual gift true and valid according to the Sheria."101 Mwagwaya's succession to the position of Headman, which he held for more than ten years, was an indication of the continuing strength of Muslim influence in Tiwi. By 1916, government records showed six (out of thirty-three) of the elders of Tiwi with Muslim names;102 but according to oral testimony, more than half of the elders were Muslim by that time.103 The growing number of Muslims undoubtedly encouraged Mwagwaya to be uncompromising in asserting his Muslim beliefs, and his pro-Muslim conduct as headman took on an aggressiveness which was unknown during the days of his predecessor; in 1924, just before Mwagwaya retired as head- man, he was described as "an ardent Mohamedan...out in every way to break Digo triballaw."104 In 1924 he was succeeded as headman by Muhammad Mwakaneno.l05 The arrival of another teacher, Salimini bin Simba, gave further impetus to Muslim education in the Tiwi and Matuga area. Salimini was a Yao106 from southern Tanzania who had come to Kenya as a soldier before the First World War. On retirement from the army he decided to settle in Kenya, and went to live at Vuga, with the family of Mwadzala Mwacherero, whose sister he had met and married in Mombasa. While at Vuga, Salimini would come to Chigato, where he was offered farming land by Mwatumwa at Chigongoni village. 107 100 At the beginning of 1913, Mwinyihaji is still shown as the headman of Tiwi; in November that year, "A meeting of the Ngambe was held at which 40 elders were present. Mohamed bin Mangwaya [Mwagwaya] was unanimously elected Headman of Tiwi Location.• "Detailed list of headmen of Tiwi District," District Commissioner, Mombasa, to Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 24 January 1913. KNA, Coast Province, MP/494; Tour Diary, Mombasa District, entry for 3 November 1913, KNA, DC/MSA/3/1/9b. 101 District Commissioner, Mombasa, to the Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, letters of 15 September 1915 and 2 October 1917. KNA, Coast Province, MP/26/12>8; a translation of the Deed of Gift, dated 31 July 1913, is included in the letter of 15 September 1915. 102 List showing "Elders of Ngambe", as at 16 August 1916. KNA, DC/MSA/8/2. 103 Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 21/9/87. In this case, oral testimony is probably a more reliable indication of the extent of con- version to Islam among the elders. 104 Acting District Commissioner, Digo District, to the Senior Commissioner Coast, 6 June 1924. KNA, Coast Province, MP/1/24. 105 Notes on Headmen, showing election of Muhammad Mwakaneno at Tiwi on 1/7/24. KNA, DC/KWL/3/3. 106 For details of the history of the Yao, and their early exposure to Islam through coastal trading contacts, see Edward A. Al- pers, "Trade, State and Society among the Yao in the Nineteenth Century," in JAH, X, 3 (1969): 405-420, and "Towards a His- tory of the Expansion of Islam in East Mrica: the Matrilineal Peoples of the Southern Interior,• in T.O. Ranger & I. Kimambo (eds), The Historical Study of African Religion (London 1972), 172-201, and EA. Alpers, Ivory and Slaves in East Centra/Africa, (London 1975). 107 Hamisi Muhammad Mwakuwamia, Chigato, 3/12/85; Muhammad Mwinyi Ndaro, Magodzoni, 16/12/85. -124 In 1915, Salimini moved from Vuga to Chigongoni,l08 He subsequently became the Imam of the Mabatani Mosque (also known as Mwatumwa's Mosque) and set up a Qur'an school at Chigongoni. Salimini was the first teacher in the Chigato area, and he immediately attracted students from the surrounding villages. The thirst for education was spreading, as people saw the benefits, in particular the positions held by those who had received some education. Several years later, in c.1922, he helped Mwinyihamisi Gakure, the head of the village and one of the early converts of the area, build the Makunguni Mosque (otherwise known as Gakure's Mosque or the Chigongoni Mosque). Salimini was the first Imam of the Makunguni Mosque, assisted by Abdallah Matumbo, one of his first students, who later became Imam.109 The First Digo Imams The impact of Salimini's teaching was soon felt. One of his early students was Kassim Mwachinyama, whose older brother, Hamisi Mwachinyama, was the head of Chigato village. In 1924, when Kasim was about to finish his Qur'an studies, Hamisi decided to build a mosque, the Chigato Mosque, where Kassim Mwachinyama was to become the first Imam. Salimini was aware of the important role his students would play in their home villages. As well as teaching them the Qur'an, he trained a number of them for future Imamship; Kassim Mwachinyama is said to have practis- ed giving Friday sermons at the Makunguni Mosque under Salimini's guidance before becoming the Imam of the Chigato Mosque.U0 In 1919, before Kassim Mwachinyama had become Imam of the Chigato Mosque, Juma Matungale handed over the Imamship of the Kitsanga Mosque to one of his early pupils, Juma Salim Pati. The hand-over indicated a growing maturity among Digo Muslims, and augured well for the future of Islam in the area: "Matungale called me, and he also called Makarani from Mkoyo to be a witness. He told me, 'I'm now an old man, it's time for you to take over."'111 The decade of the 1920s saw the construction of three more mosques in the Tiwi area: Mwamabanda Mosque (1926), Mkunguni Mosque (1928) and Chai 108 Salimini may have moved to Chigongoni, off the beaten track, to elude British efforts to remove him from the Nyika Reserve. In his Tour Diary of 1915, entry for 21 June 1915, C. Dundas, the District Commissioner of Mombasa, wrote: "At Vuga found a Swahili (ex KAR) who has settled there without permission; told he must go." Four months later, on 19th Octo- ber 1915, Dundas wrote: "Swahili who used to be at Vuga has left." (Tour Diary of District Commissioner, Mombasa, entries for 21 June 1915 and 19 October 1915, KNA, CP/1140.) The person referred to by Dundas must have been Salimini; no other ex-army persons are known to have lived at Vuga at this time. 109 Abdallah Mbwana, Chigongoni, 31/12/85; Hamisi Hilali Mwatumwa, Chigongoni, 12/1/86. 110 Hamis Muhammad Mwakuwamia, Kigato, 3/12/85; Nassir Bakari, Chigongoni, 5/12/85. 111 Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. -125 Mosque (1929). Jumaa Mwamabanda was one of the first persons to educate his children at Salimini's. Included among Jumaa's "children" was his nephew, Omari Mwagurumba. Mwamabanda is said to have built his mosque in order to provide for his nephew Omari, who became the first Imam upon completion of his studies. 112 Similarly, the Mkunguni Mosque is said to have been built, under Salimini's super- vision, by Uthman Mwakuaza (who also offered the land for the mosque) for his son, Sulayman (educated by Matungale), who became the first Imam and started a Qur'an school at the mosque.113 At approximately the same time, the Chai Mosque was built by Said Chimetse, whose son, Muhammad Bokoko, was one of Salimini's first students. Bokoko became the first Imam of the Chai Mosque, and went on to become an important teacher, after further studies under Mwinyihamisi Manzu at Pungu.114 To some extent the construction of the new mosques of the 1920s corresponded to an increase in the number of Muslims in the area. The new mosques were also the outcome both of a growth in Muslim education and of a friendly rivalry between villages that boasted an "educated son" whom they sought to honour by building a mosque. By 1930, there were eight mosques in the Tiwi area, seven of them with Digo Imams, whose influence was already being felt beyond Tiwi. Sulayman Mwakuaza, Imam of the Mkunguni Mosque, helped to establish the Vuga Mosque in the 1920s, and he would go there from Mkunguni to conduct Friday and 'Id prayers. There was no Qur'an school in Vuga, but pupils would come from there to be taught by Kassim Mwachinyama at Chigato. Eventually one of the Vuga converts, Tsufu (who had led the building of the Vuga Mosque), convinced Kassim Mwachinyama to move from Chigato to Vuga where he undertook to teach Tsufu's sons.115 The interior: the Tsimba area Muslim influence from the village of Mtongwe was felt as far away as Tsimba, that is, the whole area around kaya Kwale, including the villages of Golini, Kundutsi and Vuga. As early as the 1840s, before the first conversions at Tsimba, some people from Tsimba are known to have migrated to Mtongwe where they became Muslims. The earliest conversions of Tsimba inhabitants also took place at Mtongwe, towards 112 Mwakande Fatuma, Tiwi, 4/12/85. 113 Muhammad Sulayman Dzaphara, Mkunguni, 20/12/85. 114 Uthman Ali, Chai, 10/12/85. 115 Abdallah Sulayman Zingizi, Vuga, 4/2/86. -126 the end of the 19th century. Persons from Tsimba who were sick or possessed by spirits would go to Mtongwe in search of treatment: There they would be told, Are you feeling pain? ...you had better become a Muslim. When they came back, they were Muslims, but they didn't even know their Muslin:t names and some went back to Mtongwe to ask what their names were. There were others who went to Tiwi to be cured of sickness or spirit possession, and were converted there. People who were converted in this way didn't behave like Muslims, they didn't pray or fast. At that time the Digo didn't want Islam; they didn't become Muslims because they wanted to, but because they were sick or possessed."116 Conversions also took place through trading contacts between the people of Tsimba and Mtongwe. In the early 1880s, Mwajasi Mwatsudzo of Golini went to trade in Mtongwe, in such items as betel, gum copal and rubber.117 Fifteen years later, in 1898, he came back to Golini a Muslim, by the name of Abdallah; he knew the basics of his Muslim faith, and had even studied the Qur'an a bit. He is remem- bered as the first Digo in Tsimba to live like a Muslim, and to bring up his children as Muslims. He sent his son Muhammad to study in Mtongwe, and he himself would go to Mtongwe for the month of Ramadhan and for 'Id feasts.l18 In the 1880s, after negotiating with the elders of kaya Kwale, the Church Missionary Society established a Mission Station at Tsimba and opened a school. But the Mission was short-lived, and had little lasting impact on the Digo of the area.119 At this time there were several Muslim foreigners (Msindo, Heri and Mngindo) living in the Tsimba area. They had come from Mtongwe to the villages of Vuga and Kundutsi in the 1880s (possibly during the Mwachisenge famine of 1884- 85) "to trade in beads and rice", and had settled there at the invitation of Digo friends. Msindo had friends at Vuga who welcomed him; Heri was a friend of Mwadzihachi, the headman of Kundutsi; Mngindo, a former soldier of Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid, was a friend of Mwamchera, the headman of Vuga. Several Digo at Tsimba were converted during the 1890s. Mwijaka, son of Mwinyimkuu, at Mtongwe was a friend of Dundu Mwariale of Kundutsi. With 116 Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 17/12/67. 117 The Swahili would mix betel with chewing tobacco to lessen the acridity of the tobacco and give it a more aromatic taste. See Rev. Dr. L. Krapf, A Dictionary of the Suahili Language, London 1882, pp. 356-57,409. 118 Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 3/5/73. 119 When Krapf visited Kenya in 1862, he wrote: "'The chief of Shimba has been with me recently, requesting us to take up our Mission settlement in his tribe." (Letter of Dr. Krapf, Mombasa, 6/5/1862, UMFCM, V, (December 1862): 805.) But nothing specific came out of this meeting unti11882 when W.S.Price made "a tour to Shimba country with Mr. Shaw with a view to a fu- ture Mission Station.• (Letter of W.S.Price, Frere Town, 5th May 1882, CMS, G3/A5 P2, Item 44.) Towards the end of 1887, Rev. H.K.Binns went to Shimba to start the Mission, where he was said to be settled by December of that year. (Letter of Rev.A.D.Shaw, Frere Town, 24 December 1887, CMS, G3/A5/1887, Item 372). Because of shortage of staff the Shimba Mission proved ineffective. It was abandoned in 1890, and only briefly occupied again between 1900 and 1904. (Cf. James D. Holway, 'C.M.S. Contact with Islam in East Africa before 1914,' Journal of Religion in Africa, IV (1972): 200-212.) After 1904, missionaries would occasionally visit the Station. It is undoubtedly due to such visits that a small community of Digo Christians still remains at Vyongwani (near Kwale). In 1925, the District Commissioner wrote: "The C.M.S. Mission functions less and less as the years go by in the District. The Station at Kwale is closed...None of its missionaries have as far as I know visited the District during the year.(1925 Annual Report, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/11.) -127 Mwijaka's help, Dundu arranged for his nephew to get rice at Mtongwe and bring it to Kundutsi, where he set up a shop to sell it. Dundu became a Muslim and took the name of his friend, Mwijaka.120 During the famine of 1899 (the "Gunny Sack Famine"), people moved from Tsimba to Mombasa, and some became Muslims there before returning to Tsimba. By the turn of the century, between twenty to forty persons (out of a total population of more than three hundred adults) in the Tsimba area may have been Muslim.121 Another foreign Muslim to arrive in Tsimba was Hemedi, a Gunya friend of Abdallah Mwatsudzo, who came to open a shop at Golini in c.1905.122 Though such immigrant Muslim traders are not specifically remembered as converting the Digo to Islam, their arrival reinforced the Muslim presence and is indicative of continuing Muslim penetration into the area. When Abdallah Mwatsudzo first returned to Golini from Mtongwe, he looked down on his fellow Digo who were not Muslims. Like other Muslim converts he had been told in Mtongwe that he should not eat with pagans ("even if he's your father and he isn't a Muslim, let him eat by himself, he's a pagan") and so he began to eat apart, and to criticise his friends and relatives for their eating habits. A few of Mwatsudzo's friends and his younger brother are said to have become Muslim through his influence. Mwadzihachi, the headman of Kundutsi, said to be the first convert in Kundutsi, was converted at this time, taking the name Ali, and some of Mwadzihachi's friends are also said to have been converted, following his example. On the other hand, Mwamchera, the headman of Vuga, did not agree to become a Muslim. Mwamchera died just before the first World War, and was succeeded as headman by a Muslim convert, Tsufu.123 After some time Mwatsudzo and Mwadzihachi changed their condescending, separatist attitude towards their pagan Digo relatives and friends, and began to invite them to partake of food during Muslim feasts. The non-Muslims were told to eat apart, but this did not keep them from attending; they came in large numbers. In this way some of them were attracted to Islam. 120 Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 9/5/69. 121 The total population estimate of more than three hundred is based on a 1913 hut count showing 152 huts in the Kwale area, on the assumption that the total population would not have changed that much in fifteen years. The same informant who gave the total number of Muslims as being between twenty to forty in 1899, estimated that less than one in ten persons was Muslim at the time, an estimate which agrees broadly with the total population estimate. KNA, DC/MSA/3/2/29; Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 17/12/67. 122 Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 17/12/67. 123 Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 9/5/69. Of the six ngambi elders of Kundutsi listed in 1916, only Mwadzihachi used a Muslim name. KNA, DC/MSA/6/167, List of Elders of Ngambi, 16th August 1916. Islam gained impetus with the return of Muhammad bin Abdallah Mwatsudzo, his studies completed, to Golini in 1920. He proceeded to open a Qur'an school for the Muslim children. When Salim Ndaro (who had been sent by his grandfather Mwadzihachi to study at the Qur'an school in Muhaka) returned from his studies in 1925, he did the same at Kundutsi. Previously Sulayman Mwakuaza had been coming from Tiwi to do some teaching at Kundutsi. The first mosque in the Tsimba area was the Ziwani Mosque at Golini (Map 11B). There is conflicting evidence about the date of construction of the mosque. According to one source, it was built by Abdallah Mwatsudzo in c.1924, after his son, Muhammad, returned from his studies. It is said that Abdallah was chided by his Mombasa friends who would come to visit him that there was no mosque in Golini, and so he decided to build one. Other testimony states that the mosque was already standing during the first World War, by 1915.124 Both accounts may be correct. It is likely that Abdallah first built a small temporary mosque (msala) for personal and family use; later, as the number of Muslims increased, he would have built a larger, more permanent, structure suitable for use by the whole Muslim community. The second mosque in the area, the Vuga Mosque, was built communally, under the leadership of Tsufu, the headman of Vuga, in c.1922, at the instigation of the "Liwali of Tiwi".125 It is said that during one of the Liwali's visits to Vuga, he noticed that there was no mosque, and so called a meeting of the elders to discuss the matter. Tsufu offered land for the mosque and undertook to supervise its con- struction. There was no local Muslim qualified to be the Imam, so Imams would come from Tiwi. Sometimes Salimini or Kassim Mwachinyama, who were both at Chigato, more often Sul yman Mwakuaza from Tiwi, would come to lead the Friday prayers at Vuga. No Qur'an school was opened at Vuga. Instead, pupils from Vuga would go to Kassim Mwachinyama's school at Chigato, some three miles away.126 Before building the Vuga Mosque, Tsufu had sent his sons to learn under Kassim Mwachinyama at Chigato. Shortly after the first World War, he convinced Mwachinyama to move to Vuga so his sons could learn at home. When Tsufu's eldest son, Sulayman Zingizi, finished his studies, Mwachinyama went back to Chigato. Sulayman Zingizi then took over as Imam of the Vuga Mosque and opened a Qur'an school at Vuga. 124 Mwijaka Mwandzori, Chirimani, 4/2/86. 125 The term "Liwali ofTiwi" is a misnomer. Either the Liwali of Mombasa (or Vanga), or the Mudir ofTiwi, is meant, proba- bly the Mudir of Tiwi, under whose direct jurisdiction the village of Vuga fell. That the Mudir should be referred to as "Liwali" is some indication or his prestige. The Mudirate or Tiwi was abolished in 1922, a date which coincides with the estimated date of construction of the Vuga Mosque. See pp.116-117. 126 See p.125. -129- In the mid-1920s Mwalimu Mwinyihamisi Manzu came to Vuga from Pungu in order to educate his brother-in-law, Kassim Mwachuo. Zingizi met Manzu at this time; attracted by Manzu, Zingizi decided to go to Pungu to continue with further studies under Manzu and to work under him in his school there. Mter gaining further knowledge and experience in Pungu, Zingizi returned to Vuga in the early 1930s, and continued his work as Imam and teacher until his death.127 A third mosque, the Tsimba (or Bumbani) Mosque, was built at Kundutsi in the early 1920s, within a year or two of the Vuga Mosque. On the basis of oral evidence, it is difficult to determine which of the two mosques, the Vuga Mosque or the Tsimba Mosque, was built first, and they may well have been built in the same year. The building of a mosque in each of the three principal villages of Tsimba reflects a spirit of village independence and rivalry. Even before the building of the Tsimba Mosque, Muslims from Kundutsi tended to go to Tiwi for Friday prayers, rather than to Golini. The building of the Tsimba Mosque is attributed to Mwamadi Gonga, an early teacher, and Salim Ndaro, Mwadzihachi's grandson, who had already returned from his studies at Muhaka. Salim Ndaro became the first Imam of the mosque, and also began to teach. Together with Muhammad Abdallah Mwatsudzo of Golini, Salim is said to have converted many people during the latter part of the 1920s: "...sometimes as many as twenty persons a day became Muslims, and were happy to do so...people had begun to accept Islam." 128 Though the name of Ali Mwadzihachi, the first convert of Kundutsi, is not mentioned in connection with the building of the Tsimba Mosque, the mosque can be said to have grown out of his early initiative in spreading Islam in the village. By 1933, mosques and Qur'an schools existed in the villages of Golini, Kundutsi and Vuga. A Qur'an school existed at Chirimani village, and mosques had been built in Chirimani (1927) and Kwale (1932).129 The Mijikenda Muslim response to land registration According to Mijikenda custom, a person acquired the right to occupy and use land by clearing and cultivating it. This right could be inherited, but when land was left unused for a long period of time, rights over it lapsed, and the land could 127 Abdallah Sulayman Zingizi, Vuga, 4/2/86. 128 Mwinyimsa Mwamzuka, Tsimba, 4/2/86. 129 In 1924 the colonial government transfered Vanga District headquarters from Shimoni to Kwale, and renamed the District Digo District, and the boundaries were altered. From then on Kwale gained in importance. All Native Tribunals started meet- ing there in 1925, and in 1926 a school and dispensary were opened. KNA, Annual Reports for 1924-26, KNA, DC/KWL/1/10- 12. -130- -131 then be occupied and used by other persons. In this case, however, trees (and crops) remained the property of the persons who planted them.130 In pre-colonial times, land rights rarely needed defining because they were rarely questioned. So long as land was plentiful, as Colson has stated: "...Africans were concerned to use land, not to hold it."131 The definition of land rights, particularly the right of ownership, was very much an issue arising out of colonial jurisdiction. The official colonial version of customary land tenure among Africans was often influenced by exigencies of govern- ment and moralistic views about how rural Africans should behave, rather than by real pre-colonial African behaviour. Thus, most colonial documents stress the com- munal nature of customary land tenure: land was inalienable (except, of course, by the communal authority), and could not be sold or mortgaged by individuals. 132 By the second half of the 19th century, the Mijikenda were allowing foreign- ers to use Mijikenda land as tenants on payment of a fee, and were selling or mort- gaging trees to foreigners. The first foreigners to use Mijikenda land in this way were Muslims from Mombasa.133 Some Mombasa Muslims used Mijikenda land for many years, and came to regard themselves as having acquired ownership.134 Some of the Muslims who settled in Digo villages south of Mombasa also presumed that they had bought, not hired, land from the Digo.135 But in land ownership disputes between Mijikenda and Muslims during the colonial period, the government consistently upheld the principle of the inalienability of Mijikenda land.136 In 1908, the colonial government approved a Land Registration Ordinance, 130 "Tribal Law and Customs" - Notes by the Mudir of Tiwi (1913), and "Land Tenure" - Notes by C.Dundas, District Commissioner, Mombasa District (1915). KNA, DC/MSA/8/2. 131 Elizabeth Colson, "The Impact of the Colonial Period on the Definition of Land Rights," in Victor Turner (ed), Colonialism in Ajiica, 1870-1960, Vol 3 (Cambridge 1971), 193-215. The quotation is on p.199. 132 The concept of communal ownership not only simplified political control, but also justified the concessions of land by chiefs to colonial governments. See Colson, "The Impact of the Colonial Period," and C.K.Meek, Land Law and Custom in the Colonies (London 1946). 133 New noted that this was happening north of Mombasa in the 1860s. See Chapter II, p.55-56. 134 When the Muslims who had been using Mijikenda land tried to sell it to a third party, land disputes arose. In 1908, the District Commissioner of Mombasa wrote: "I have the honour to report that certain Waribe wazee [elders] have complained that land belonging to their tribe at Mwakirunge has been sold to Dr.Bowen by two Swahilis of Mombasa. The Waribe state that the land in question was granted to the vendors' grandfather to cultivate, but that they had no right to sell it.• District Commissioner, Mombasa, to Ag.Secretary for Native Affairs, 30 June 1908, KNA, PC/COAST/1/11/9. 135 At Ttwi,Dundas found: "Nabi has two shops, a house and a shamba (plot of land] which he says he bought from a Mdigo Ali Manyara. It appears that this was confirmed before Liwali Ali and that Ali Manyara admitted that he had no right to sell the land." District Tour Diary, Mombasa District, entry for 12 March 1915. KNA, Coast Province, MP/47/1140. 136 The best documented case is: Abdulrasool Alidina Visram versus Muluwa Gwanombi, Golo Azilo and Mwaka wa Ngula (as for themselves and representing all other members of the Jibana tribe of the Wanyika), Civil Appeal No.6 of 1914 in His Majesty's Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa, KNA, DC/MSA/3/4; details of the case are given in East Africa Protectorate lAW REPORTS (1913-14), Vol V, 141-153. -132 and took steps to begin the registration of land at the coastP7 Even before land registration was instituted, the government had decided to preserve communal ownership of land among the Mijikenda, and to allow freehold ownership of land only in 'the coastal strip', that is, in the coastal towns and in surrounding areas inhabited mainly by Muslims.138 Muslims were to be allowed to acquire freehold title to land, but Mijikenda (who were considered 'natives' and therefore members of a communal group) were not. Generally speaking, the boundaries of the Nyika Reserves (the areas where the Mijikenda were dominant) marked the dividing line between non-Muslim 'natives' and Muslims.139 The categories 'Muslim' and 'native' were not mutually exclusive, however, and did not correspond exactly to areas of residence and land use: some Muslims (Mijikenda and non-Mijikenda) were using land in the Nyika Reserves, and some Mijikenda (Muslims and non-Muslims) were settled outside the Nyika Reserves. In dealing with these exceptions the government sought to place persons in one of two preconceived categories: either Mijikenda 'native' (non-Muslim) inside the Nyika Reserves or Muslim non-'native' (non-Mijikenda) outside the Nyika Reserves. Non-Mijikenda Muslims living within the Nyika Reserves were asked to leave the Reserves, and their applications for title to land inside the Reserves were disallowed.140 Non-Muslim Mijikenda outside the Reserves do not seem to have applied for land titles; Mijikenda Muslims, both inside and outside the Reserves, did apply for land titles, thereby creating special difficulties for the colonial government. The Land Registration Ordinance was applied successively to different regions of the coast, starting north of Mombasa. In 1910, among those applying for land titles in the Takaungu-Malindi region were a number of Mijikenda Muslims. Initially their applications were rejected; in 1912, writing a judgement on the application of a Giriama Muslim for land at Mida, the Recorder of Titles wrote: 137 The move towards land registration was prompted by a memorandum from Chief Justice Sir Robert Hamilton, who ob- setved that insecurity of title to land was retarding economic development. A Land Titles Ordinance was approved in the Legislative Council in April, 1908, and published in the Gazette on 1st December 1908. The Ordinance was first applied to Malindi District, beginning on the 15th January 1909; applicants were initially given a period of 12 months to lodge claims. In March 1910, a Land Arbitration Board was set up, which began work at Takaungu in April 1910. "History of the Coast Land Settlement", Memorandum by AJ.Maclean, Recorder of Titles, Mombasa, 3 October 1918. Provincial Land Office Archives, Mombasa. 138 In colonial records, the term used for the coastal area inhabited predominantly by Muslims was "the coast belt", but this area is now more usually referred to as "the coastal strip". Because of differing Mijikenda settlement patterns north and south of Mombasa, the coastal strip north of Mombasa was quite extensive, whereas the coastal strip south of Mombasa was confined to a few villages of non-Mijikenda origin (Mtongwe, Gasi, Wasin and Vanga). 139 Some of the work of defining the boundary of the Nyika Reserve north of Mombasa was done as late as 1908: "In 1908, when in order to have a recognized boundary, Mr. Osborne on the instructions of the Government put in what is known as the 'Osborne line', he endeavoured to draw a line that would as far as possible give effect to the 'status quo', leaving the lands of the pagan Jibana on the west and of the Mohammedans, whether Arabs or converts, on the east." Civil Case No.60 of 1913, His Majesty's High Court at Mombasa. KNA, DC/MSA/3/4. 140 See pp.119-120, and p.124, footnote 108. -133 The applicant is a hadji [convert to Islam] and is not entitled to any freehold land but has a house and cultivation on this plot. I give judgement that he obtain a certificate of interest in respect of his house and the cultivation of the plot.141 Similar judgements were written on several other applications, but soon afterwards the judgements were amended to allow Mijikenda Muslims to own land.142 Nevertheless, the government tried to restrict the ownership of land by Mijikenda Muslims in the coastal strip by encouraging them to move to so-called 'Mahaji Reserves'. In effect, the government tried to create and group together another category of land owner, the 'Muslim native', but most Mijikenda Muslims continued to live outside the Mahaji Reserves.143 In November 1914, persons who wished to claim land south of Mombasa were invited to apply for title deeds. Evidently this was an administrative mistake, because the demarcation of the communal Digo Reserves had not been com- pleted.144 Subsequently more than seven hundred applications for land titles were made by Digo Muslims. Most of the applicants were prominent Digo leaders: Khamis Dzugwe and Salim Mwabundu of Likoni, Muhammad Mwaganyuma and his son Mwalimu Ali of Pungu, Muhammad Mwajamanda of Ng'ombeni, Sulayman Mwaronga Dzilala of Waa, Muhammad Manguze and Bakari Mwagakurya of Matuga, Muhammad Mwagwaya, Mwinyi Hamisi wa Bwika, and Juma Matungale of Tiwi, to name but a few. The distribution of the claims (allowing for differences in population) corresponded roughly to the extent of Muslim influence: from Likoni- Mtongwe 96 persons filed 149 claims, from Pungu-Ng'ombeni 89 persons filed 129 claims, from Tiwi 60 persons filed 209 claims, whereas from Tsimba 16 persons filed 18 claims, and from Diani-Ukunda-Muhaka 4 persons filed 5 claims.145 The scale on which Digo Muslims applied for land titles was clearly unexpected, and administrative and legal consultations soon took place at the highest level of government. By September 1915, a policy was emerging; Hobley 141 Judgement in Application Cause No. 21BD of 1912, Plot 8, Group XVII, at Mida in the Land Registration Court at Malindi. Provincial Land Office Archives, Provincial Headquarters, Mombasa. 142 For example, ref. Application Cause No. 21BD of 1912 in the Land Registration Court at Malindi, the original judgement was amended in red ink: the words "not" and •any• were crossed out and the word "ownership" was written in the left margin. The amendments have no date, nor is there any indication why or on whose authority the amendments were made. 143 In 1917, the District Commissioner noted that "mahaji are settled on their own shambas or on Mazrui land...no mahaji are settled on the reserves set aside for them at Mavueni and Mtanganyiko." Takaungu Sub-District Annual Report, 1916-17, KNA, DCfKFI/1/1. 144 In 1918, AJ.Maclean stated that inviting applications for the areas south of Mombasa in 1914 was "unfortunate•, because "it had been definitely decided and agreed upon that the Ordinance would not be applied to this area until such time as such demarcation was completed." "Short Outline of the History of the Coast Land Settlement," by A.J.Maclean, Recorder of Titles, 3 October 1918. Provincial Land Office Archives, Provincial Headquarters, Mombasa. 145 Altogether there were 742 applications from 437 persons, with some 40 persons applying for title to more than one plot of land. The original application forms, dated between 18th February and 13th May 1915, are in the Provincial Land Office Archives, Provincial Headquarters, Mombasa. wrote: "I have interviewed the Hon. Attorney General and he informs me that he is of the opinion that the best procedure would be to induce the Wadigo to withdraw their claim and for Government to return the fee of Re.[rupee] 1 paid on each."146 The support of the Liwali, Shaykh Ali bin Salim, was sought, and he was asked to take the lead in approaching the Digo Muslims about withdrawing their claims. In early October, the Liwali held a series of meetings with the applicants (in the presence of the Recorder of Titles), at which they agreed to withdraw their applications. In return, certain guarantees were made to them: a) that their lands would be defined and demarcated as a Digo reserve; b) that in addition to the lands already occupied by them, a certain commonage would be included in their reserves sufficiently large to allow for pasturing their flocks and herds and also for planting cash crops; c) that within these Digo Reserves they would be safeguarded from alienating any land to Europeans, Arabs, Indians, Swahilis and others outside the Digo tribe, and that all transactions such as mort- gages and sales of land should only be allowed amongst themselves; d) that the fees paid by them for registering their claims should be returned to them.147 By the end of October 1915, the Recorder of Titles was able to report to the Chief Secretary "the withdrawal of the Digo claims to separate title to ownership."148 The speed with which the government acted was equalled by the readiness with which the Digo applicants agreed to withdraw their claims. The presence of the Liwali, known and respected as a co-religionist by many of the Digo claimants, must have reassured them that what they were being asked to do was in their interest. But in searching for clues to explain the withdrawal of their claims, we need to look at the guarantees asked for, and offered in return. The guarantee to demarcate and enlarge the lands reserved for them (clauses a) and b) above) must be viewed within the context of the more important guaran- tee in clause c): to safeguard those lands from alienation. Individual ownership of land may have been seen as presaging the sale of land to foreigners, with profits to the few from what was the heritage of all. But stronger social forces were also at work. The fact that so many individual claims had been made by Digo Muslims indicated not just a deepening of Muslim influence, but a weakening of social bonds. With inheritance disputes also arising at that time, Digo leaders (including those 146 C.W.Hobley, Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, to the Hon. Chief Secretary, Nairobi, 20 September 1915. Provincial Land Office Archives, Provincial Headquarters, Mombasa. 147 Comments by A.I.Maclean, Recorder of Titles, when cancelling Application C..ause No.1S of 1915, l..and Registration Court of East Africa at Likoni, 20 October 1915. Provincial Land Office Archives, Provincial Headquarters, Mombasa. 148 A.I.Maclean, Recorder of Titles, to the Bon. Chief Secretary, Nairobi, 22 October 1915. Provincial Land Office Archives, Provincial Headquarters, Mombasa. -134- who had applied for land titles) may have been alarmed at the growth of divisive tendencies, and sensed the need to bolster unity.l49 What was a matter of administrative convenience for the colonial government was for the Digo a way of reinforcing communal ties at a time these were increasingly under stress.150 Matrilineal inheritance and Muslim law According to Digo custom, a man's property (livestock, coconut trees, crops) was usually inherited by his true brother (son of the same father and mother), and failing a true brother, by his maternal nephew (the son of a true sister). A son would receive personal items that had been used by his father, such as a knife, a chair, a hat, and bows and arrows, but no property of value. Sons were members of their mother's clan, and the strongest family ties were usually to members of that clan.151 When the time came for a man to marry, his maternal uncle (Digo. mdzomba )152 was responsible for paying dowry (Digo. hunda) to the bride's family. If a husband and wife separated, the children were considered to belong to their mother, provided the full dowry had been returned to the hus- band's family. Not all consequences of the matrilineal system benefitted maternal relatives: for example, when compensation (Digo. kore) had to be paid to another clan for murder, maternal nephews or nieces were handed over. Similarly, during famines a man would exchange one of his maternal nephews or nieces for food: "when a nephew (or niece) was sent to Mtongwe, he would have to go and work there, and the father of the boy (or girl) had no say in the matter."153 The first Digo converts to Islam continued to follow the matrilineal system: To become a Muslim didn't mean to change. The first Digo converts had become Muslims all right, but they hadn't changed. They didn't learn about Islam, the only thing they did was to take new names. A man might be called Abdallah, but he would go and take away his maternal nephew just the same. They were converts, but they hadn't learned yet. They kept following their Digo customs. There was no way they could give up their customs.154 149 Noting a like response in similar circumstances in Nigeria, Meek concluded: "A lineage will postpone legal partition of land as long as possible since ownership in common is the most powerful means of preserving unity and strength of lineage." C.K.Meek, "Land Tenure and Land Administration in Nigeria and the Cameroons," in N.Rubin and E.Cotran (eds), Readings in African Law (London 1970), 299. 150 Soon afterwards Maclean wrote: "There is no doubt that this withdrawal of claims was a very popular move and as such unanimously and eagerly agreed to by the Digo people.• AI.Maclean, Recorder of Titles, to the Hon. Chief Secretary, Nairobi, 22 October 1915. Provincial Land Office Archives, Provincial Headquarters, Mombasa. 151 See Chapter I, p.22. 152 The Digo word mdzomba means both maternal uncle and maternal nephew; the two are distinguished from each other by the context, or when necessary by extra explanation. The corresponding Swahili word mjomba is used in the same way. See Chapter II, p.71, footnote 151. 153 "Notes on Marriage" (1916), G. Osborne, KNA, DC/KWL/3/5; Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 26/1/72. 1S4 Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 26/1/72. -135- -137 conflict, maternal heirs may have allayed feelings, and contained dissent, by judiciously sharing their inheritance with Muslim paternal descendants. The inherit- ance dispute that arose in 1913-14 after the death of Mwinyihaji wa Bwika, the senior elder of Tiwi, was less easily resolved.159 Mwinyihaji's grandson recalls the circumstances of the dispute: Before Mwinyihaji died, he called his son Muhammad and told him that he wanted him to inherit. But Muhammad was afraid to claim the inheritance after his father died, and so Mwinyihamisi inherited. After about a year, during the month of Ramadhan, Muhammad wanted some coconuts from his father's trees to break the fast one evening, and Mwinyihamisi told him he couldn't have them. That night Muhammad couldn't sleep. Then he talked with his friends, and decided to take all the coconuts and all his father's cattle. Mwinyihamisi brought a case against him which went on for four years. Eventually, Mwinyihamisi and Muhammad reached an agreement and made up. 160 In 1914, the year after Mwinyihaji's death, the month of Ramadhan occurred in August.161 Soon after Ramadhan, Mwinyihamisi's case against Muhammad came before the elders of Tiwi, who decided in Mwinyihamisi's favour. Instead of appeal- ing to the District Commissioner, Muhammad seems to have submitted the case to the Muslim courts of Mombasa, hoping to obtain a favourable ruling there.162 That Muhammad initially hesitated to claim his father's property may reveal some character trait. More likely, it indicates that Digo inheritance customs were intact, and had only just begun to be challenged.163 Digo Muslims were themselves divided on the issue. Mwinyihamisi, Bwika's brother (and heir according to Digo custom), was a Muslim, and many other Digo Muslims felt that Digo inheritance customs should be followed. The issue had pagan-versus-Muslim undertones, but was as much a debate between Muslims about whether Muslim practice should take precedence over Digo custom. Early in 1915, Charles Dundas164 was appointed District Commissioner of Mombasa District, and began to take an interest in the inheritance issue.165 He does 159 See p.123, footnote 100. 160 Mwinyihamisi bin Muhammad bin Mwinyihaji wa Bwika, Tiwi Mkoyo, 13/12/79. A 1913 "List of traders" for Tiwi shows Muhammad wa Mwinyihaji engaged in "buying and selling coconuts." KNA, DC/MSA/8/2. 161 Cf. Freeman-Grenville, The Muslim and Christian Calendars. 162 Knowing that the District Commissioner would confinn the elders' decision, Muhammad probably decided to try to bypass him, but the District Commissioner undoubtedly knew about the case. Paragraph no.4 of his letter of 15 July 1915 to the Provincial Commissioner, refers to an inheritance dispute which could well be the Bwika case. For the letter, see Appendix VI. 163 Testimony from other Digo villages confirms that Mwinyihaji wa Bwika was the one who introduced inheritance according to Islamic law among the Digo. "In matters of inheritance, the one who began it all was Mwinyihaji at Tiwi. I didn't see Mwinyihaji, but I heard about the case. The son who inherited from him was called Muhammad, he's the one who took his father's inheritance.• Juma Zani, Kundutsi, 26/1/72. 164 Though only twenty-nine years old at the time, Dundas already had seven years of experience in Kenya, having served tours among the Kamba of Kitui and among the Kikuyu of Kiambu and Nyeri Districts, and part of a third tour at Rabai, the headquarters of the Nyika District. During those years he had come to have great respect for African institutions, especially for the work of councils of elders. His belief that customary law as applied by the elders was the soundest basis for administration comes out clearly in his notes and letters, and in his account of his experiences in Africa. As he put it, "There was much wisdom in the law of old." Sir Charles Dundas, Ajiican Crossroads (London 1955), 46. 165 The southern hinterland of Mombasa as far as Tiwi was still part of Mombasa District. See p.102, footnote 6. -138 not mention names in his reports, but the dispute at Tiwi undoubtedly came to his notice and may have prompted his investigation. Dundas consulted various persons, including the Mudir of Tiwi and the Councils (Digo. ngambi) of Digo Elders of Mombasa District. Without exception the Councils affirmed their wish to follow customary law rather than Islamic law. The elders assembled at Tiwi declared: We, the elders of Ngambi of Tiwi, Magojoni, Waa, Matuga and Ngom- beni, being asked by the District Commissioner to consult and decide as to the following:- l.Whether we wish matters of inheritance to be guided by Digo custom or Mohamedan law; 2.Whether we wish our lands to be held as common property by the Ngambi or as individual property of the occupier, do hereby declare after consultation that in both matters we wish to abide by our tribal custom. Under tribal custom inheritance goes to the brother and not to the son, land belongs to God and not to any one person. We further declare that in all matters of law we wish to follow our own customs and not Mohamedan law. We have adopted the religion of Islam only.166 In July 1915, Dundas presented his findings to the Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, and recommended that "Mohamedan law does not obtain among the Wadigo."167 Dundas's recommendations may have been sound, but in retrospect his assessment that "no dividing line can be discerned between Mohamedan and pagan Wadigo" was mistaken. He correctly observed that "a few individuals" were respon- sible for breaking a "system of inheritance acceptable by the tribe as a whole", but he failed to perceive the determination and influence of those few individuals or the difference of opinion among Digo Muslims about the application of Islamic law. Two years earlier, Charles Hobley, the Provincial Commissioner of Mombasa, had advocated a policy of administrative neutrality in dealing with Islam: It must be realized that it is not in our interest or the interest of the people that the Mohamedan faith and the sheria [Islamic law] should spread among the aboriginal tribes... I desire it, however, to be clearly understood that administrative officers are not in any way to depart from the path of strict neutrality with regard to Islamism.168 166 This declaration was made at Tiwi on the 19th June 1915 in Dundas's presence. Similar declarations were made by the elders of Likoni and Pungu on the 22nd June 1915, and by the elders of Mtongwe on the 24th June 1915. The declarations are certified ("made in my presence, read over and assented to") and signed by C. Dundas, District Commissioner, Mombasa. ("Declaration of Ngambi elders," KNA, DC/MSA/3/4.) Ref. no. 2 of the declaration, and the issue of land ownership, see pp.106-108. 167 District Commissioner, Mombasa, to Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 1st July 1915. KNA, DC/MSA/3/4. The full text of the letter is in Appendix VI. 168 C.W.Hobley, Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, to Asst. District Commissioner, Shimoni, 12 March 1913. DC/KFI/3/3. -139 The inheritance issue among the Digo was a vexing one, because it bridged administrative and Muslim jurisdictions. Administrative officers might be neutral towards Islam (in practice they tended to favour Digo custom), but the judicial system of the East Africa Protectorate provided that "the law administered...among the Mahomed natives in the dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar [is] Mahomed law, or the Sheriah [Islamic law (Arabic. shari'a)]." 169 As 'natives', the Digo were subject to the Local Native Councils and the District Court, but the Muslims of the coastal belt (including presumably Digo converts to Islam who lived in the coastal belt) were "under Mohammedan Law and under the jurisdiction of the Liwali and Mudirs."170 The colonial government continued to administer all Digo (Muslim and non-Muslim) as 'natives', but the legal status of Digo Muslims was increasingly ambiguous.171 After July 1915, this matter was raised to the Chief Justice, who evi- dently felt that Muslim converts should be subject to the jurisdiction of the Muslim courts, though no official legal ruling seems to have been made.172 In April 1916, Dundas again wrote to Robley, pointing out the injustice nd complications that would arise among the Digo (a mixed society of pagans and Muslims), if the Islamic law of inheritance were applied to Digo Muslims, who would thus be exempt from the jurisdiction of the Local Native Councils.173 The years after 1915 were especially trying for the colonial administration on the Kenya coast. The War in Europe spread to Africa, and the Germans (from 169 East Africa Protectorate LAW REPORTS (1895-1905), Vol 1 (Mombasa 1906), p.iii. 170 "Sub-divisions ofTiwi Sub-District," KNA, DC/MSA/8/2. 171 This ambiguity was evident as early as 1911 in the first recorded Muslim inheritance dispute, which came successively be- fore the Resident Magistrate, the Qathi, the Liwali, and the District Commissioner, before being decided by the Tribal Coun- cil: "Sometime about 1910-11 there died in Tiwi a man called Mwinyi Kombo bin Mwagangu. About July 1914 the Resident Magistrate, with some reason, felt the case to be one unsuited for trial by him and sought the aid of the Cathi [Muslim judge]. Herewith the case before the third court since 1911. Later the RM. gave judgement according to the Cathi's decision which after no undue haste and ignoring the Liwali's decision as well as Digo custom, awarded the shamba to both widows and eight children. I referred them to the Tribal Councils which without further palaver awarded the shamba to Mohamed Magwaya who, as brother of the deceased, appeared to them as the undoubted heir to the deceased's estate." District Commissioner, Mombasa, to Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 15 September 1915. KNA, MP/26/288. 172 The opinion of the Chief Justice, as stated in his letter of 25 March 1916, is quoted in the letter of Dundas to Hobley of 15 April1916 (see Appendix VI). In general, British judges in Kenya were highly respectful of Islamic law. Muslim judges [Kathis] were appointed Assessors in cases being heard before civil courts, and British judges frequently sought the advice of Muslim judges before giving judgement in cases involving Muslims, and deferred in their rulings to the opinion of Muslim judges with such phrases as "The judge notes the opinion of the Kathi and of the Assessor (Sheikh Nasor)...", "I have consulted with the Sheikh ul Islam...", or "I am assured by the Sheikh ul Islam..." And in giving judgement, British judges quoted Muslim law com- mentaries: "The law as applied in clearly in accordance with...the Shafei commentaries of Min Haj." East Africa Protectorate LAW REPORTS (1895-1905), Vol I (Mombasa 1906), 2,12,45,55,96. 173 Letter of C.Dundas, Moshi, to Mr.C.Hobley, 15 April 1916. KNA, DC/MSA/3/4. See Appendix VI for extracts from the letter. Early in 1916, Dundas was seconded from the colonial to military service. Because of his knowledge of German, he was assigned to British advance headquarters set up at Moshi (German East Africa) after the Germans had evacuated the Kilimanjaro region. That Dundas, on military secondment with new responsibilities, should continue to write to Hobley about the Digo inheritance issue is remarkable evidence of the sincerity of his belief in African institutions and his commitment to what he viewed as a just solution. His letter, addressed to Mr.C.Hobley, is clearly unofficial. -140 German East Africa) invaded southeastern Kenya. Vanga District Headquarters was moved from Shimoni to Gasi (where it remained until March 1918). By September 1915, the Germans were raiding north of the Ramisi river, and camps had to be set up for several thousand Digo refugees who abandoned their villages. At the same time, the administration was coping with the aftermath of the Giriama Rising north of MombasaP4 The ensuing years 1918-23 brought drought, floods, and smallpox and influenza epidemics.175 Given the number of pressing matters requiring attention, it is not surprising that the law of inheritance issue drifted along without a clear policy decision. In 1920, the administration tried to regulate Muslim inheritance claims by declaring that "anyone wishing his property to be inherited according to the Shariah must reg- ister himself accordingly with the District Officer." In the beginning, few Digo Mus- lims registered with the District Officer. Inheritance cases continued to be heard by the local elders' councils, and on appeal by the District Commissioner, who con- sistently supported the elders' rulings in favour of Digo customP6 Within a few years, events had overtaken Dundas's recommendations. As more Digo Muslims died, paternal Muslim descendants began to question Digo custom more openly, and feelings were aggravated. Early in 1924, the District Com- missioner noted: "There is a current of feeling running pretty strongly in the more Islamised district along the coast against Pagan native custom."177 By that year the number of inheritance cases being heard by the Native Councils was increasing, as was the number of appeals to the District Commissioner (in his capacity as a Second Class Magistrate). In his Annual Report, the District Commissioner wrote: "The most interesting civil cases have been appeals from Native Council findings in inheritance cases." In the same Report, he noted an increase in external Muslim practices: "The Wadigo...are rapidly assuming Mohammedan names and outward customs, though their religion is shallow in the extreme."178 When Digo Muslims realized that appeals from Native Council decisions to the District Commissioner had little chance of success, they began to register or to write wills.179 174 Brantley, The Giriama, 125-142. 175 Annual Reports, Vanga District, 1915-1923. KNA, DC/KWL/1/1-S.The smallpox epidemic of 1920, which caused 427 deaths in Vanga, was described as "one of the most serious epidemics within living memory." Handing-over Report of 3 Febru- ary 1921. KNA, DC/KWL/2/1. 176 Handing-over Report of 21 January 1922, Vanga District. KNA, DC/KWL/2/1. According to this report, no Digo Muslims had registered with the District Commissioner during the previous ten months. 177 In August the same year, the District Commissioner reported that he had "interrogated elders on the question of changing their inheritance law" and that "66% (were) in favour of change." Station Diary, Digo District, entries for 28 February and 4 August 1924. KNA, DC/KWL/5/1. 178 "There were only 9 appeals out of a total of 292 cases, but the number of civil cases had increased from 13 in 1923 to 43 in 1924. The Report does not explicitly say so, but some of this increase in numbers may have been because of an increase in inheritance disputes. Annual Report for Digo District, 1924. KNA, DC/KWL/1/10. 179 "To avoid the tribal system of inheritance it is a common thing for the Wadigo to make wills leaving their property to their sons." Annual Report 1926, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/12. -141 One of the appeals heard by the District Commissioner of Digo District was that of Mwalimu Ali, son of Muhammad Mwaganyuma of Pungu. As at Tiwi, the disagreement at Pungu was between Muslims. When Muhammad Mwaganyuma died,180 his brother Ali Ganyuma claimed his property in accordance with Digo custom, but Mwaganyuma's son Mwalimu Ali protested. The subsequent dispute had a more far-reaching effect than the Bwika dispute at Tiwi, for Mwaganyuma's relatives were unable to reach a compromise, and they proceeded to raise their dispute from the elders' council through successive courts to the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa.181 The details are remembered by Mwalimu Ali's grandson: When Mwaganyuma died, the inheritance was claimed by his brother Ali. Mwalimu Ali didn't agree to that. He told his uncle, 'You have your sons, and Mwaganyuma had his son, who is me. You can't take my father's property.' They quarrelled about it, until the case came before the elders. Then the case went to Shimoni, but before it was decided it came to Kwale. There Mwalimu Ali lost the case because of Digo custom. He was told, 'You can't have your father's property, it will go to your father's brother.' But he refused to accept this. So he brought the case before the court in Mombasa. His attorney was Mr. Barker. Do you know Mr. Barker? He had a farm out at Changamwe, then later he moved to Nairobi. He was the one who represented Mwalimu Ali. So the case was heard in Mombasa, and then in Nairobi, but it didn't end there, until it went to Kampala where it was heard by three judges. The person who really helped Mwalimu Ali through all this was his son Shaykh Mwinyi, who had studied some Islamic law.182 The role of Shaykh Mwinyi, one of the few (and best educated) fourth- generation Muslims of his time, reflects the deepening hold of Islam with the pass- ing of generations, and the influence better educated Digo Muslims had begun to exert.183 For some Digo Muslims, Islam may have been more of a pretext than a principle,184 but there is little doubt that Mwalimu Ali persisted in his legal appeal out of religious conviction. In doing so, he became a decisive force for change, what the District Commissioner described, in referring to the case, as a "more progressive spirit."185 180 Muhammad Mwaganyuma is said to have died in c.1922. Ngumi bin Shaykh Mwinyi, Msambweni, 21/9/87. 181 CA.27/1927, Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa (at Kampala), Ali Ganyuma vs. Ali Mohamed. East Africa Protectorate LAW REPORTS (1927-28), Volll, Mombasa 1929, p.30. The legal technicalities of the case are discussed in J.N.DAnderson, Islamic Law in Africa, London 1970, pp.111-114 182 Uthman bin Shaykh Mwinyi, Pungu, 14/6/86. The appeal to the District Commissioner must have been made in 1923 or early 1924, coinciding with the transfer of the Headquarters of Digo (previously Vanga) District from Shimoni to Kwale. The transfer took effect on 16 March 1924. Annual Report 1924, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/10. 183 Shaykh Mwinyi bin Mwalimu Ali later went to teach at Msambweni, and eventually died at Lungalunga in 1947. Ngumi bin Shaykh Mwinyi, Msambweni, 21/9/87. 184 "In Digo the profession of the Mohammedan faith is...frequently nothing but an excuse. Many Digo who have no idea of the obligations (in inheritance or otherwise) imposed by the Sharia [Islamic law] claim to follow the male line by virtue of their religion.• "Note on Mjomba rule," Assistant District Commissioner, Digo District, 30 May 1924. KNA, DC/KWL/3/5. 185 "Matrilineal inheritance is being challenged by the more progressive spirits, who seek to inherit by Shariah [Islamic law]. A civil case, in which this very point is in dispute, has already been heard in three courts, and is at the time of writing awaiting the decision of the fourth." (The fourth court was the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa.) Annual Report, Digo District, 1927. KNA, DC/KWL/1/13. -142 In March 1928 the Court of Appeal gave its ruling on the Mwaganyuma case: "Mohammedan Law applies and the estate descends patrilineally."186 The ruling was a legal victory for committed Digo Muslims, but the Digo elders, meeting in joint council that same year, sensed the inadvisability of forcing the pace of change, and cautioned that strict application of the principle of patrilineality threatened to create as many problems as it solved. The District Commissioner summarized the views of the elders in his Annual Report: The chief matter of interest to the Wadigo during the year has been the finding of the Court of Appeal. This fmding has created a somewhat difficult position as at present two conflicting laws of inheritance prevail among the tribe, according to the Shariah and to Tribal Custom. There is definitely a feeling among the people that the patrilineal system of inheritance should supersede the Tribal Custom of matrilineal inheritance, but the feeling is by no means unanimous, and it is felt that as time goes on the matter will solve itself. The Council [Local Native Council of Kwale District] has passed a Resolution requesting Government to amend the law to permit of inheritance following Tribal custom except in cases where the deceased has disposed of his property otherwise by will. 187 What the elders were saying, in effect, was that social change should not be forced: not all Digo Muslims should be obliged to follow Islamic law, because not all of them wanted to. Many Digo (including Muslims), who recognized the advantages of the patrilineal system (as a system, not as a religious norm) had deep matrilineal bonds that were not easily severed. The colonial administration was concerned about how to implement the Court ruling. In 1928, the Provincial Commissioner of Mombasa wrote to his counterpart in Tanga, Tanganyika, enquiring about inheritance practice among the Digo living in Tanganyika. Subsequently a meeting took place between officers of the two governments to discuss the matter.l88 It is not clear how this meeting affected policy. The Kenya colonial government may have decided that the simplest way of dealing with the matter was not to interfere administratively, since the 1928 ruling of the Court of Appeal created a precedent for future cases before the courts. By 1929, with the request of the previous year unanswered, the Digo elders continued to feel that change was being forced on them too abruptly: The Resolution of the Local Native Council referring to inheritance, mentioned in last year's report, has not yet received the sanction of the government, and the general opinion at present is that the Gov- ernment has disallowed the tribal system of succession... the feeling of the people is that they should be allowed to evolve a system of patrilineal inheritance, rather than that the old custom should be done away with by the 'stroke of a pen'.189 186 For details of the judgement, see Appendix VII. 187 Annual Report 1928, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/14. 188 Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, to Provincial Commissioner, Tanga, 21 August 1928. As noted in the "Record of a Meeting held at Tanga on December 8-9th 1928, between Officers of Kenya and Tanganyika Governments", the inheritance issue had arisen in Tanganyika under German rule, and "the German authorities issued an administrative order abolishing matrilineal inheritance among the Wa-Digo...this order is still followed and has never been challenged in the Court of Appeal." KNA, DC/KWL/3/5. 189 Annual Report 1929, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/15. -143 In 1930, the District Commissioner wrote: "The Wadigo are rapidly becoming Islamized and their customs in matters of inheritance are breaking down...they are in a transition stage, going from matrilineal to patrilineal inheritance."190 What he failed to mention was the acrimony and bitterness that the transition was generating among the Digo. All who lived through the years of inheritance disputes, from the early 1920s into the 1930s, agree that the Digo experienced internal disunity, includ- ing family and clan dissension, such as they had not known since the beginning of colonial times.191 Islamic law prevailed, but tension and problems continued. In 1941, at a meeting of Mijikenda elders with the Governor, Sir Henry Moore, the elders complained about "the injustice of pagans not being allowed to inherit from Mohammedans even when they [the pagans] were wives and children, and Islam had only been embraced on the death bed."192 190 Handing-overReport (March 1930), KNA, DC/KWL/2/1. 191 Describing the situation among the Digo in 1933, the Provincial Commissioner wrote of "protests by old adherents." Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, to Hon. Chief Native Commissioner, Nairobi, 15 February 1933, KNA, PC/COAST/1/11. 192 File Minute on Mariakani meeting of 21 August 1941, KNA, DC/KWL/3/4. In commenting on the applicability of the Muhammadan Marriage, Divorce and Succession Ordinance, 1920, to such cases, Anderson has pointed out that Section 4 of the Ordinance by no means provides that "Muhammadan law prevails to the exclusion of tribal law in cases where the deceased was a Muhammadan," since the Section lays down that the deceased should be either the child of a regular Muslim marriage or else have contracted such a marriage. Had these terms been consistently applied, "some of the more extreme cases of conflict of law could never have arisen, since a death-bed conversion to Islam would have no effect on the inheritance of the convert unless either his parents had been practicing converts or he himself followed his death-bed conversion with a death-bed con- tract of valid Muhammadan marriage (having previously dissolved any previous customary marriage) -both of which con- tingencies seem sufficiently remote." J.N.DAnderson, Islamic Law in Africa (2nd edition, London 1970), 112-114. -144 Chapter V. The Spread of Islam in the Gasi-Vanga Hinterland, 1865-1933 In 1865, the Digo of the southernmost region of the Kenya coast (south of the Mwachema river) were settled in four main areas: 1) in the coastal strip, between Diani and Msambweni; 2) inland, around Kikoneni and along the Rarnisi river; 3) on the Shimoni peninsula (at Chwaka); and 4) along the Umba river. All these areas were, for the most part, outside the sphere of influence of Mombasa. Three different Muslim peoples inhabited the region: the Mazrui at Gasi, the Vumba at Wasin and Vanga, and the Shirazi in small scattered villages between Msambweni and Vanga.t Each of these peoples influenced one or more Digo groups. The Digo between Diani and Msambweni came under the influence of the Mazrui at Gasi; the Digo of Kikoneni and Chwaka under the influence of the Vumba at Wasin and of the Shirazi; and the Digo along the Umba river under the influence of the Muslims of Vanga. The main centres of Islam, the towns of Wasin, Vanga and Gasi, differed from each other in origin and character. Wasin, the oldest of the three towns, had a strong religious tradition, but was poorly sited for trade and did not develop as a commercial centre.2 Vanga, on the other hand, had grown steadily since its foundation early in the 19th century. Originally founded by Vumba, who were still the dominant group, Vanga attracted a steady stream of immigrants (Muslim and non-Muslim), and by 1865 had become a prosperous Muslim centre, second in importance only to Mombasa.3 Gasi, the youngest of the three towns, was a plantation settlement where the Mazrui had lived peacefully for thirty years, in friendly rapport with the neighbouring Digo.4 This changed in 1865 when Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid5 acceded to power. More agressive and more ambitious than Abdallah bin Kharnis, the previous ruler of Gasi, Shaykh Mbaruk tried to expand his influence, and raided those who opposed him.6 For the next thirty years, until the 1 A fourth people, the Segeju, lived mainly in the Shimoni peninsula. Originally pagan, the Segeju had come under strong Muslim influence from the Vumba, and by 1865 many Segeju were Muslim. (See Chapter II, p.28.) Segeju-Digo relations bad always been strained, if not openly hostile, and the Segeju exerted little Muslim influence on the Digo until late in the 19th century. During the 20th century, the number of Segeju in Kenya steadily decreased; in 1921, the District Commissioner of Vanga District noted: "The tendency of recent years has been for the Wasegeju to migrate to Tanganyika territory where the tribe exists in large numbers.• Annual Report 1920-21, Vanga District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/6. 2 On the origin of Wasin, see Chapter I, p.25. 3 See Chapter II, p.47. 4 See Chapter II, p.65. In 1890, Gasi was still a plantation town; Le Roy noted that "numerous slaves were at work in rice-fields in the vicinity." ("Aux environs, nombreux esclaves sont occupes dans des rizieres."] A.Le Roy, Au Kilima-ndjaro, Paris 1893, 56. 5 See Appendix IX. 6 The effects of Shaykh Mbaruk's raiding were evident as late at 1921; in that year, C.B.Thompson, the District Commissioner, noted that the country between Gasi and the Ramisi river was very sparsely settled, since "fear of Sheikh Mbaruk of Gazi (slave raiding)" had led many Digo "to retire west of Ramisi." (Annual Report 1920-21, Vanga District, DC/KWL/1/6.) During the following years, large numbers of refugees and immigrants settled in this area, which corresponds roughly to the present loca- tion of Msambweni. See p.146, footnote 18. -145 end of the Rising of 1895,7 the Gasi-Vanga region was the most turbulent and least secure part of Mijikenda country,8 due to continual strife between Shaykh Mbaruk and the other peoples of the region.9 The only people on consistently friendly terms with the Mazrui of Gasi after 1865 were the Digo of kaya Kinondo, and the Duruma and Digo around Mwele, the settlement established by Shaykh Mbaruk as an inland stronghold to which he could retreat when Gasi was threatened.10 The period between 1896 and 1914 was one of peace and stability. For the first time in many years, it was possible to move about the region in relative safety. Trade increased, and Muslim traders from as far away as Mombasa began to fre- quent the Gasi-Vanga hinterland.11 During this period, Islam began to consolidate among the Digo of the region. The first Digo mosques were built, and a number of Muslim immigrants settled in Digo villages and began teaching. 12 By the time the First World War began, Digo Muslims had established their own institutions in a number of villages, and Islam had begun to take root. In 1915, the Germans invaded and occupied much of the region west of the Ramisi river.13 The Digo along the Umba river were evacuated to refugee camps at 7 For details about the Rising, see Chapter III, pp.94-96. 8 After visiting Kikoneni in 1890, Le Roy remarked: "The Digo testify unanimously that in times past Mbaruk has ruined their villages, and transformed the magnificent countryside into a solitary desert." ("Au temoinage unanime des Digo, il a jadis ruine leur villages, transforme en deserts solitaires des pays magnifiques...") Le Roy, Au Kilima-ndjaro,54. 9 By the late 1860s, deteriorating relations between Shaykh Mbaruk of Gasi and Sultan Majid of Zanzibar had brought tension to the Gasi region. The Digo, and other peoples of the region, were drawn into the conflict. In general, the Vumba, the Digo of Kikoneni, the Shirazi and the Segeju, opposed Shaykh Mbaruk; the Digo and the Duruma to the north of Gasi tended to sup- port him. In 1873, Shaykh Mbaruk attacked Vanga. This led the Sultan of Zanzibar to retaliate, and marked the beginning of a strong Zanzibar Omani presence at Vanga, which the Sultan's forces made their headquarters. Further fighting in 1882 led to a permanent Zanzibar Omani presence in Vanga: a small garrison of troops was stationed there, a Zanzibar Omani Governor was appointed, and the Zanzibar Omani community began to acquire land. (McKay, 202-5). A Mazrui saying illustrates their feelings about Gasi after 1865: "Takaungu ni biashara, Gasi ni vita", which roughly translated means: "Takaungu is a place of commerce, Gasi a place of war.• (Muhammad Abdallah Mazrui, Takaungu, 4/3/87.) 10 Mwele continued to exert a Muslim influence on the surrounding peoples after Shaykh Mbaruk went to German East Africa. In 1912, the District Commissioner wrote: "Mwele is a small village presided over by Hamis bin Mataka, an intelligent Swahili, who appears to have a considerable influence with the Digo and neighbouring tribes." (Quarterly Report Vanga District for Quarter ending 30/6/1912, KNA, Coast Province, MP/3/233.) Hamis bin Mataka was the son of Mataka, the Akida (Commander) of Mwele during the time of Shaykh Mbaruk. The District Commissioner in 1915 also noted Hamis bin Mataka's influence: "Hamisi Mataka, the headman of Mwele, is a fervid apostle of Islam and has done his best to fight against the influence of the Mission Stations at Viziani and Kwale." District Commissioner, Gasi, 9 April 1915, to Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, KNA, Coast Province, MP/21/914. 11 One of the commodities stimulating the expansion of trade was rubber, which grew abundantly in the forests of south- eastern Kenya. Harms concluded that the world rubber shortage brought "large numbers of Africans into the international economy for the first time." In German East Africa, for example, the value of rubber exports surpassed that of ivory in 1899, and rubber production doubled between 1900 and 1902. But the boom was short-lived: by 1910, cheap rubber from southeast Asia had begun to depress the market. Robert Harms, "The End of Red Rubber: A Reassessment," in JAH, XVI, 1 (1975): 73- 88. 12 Among the immigrants were Digo (and other) Muslims from German East Africa. In 1898, for example, many people left German East Africa to escape the hut tax imposed by the Germans. Letter of District Officer, Shimoni, 10 June 1898, KNA, Coast Province, MP/97/183. 13 The first record of military action in the East African campaign of the First World War was a report of German soldiers en- tering the town of Vanga on the 25th August 1914. ("Dates of Campaign in Vanga District, August 1914," KNA, DC/KWL/6/1.) The main German advance into southeastern Kenya came in 1915, and by December 1915 two-thirds ofVanga District was in German hands. (Annual Report 1915-16, Vanga District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/1.) -146 Muhaka and Galu, and numerous Digo from Kikoneni fled east of the Ramisi river, some into the interior and others to the refugee camps at the coastY By the middle of 1916, the Germans had withdrawn, and the refugee camps were dismantled.15 Reconstruction took place under difficult circumstances, because of a smallpox epidemic, famine and floods in the years 1916-22.16 Some of the refugees returned to their former home districts,17 but others remained in the Msambweni area.18 With the growth of Mombasa and the improvement in road communications after the War, the ports of Gasi and Vanga declined in importance,19 and new colonial administrative centres such as Msambweni and Lungalunga grew up. The decline of Gasi and Vanga was reflected, too, in the declining role these towns played in spreading Islam. Between 1916 and 1933, the growth of Islam among the Digo was promoted by the new group of indigenous Digo Imams and teachers who were at school before the War. 14 Digo from the Tanga region of German East Africa also took refuge in Kenya. In March 1915, the refugee camp at Muhaka had some "400 refugees from the Umba valley" and the camp at Galu contained "refugees from Vanga and Gazi plus German East African natives.• (District Commissioner, Gasi, to Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 19 March 1915, KNA, PC/COAST/1/3/95.) The Annual Report for 1915 (including the first quarter of 1916) estimated that there were 1000 refugees at Muhaka and 2500 at Galu. (Annual Report 1915-16, Vanga District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/1.) By the middle of 1916, Govern- ment reports mentioned a concentration of "several thousand Digo and other refugees at Galu and other places behind Msambweni." (Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 28 June 1916, to District Commissioner, Gasi, KNA, PC/COAST/1/3/95.) 15 The refugee camps were dismantled at the beginning of July 1916, and on the 8th July 1916, the Liwali of Vanga returned to Vanga. Annual Report 1916-17, Vanga District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/2. 16 The famine of 1916-17 was followed by a smallpox epidemic in 1919-20, a food shortage in 1921, and floods in 1922. (Annual Reports 1916-22, Vanga District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/2.!6.) In 1921, Thompson estimated that approximately 2000 per- sons had died of smallpox in Vanga District. The Kikoneni area was particularly hard hit; the Tour Diary for 28th April 1921 reads: "To Kikoneni. Country in the neighbourhood of Kiraku hill albsolutely deserted, and all old shambas [agricultural plots] abandoned...the following villages were reduced to a few huts only: Kiraku, Mwandeo, Mwabandari, Mpoponi, Kigandini, Kivumoni, Maumbani, while the villages of Saadani and Kidiani had ceased to exist altogether." (Tour Diary, Vanga District, entry for 28 April1921, KNA, Coast Province, MP/47/1156.) 17 Though not necessarily to the same villages: kaya Gonja, for example, was not re-settled. The Annual Report for 1916-17 observed: "With regard to the resettlement of the natives in their old locations, it must be admitted that the war coupled with the subsequent shortage of food has prevented many people from returning to their original homes. (Annual Report 1916-17, Vanga District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/2.) Gerlach notes that the Digo who fled from the Umba river area during the First World War had developed new ties by the time they returned. Clan and kaya allegiances broke down, and people settled in new residential units that had no direct links with the old kayas. Gerlach, "The Social Organization of the Digo," 27. 18 There are references in official correspondence to a proposal for "the settlement of Digo refugees from the Umba valley and German East Africa at Msambweni" (Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 5 February 1915, to District Commissioner, Gasi, KNA, PC/COAST /1/3/95), but it is difficult to estimate the number of refugees who remained in the Msambweni area after the War. Some former refugees were employed on the sisal and sugar estates that were developed north and south of Msambweni. In 1918, 208 of the 310 resident labourers at the East African Estates (Sisal) Ltd. at Kinondo were Digo; of the 332 resident labourers at the Gazi Rubber and Fibre Estates, 46 were Digo and 265 were "German East African natives" (of whom many would also have been Digo). (Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, to Chief Secretary, Nairobi, 7 November 1918, KNA, PC/COAST/1/9/38.) Originally intended for rubber production, by 1918, the 1600 acres of the Gazi Rubber Estates were entirely planted with coconuts. (Annual Report 1916-17, Vanga District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/2.) 19 Gasi, destroyed during the First World War, was built anew in 1916, but never recovered it former importance. In 1931, the District Commissioner wrote: "Gasi continues to decrease in importance as a port, owing to the increase of traffic on the Ramisi-Mombasa road which is now all-weather." (Annual Report 1931, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/17.) The 1932 Annual Report said: "Gasi continues to decay and is a place of little importance. The presence of the Mudir is the only hindrance to its demise.• (Annual Report 1932, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/18.) -147 The beginning of Islam at Diani Sometime in the late 17th or' early 18th century, two brothers, Mwalela Bawa and Mwalela Gongo (of the Akinalela clan) migrated, with their sisters Nlela20 and other family members, from kaya Jombo to Diani. Mwalela Gongo eventually migrated farther north, and founded kaya Timbwani just south of Mombasa. Mwalela Bawa remained at Diani, as the founder and mwanatsi of kaya Diani. As time passed, members of other clans came to settle at Diani, but the leadership of the kaya remained in the hands of Mwalela Bawa's matrilineal descendants.21 The first six leaders of kaya Diani were not Muslim. Kivoyero Mwapodzo, the seventh mwanatsi, was the first elder of the kaya to become a Muslim. Mwa- podzo was born at Ukunda in c.1840. He came from Ukunda in order to inherit the leadership of kaya Diani from his maternal uncle Mwatsavua. This is said to have occurred some five generations after the founding of Diani when Sayyid Majid was Sultan of Zanzibar, which would place it some time between 1856 and 1870.22 Mwapodzo was among the first (many say he was the first) Digo of Diani to be converted to Islam.23 Mwakulenje Podzo, his father, used to go to Mombasa to visit relatives. Through these trips Mwapodzo was introduced to life in Mombasa, and first came into contact with Muslims. His conversion took place at the time of the Mwakisenge famine (1884-85). During the famine, Mwapodzo and his father went to stay with Digo (Muslim) relatives at Takaungu. At that time both Mwapodzo and his father contracted smallpox. Whereas Mwakulenje Podzo died, Mwapodzo "was cured and became Abdallah." When he came back after the famine, he was a Muslim, and "was speaking Swahili."24 After his conversion, Mwapodzo continued to visit Mombasa, where he did some trading, and he is also said to have visited Zanzibar. As kaya elder,25 he continued to lead ritual ceremonies at Diani; his intercession for rain was considered particularly efficacious, and he "would be 20 At that time it was common for sisters to have the same name. Nlela means "daughter of Lela", just as "Mwalela" means "son of Lela". 21 Abdallah Mwatari, Mvumoni, 8/12/67. 22 Muhammad Mariaka, Diani, 7/12/67. 23 There is evidence that others were converted before Mwapodzo. The first converts either moved to Mombasa, or were nominal Muslims who hardly practised Islam. Being the first convert who put his faith into practice and had a Muslim impact in the village, Mwapodzo is understandably remembered as the first to become a Muslim. 24 Abdallah Makanzu, Diani, 5/12/67. Smallpox epidemics of this period are well documented in missionary records; one oc- curred in September, 1885. (Letter of J.Houghton, Ribe, 25/9/1885, UMFCM, 29 (January 1886): 60.) At that time, knowledge of Swahili was the mark of a person who had regular dealings with townspeople; most Mijikenda did not speak Swahili, and could only understand it at a rudimentary level. 25 Abdallah Mwapodzo was also appointed by the British as Headman of Diani, a position he held until his death in 1923. By 1916, he was already described as "very old", and had been exempted from attending Council meetings. (Vanga District, Handing-over Report of 24 August 1916, KNA, DC/KWL/2/1.) After Mwapodzo's death, Abdallah Mwarandu was chosen Headman to succeed him. (four Diary of the District Commissioner, H.E.Lambert, entry for 10 July 1923, KNA, Coast Pro- vince, MP/47/1156.) -148 given goats, chickens and other animals to sacrifice during the kaya prayers."26 Among other early converts at Diani were Saidi Boga, Muhammad Mwa- charo, Muhammad Mwalitseso, Salim Mwaremwa and Harnisi Kitendo. The circum- stances of their conversions varied. Saidi Boga was trading in goats and coconuts at Mtongwe and Mombasa; he was converted by a Muslim friend in Mtongwe. Accord- ing to one account, Muhammad Mwacharo, a trader in rice, was converted by a Digo Muslim friend, Omari Mwakikweza, who lived in Mombasa; according to an- other account, Mwacharo was converted by Makarani at Tiwi.27 Muhammad Mwalitseso and Hamisi Kitendo ("a very rich man") were fishermen as well as traders; they are said to have been converted at Pemba, where they used to take cattle and goats for sale. Harnisi Kitendo, like Abdallah Mwapodzo, was a friend of Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid of Gasi. Salim Mwaremwa was converted by an Arab trader named Idi, who used to come from Mombasa; he would beach his boats near the Kongo Mosque, and bring "clothes and maize in exchange for tobacco." Other early converts at Diani are said to have been converted "from Tiwi", by friends or by Makarani or Juma Matungale.28 These accounts reveal numerous Muslim influences converging on Diani. Apparently conflicting evidence about the conversion of, for example, Muhammad Mwacharo, may simply reflect dealings with various Muslims. In this, and similar cases, conversion was probably the cumulative result of different Muslim contacts over a period of time rather than the lone work of one Muslim. In general, men were converted before women, who are said to have been "more attached to their culture." But some wives of early converts also became Muslim, like Nchakure, the wife of Hamisi Kitendo. In at least one case a man, Salim Mwaremwa, and his wife, Mwanalima Mpazia, discussed the matter and decided to become Muslims together.29 One woman, Nchisembe (who took the Muslim name Mwanasha), agreed to become a Muslim, even though her husband had refused to do so. She and her husband remained together as man and wife, but not without some inconvenience, as she then had to use different cooking pots and utensils for herself and for her husband.30 26 Kassim Kinjoi, Diani, 5/2/87. 27 Omari Mwakikweza's father, Mwanaphyori Kikweza, was an early Digo convert from Diani who had gone to live in Kibokoni, Mombasa. Omari stayed at Mombasa, and came to be regarded as the head of the Digo Muslims there. Muhammad Ali Mwajinga, Mkwakwani, 31/1/87. 28 Hamisi Mwakalato, Diani, 7/12/67. 29 Fatuma Said, Tiwi, 7/12/86 30 Mwinyikai Sulayman, Diani, 3/12/86. -149 Immigrants and traders at Diani In the mid-1880s and 1890s a number of Muslim immigrants came to settle at Diani. They came "for business, but were given land to cultivate and they helped the people." They offered shark, kingfish, dates, beads, cloth and clothes for sale, in ex- change for which they would buy coconuts and tobacco. During times of famine (which were frequent between 1884 and 1900),31 they were able to supply maize, rice and millet. They would organize expeditions into the hinterland to buy tobacco. Mwapodzo would give them an escort, and the traders themselves had guns. The inhabitants of Diani are said to have been happy to have resident traders, who improved the security of the village and offered ready credit: "they had guns...and if someone needed clothes or maize, he would be given some immediately."32 Those who came to settle at Diani Mwaroni (where Abdallah Mwapodzo stayed) were Shekeli (who had been at Tiwi earlier), Mbega, Mzee and Manga; those who came to Diani Mvumoni were Jaffari, Baraka and Gudura. These were the first foreigners (that is, non-Mijikenda) to come to stay at Diani. As in the case of the Muslim settlers at Tiwi, they constituted a mixed group. Shekeli was a Mandiri Arab ("who had slaves whom he later freed"), Mbega was a "freed slave". Mzee was a Nyasa; Gudura and Jaffari were Zigua; and Baraka is said to have "come from the south." These last four, who are said to have had their masters in Mombasa, were working as agents for Mombasa Muslims; their owners took a share of the profits they were making. At first Jaffari came as an "itinerant trader", but then he decided to stay at Diani. He brought his wife with him from Mombasa, and was given land to settle on. When he left, the land reverted to the Digo who had given it to him. The newly-arrived Muslim immigrants all had friends in Diani. Mbega was a friend of Abdallah Mwapodzo, Shekeli was a friend of Mwamkoi Koto, who gave him land on which to build a house. Shekeli, though an Arab, is said to have "lived with the Digo". Manga was also a friend of Mwamkoi. Mzee, a friend of Pafu, be- came a member of a Digo clan, the Akinalela.33 Though none of the Muslim immigrants undertook formal teaching, their close relations with Digo Muslim con- verts undoubtedly confirmed the converts in their faith, and strengthened bonds within a wider Muslim community. 31 See Thomas J.Herlehy, "An Historical Dimension of the Food Crisis in Africa: Surviving Famines along the Kenya Coast, ca.1880-1980," paper presented at the African Studies Association Conference in Boston, December, 1983. 32 Abdallah Mwatari, Mvumoni, 10/12/67. The "easy" terms of credit were not so advantageous as they appeared. When first pledged, the land was of little value; years later people unsuccessfully sought to redeem their land for the same amount they had originally been advanced. In 1916, the District Commissioner of Mombasa noted the difficulties being faced by persons wishing to redeem plots of land which had been offered as "security for debts or against small advances of money many years ago.• Memorandum on Redemption of Land, dated 18/8/1916. KNA, DC/MSA/3/1/166. 33 Abdallah Makanzu, Diani, 5/12/67; Abdallah Mwatari, Mvumoni, 24/4/70. -151 Teachers and Mosques at Diani The first mosque at Diani, the Mwaroni Mosque, was built by Abdallah Mwapodzo near his home in c.1907 (see Map 12). It was initially built of mud and poles, and had a palm-thatched roof. The Mwaroni Mosque is said to have been built because the number of Muslims was increasing, and the people of Diani needed their own mosque. Before the mosque was built, people would go to Gasi or Tiwi for Friday prayers, or would pray inside small enclosures (Sw. ua, pl. maua) made out of palm fronds. For bigger celebrations, such as the 'Id festivals, the Muslims of Diani used to go to Mombasa: At the time of the Magunia famine [1899] the Muslims were people like Abdallah Mwapodzo. When the time for the 'Id celebrations came, they would go to pray in Mombasa. They would set out on the 28th of the month, and spend the night at Pungu with someone like Muhammad Mwaganyuma [the senior elder and an early convert of Pungu]. Then the next day, they would get up and be on their way. The people of Pungu would stay right there at Pungu. Most people in Tiwi, Diani and Ukunda, hadn't been converted yet. After Islam spread, everyone would gather for the 'ld celebrations at Tiwi, the people of Pungu were there at their place in Pungu, and then even the people of Diani built their own mosque.34 The first Imam of the Mwaroni Mosque was Shehe Baimba, a Gunya "who came as a trader selling beads and mirrors, and offered to teach." Mwapodzo's nephew, Hamisi Mwaramunda, later took over as Imam. Several candidates vied for the position of Imam; Hamisi "passed an interview in competition with the others" and was duly appointed.35 After the First World War there was a steady increase in the number of Muslims in Diani. By 1920 at least five (out of seventeen) of the members of the ngambi were Muslim. 36 The second mosque in Diani, the Mwamambi Mosque, was built in 1920 by Saidi Mwakaphola and Muhammad Mwacharo. The two men worked together putting up the mosque (on Mwakaphola's land), and they also financed the digging of a well near-by. At a certain point Mwacharo withdrew from the project, hence the Mwamambi Mosque is usually referred to as Mwakaphola's mosque.37 In 1922, shortly after the construction of the Mwamambi Mosque, Salim Mwaremwa built the Mvumoni Mosque. Though the increase in the number of mosques was clearly in response to a general growth in the number of Muslims, there is also evidence that prayer at the mosques, if not their actual construction, 34 Abdallah Mwatari, Mvumoni, 18/1/76. 35 Mwinyikai Hamisi Chisinyo, Mvumoni, 20/1/87. 36 Vanga District, Handing-over Report of 8/4/1920. KNA, DC/KWL/2/1. The names of elders as shown in colonial records give only an indication of the number of Muslim elders; the actual number was invariably higher than shown, since some Muslims continued to be known, and listed in government records, by their Digo names. In this 1920 Handing-over Report, for example, one of the early converts, Muhammad Mwalitseso, is recorded by his Digo name only. See Chapter IV, p.123, foot- note 103. 37 Mwakaphola is said to have been from Gasi (where he was converted). Saidi Mwakaphola, Mwamambi, 9/12/86. -152 took place along clan lines. Thus, the Mwaroni Mosque is said to have been "of the Akinalela", the Mwamambi Mosque "of the Akinangome" and the Mvumoni Mosque "of the Akinangomba".38 Maulid and the Kongo Mosque In the late 1920s, the ruins of the Kongo Mosque lying in thick bush near the shore were recognized by the Digo as a mosque. Up to that time the Digo had con- sidered the overgrown mosque to be a haunt of spirits (Digo. mizimu), and used to offer sacrifices there. The horn was sounded summoning the villagers (Muslims and non-Muslims alike) to a communal bush-clearing. The District Commissioner seems to have recognized the importance of the occasion, as he is said to have supervised the opening up of a path to mosque.39 According to the general testimony of Digo Muslims, Shaykh Mwinyikombo bin Makame40 discovered the Kongo Mosque and restored it to its original purpose: Mwinyikombo called the elders of Diani together and told them, 'Kongo is a mosque, it's not an mzimu [place of spirits]. The people going there to slaughter chickens and things like that are desecrat- ing it, that's wrong.' Mwinyikombo convinced them to revive the mosque. So the bush was cleared and a path was made leading to the mosque. The mosque wasn't used until the day of the ftrst maulid. Then after that the Kongo Mosque became the Friday mosque for Diani. Some people from Tiwi would go too. The people of Tiwi would alternate; one Friday they would go to Kongo, the next Friday they would stay at Tiwi.41 In the year 1932, Shaykh Mwinyikombo organised a maulid celebration for the official opening of the Kongo Mosque; Digo Muslims attended from all over Digo District, as did Muslims, including Sayyid Amin42 from Takaungu, from other parts of the coast. At the maulid, Mwinyikombo delivered a homily in which he is said to have told the gathering that they should celebrate the maulid three times a 38 Abdallah Mwatari, Mvumoni, 10/12/67. 39 Existing colonial records do not mention this event, which according to oral testimony took place when Mr. S.V.Cooke was the District Commissioner. This would place it sometime between March and July 1927; Cooke took over as District Commissioner from Mr.W.S.Marchant on 5th March 1927, and handed over to Mr.C.B.Thompson on the 20th July 1927. (Handing-over Reports, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/2.) The colonial administration (and Muslims in Mombasa) knew of the existence of the Kongo Mosque at least as early as 1914. In that year, Watkins, the District Commissioner, wrote of a ruined mosque at Diani "in remarkable preservation, with the roof still on• but "badly overgrown." (File Memo, "Ruins", 1914, KNA, Coast Province, MP/12/172.) The government must have approached the Wakf Commission for assistance in repairing the mosque, because in July 1914, the Secretary of the Wakf Commission wrote to say that it was •not possible to use Wakf funds for an ulterior purpose...to repair the mosque at Diani." (Secretary of the Wakf Commission to Acting Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 7 July 1914, KNA, Coast Province, MP/12/172. 40 Shaykh Mwinyikombo's mother was a Kilindini and his father a Pemba who had close ties with the Tangana. At the time, Mwinyikombo was Imam of the Khonzi Mosque in Mombasa, and was well known for the maulid he held at the Khonzi Mosque. Shakombo Ali, Mtongwe, 22/9/87. 41 Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87. 42 At that time Sayyid Amin was the main promoter of maulid in Takaungu. He, Shaykh Mwinyikombo and Muhammad Mbwana formed a triumvirate of maulid supporters, who are said to have attended maulid celebrations up and down the entire Kenya coast. -153 year; "from now on this mosque is your Mecca," he told them.43 The public celebration of maulid spread rapidly during the years 1932-35,44 and became a regular feature of Digo Islam: Mwinyikombo would attend all the maulid celebrations. He would give a sermon instructing the people on the basic tenets of Islam, and then afterwards he would go around asking people, 'Are you a Muslim? Are you married?' If they weren't married as Muslims, he would marry them right there. He wasn't converting people; he was bringing them out of their state of ignorance and closer to their faith. Because of the maulid celebrations, many people stopped going to Digo dances, and started practising as Muslims.45 Non-Muslims would attend maulid celebrations, and in this way were attracted to Islam. But a more important effect of the celebrations was to encourage nominal Muslims to practise their faith. Maulid celebrations also broadened the context of Digo Islam by regularly bringing together Digo Muslims from different villages, or even homesteads of the same village, and Muslims from other parts of the coast. The presence of eminent Muslims, such as Shaykh Mwinyikombo and Sayyid Amin, from the main coastal towns, gave a new prestige to Digo Islam, and guaranteed its spiritual efficacy. The difficult pioneering years of rural Islam were over: "The maulid celebrations brought us the joy of the religion of Islam."46 Muslim influence at Ukunda The village of Ukunda (Digo. Likunda) 47 was founded by migrants from kaya Kinondo sometime in the 18th century; later, Digo of kaya Kwale (from Vuga and Chirimani) migrated to Ukunda. More than fifteen miles south of Mombasa and slightly inland, Ukunda is not mentioned in the 19th century writings of early Euro- pean explorers and missionaries. Nor did Muslim traders regularly make their way there until the early 20th century. In the late 19th century, the main Muslim 43 Juma Peremende, Mvumoni, 20/9/87. Immediately after the first maulid celebration, Mwinyikombo began giving classes of 'ilm at the Kongo Mosque every Thursday after evening prayers for a group of seven or eight pupils from Diani and Tiwi; he continued to give these classes regularly until his death. (Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 20/9/87). Shaykh Mwinyikombo died on the 5th day of 5th month (Swa. Mfunguo tano; Ar. Safar) of A.H. 1353, which corresponds to the 20th May 1934. He is said to have prophesied his own death: one Saturday, he said, 'Fahali aenda zake, hutamwona lena.' ('The strong man [lit. 'bull') is going away, you won't see him again.• On the following day, Sunday, he was taken by a fever and died. (Shakombo Ali, Mtongwe, 17/10/87.) 44 During these years, maulid spread to such places as Mtongwe, Likoni, Vyemani, Pungu, Ng'ombeni, Matuga, Ukunda, Msambweni, Kikoneni and Lungalunga. (Shakombo Ali and Juma Peremende, Diani, 17/10/87). Almost without exception, the praise-song recited in honour of the Prophet Muhammad during such maulid celebrations was the Simt ad-Durar ("The String of Pearls"). This can be recited by voice only, or to the accompaniment of a kind of tambourine (Sw. tari). In some places, for example Ukunda, the maulid was first celebrated without any musical accompaniment. Tari accompaniment proved popular when it was added on later, and even more people were attracted to attend maulid celebrations. (Muhammad Ali Mwajinga, Mkwakwani, 31/1/87.) 45 ShakomboAii, Diani, 17/10/87. 46 "Maulid ilituletea furaha ya dini." Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 21/9/87. 47 Ukunda is sometimes referred to as a kaya in its own right, but it is more correct to consider it a subsidiary settlement of kaya Kinondo. -154- influence on Ukunda came from Gasi (ten miles away). When the town of Gasi declined after 1895, Ukunda came under the influence of Muslims at Tiwi, only four miles away.48 As one informant put it: "The people of Ukunda were converted to Islam at Tiwi, not at Mombasa."49 The few Muslim immigrants who came to settle at Ukunda had a strong impact. Among them were Muhammad Bongi, Muhammad bin Yusufu, and Abdal- lah Awadh. Muhammad Bongi is said to have come as a trader from Lamu, via Mombasa (where he studied); he was given land to cultivate and settled at Magutu.50 Muhammad bin Yusufu was a Comorian, who came from Tanganyika, as a trader; he settled at Kilolapwa where he started a Qur'an school.51 Abdallah Awadh came from Mambrui and settled at Bongwe, where he married a Digo woman and converted the first Muslims of Bongwe.52 Among the early converts at Ukunda were Ali Mwakulonda (the senior elder of the village at the end of the 19th century), Salim Mwadzoho (Ali's Mwakulonda's deputy), Sulayman Mwagumbo, Muhammad Mwasemani, Omari Mwadzowa, and Ali Pataka Mwabweni, who was appointed headman of the village by the British after Ali Mwakulonda's death.53 Ali Mwakulonda and Salim Mwadzoho are said to have been converted by Muslims who had stopped at Ukunda on their way from Tanga to Mombasa. Sulayman Mwagumbo and Muhammad Mwasemani were con- verted by Muhammad Bongi. Ali Mwabweni was a friend of Mwinyihaji wa Bwika, and may very well have been converted by him.54 The building of mosques at Ukunda followed a pattern similar to that in other Digo villages: the building of one mosque stimulated the building of other mosques, by leading Muslim converts or by their sons, in close succession. The first mosque at Ukunda was built by Ali Mwabweni in c.1907. The mosque no longer ex- ists, and has no remembered name; when going to pray, people would just say, "We're going to Mwabweni's", and the mosque came to be known as Mwabweni's Mosque.55 48 The influence of Tiwi on Ukunda was increased by the fact that the elders of Tiwi, Diani and Ukunda, had formed a joint council. "The elders' councils of Ukunda, Diani, and Tiwi, were separate, but they would meet together to discuss common matters or special problems. They used to meet at a place called Mkwakwamwanate at Chigogoni." Abdallah Mwatari, Diani, 12/12/67. 49 Saidi Kongo, Chidze, 14/2/87. 50 Bongi is described variously as an Arab or a Swahili. Muhammad Ali Mwajinga, Ukunda, 31/1/87. 51 Muhammad bin Yusufu is buried near the Kilolapwa Mosque at Kibundani. Muhammad Matano Mwashauti, Ukunda Kilolapwa, 26/12/86. 52 Hamisi Sulayman Bugu, Bongwe, 4/1/87. 53 It has not been possible to confirm the exact date of this appointment. According to H.E.Lambert, the District Com- missioner of Digo District, Ali Mwabweni acted •as regent• for Ali bin Abdallah, the rightful heir to the position, who was too young to inherit. Mwabweni died some time between September 1922, when he was said to be •too old for any active work," and July 1923, when a meeting was held "to determine the people's wishes with respect to a successor." District Tour Diary, entries for 15 September 1922 and 18 July 1923, KNA, Coast Province, MP/47/1156. 54 Abdallah Ali Mwakulonda, Shamu, 11/12/86. 55 Ibid. -155 The second mosque, the Kibundani (or Kilolapwa) Mosque was built in c.1910 by Salim Mwatebwe on land belonging to Matano Mwashauti. Mwatebwe, the son of an early convert (Omari Mwadzowa), and Mwashauti had both studied under Muhammad bin Yusufu (the Comorian). Muhammad bin Yusufu became the first Imam of the mosque (he was already teaching nearby), helped by his former students Mwatebwe and Mwashauti. The mosque was only used for daily prayers; the Muslims of Ukunda continued to go to Gasi or Tiwi for community prayers on Friday.56 The third mosque in Ukunda was built at Magaoni (Kigoti) in 1915, through the joint effort of the Mwakulonda and Mwadzoho families. Before the mosque was built, people are said to have prayed at Mwabweni's Mosque. The first Imam of the mosque was Matano Abdallah (from Tanga), who was teaching at Magaoni. Among his pupils was Ali Mwadzoho, son of one of the builders of the mosque.57 The spread of Islam in Kinondo and Muhaka Far from Mombasa and Vanga, the people of kaya Kinondo had little contact with Muslims during the 18th and early 19th century, and might have remained iso- lated from Muslim influence throughout the 19th century, had it not been for the Mazrui migration from Mombasa to Gasi in 1837. Close relations developed between the Mazrui of Gasi and the Digo of such villages as Chale, Galu and Muhaka.58 The Mazrui of Gasi took Digo women as wives, and employed Digo to work for them in town; and fugitives found ready refuge in Gasi.59 The Digo who lived in Gasi were attracted to the Muslim way of life, and some were converted; in such cases, they usually became permanent town-dwellers. Conversions of Digo elders also took place arising out of "their friendship with the Mazrui." Because the Mazrui had a "certain ascendancy" over the neigh- bouring Digo, it was easy for them to convert the Digo to Islam. Among the first to be converted by the Mazrui were Ali Dzogolo, the senior elder of Kinondo,60 and Hamis Mahendo Mwamambo, the senior elder of Muhaka.61 Other early converts 56 Ali Mwavua Mwatebwe, Kibundani, 6/12/86. According to other accounts, Salim Mwatebwe, the builder of the mosque was also the first Imam. 57 Abdallah Ali Mwakulonda, Shamu, 11/12/86. 58 These villages all stemmed from kaya Kinondo. 59 Colonial documents record the case of a Digo called Kironda who "quarrelled with the Digo ngambi and put himself under the protection of Mbaruk." Properties of Mbaruk forfeited to the Government in accordance with a proclamation of HJI. The Sultan of Zanzibar dated April 2, 1915. KNA, DC/KWL/3/5/14fJ. 60 Hamad Mwachirenje, Kinondo, 23/1/87. 61 Hamis is said to have been converted together with his family by his Mazrui friend Rashid bin Zahran. Yusuf Ali Mwahambwe, Mwabungo, 5/3/87. In general, the Digo of Muhaka were converted later than the Digo of Galu and Kinondo. -156 were Abdallah Mwakidoti (and his brother, Nasoro Mtsumi)62 and Bakari Mwachala of Galu, who were both friends of Shaykh Mbaruk.63 Relations between the Mazrui and the Digo of Kinondo are said to have been so close64 that many Kinondo Digo became Muslims during the time of Shaykh Mbaruk, though "in a half-hearted way": they prayed in the mosque but also continued to follow all their customary prayers and sacrifices at kaya Kinondo. The Mazrui especially remem- bered as converting the Digo of Kinondo are Sulayman bin Rashid and Rashid bin Zahran. Most, but not all, conversions took place at Gasi; some of the early converts at Kinondo are said to have been converted at Wasin, or through friendship with the Segeju. Many conversions are said to have taken place at marriage ceremonies. Couples would go to Gasi, even when both partners were pagan, where they would first be converted to Islam: they would recite the shahada,65 clean water would be poured over them, and they would be given Muslim names; then they would be married by the Qadhi.66 Muslim converts changed their way of dressing: women dis- carded their traditional Digo skirt (Digo. mahando) and began to wear Swahili-style clothes (Swa. kanild); and men began to wear white gowns (Swa. kanzu) and Muslim caps (Swa. kofia). Later, under the influence of Islam, Digo burial customs changed: the customary seven-day mourning period was reduced to three days, and the dances, such as chifudu and liganze, that used to to take place during mourning ceremonies were discontinued.67 For many years after the first conversions, the Muslim life of the Digo converts centred on Gasi. Then, in c.1908, Kassim Mwamahendo built the first Digo mosque of the Kinondo-Muhaka area at the village of Mtambwe.68 The Mtambwe 62 Abdallah Mwakidoti was the son of Mwanjama Kidoti, who is said to have welcomed the Mazrui to Gasi in 1837. Mwan- jama's father, Mwalugwe Njama, is the one who named Galu. Yusuf Ali Mwahambwe, Mwabungo, 5/3/87. 63 Mwachala was also a "neighbour" of Shaykh Mbaruk. In the description of properties forfeited by Shaykh Mbaruk (in accor- dance with a 1915 proclamation of the Sultan of Zanzibar), Mbaruk is shown as having a plantation of "912 coconut trees" at Galu, bounded on the north by the "palms of Bakari Mwachala." See footnote 35 above. In a report of 1920. Bakari Mwachala is described as an "energetic, intelligent, loyal" elder. (Handing-over Report, C.B.Thompson, 14 February 1920, KNA, DC/KWL/2/1.) 64 Relations between the Digo of kaya Kinondo and the Mazrui of Gasi were similar to relations between the Digo of kaya Kiteje and the Tangana of Mtongwe: in both cases, the peoples were living so near to each other that their daily lives were inevitably intertwined, and Islam came to exercise a strong influence on the Digo. See Chapter II, pp.62-63. 65 See Chapter II, p.60, footnote 94. 66 At the time, the Qadhi must have been Rashid bin Zahran, who is mentioned as converting many Digos at marriage ceremonies. Yusuf Ali Mwahambwe, Mwabungo, 4/12(86; Abdurrahman Mwakutanga, Mvuleni, 9/12/86. There is no evidence for this extraordinary practice elsewhere among the Mijikenda, but it is consistently mentioned in the Muslim traditions of Kinondo and Muhaka, and there is no reason to doubt its occurrence. 67 Hamad Mwachirenje, Kinondo, nj1/87. 68 It is also said that Hamis Mahendo built the Mtambwe Mosque. Apparently he was still alive at the time of the building of the mosque, but he was a very old man and did not do any of the actual work of building. (Yusuf Ali Muhambwe, Mwabungo, 25/8/87.) In 1914, Kassin Mwamahendo (also shown in colonial records as Kassim Mwamambo) was Headman of Muhaka, a position from which he resigned on 18/1/1924. ("Salaries of chiefs and headmen, 1914," KNA, CP/1/6/494; District Station Diary, entry for 18th January 1924, KNA, DC(KWL/5(1.) He died eight months later on the 6th September 1924. (District Station Diary, entry for 6th September 1924, KNA, DC/KWL/5/1. -157- Mosque was small -there were few Muslims at the time- but its construction was an assertion of independence: "The Digo Muslims were tired of staying at the back of the mosque in Gasi; they asked themselves, 'Why is it that at Gasi even the slaves are in front of us in the mosque?"' As soon as the mosque was ready, it was used for Friday prayers. The first Imam of the Mtambwe Mosque was Ali bin Mzee, a Gunya who had been given land to farm nearby.69 Ali bin Mzee also taught at Mtambwe, and eventually one of his pupils, Hamad Kassim Mambo, the grandson of Hamisi Mahendo, took over as Imam of the Mosque. The Muslims of Mtambwe also began to celebrate the 'Id festival (at the end of the month of Ramadhan) at Mtambwe instead of Gasi. The importance of the month of Ramadhan for early Mijikenda converts features in the oral testimony of many villages, and Mtambwe was no exception. In early teaching about Islam, the Mazrui (and other Muslims) stressed the value of fasting, and of living other Islamic precepts, during the month of Ramadhan. Muslim converts, most of whom con- tinued drinking palm-wine after becoming Muslim, would be told to give up drink- ing during Ramadhan, which they would do, only to resume after Ramadhan was over. Converts witnessed and were taught the importance of explicitly formulating one's intention (Swa. kunuia) of fasting each day. After the evening prayer, the Imam would lead the congregation in repeating (in Arabic) the usual Shafi'i formula declaring one's intention of fasting the following day; the members of the congrega- tion would then go home and repeat the formula (in Digo) to their wives and women relatives at home.70 Following Mwamahendo's example at Mtambwe, Bakari Mwachala soon built the Mwanyaza Mosque at Galu in c.1909.71 Bakari brought a Digo Muslim teacher from Tanga, Hasan Mwatwenye, to teach his two sons Omari and Jamali, who were joined by a third pupil, Said Chala, son of Abdallah Fumbi. Said Chala later became a teacher and the Imam of the Mvuleni Mosque built by Hemed Mwafujo in c.1922.72 In c.1915, Ali Boi, an early convert, built the Chale Mosque at Kinondo, and Halfan Tsumo, who had studied at Msambweni under the Segeju teacher Maalim Chinabo, became the first Iinam.73 With the construction of these 69 Ali was one of several foreign Muslims who settled at Muhaka. In 1921, the population of Muhaka location was 1273, of whom 21were "Swahili men". Population Statistics 1921, KNA, DC/KWL/9/1. 70 According to the Shafi'i school of law, an explicitly formulated and declared (if only to oneself) intention (Arabic. niya; Swa. nia) is essential to the validity of one's religious acts. The formula ("Nawaitu sauma ghadin 'an 'ada'i fardha ramadhani hadhih-il-sanati lillahi Ta'ala.") can be found in Shaykh Hasan bin Umayr ai-Shirazi, Wasilat-ul-Raja', Singapore 1951, p.115. I am grateful to Sayyid Saggaf Ba-Aiawy for teaching me the formula, and to Ma'allim Yahya Ali Omar for the written reference. 71 Bakari is said to have been a man of means, who used to fish with large nets. "When he saw that Mwamambo had built a mosque at Mtambwe, he decided to do the same." Yusuf Ali Muhambwe, Mwabungo, 25/8/87. 72 Mwalimu Said Chala, Biga, 13/12/86. 73 Hamad Mwachirenje, Kinondo, 23/1/87. -158 first mosques, Muslim religious life came to be centred in indigenous Digo villages. Teachers such as Said Chala began to take the initiative in converting their fellow Digo, and the number of Digo being converted at Gasi declined. Other Digo in some of the outlying villages of Muhaka, such as Kilole, are said to have been converted by Digo Muslims who came from German East Africa during the First World War and settled in Kenya.74 The Jombo-Kikoneni area: early relations with Muslims The first Digo to settle at kaya Jombo (Digo. Dzombo) may have come from Kinondo as early as the 17th century. They were followed by settlers from Kwale who eventually came to dominate the kaya.75 The first ruler to gain prominence at Jombo was Mbogo Mwamzungu (also known as Kikonga), who came from Kwale during a famine at the end of the 18th century. He is said to have brought rain to the country, after which the people accepted him as their leader.76 Endowed with a forceful personality, Mwamzungu soon became the domi- nant leader of the southern Digo, and took the name Kubo.77 During his rule, Jombo was abandoned, and Mwamzungu moved to Kirwa (near Kikoneni). He extended his control by placing his sons at Mafisini, Kigombero and other outlying villages, and other Digo in the area came to be subject to his authority. Some forty miles south of Mombasa and fifteen miles inland, Kikoneni was well isolated from Muslim influence throughout much of the 19th century, with one exception: the influence of the Vumba Diwans. Kubo Mwamzungu is said to have valued the magical powers of Diwan Pinda, who was elected Diwan of Vanga in 1826. Diwan Pinda was recognized as the final arbitrator over Digo disputes, and seems to have supplied the Digo with protective charms.78 The Digo and the 74 Omar Bakai Mwakaniki, Mtambwe, 27/12/86. 75 Hamisi Mwatuwano, Waa, 14/12/67. 76 Mkulu bin Abdallah, Mwaluvanga Eshu, 6/9/76. At the time of the succession dispute among the Vumba in c.1803-4, Kubo Mwamzungu was already in power. Hollis, "History of Vumba," 289. n The name Kubo was subsequently used by Mwamzungu's successors, and became a title of authority. (Mkulu bin Abdallah, Mwaluvanga Eshu, 28/9/76.) According to another tradition, the name Kubo was given to Mwamzungu by the Vumba. (Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 31/1/75.) British colonial officers took singular historical interest in the political institution of Kuboship, which was a more centralized form of authority than was found elsewhere on the Kenya coast; as a consequence, there are abundant government documents on the topic. See, for example, "The Chieftainship Kubo," File Memo (signed by G.H.Osborne, 1916), DC/KWL/3/5. 78 In 1898, the District Officer wrote that in unresolved disputes among the Digo of Kikoneni, "the case would be referred to the Diwan of Vanga whose judgment would be final. Since an English officer has been placed by the Government at Wasin, the old custom of going to the Diwan to have their disputes settled has stopped, and now all cases are referred to the European or Liwali. This has greatly reduced the wealth of the Diwan, who derived (I think I may say) one half of his money by giving small pieces or paper called hirlzi or charms which were supposed to save the wearer from many dangers.• Letter of the District Officer, Shimoni, 30 June 1898, KNA, MP/97/183. -159 Vumba are said to have placed a protective charm (Swa. Jingo) at kaya Jombo together. And Diwan Pinda visited Kikoneni, where he and Kubo Mwamzungu celebrated a ceremony of blood-brotherhood (Swa. kula chafe) by sharing meat mixed with each other's blood; During the chale ceremony, Diwan Pinda is said to have protested about eating unclean meat (not slaughtered according to Muslim ritual): When the Vumba leader Diwan Pinda came here, he made friends with Kubo Mwamzungu, and Mwamzungu told him, let's be blood-brothers, we'll mix your blood and mine together with meat, and eat it. Pinda protested, No! No! No! But Kubo got a chicken and killed it by biting it with his teeth, then he threw it down and it fluttered around. Once dead, the chicken was cooked, and they all ate it, including the Diwan. That's how the Vumba became our brothers, that is, the Vumba of the Diwan's clan. There are many different Vumba clans. The Diwan's clan are the ones who are our brothers. We are Hindzano and they are Wanachamvi. A Mwanachamvi and a Hindzano are brothers: the Diwan and the Kubo. From the days of Kubo Mwamzungu and Diwan Pinda we became brothers. That's the way it was.79 These events led to the special relations existing to this day between the Hindzano clan at Kikoneni and the Vumba of Vanga.80 Though the relations brought tangible Muslim influence to the Kikoneni area by the end of the 19th century,81 neither Mwamzungu nor his son, Jita Mwakubo,82 who took power after Mwamzungu's death, became Muslims. And it is uncertain whether Jita Mwakubo's son, Mangaru Mwajita, who ruled as Kubo from c.1865-1894, became a Muslim or not.83 Kubo Shehe Mwacholozi,84 who succeeded Mangaru Mwajita, did become a Muslim, converted by the Vumba Diwan of Vanga, Sayyid Ahmad bin Sultan 79 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 31/1/75. Omari Muhammad Masemo worked as clerk to Shehe Mwacholozi. 80 Hollis gives details of the special deference shown to the Hindzano clan at the time of the enthronement of a new Vumba Diwan. (Hollis, "History of Vumba," 279.) Hollis implies that the special relations between the Digo Hindzano clan and the Vumba go back to the time of the Vumba-Shirazi war in the 17th century (see Chapter I, p.24-25), but oral testimony now indi- cates that the relations may have origi,nated as recently as the early 19th century under Kubo Mwamzungu and Diwan Pinda. Thus, the relations between the Digo Hindzano clan and the Vumba Wanachamvi should not be confused with the older ties between the Digo Birini clan and the Vumba Ba-Amiri. See Chapter I, p.25, footnote 61. 81 When visiting Kubo Mangaru in 1890, Le Roy noted the cultural influence of Islam: "We immediately noticed that the people were not the same...they were less simple, their bodies more heavily clothed...there was a leaven of Islam here.• ("Nous remarquons tout de suite que Ia population n'est plus Ia meme...les figures sont moin simples, les corps plus vetus...c'est qu'il y a ici un levain d'lslam.") LeRoy, Au Kilima-ndjaro, 47. 82 The ge ealogies given in colonial records include various persons who never held the title of Kubo. 83 According to one informant, Kubo Mangaru was converted to Islam during a trip to Zanzibar to see Sayyid Barghash. (Mkulu bin Abdallah, Mwaluvanga Eshu, 28/9/76.) Mangaru was certainly close to Barghash: when Mangaru, the only Digo ruler strong enough to offer resistance, came into conflict with Shaykh Mbaruk of Gasi, Sultan Barghash sent Baluchi soldiers to Kikoneni to protect Mangaru. (Mkulu bin Abdallah, Mwaluvanga Eshu, 28/9/76.) But Mangaru seems never to have used a Muslim name, nor is a Muslim name for him remembered. If Mangaru did become a Muslim, there is little indication that he practised Islam in any way. In letters from Mangaru to Mr. Pigott, Sub-commissioner of the Imperial British East Africa Company, written in 1894 (KNA, Coast Province, MP/14/67), Mangaru signs himself, Kubo bin Jetha [Kubo, son of Jita]; but Mangaru had a Vumba scribe, and the Muslim use of "bin" ("son of"] may have been the scribe's doing. Our final evidence is the testimony of the District Officer in 1916, when the last Kubo, Shehe Mwacholozi, died; the District Officer then wrote: "The late Kubo Shehe was the first Kubo to adopt the Islam religion." (File Memo, "Death of the Kubo," signed by G.H. Osborne, 1916, DC/KWL/3/5.) 84 Shehe Mwacholozi, the son of Cholozi (more correctly in Digo, Tsolozi) Mwajita, was Mangaru Mwajita's nephew. Mkulu Abdallah, Mwaluvanga Eshu, 28/9/76. -160 Twahiri, sometime before being installed as Kubo at Kikoneni in 1895.85 When Kubo Shehe died in 1916, he was buried at Msambweni "according to Mohammedan rites".86 During the last years of his life, he was apparently under pressure to adopt a more Muslim way of life, and to introduce Muslim precepts into Digo society, but such pressure had little evident success.87 Early converls and the beginning of Muslim education at Kikoneni The first Digo convert from Kikoneni was Mwalimu Mnena (of Mwakoyo village). He was converted to Islam at Mombasa sometime in the 1870s or 1880s. When Mwalimu Mnena returned from Mombasa, he was literate, and he began to teach others the rudiments of Islam. Mwalimu Mnena had no children and left no direct descendants, but he brought Muslim influence to Kikoneni at a time when no one else was a Muslim. : The only one who was a Muslim here was Mwalimu Mnena, of the Dzirive clan. As for his conver- sion, all I know is that he became a Muslim at Mombasa. Then he studied, and when he knew how to read and write, he came back home. Though he didn't set up a proper school, he was a teacher. He knew how to read, and he began to explain things to his friends in such a way that some of them were attracted to become Muslims. One person he taught was Muhammad Dzugwe, and together they taught others.88 Another early convert at Kikoneni was Muhammad Masemo. He was con- verted in the 1880s by an itinerant healer from Mombasa who was passing through the area. During his stay he converted Masemo and Masemo's wife; Masemo took the name Muhammad (after the healer who converted him), and his wife took the 85 In 1898, the District Commissioner wrote:"Some of the Wazee [elders], namely Kubo and Hamed Mamgongo, with a few of their followers, have adopted the Mohammedan faith and have learnt a few prayers and attitudes while praying from the Shereefs who helped to rule them a few years ago. Few understand the meaning of their prayers, and only pray because by so doing they gain respect and influence over their people.• Letter of District Officer, Shimoni, 30 June 1898, KNA, Coast Pro- vince, MP/97/183. 86 "Death of the Kubo," File Memo by G.H. Osborne (District Officer from 18/8/15 to 31/3/17), KNA, DC/KWL/3/5. Kubo Shehe Mwacholozi died on the 20th February 1916. After his death, there was a dispute over succession to the Kuboship, which was claimed by six different persons. The election was delayed because of the First World War, and the British decided to ap- point Fundi Mwabege (also known as Fundi Mwakimatu), one of the aspirants to the Kuboship, as "headman• at Kikoneni. (Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, to District Commissioner, Gasi, 15 March 1916, and District Commissioner, Gasi, to Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 16 November 1917, KNA, Coast Province, MP/24/237.) Fundi was not installed as Kubo, and the title subsequently fell into disuse. 87 In 1913, Hobley wrote: •...the information contained in your letter, 'that the late Kathi of Wassin did his utmost although without success to persuade the Kubo (hereditary chief) of the Wa-Digo to relinquish Wadigo laws and customs and adopt the Sheria,' is to my mind a definite case in which a Government official is using his official position to spread his religion, and I am very glad that the matter has been brought to my notice, as it may be going on all along the Coast Zone. To put a definite stop to this sort of thing is our duty.• (C.W. Hobley, Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, to Asst. District Commissioner, Shimoni, 12th March 1913, KNA, DC/KFI/3/3.) The 'late Kathi' referred to in the letter was Shaykh Rashid bin Kassim; at a meeting of elders of Pongwe, Majoreni and the surrounding district, held at Shimoni on the 8th May 1912, Kassim bin Muham- mad was "unanimously elected to succeed his uncle, the late Sheikh Rashid bin Kassim as Government Kathi." (KNA, Coast Province, MP/57/167.) 88 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 31/1/75. -161 name Mwanaisha.89 In the 1890s Muhammad Masemo began tapping rubber, together with his father-in-law, Muhammad Mwamvini, another early convert.90 Through the rubber trade Masemo came to have regular dealings with Mwalimu Mbulushi bin Fakir, a Baluchi trader, and became his purchasing agent and friend; Masemo would get money from Mbulushi, and go out and buy rubber for him. Muradi,91 Mbulushi's older brother in Mombasa, would come to Kikoneni periodi- cally, to make large purchases of rubber: Mbulushi was just an agent for his older brother Muradi, who would come to buy large quantities of rubber. He would buy from Mbulushi, and from all those who were supplying it. He used to come with a large sum of money, like ten thousand shillings, to buy rubber.92 Other Baluchis who used to come to Kikoneni were Maluki, who was trading in skins, and Jamir, who went to Mkongani where he took a Digo wife and settled. And some Mazrui Arabs came from Gasi to trade in rubber.93 On other occasions Masemo would take goods to Mombasa, some forty miles away, a journey of two days; his son Omari used to accompany him: We always used to sleep at Tiwi where he had a friend called Mwinyi Haji wa Bwika, that's where we would sleep the night, at Tiwi, at my father's friend's place. What could we do? We couldn't get to Mombasa in one day... and we saw Mwinyi Hamisi Mwapodzo at Pungu, and there at Pungu my father gave his sister Nimasemo in marriage to Uthman Mwabua. Then at the first crowing of the cock, we would leave Tiwi and get to Mombasa in the morning. Once in Mombasa we would sell our skins to the Baluchi and then sleep there. They would give us a place to sleep. What could they do? We were their supplier, we had brought them goods, he had to treat us well, he would say, sleep here. 94 The famine of 1898-99 and the years immediately following brought an increase of Muslim influence in the Kikoneni area. Trade between Vanga and Kikoneni increased. Grain was brought to the port of Vanga, from where it was transported to Kikoneni, the main inland market and distribution centre for the southern interior. Indian and Baluchi traders provided grain to meet the needs of the famine, at the same time as they traded in rubber: People went to Vanga to bringunny-sacks off the dhows; the Banyanis were there on account of the famine and collecting rubber? 89 Ibid. 90 Rubber tapping had begun by the early 1890s or before; in 18%, the District Officer, Vanga District, wrote: "The principal rubber district lies between Mamoja near Shimoni, Gazi and Mwele...The Wadegos are commencing to bring rubber in at Wanga now.• (District Officer, Shimoni, 21 July 1896, to the Sub-Commissioner, Mombasa, KNA, Coast Province, MP j'J7/183.) 91 This is probably the same Muradi who was trading in mats, baskets and skins at Makadara. See Chapter IV, p.106, footnote 24. 92 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 16/1/76. 93 There is evidence that the rubber trade existed before 1895: "When Mbaruk was in power and lived at Gazi, every caravan had to deposit with him 100 rupees or more, and when the rubber was collected, he used to take his own duty first before the caravan returned to Mombasa.• (District Officer, Shimoni, 21 July 18%, to the Administrator, Imperial British East Mrican Protectorate, KNA, Coast Province, MP/97/183.) 94 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 1/2/75. 95 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 31/1/75. -162 The people carrying the sacks of rice were given one pishi [of rice] as payment for their work; then the same people would go off and look for rubber.96 During the famine one Indian and three Baluchi traders opened shops at Kikoneni. One trader, Muhammad Yaru, was a friend of Ganzi Mwamambea; he stayed at Ganzi's place at Kiunga and opened a shop at there. Mwalimu Mbulushi, who may have been resident at Kikoneni before the famine, married a Digo woman and settled. Both these men died and were buried at Kikoneni.97 Originally in some kind of partnership with his Baluchi friends, Muhammad Masemo set up his own shop in c.1905, and thus became the first Digo to start trading in clothes at Kikoneni: My father had a shop, he would buy rubber, skins, everything that was in demand in Mombasa he would buy here and take to Mombasa; after selling these things, he would buy clothes, beads, oil, and other goods to bring back to Kikoneni. While in Mombasa, he would stay with Mwalimu Mbulushi's brother, Muradi. When he left off trading, I took it up. If I had skins, I would get four or five porters to carry them to Mombasa. Then on the return trip I would send the porters ahead while I stayed behind an extra day. When I arrived home, my goods were already here, all laid out.98 Though Fundi Mwabege was officially chosen as headman after the death of Kubo Shehe Mwatsolozi in 1916, Masemo became the real leader of Kikoneni loca- tion.99 On the death of Mwabege in 1920, Masemo succeeded him as Headman of Kikoneni location, and President of the Digo Central Council,100 a position from which he continued to exercise a strong Muslim influence.101 Another early convert at Kikoneni was Omari Mwakilalo, an age-mate of Muhammad Masemo. Born at Maumba, near Kikoneni, Omari began trading to Pemba and Zanzibar when he was still a young man before getting married.102 His main trade was with Pemba, taking cattle, sheep and goats there and bringing back 96 Mkulu bin Abdallah, Mwaluvanga Eshu, 6/9/76. In 1903, the District Commissioner "inspected the rubber-bearing forests near Mwele" and found "50% of the vines destroyed by native tappers cutting them." Quarterly Report, Vanga District, 21/10/1903, KNA, Coast Province, MP/2/166. 97 At least two Baluchi were running shops at Kikoneni during the 1910s. In October 1917, the D.C. received a report that "one of the Baluchi shopkeepers had died in Kikoneni;and in April 1919, another report that the "Baluchi shopkeeper Yar Mohamed had died." (four Diary, entries for 8 October 1917 and 28 April 1919. KNA, Coast Province, MP/47/1156.) The total number of Baluchi traders was never high. In 1917, there were five Baluchis resident in the whole of Digo District, one at Gasi and "four traders at Mkongani and Kikoneni.• The traders "were none of them born in Africa, but have emigrated in recent times from Baluchistan." File Memo "Baluchis", Acting D.C., Vanga District, 11/7/1917, KNA, DC/KWL/3/5. 98 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 1/2/75. 99 In a handing-over report of 1920, the D.C. of Vanga District wrote: "The [Kikoneni} Council is nominally under Fundi Mwabege of Mrima, who is old, and the active work devolves on Mohammed Mwamasemo." KNA, DC/KWL/2/1. 100 Handing-over Report, G.B.Thompson, 23 January 1922, KNA, DC/KWL/2/1. Masemo was described as "one of the most energetic and intelligent Presidents in the District." (Handing-over Report, H.A.Trafford, 14 November 1923, KNA, DC/KWL/2/1.) As President of the Digo Central Council, Muhammad Masemo was one of two Digo elders invited to visit the British fleet in Mombasa in January, 1924. (District Station Diary, entry for 13th January 1924, KNA, DC/KWL/5/1.) 101 Masemo's pro-Muslim views were well known to colonial officers. In 1924, the District Commissioner "interviewed Mohamed Mwasemo of Kikoneni and discussed the change of inheritance (law]- Mohamed welcomes the change." Station Diary, Digo District, entry for 9th August 1924, KNA, DC/KWL/5/1. 102 These and other details about Mwakilalo's life were related to me by his grandson, Muhammad Husayn Omari Kilalo, Mwaembe, 21/9/87. -163 clothes.103 He is said to have studied at Wasin, and at Zanzibar and Pemba. When he finished his studies, in c. 1895, he moved from Maumba to Bwagambu (near Kivuleni), and established another home on the coast at Mwaembe Gust south of the present-day administrative centre of Msambweni), the point of departure for his trips to Pemba.104 He brought a Gunya teacher by the name of Abdallah from Lamu to teach at Mwaembe. After Abdallah left, Mwakilalo brought a Segeju teacher, Abdallah bin Kasim Mwangurni, from Pongwe to Mwaembe to teach his sons, Mkulu and Hamadi. Mwakilalo sent his youngest son, Husayn, to study under Habib Ali Shaykh in Pemba. Abdallah bin Kasim Mwangumi taught first at Mwaembe, and then in c.1903 moved to Bwagambu (Kikoneni). Though he went there expressly to teach Mwakilalo's sons, children of other early converts were allowed to join the classes. One of the first students, Omari, son of Muhammad Masemo, described what happened: Omari Mwakilalo was the one who brought the Segeju teacher, Abdallah bin Kasim, from Pongwe to teach his children, Mkulu bin Omari and Hamadi bin Omari; he gave them to Abdallah to teach. They were the ones who studied first. Then two or three years later, everyone realized the advantage of sending his own child to study, so we too were sent there to school...I was in the first group he taught here. My fellow-students were Hasani, son of Fujo Mwamkuna of Mwaluvanga, Ali, son of Kasim Mwakuko, and Hamadi, son of Nasoro Mwabweko; we used to learn at Mwabweko's, as his son Hamadi was Abdallah's helper (Swa. mftmzi).105 Mwakilalo was a wealthy man who owned large numbers of cattle and goats, and is said to have had dealings with Indians, Arabs and Baluchis, all of whom would come to Mwaembe. Like other early educated Muslims, he was an innovator: he is said to have been the first person at Msambweni and Kikoneni to own a bicycle and a sewing-machine.Hl6 The First Mosques of Kikoneni and Msambweni The first mosque in the Kikoneni area was the Mophe Mosque built by Muhammad Masemo at his homestead in c.1906.107 Mwalimu Mbulushi was the 103 Trade in livestock with Pemba was lucrative and flourishing at that time. During the First World War, the trade was suspended for security reasons, but in 1916 traders were already pressing for trade to be re-opened. In that year, Hobley wrote: "When at Vanga recently, I received applications from various natives for permission to take cattle by dhow to Pemba for sale...any objection to such permits being issued?" C.W.Hobley, Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 29th December 1916, to Chief Secretary to the Government, Zanzibar, KNA, PC/COA'Sf/1/2/22. 104 The island of Pemba is some thirty miles from Mwaembe; in good conditions, the crossing can be made in three or four hours by dhow. 105 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 31/1/75 and 1/2/75. 106 Muhammad Husayn Omari Kilalo, Mwaembe, 21/9/87. In 1920, Omari Mwakilalo is shown as one of the Digo elders of Msambweni. Handing-over Report, W.S.Marchant, 8 April1920, KNA, DC/KWL/2/1. 107 An official mosque survey shows one mosque at Kikoneni in 1913. List of Mosques, 1913, KNA, DC/KWL/3/5. -165 first to lead prayers at the mosque, and he would come to give the sermon during 'Id celebrations. As soon as Omari, Muhammad Masemo's son, finished his studies, he became the Imam of the mosque: People from Nyamala would come to pray, people from Vivwini, people from Mwaluvanga, people from Mrima, everyone. There was only one mosque, so people would come from all over for Friday prayers or for a feast-day, and I would lead the prayers. 108 Before the first mosque was built, the Muslims of Kikoneni used to pray Friday prayers on mats in the open air; even during the month of Ramadhan, they would stay at Kikoneni: "They wouldn't go anywhere else, a man would just pray on his mat, then he would go and break the fast."109 The Mophe Mosque collapsed during the First World War. After the war, Muhammad Masemo moved to Kiko- neni centre and re-built the mosque in its present location near his new home. The second mosque to be built in the Kikoneni area was built at Gandini in c. 1908 by Muhammad Ndaro, and his brothers, Kassim Ndaro and Swalehe Ndaro. Muhammad Ndaro had studied in Msambweni under Omar Sebe (who had learned at Pongwe), and had then gone on for advanced Islamic studies (Swa. ilmu) under Maalim Mwinyi Hija at Jego (near Vanga). Omar Sebe later came from Msambweni to start a Qur'an school at Gandini. During the First World War, the Ndaro family moved away from Gandini; the mosque collapsed, and the school was closed. 110 The third mosque, known as the Kivuleni Mosque, was built in c.1916 at Vivwini by Shehe Mwakoja, another early convert and a friend of Omari Mwakilalo. Omari became the first Imam of the mosque, and started a Qur'an school at Kivuleni. Before the Kivuleni Mosque was built, people used to pray at the Mophe Mosque in Kikoneni.111 Two more mosques were built during the 1920s. In 1925, the Mwabovo Mosque was built by Kasrani Mwaenzi and the villagers of Mwabovo.112 One year later, in 1926, the Bumbuni Mosque was built by Nasir Mwabege and Alawi Mwabege of Bumbuni and Haji Sudi Miki, a Digo teacher who had come from Majoreni to settle and teach at Bumbuni at the invitation of the Mwabege family. Haji had studied in Wasin before coming to Bumbuni. He became the first Imam of the Bumbuni Mosque and started a Qur'an school.113 108 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 31/1/75. 109 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 1/2/75. 110 Hamza Kasim Ndaro, Kigombero, 20/12/85. Many of those who moved away during the First World War did not return to their old villages. During 1921-22, the Kikoneni area suffered a series of natural disasters: small pox, followed by innuenza, then drought, and finally, floods. Many people migrated to Msambweni and the Umba region, and whole villages in the Kikoneni area disappeared. Tour Diary of Vanga District, entries for 1921-22. KNA, CP/47/1156. 111 Bakari Shehe Mwakoja, Kivuleni, 19/12/85. 112 Mushee Salim Chizuwa, Mwabovo, 10/12/85. 113 Haji Sudi Miki, Bumbuni, 11/12/85. -166 Every place where people had become Muslim they built a mosque; they just built one because Islam had spread, and each village wanted its own. The people of a village would confer together: to pray outside our village isn't so good, let's build a mosque. And they would build one, no one was stopping them.114 In 1912, after Abdallah bin Kasim had begun teaching, Omari Mwakilalo built the Mwaembe Mosque, the first mosque in the Msambweni area. Other mosques soon followed at Kisimachande (built by Hamisi Mwariale in 1918) and Sawasawa (built by Ali Mwakutwaa in 1919).115 Msambweni attracted immigrants from Kikoneni and other areas, and grew in importance during the years 1920-1933. As the population increased, mosques proliferated, sometimes quite close to one another.116 More than a matter of convenience, the pattern of each village having its own mosque was an expression of Muslim identity based on family and clan solidarity. Muslim influence at Vanga Vanga had grown steadily throughout the second half of the 19th century.117 With a good natural harbour and extensive trade with the interior, Vanga attracted a cosmopolitan mixture of temporary and permanent immigrants, among them neighbouring peoples (Shirazi, Segeju and Digo) as well as foreign Muslims; it was the largest town on the southern coast, and a meeting and mixing point for diverse peoples.118 In the last quarter of the century, Vanga was attacked several times by Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid of Gasi, the most destructive attack being that of August 1895, when the town was completely destroyed; but each time the town was rebuilt 114 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 31/1/75. 115 Abdallah Hamisi Mwariale and Muhammad Hamza Hasan Tsari, Msambweni, 22/11/85. 116 See Map 13 and Appendix X. Population statistics for 1921 give the population of Msambweni and other locations south of the Mwachema river as follows: Msambweni- 11%; Kikoneni -1128; Kinondo- 252; Galu- 218; Diani- 537; Ukunda- 1413; Muhaka- 1273. ("Population of Wadigo in different locations, 1921," KNA, DC/KWL/9/1.) Msambweni had the advantage of being "situated midway between two estates employing large numbers of African natives." (Annual Report 1931, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/17.) Though the two estates, the Ramisi Sugar Estates and the Gasi Sisal Plantations, employed over 1100 men between them, by the early 1930s more than two-thirds of the labourers were from upcountry. (File Memo, "Labour", December 1931, KNA, DC/KWL/10/1, and Annual Report 1932, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/18.) The growing impor- tance of Msambweni was recognized by the colonial government: in February 1932, a village school, the fifth village school in Digo District, was opened at Msambweni; and in October the same year, a •native hospital" was opened there. (Annual Report 1932, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/18.) 117 For the early history of Vanga, see Chapter II, p.47. 118 In 1882 Taylor estimated that the population of the town of Vanga was 2500, compared with such neighbouring villages as the Shirazi village of Aleni which had only 120 inhabitants. (Population estimates by w,E. Taylor in SOAS Manuscript Collec- tion, MS 4TI58, Taylor Papers, Volume VIII.) In Hardinge's 1897 Report, the population of Vanga District is given as "about 25,000, of whom 500 at most are real or half-caste Arabs, 4,000 or so Swahilis or Mahajis (people of neighbouring tribes, Wadigo, Wasegua, and Waduruma, who have been Islamised and have adopted Swahili custom, and are scarcely distinguishable from the Swahilis), whilst the remaining 20,500 are heathen, the most numerous tribe among them being the Wadigo." ("Report by Sir A. Hardinge on the Condition and Progress of the East Africa Protectorate from its Establishment to the 20th July, 1897," Accounts and Papers (Parliamentary Papers), LX (1898): 4.) Because of the imprecise terms of the Report, it is impossible to be sure how many of the "4,000 or so Swahilis or Mahajis" were Digo. What the Report does confirm for us is that a large majority of the Digo were still pagan at that time. -167 and regained prosperity.ll9 By the end of the 19th century, Digo were visiting and migrating to Vanga town in large numbers,120 and numerous Digo were settled in villages near the town.121 Intercourse between town and countryside brought a continual Muslim influence to bear in the rural areas, particularly among Digo men who had dealings with the Muslims of Vanga town. Eventually relations between the Muslims of Vanga and the neighbouring Digo led to conversions. Many of the early converts came from Jego and Chuini, the Digo villages which were nearest Vanga, and in which Muslim influence was at its most intense. People like Mwakiko Nundu, Kivumbo and Mwachawavi, who were elders or wealthy men in Jego, became Muslims in the 1880s. They are said to have been converted, at their request, by Bakari bin Ali (a Vumba) the 'Diwan of Vanga',122 not because of any special relationship with him, but because it was prestigious to be converted by such an important man. They did not follow Islam strictly, nor did they try to convert others, though some of the early converts, like Mwakiko Nungu, moved to Vanga to live, "because he regarded himself as a totally different person."123 Other early converts at Jego were Omar bin Mkopi, Muhammad Jambia, Bakari Luganza, and Abdallah Mwatondo. The conversion of influential persons 119 In 1897, Hardinge wrote: "l:be only place in the district which could properly be called a town, namely Vanga, was burnt for the fourth or fifth time within the last quarter of a century by Mubarak of Gazi when he finally determined in August 1895 upon rebellion, the destruction of Vanga being always his first move in his successive insurrections against the successive Gov- ernments with whom he has been at war. The town, when I visited it a year before it was burnt and sacked by Mubarak, con- tained a population of about 3,000... It is now gradually being rebuilt, and its population are beginning to return from German territory, whither they fled from Mubarak. It already has 600 inhabitants and six Indian shops..." "Report by Sir A. Hardinge on the Condition and Progress of the East Africa Protectorate from its Establishment to the 20th July, 1897," Accounts and Papers (Parliamentary Papers), LX (1898): 4-5. 120 In 1895, the District Superintendent wrote: "Wanga, although unhealthy at times is preferred by all the Indians, as they make a lot of money there. One Indian told me that he realized nearly 100 dollars daily. All the Wadeko people go to Wanga..." (District Superintendent, Shimoni, 17 September 1895, to the Administrator, Mombasa, KNA, Coast Province, MP/97/183.) Included among visitors and settlers in Vanga town were Digo from German East Africa; in 1903, J.Hope, the District Officer wrote: "All the natives in German East Mrica in the neighbourhood of the boundary attend the Wanga market and the shops at Wanga are the only ones available for them, the nearest shops in German East Africa being at Moa, 12 miles from the boundary." (Quarterly Report, 5 January 1903, KNA, Coast Province, MP/2/166.) A 1920 census of Vanga township showed 102 Digo out of a total population of 1131. (Ag. District Commissioner, Shimoni, to Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 12 February 1920, KNA, Coast Province, MP/18/342.) 121 In 1903, the District Officer, J.Hope, wrote: "Around Vanga the villages are more numerous, but after a distance of 4 miles from there, the villages are very scattered, generally one hour or one and a-half hours apart and sometimes more, and the num- ber of huts in each village is on an average not more than six." Quarterly Report to 31/3/1903, KNA, Coast Province, MP/2/166. 122 Bakari bin Ali was Qadhi of Vanga, and later Liwali, but never Diwan of Vanga. The Blue Book for 1911-12 shows that Abubakr bin Ali was appointed Liwali of Vanga on 1/7/1897 (KNA, COASf/1/96); before then he had been the Qadhi of Vanga (Hollis, 295). The last Diwan of Vanga was Sayyid Ahmad bin Sultan Twahiri, who was elected in 1871 (Hollis, 294-95) and died on the 8th August 1897 (Letter of District Officer, Shimoni, 23 May 1898, KNA, Coast Province, MP/97/183). After the death of Sayyid Ahmad, no one was elected Diwan, and the Liwali appointed by the British became the supreme authority; it is not surprising that in oral testimony he should be referred to as the Diwan, the title of authority that had been used in the Vanga area for centuries. Abubakr bin Ali died on 14/10/21, after serving as Liwali for nearly twenty-five years. (KNA, DC/KWL/3/4/43.) By all accounts, he was an exceptional person: during the First World War in 1916, for example, he was praised for his "excellent work in setting up the refugee township of Galu." (Annual Report 1915-16, Vanga District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/1.) He may well have been instrumental in converting Digo to Islam as Qadhi, before becoming Liwali in 1897. 123 Jerumani Chawiya, Jego, 19/12/86. -168 attracted others to Islam: "People would become Muslim after hearing that so-and- so has become a Muslim." Some Digo are also said to have become Muslim at this time in order to avoid capture into slavery.124 During the 1890s, several Gunya traders came to Vanga. They came to trade in fish, spices and other items. They didn't bring their wives with them, nor did they marry local women. Though not itinerant traders, they didn't stay long in one place either; before coming to Vanga, some of them had been trading at Shimoni.125 One of the Gunya traders, Maalim Malan, began trading in neighbouring Digo villages, including the village of Jego. He is said to have been moved by the ignorance of the people of Jego whom he found praying at trees and stones, and so he decided to go to Jego to teach them. He gave up his trading activities and settled down to teach; he would earn his living by sewing kanzus to sell to Muslims. Malan and another Gunya trader, Maalim Omar, established the first Qur'an schools for the Digo in the Vanga area. It is said that the Vumba "only encouraged the Digo to become Muslims, but didn't teach them." Maalim Malan is said to have influenced people at Jambe and Dzirive126 as well; and the Muslim influence from Jego also spread to such far-away places as Mwalewa and Kiwegu. Another early teacher at Jego was Mwalimu Ndoro, who had been taught in Vanga by Bakari bin Ali, the Qadhi (and later Liwali) of Vanga.127 Others in Jego were converted by Mwalimu Makame, a Digo from Mayomboni (Tanga), who would come to visit relatives in Jego. At that time early converts to Islam went through a conversion ceremony: They would be taken down to the sea-shore and immersed in the water up to their navels, after which they were considered to be Muslims. If they were far from the sea, they would be taken to the river, and if that wasn't possible, water from a pot would be poured over them from head to toe. These early practices were abolished as people became more enlightened.128 124 Mwabaka Bakari Luganza, Jego, 25/11/86. The argument about becoming Muslim to avoid slavery has probably been - exaggerated in Western writing, but may here be correct: of the 143 slaves freed after the death of the last Diwan ofVanga in 1897, 59 were Digo. (Letters of the District Officer, Shimoni, 23 May and 30 June 1898, KNA, Coast Province, MP/97/183.) 125 The village of Shimoni (originally called Chuyu), on the mainland opposite Wasin island, was the site of a station of the Imperial British East Africa Company, built between 1890 and 1892 under the supervision of Mr. Gilkison, an officer of the Company. The village of Chuyu, originally settled by Vumba, already existed in 1882: in that year, Taylor estimated the popu- lation of Wasin at 2200 and the population of Chuyu at 350. (SOAS Manuscript Collection, MS 47758, Taylor Manuscripts, Vol VIII.) Le Roy described Chuyu in 1889 as a place "where some inhabitants of Wasin have their fields." (Le Roy, D'Aden a Zanzibar, 235.) Hobley visited Chuyu in 1892: "The Company have here built a substantial residence for the agent of the dis- trict; it is a very pleasant site." (C.W.Hobley, "Upon a Visit to Tsavo and the Taita Highlands," The Geographicalloumal, VI (1895): 545-561.) In 1895, the British government took over the station and made it the headquarters for Vanga District, after which the present name Shimoni became current. The station was abandoned during the First World War from 24/9/14 to 27/3/18, during which time it was destroyed by the Germans. The British rebuilt it in 1918, but closed it soon after, in 1924, when the District headquarters was moved to Kwale. File Memo "Shimoni," undated, Vanga, KNA, DC/KWL/3/1. aose relations between the Digo and the Gunya may go back some time: the Digo are said to have learned to plant coconuts from the Gunya. Saidi Pimwe, Dar es Salaam, July 1948, E.C.Baker's "Wanyika and Wadigo notebooks", MSSAfr.r.84, Rhodes House, Oxford. 126 When Hollis visited Dziribe in 1898, it had a population of "some 800 persons." KNA, CP/97/183, letter of 24 January 1898. 127 Kicheko Mwakiko, Jego, 12/1/87. 128 Jerumani Chawiya, Jego, 19/12/86. Immersion in water was accompanied by other signs of conversion, such as the recita- tion of the shahada and the taking of Muslim names. -169- Maalim Malan and Maalim Omar also taught at Chuini. There they taught such people as Mwalim Jambia Mwamaendo and Sulayman Mwakasha.129 They taught at Chuini for several years, then they went on to Mkongani, where they died. Malan and Omar were the first to establish Qur'an schools. It is said that the Sharifs at Vanga encouraged people to become Muslim, but did not educate them.l30 The first Digo mosque in the Vanga area was the Jego mosque built in c.l898 by Mwakiko Nundu, the head of the village, in the old village of Jego. Maalim Juma Farnan, a Digo who had learned under Maalim Malan, became the Imam of the Mosque and also began to teach. Before the first Jego Mosque was built, people used to pray on palm-leaf mats; for Friday prayers and 'Id celebrations they would go into Vanga town. When the Jego Mosque collapsed after about five years, it was rebuilt at Mtakuja (the new village of Jego). The second Digo mosque near Vanga was built at Chuini in c.l905. The Chuini Mosque was built by the early Digo converts of the village, helped by Maalim Malan and Omar. The first Imam was Sulayman Mwakasha, one of Maalim Malan's pupils. Eventually after Maalim Malan left, Sulayman Mwakasha became the teacher as well as the Imam. During the First World War, many people aban- doned the village of Chuini, and the Chuini Mosque collapsed. After the War, in c.l918, a mosque was built at Jambe; at that time Abdallah Sarai from Jambe was the Imam and teacher. The Jambe Mosque was used for Friday prayers for some time, but the Friday mosque was eventually shifted to Dzirive.131 The first Muslims at Gonja132 The history of Islam in the Gonja area shows strong influences coming from Muslims to the south. Maalim Masai, a Comorian from Zanzibar, came to Gonja where he started a Qur'an school and taught the first Gonja converts, people like Uthman Fumbwe, Bakari Fumbwe, and Salim Mwachitema. Maalim Masai is said to have come as a teacher ("his work was teaching") not as a trader. Before Maalim Masai came, most people were not Muslim.133 Maalim Masai was later helped in his work of teaching and converting people to Islam by a Gunya, Shehe Kinero, who 129 Mwabaka Bakari Luganza, Jego, 2/12/85. 130 Mwabaka Bakari Luganza, Jego, 21/10/87. 131 Ibid. 132 Lungalunga, the modem name for the Gonja area, came into use during colonial times after kaya Gonja was abandoned during the First World War. Lungalunga was declared a trading centre in 1916, but did not develop until later; in November 1924, the District Commissioner "marked the site for the gazetted Trading Centre at Lungalunga." District Station Diaty, entry for 19th November 1924, KNA, DC/KWL/5/1. 133 Maalim Masai has been described as one of the "pillars of Islam" in Gonja. Hamisi Mwamtunda, Lungalunga, 6/12/86. -170 "came to buy coconuts."134 The first mosque in the area, the Gonja Mosque, was built by Maalim Masai at Maweni in c.1905. The existence of the mosque is confirmed by colonial records which show one mosque at Gonja in 1913.135 Other early converts were Abdallah Mwapongwe and Bakari Chuo.136 Abdallah Mwapongwe went to Mabafweni "in search of religion" and later went to study at Zanzibar; when he came back he started a school at Botola. Some of the early converts from Gonja had moved away to settle at Botola, a village originally founded by Digo pagans. Botola became a kind of Muslim village where almost everyone was a Muslim. Even the old men of Botola were converted to Islam. 137 The first Botola Mosque was built after the First World War by Abdallah Mwaluuchu, who had been taught by Maalim Masai; Mwaluuchu was Imam of the mosque and also began to teach.138 The second mosque at Botola was built by Bakari Chuo, who had also learned from Maalim Masai. The Imam of the second Botola mosque was Bakari Chuo, later helped by Juma Nyevu, who had learned from his uncle, Ali Kama, at Kilulu (Tanzania).l39 Another early Digo converts at Gonja was Kombo Mambo. When his uncle refused to pay bride-price for him, he went to Zanzibar to look for a wife. He married in Zanzibar and stayed on to study. When he came back, he started a Qur'an school at Botola and began teaching some of the early converts: Bakari Fumbwe, Khalfan Fumbwe, and Abdallah Luphutsu.140 Among those taught by Kombo Mambo was his nephew, Rashid Wendo, who was later instrumental in starting maulid in Lungalunga.141 Dzirive was another village founded by people who moved away from kaya Gonja. Instead of inviting outside teachers to come to Dzirive, the people of Dzirive sent their children away to study. Thus, the first teachers at Dzirive were Ali Pongwe Mnyeto and Bege Mnyeto, both of whom had gone from Dzirive to study in Tanzania. Before the first mosque was built at Dzirive in c.1933, the people used to go to Jambe for Friday prayers and Muslim celebrations.l42 134 Juma Nyevu, Makwenyeni, 25/7/87. 135 List of mosques, 1913, KNA, DC/KWL/3/5. When kaya Gonja was abandoned during the First World War, the Gonja Mosque fell into disrepair, and eventually collapsed. 136 In 1924, Bakari Chuo was awarded the King's Medal "for services rendered during the war." Station Diary, Digo District, entry for 28 May1924, KNA, DC/KWL/5/1. 137 Said Bamvua, Botola, 20/12/86. 138 Seif Abdallah Muhammad, Lungalunga, 6/12/85. 139 Juma Nyevu, Makwenyeni, 25/7/87. 140 Said Bamvua, 20/12/86; Juma Nyevu, Makwenyeni, 25/7/87. 141 Sayf Abdallah Muhammad, Lungalunga, 6/12/85. Though maulid in Lungalunga is said to have been started by Rashid Wendo and Juma Nyevu, Nyevu himself attributes the beginning of maulid in the area to Gulam Khan, an Indian Bohora trader, who had come to Lungalunga in 1930. (Juma Nyevu, Makwenyeni, 25/7/87.) Most probably all three were involved in someway. 142 Omar Kombo Mvumbo, Dzirive, 17/12/85. -171 Chapter VI. Conclusions The pattern of islamization to the middle of the 19th century By the end of the 18th century, it is likely that some Mijikenda had already become Muslim.1 Most Mijikenda converts were probably resident in Mombasa, but there could have been a few at Jomvu and Wasin, and Jibana Muslims may have settled at Mji Mre by that time.2 The first Mijikenda converts were attracted to Islam through the close relations that had grown up between the Mijikenda and neighbouring Swahili peoples.3 The conversions of the 18th and the early 19th century were uneventful:4 they took place in a local setting amidst the ordinary circumstances of everyday life. The main agents of islamization were Muslims from nearby towns. In addition to the Swahili, the only major Muslim group to influence the Mijikenda during this period was the Mazrui.S The influence of Islam was selective. It was particularly strong among Mijikenda who lived within twelve miles of Swahili towns,6 and among Mijikenda who had regular dealings with Muslims: elders, 7 traders,8 the relatives of Mijikenda women married to Muslims,9 and immigrants to town.10 A high proportion of early Mijikenda converts came from among these groups. Another group of Mijikenda, the sick and possessed, was liable to conversion by Muslim healers, but the random influence of healers tended to be less enduring than influences stemming from regular contacts.11 1 See Chapter I, p.43. This is an earlier date for the first Mijikenda conversions than previously suggested. In a preliminary study, I wrote that the first Mijikenda conversions may have occurred as early as the 1830s and 1840s. (David Sperling, 'Islamization in the Coastal Region of Kenya to the end of the Nineteenth Century', in Bethwell A. Ogot (ed), Kenya in the 19th Century, Nairobi 1985, 33-82.) To place the first conversions before the 18th century would be to overspeculate. 2 See Chapter II, p.56. 3 See Chapter I, pp.32-35, and Appendices II and III. 4 Except for the killing of Haji Kitungule. See Chapter II, p.56-57. 5 See Chapter I, p.39, and Chapter II, pp.59-60. 6 On the importance of the twelve-mile parameter, see Chapter IV, p.102. Migrant Muslim groups exerted a similar local influence on Mijikenda near whom they settled in the 1830s: the Tangana at Mtongwe influenced the Digo of kaya Kiteje, the Mazrui at Takaungu the Kauma, and the Mazrui at Gasi the Digo of kaya Kinondo. (See Chapter II, pp.58-65). Mijikenda who lived more than twelve miles from towns were relatively isolated from Muslim influence until Muslims began to penetrate into the hinterland later in the 19th century. 7 For example, Mwajamvua, the Digo elder of kaya Kiteje, and Mwinyimkuu, the Tangana elder of Mtongwe. See Chapter II, p.63. 8 For example, contacts between Muslim traders of Mombasa and the Giriama. See Chapter II, p.49 and Chapter III, pp.78-79. 9 Mijikenda women married to Swahili Muslims usually became Muslim. In explaining the attraction of Islam at a personal level, I have often used the example of a pagan Mijikenda man from the countryside who regularly visits his Muslim sister in town to see how she is getting on. If she is happy and well-treated, the tangible benefits of Islam will be evident to her brother. And he will tend to be drawn into Muslim society, not least through emotional ties to his sister's children, who are his Muslim nephews. No wonder that such pagan relatives sometimes became (and still become) Muslim. 10 See Chapter III, p.90. 11 See Chapter III, pp.79-80 and Chapter IV, p.126. -172 In spite of close relations between Mijikenda and Muslims, the number of Mijikenda converts was small during the 18th and early 19th century. This seems to have been due as much to an absence of proselytising by Muslims as to the integrity and strength of Mijikenda society.12 The Swahili were not organised to propagate Islam, and there is little evidence that they were disposed to do so. Conversions resulted more from fortuitous relations between individual Mijikenda and Muslims than from a concerted effort by Muslims to spread Islam. Conversion seems to have been a highly personal matter, and usually took place only after a long period of contact with Muslims, under a minimum of social or other pressures.13 If anything, pressure from within Mijikenda society during this early period worked against conversion.14 For the most part, Mijikenda converts did not change their way of life. They were, however, expected to conform to a mini- mum of the Muslim code. Recitation of the shahada, Friday prayer, fasting during the month of Ramadhan, adoption of Muslim dress and abstention from unclean meat were the aspects of Muslim behaviour stressed most to new converts.15 Urbanization and conversion were closely linked; most converts had settled in town before conversion, or migrated to town soon afterwards.16 There were various reasons for Muslim converts to settle in towns. Many converts were already fully or semi-urbanized, and preferred town lifeP Moreover, converts residing in their home villages were under strong social pressure to participate in Mijikenda ceremonies; those who did not do so may have been forced to leave.18 Some Mijikenda Muslim converts established new villages instead of moving to towns. Rural Muslim villages, arising out of group not individual migration, were established by Jibana Muslims at Mji Mre,19 and by Digo Muslims at Mwando wa Panya,20 and later at such places as Bwaga Moyo, Mkongani and Mtanganyiko.21 Whereas Mijikenda immigrants to town were usually assimilated into Swahili society, the Mijikenda Muslims of rural villages retained a stronger ethnic identity. They would sometimes visit their pagan relatives, and on occasion attended Mijikenda ceremonies.22 The rural Muslim villages··attracted Mijikenda immigrants 12 See Chapter II, pp.68-70. 13 See Chapter III, p.82. 14 See Chapter IV, pp.109-110. 15 See Chapter V, p.156. 16 See Chapter II, pp.65-66. 17 See Chapter II, p.51. 18 See Chapter II, p.71. 19 See Chapter II, pp.56-58. 20 See Chapter III, p.84, footnote 82. 21 See Chapter II, pp.53-54, 6(U)1. 22 See Chapter III, pp.82, 92-93. -173 and converts in the same way as the towns, but most rural villages had no mosque (or Qur'an school), and Muslim villagers frequented a nearby town for Friday prayer and religious festivals. Except for Mtanganyiko, the rural villages did not de- velop strong Muslim institutions.23 The immigration of Mijikenda converts to Mus- lim towns (that is, 'urban islamization') and to rural Muslim villages (that is, 'village islamization') kept the influence of Islam from spreading more widely among the Mijikenda. Beginning in the 1830s, the economy of the coastal hinterland expanded,24 and the activities of Muslim entrepreneurs increased: agriculturalists were attracted towards the north by large tracts of uncultivated land,25 and traders towards the south by the large concentration of population.26 The Swahili and the Mazrui were joined by other Muslims in promoting this expansion, and the Mijikenda became subject to various Muslim influences.27 The increase in Muslim commercial activity did not result in a noticeable increase in proselytising. The number of Mijikenda conversions may have risen slightly, but hardly in proportion to the enormous increase in contacts between Mijikenda and Muslims. There was, however, an increase in the cultural influence of Swahili Islam: pagan Mijikenda learned to speak Swahili,28 adopted Muslim dress, and built Swahili-style houses.29 The pattern of 'urban islamization' and 'village islamization' continued unchanged. Mijikenda converts, still few in number, migrated away from the Mijikenda kayas.30 By the middle of the 19th century, hardly any Mijikenda Muslims resided among their own people, and there were no signs that Islam would penetrate into Mijikenda society. The beginnings of rural islamization Beginning in the 1850s, a new kind of Muslim presence and a new pattern of islamization (what might be called 'rural islamization') emerged among the Mijikenda south of Mombasa:31 a few Digo elders became Muslim, and remained in their villages instead of immigrating to town. Mijikenda Muslims had occasionally 23 See Chapter III, pp.90-92. 24 See Chapter II, pp.44-54. 25 See Chapter III, pp.81, 84-87. 26 See Chapter IV, pp.101-102. 27 See Chapter II, p.45. 28 See Chapter III, p.79. 29 See Chapter II, p.67-68. 30 See Chapter II, pp56-58. 31 If we focus mainly on the growth of Islam south of Mombasa, it is because Islam among the northern Mijikenda, who did not enter the stage of resident conversions, offers little basis for comparison. See Chapter Ill, pp.72-93. -174 been resident in Mijikenda kayas before 1850, but very much as an exception.32 Now, elders in several Digo villages became 'resident converts', and 'resident conversion' became a distinct tendency in three areas south of Mombasa.33 The tendency was most pronounced in the immediate southern hinterland of Mombasa, where urban influences, including the influence of Muslim traders, were strongest and relations between Muslims and Digo most intense,34 but it also occurred in the hinterland of Gasi,35 and later, in the hinterland of Vanga.36 North of Mombasa, there was no comparable Mijikenda population resident in the immediate hinter- land of the Muslim towns, and 'resident conversion' did not take place. Only a few Digo elders became Muslim. There is no evidence that they did so as a group, or that they were seeking to bolster their authority in response to a challenge from within Digo society.37 Evidence indicates rather that Muslims and Digo developed personal friendships. Individual Muslims (many of whom are remembered by name) encouraged individual Digo to become Muslim, and conversions took place individually, one by one. Thus, rural islamization began through a series of individual decisions, not as a popular mass movement. The Digo who adopted Islam may have gained a competitive advantage over pagans in trading with Muslim traders,38 but conversion does not seem to have been prompted primarily by commercial motives. Rather, converts were attracted through friend- ship with Muslims, and by the order, efficacy, cleanliness and other attributes of Muslim society. Muslims were seen as prosperous and successful because of their religion, but together with success went a host of other characteristics whose power of attraction cannot be underestimated.39 Through conversion, the Digo Muslims came to share in the prestigious world of Islam, whose values and success (material as well as spiritual) were genuinely attractive to them. 32 See Chapter II, p.65-66. 33 Mbaruku Mwajamvua at Kiteje (possibly the first resident Digo convert) may have been a Muslim by the late 1840s (see Chapter II, pp.63-64), and Ali Ganyuma at Pungu by 1855 (see Chapter IV, p.109); Abdallah Mwapodzo at Diani became a Muslim in 1885 (see Chapter V, p.147). Other Digo elders, including the senior elders of such villages as Shonda, Waa, Tiwi, Galu, Kinondo and Muhaka, were converted during the intervening years (see Chapter IV, pp.106,112,117-118, and Chapter V, pp.154-156. Because resident conversions occurred earlier in some places than in others, circumstances varied greatly. For xample, second-generation Digo Muslims were already resident at Kiteje by 1870, and at Pungu by 1880, before the first Digo elders at Kwale had become Muslim. 34 See Chapter II, p.63, and Chapter IV, pp.101,105-108,112,117-118. 35 See Chapter V, pp.155-156. 36 See Chapter V, p.167. 37 Alpers has noted that the spread of Islam in the southern interior of East Africa at the end of the 19th century was greatest among the Yao, where territorial chiefdoms were more prevalent. According to Alpers, the Yao chiefs, engaged in a power struggle with the headmen, sought to enhance their ritual authority by becoming Muslim. (Edward A. Alpers, 'Towards a His- tory of the Expansion of Islam in East Africa: the Matrilineal Peoples of the Southern Interior', in T.O. Ranger & I. Kimambo (eds), The Historical Study of African Religion, London 1972, 181-188.) 38 See Chapter IV, p.llO. 39 The appeal of virtues as lived by other persons is universal. This point came home to me quite forcefully through the testimony of a Mijikenda Muslim woman who stated that she was attracted to become a Muslim by the way she saw Muslim women living the virtue of modesty. -175- Ambivalence and commensality The attitude of converts was equivocal: they saw no contradiction (and for them, in fact, there was none) between Digo and Muslim practices. Muslim elders continued to participate, and even to take the lead, in Digo ceremonies. They lived their communal religious life as Muslims in town, away from their pagan fellow elders. The communal dimension of Islam (that is, their relations with other Muslims in town) was clearly important for the resident converts. Other aspects of Islam (the doctrinal, legal and institutional)40 were perhaps less meaningful. In general their life as Muslims bore little relevance to their daily village life. They showed no inclination to promote Islam among their fellow Digo, nor did they introduce Muslim elements into Digo life. They were, to the extent that this is possible, men of two worlds and men of two religions.41 Their Digo mode of religious behaviour sufficed for their life as Digo, but not for the Muslim world in which they also took part.42 The converts accepted Islam selectively, as they perceived it, and practised it on their own terms. In a way, they knew what they were doing; they did not want or intend to follow their Muslim converters in everything. But at the same time they seemed hardly aware of the social repercussions or long- range consequences of their conversion. Muslim Digo elders seem to have carried on for several years in this ambi- valent state, and might have done so even longer, had it not been for the cumulative effect of a slow steady increase in the number of converts. Now perhaps we come to the crux of the matter. For the conversion of Digo elders was not just an adhesion to new beliefs that left their old way of life intact. One seemingly innocuous precept required a true and immediate conversion (that is, a turning-away from previous 40 The subsequent growth of Islam among the Digo can be viewed as the development of these three dimensions. 41 The Digo elders were clearly in what Fisher calls the 'mixing' stage. They had not switched religious allegiance, but had simply adhered to some aspects of Islam, while retaining most of their former beliefs. (Cf. Humphrey J. Fisher, 'Conversion Reconsidered: Some Historical Aspects of Religious Conversion in Black Africa,' Africa, 43, 1 (1973): 27-40.) In a recent paper, Richard Gray has pointed out that this kind of 'theological pluralism' (in which apparently incompatible beliefs co-exist) characterizes much of religious change in Africa, and should not be mistaken for syncretism. (Cf. Richard Gray, 'Conversion, syncretism and religious development among African Christians,' paper presented at the Workshop on Conversion, Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University, May, 1988.) 42 The behaviour of these Muslim Digo elders, who were straddling the Digo and the Muslim worlds, does not fit into Horton's model of religious change. Horton has proposed that the emphasis within African cosmology shifted, that the lesser spirits of African religion became less important and the concept of a Supreme Being more important, as local communities (microcosms) came more into contact with the wider world (macrocosm). Thus, the acceptance of Islam (or Christianity) was due as much to the evolution of African cosmology in response to other features of the modem situation as it was to contacts with Muslims (or Christians). (Cf. Robin Horton, 'African Conversion,' Africa, 41, 2 (1971): 85-108.) At the time the first Digo elders were converted, however, well before the end of the 19th century, there is no evidence that Digo cosmology was evolving to explain and control the macrocosm. The converts continued to give deference to lesser spirits as they had before becoming Muslim. It could be argued that some Digo converts may have acquired a deeper personal understanding of a Supreme Being, but if so, this was happening at an individual level and was not a general social pattern. On the other hand, from the evidence we have, recognition or worship of a Supreme Being does not seem to play a significant role in motivating the first conversions. In the final analysis, however, we must admit that we do not have sufficient evidence either about Digo cosmology at that time or about the personal beliefs of the first Digo converts to reach firm conclusions in this matter. -176- behaviour): the precept to abstain from unclean meat. The other new features (acceptance of the shahada, Muslim dress, prayer, and fasting) were practices that could in some way be reconciled with Digo customs. But to abstain from unclean meat (a precept whose importance was stressed to early converts) was a change that struck at commensality, and in so doing touched the core of Digo sociallife.43 There is unanimous testimony that this issue created problems and tensions between Digo Muslims and pagans.44 As long as the number of converts was small, and each ate with his own family, their behaviour was tolerated as a kind of deviant individualism. But as the number of converts increased, they tended to form their own group. They began to eat apart at weddings and funerals; and some declined altogether to partake of food with pagan relatives, even within the same home- stead.45 They were encouraged in this by their Muslim friends in town.46 Since most of the Muslim converts were elders and men of wealth, they were influential enough to challenge the system and to resist criticism. Their behaviour even induced some pagan relatives and friends to become Muslim.47 The break-down of commensality between Digo Muslims and pagans gave the nascent Muslim community its own identity long before Muslim institutions existed among the Digo. Influential elders and infonnal education By the 1880s, the number of Digo Muslim converts had risen, albeit slowly. A few women had become Muslim, but most early converts were men.48 The attitude of the first Digo converts towards their families and children varied. Many did not bring up their children as Muslims, or make any attempt to convert their wives; others not only raised their children as Muslims, but sent away wives who refused to become Muslim.49 The villages with the highest proportion of Digo Muslims were 43 Meat was the essential ingredient of all major Digo (and Mijikenda) feasts. For one reason or another, Muslims would have considered most meat eaten by pagan Digo to be unclean, either by reason of its essence (for example, the meat of wild pigs, monkeys and mice), its manner of death (animals that had died a natural death were eaten), or the method of slaughtering it (not in accordance with prescribed Muslim ritual). And there were other problems such as the cleanliness of cooking utensils. See Chapter V, p.148. 44 See Chapter III, pp.82,92, and Chapter IV, p.l27. 45 See Chapter IV, pp.118,127. In this light, one can better understand the comment of Ali Abdallah Tsori, that Kauma Mus- lims and pagans would have come to scorn each other if they had lived together. (See Chapter III, p.92.) Though the northern Mijikenda Muslims and pagans lived apart, on occasion they would eat together; the Digo Muslims and pagans lived together but ate apart. 46 See Chapter IV, p.127. To understand this insistence on not eating unclean food, one needs to remember the broader underlying principle of ritual cleanliness. The seriousness with which the first converts were counselled (and obeyed) in this matter shows how important it was. Though they were men of two worlds, this Muslim notion at least had already begun to af- fect their life as Digo. 47 See Chapter IV, p.127. 48 See Chapter IV, pp.117-118,122-123, and Appendix VI. 49 See Chapter IV, pp.110,118. -176- behaviour): the precept to abstain from unclean meat. The other new features (acceptance of the shahada, Muslim dress, prayer, and fasting) were practices that could in some way be reconciled with Digo customs. But to abstain from unclean meat (a precept whose importance was stressed to early converts) was a change that struck at commensality, and in so doing touched the core of Digo sociallife.43 There is unanimous testimony that this issue created problems and tensions between Digo Muslims and pagans.44 As long as the number of converts was small, and each ate with his own family, their behaviour was tolerated as a kind of deviant individualism. But as the number of converts increased, they tended to form their own group. They began to eat apart at weddings and funerals; and some declined altogether to partake of food with pagan relatives, even within the same home- stead.45 They were encouraged in this by their Muslim friends in town.46 Since most of the Muslim converts were elders and men of wealth, they were influential enough to challenge the system and to resist criticism. Their behaviour even induced some pagan relatives and friends to become Muslim.47 The break-down of commensality between Digo Muslims and pagans gave the nascent Muslim community its own identity long before Muslim institutions existed among the Digo. Influential elders and infomtal education By the 1880s, the number of Digo Muslim converts had risen, albeit slowly. A few women had become Muslim, but most early converts were men.48 The attitude of the first Digo converts towards their families and children varied. Many did not bring up their children as Muslims, or make any attempt to convert their wives; others not only raised their children as Muslims, but sent away wives who refused to become Muslim.49 The villages with the highest proportion of Digo Muslims were 43 Meat was the essential ingredient of all major Digo (and Mijikenda) feasts. For one reason or another, Muslims would have considered most meat eaten by pagan Digo to be unclean, either by reason of its essence (for example, the meat of wild pigs, monkeys and mice), its manner of death (animals that had died a natural death were eaten), or the method of slaughtering it (not in accordance with prescribed Muslim ritual). And there were other problems such as the cleanliness of cooking utensils. See Chapter V, p.148. 44 See Chapter III, pp.82,92, and Chapter IV, p.127. 45 See Chapter IV, pp.l18,127. In this light, one can better understand the comment of Ali Abdallah Tsori, that Kauma Mus- lims and pagans would have come to scorn each other if they had lived together. (See Chapter III, p.92.) Though the northern Mijikenda Muslims and pagans lived apart, on occasion they would eat together; the Digo Muslims and pagans lived together but ate apart. 46 See Chapter IV, p.127. To understand this insistence on not eating unclean food, one needs to remember the broader underlying principle of ritual cleanliness. The seriousness with which the first converts were counselled (and obeyed) in this matter shows how important it was. Though they were men of two worlds, this Muslim notion at least had already begun to af- fect theirlife as Digo. 47 See Chapter IV, p.127. 48 See Chapter IV, pp.117-118,122-123, and Appendix VI. 49 See Chapter IV, pp.110,118. -177 Mtongwe (including kayas Mihongani and Kiteje) and Tiwi. Half of the Digo elders of Mtongwe may have been Muslim by that time,5° and possibly one-fifth of the elders in Tiwi.51 The proportion of Muslim elders in other Digo villages was less, but in places like Pungu52 and Likoni53 the conversion of powerful senior elders compensated for lack of numbers. Remote areas, such as Kwale54 and Kikoneni,55 were still on the fringe of Muslim influence, and had at most a handful of resident Muslims. By all accounts, many of the first converts were men of outstanding character whose status and prestige attracted others, thereby giving Digo Muslims a disproportionate influence.56 Though most of the early Digo converts had no formal education, they gained a practical knowledge of Islam through constant association with other Muslims. Digo and town Muslims (including Digo Muslim immigrants to town) traded with each other and helped each other in innumerable ways. Muslims from town married the sisters of converts, and would visit Digo villages.57 Such dealings were a continuation of earlier Muslim-pagan relations, but a common faith elicited greater mutual trust, and a Digo's relations with town Muslims usually grew stronger after he had become a Muslim.58 Continuing contacts between town Muslims and Digo converts were undoubtedly important, at times possibly crucial, in sustaining the faith of converts (for example, in the matter of abstaining from unclean meat). In the 1880s, the religious life of Digo Muslims was still centred primarily on towns. They attended Friday prayer in the mosques of Mombasa, Gasi, Wasin and Vanga. During the month of Ramadhan, converts would go into town daily to break the fast or might even reside in town, and they would celebrate the 'Id festivals in town.59 Though relations with town Muslims were generally beneficial to Digo Muslims, as time passed the relations perpetuated a state of religious dependence. Lacking their own religious institutions, the Digo were junior partners in the Muslim world, 'religious dependants' who had not yet come of age. 50 See Chapter IV, pp.103-104. 51 This is a rough estimate based on oral evidence and working back from records of thirty years later. See Chapter IV, p.123. 52 See Chapter IV, p.109. 53 See Chapter IV, p.106. 54 See Chapter IV, pp.125-127. 55 Chapter V, pp.160-161. 56 See Chapter V, p.167-168. 57 See Chapter IV, p.118. 58 See Chapter IV, p.106. 59 See Chapter IV, p.106,126, and Chapter V, p.156. -178 ) Foreign Muslim immigrants and teachers Beginning in the 1880s, various foreign (that is, non-Digo) Muslims came to reside in Digo villages. Some were or had been slaves; the others were an assorted group, and included Arab, Chonyi, Gunya, Comorian and Segeju Muslims.60 They tended to settle in villages such as Tiwi, Diani, Uk:unda and Tsimba, some distance from the main towns. Some of the new immigrants came to trade, others to fish or farm; in one way or another, most were starting a new life. The immigration of foreigners was possible only because local Digo Muslims acted as hosts,61 a role they evidently acquired and accepted after associating with a broad range of foreign Muslims in urban centres. Digo Muslims welcomed and sponsored the new arrivals. They were given land to cultivate.62 Some took Digo wives, and were received into Digo clans.63 Towards the end of the 19th century, Baluchi immigrants settled farther inland at Kikoneni.64 The coming of foreign Muslims to Digo villages was an important develop- ment for Digo Islam. For the first time, Digo villages were attracting Muslim immigrants in a way similar to Muslim towns. Though few in number, the new Muslim residents gave impetus to the Digo Muslim community. Some began to proselytise65 and to do some teaching,66 and in at least one case the Muslim wife of a foreign immigrant is known to have proselytised among Digo women.67 At approximately the same time as foreign Muslim immigrants started to settle in Digo villages, second-generation Digo Muslims from south of Mombasa began to learn the Qur'an.68 Some Digo converts sent their children away to study, to Mombasa or Muslim villages such as Mtanganyiko or Pongwe;69 others, particu- larly the more influential elders, invited foreign Muslim teachers to come to their village to teach.70 Many of the foreign teachers were Gunya or Segeju.71 They were not scholars (it would be incorrect to call them 'ulama 12 , nor did they represent Sufi 60 See Chapter IV, pp.118-119,126, and Chapter V, pp.149,154. 61 See Chapter IV, p.126, and Chapter V, p.149. 62 See Chapter IV, p.118. 63 See Chapter V, p.l49. 64 See Chapter V, pp.162-163. 65 See Chapter IV, p.119. 66 See Chapter V, pp.168-169. 67 See Chapter IV, p.122. 68 That is, the children (or in at least one case, the grandchildren) of the first resident Digo converts. The Digo in Muslim villages north of Mombasa began schooling before the Digo south of Mombasa, and some were already teaching by the 1890s. See Chapter IV, pp.l20-121. 69 See Chapter IV, pp.108,110-111. 70 See Chapter IV, p.111, and Chapter V, p.l63. 71 See Chapter IV, pp.111,122, and Chapter V, pp.l63,168-169. 72 The Arabic word 'alim (plur. 'ulama) is used for a learned Muslim who is well versed in 'ilm (higher Islamic religious knowledge). -179 brotherhoods (which came later).73 But the teachers were more than qualified for their task, which was to impart basic literacy and the ability to read the Quean by rote.74 The foreign teachers began by teaching the children of their host families; but children of other converts were attracted and allowed to learn as weli.75 The first Digo teachers and the rise of Muslim institutions, 1890-1910 Until 1890, much of the energy sustaining Digo Islam had come from foreign Muslirns.76 In the 1890s, the situation changed remarkably: second-generation Digo Muslims completed their Qur'an studies and began to teach;77 and Digo teachers from northern Muslim villages migrated to Digo villages south of Mombasa.78 By the end of the 19th century, at least six Digo Muslims were teaching among the Digo,79 where they had become a potent proselytising force. More remarkable still was the construction of Digo mosques at that time. In 1890, there were no Digo mosques. By 1900, Digo Muslims had built five mosques, 80 and during the next decade they built fourteen more.81 The apparently sudden appearance of indigenous Digo mosques and teachers -a kind of flowering of Digo Islam- was the outcome of several decades of slow internal growth nurtured by outside agents of Islam. To reach this state, Digo 73 See Chapter IV, pp.104-105. 74 There is no record of the first village teachers teaching higher religious knowledge, nor in general were the teachers them- selves highly educated; but of the devotion and effectiveness of their teaching there is no doubt. In addition to basic literacy and Qur'an reading, the first teachers probably instructed Digo Muslims in such matters as prayer, food regulations, etc., which do not appear in the Qur'an. Higher levels of scholarship came early in the 20th century, when Digo who had studied advanced Islamic knowledge in such places as Lamu, Barawa, and Mombasa returned to their home villages. 75 See Chapter V, p.163. 76 A few urbanized Digo Muslims may have returned to Digo villages earlier and done some elementary teaching, for example, Mwalimu Mnena of Kikoneni (see Chapter V, p.160). According to Bunger, the return of urbanized Pokomo Muslims to their home area played a key role in the islamization of the upper Pokomo. Cf. Robert L. Bunger Jr., Islamization among the Upper Polromo (Syracuse 1973), 68. 77 See Chapter IV, pp.H0-111. 78 See footnote 66 above, and Chapter IV, pp.106,120-121. 79 The teachers were Amri bin Abeid at Likoni (Chapter IV, p.106); Sulayman Mwanyemi at Bombo (Chapter IV, p.111); Mwalimu Ali at Pungu (Chapter IV, p.110); Mwalimu Saidi at Matuga (Chapter IV, p.114); Juma Matungale and Makarani Fadhili at Tiwi (Chapter IV, pp.120-121). In this development can be seen the impact of the village of Mtanganyiko: four of the six Digo teachers had either learned or taught there. (See Chapter III, pp.91-92). The subsequent decline of Mtanganyiko, which was calamitous for northern Mijikenda Muslims, was at the same time a severe loss for the whole of Mijikenda Islam. 80 The mosques were the Pungu Mosque (Chapter IV, p.ll0-111), Kingwede Mosque (Chapter IV, pp.ll0-111), Riyadha Mosque (Chapter IV, p.106), Mkoyo Mosque (Chapter IV, pp.120-121) and Jego Mosque (Chapter V, p.169). Also see Appen- dix XII. 81 Namely, from north to south, Bomani Mosque (Chapter IV, p.108), Bombo Ganjoni Mosque (Chapter IV, p.111), Bujuni Mosque (Chapter IV, p.114), Kitsanga Mosque (Chapter IV, p.121), Mwaroni Mosque (Chapter V, p.151), Mwabweni's Mosque (Chapter V, p.154), Mtambwe Mosque (Chapter V, pp.l56-157), Mwanyaza Mosque (Chapter V, p.157), Mophe Mosque (Chapter V, pp.163-164), Gandini Mosque (Chapter V, p.164), Mtakuja Mosque (Chapter V, p.169), Chuini Mosque (Chapter V, p.169) and Gonja Mosque (Chapter V, p.170). -180 Muslims had progressed through successive stages: initial contacts with town Muslims, intense rural-urban relations facilitating conversion, the first resident Digo conversions, continuing association with town Muslims, the participation of resident converts in urban religious life, the immigration of foreign Muslims to Digo villages, the return of urbanized Digo Muslims, and the teaching of Digo pupils by foreign teachers. Collectively, these events embodied dealings with hundreds of foreign Muslims, and constituted a massive injection of external Muslim influence into Digo society. The growth of Islam took place so gradually and so naturally that the transition from one stage to another82 was perhaps hardly perceptible even to the Digo themselves, just as the daily growth of a child is imperceptible to parents until one day they find he is a man. With the building of Digo mosques and the opening of Digo Qur'an schools -the beginning of indigenization- the focus of Digo Islam shifted from Muslim towns to Digo villages. Though the role of foreign Muslims was still important, the transition from foreign to Digo leadership had begun. Friday prayer now took place in Digo mosques, and was led by Digo Imams. Digo villages where mosques were first built, such as Pungu and Tiwi, radiated Muslim influence to neighbouring Digo villages,83 and assumed an islamizing role among the Digo similar to that played by Muslim towns. In this, Digo Muslims had the advantage over foreign Muslims of being indigenous; the leaven of Islam could be expected to work more effectively from within. Education and internal momentum, 1910-1933 By 1910, Islam had taken root among the Digo, and acquired a certain internal momentum.84 There was little doubt Islam would continue to spread; it was a question of how slow or how fast, and to what extent. Much of the subsequent drive and strength of Digo Islam must be attributed to the active propagation of the first Digo teachers and Imams.85 They were a different kind of Muslim from their fathers and grandfathers. From youth they had been more intensely exposed to Islam, and at school they usually acquired a stronger devotion and dedication to religious practices. Those who schooled in Muslim towns or villages away from home underwent a deeper transformation than those who were taught in their 82 There was, of course, overlapping between stages, and uneven growth; some areas were only just entering a period of resident conversion when others were welcoming the first educated school-leavers. See p.174, footnote 33. 83 See Chapter IV, pp.120-121, and Chapter V, pp.148,154. 84 The same may have been true among some of the coastal peoples of Tanganyika. See John Iliffe, A Modem History of Tanganyika (Cambridge 1979), 212-213. 85 See Chapter IV, pp.110,114, and Chapter V, p.157-158. -181 home villages.86 Thus, inadvertently perhaps, the early Digo converts who educated their children had brought about a deepening of Muslim influence.87 By raising the standards of knowledge and devotion, education had an enduring impact, and played a major role in consolidating and furthering the growth of Islam. The uncentralized nature of Digo societySS helped to spur the development of Muslim institutions. Initially Digo Muslim villagers were content to attend Friday prayer in a Digo village not their own, but it was not long before a sense of village identity (based on clan and lineage), and an element of rivalry and competition between neighbouring villages, prompted a flurry of mosque-building.89 Thus Islam began to spread through the natural framework of society. For a village to have a mosque became a matter of prestige and a measure of progress. It was not uncommon for Muslim villagers to build a mosque as soon as someone of the village had reached a sufficiently high standard to be Imam.90 As more young men finished their studies, more mosques were built, and eventually most Digo villages with Muslim communities came to have their own mosques. During these years, the influence of foreign Muslims continued, at a higher level: they instructed Digo in advanced Islamic knowledge ('ilm)91, trained them for Imamship,92 and promoted maulid.93 But Digo Muslims, preoccupied with local matters of land94 and inheritance,95 and growing tension within Digo society,96 were largely oblivious of the contemporary issues, such as reform and mahdism, that concerned the wider Muslim world in Africa.97 86 A good example would be Muhammad Mbwana, who promoted the Qadiriyya among the Digo. (See Chapter IV, pp.104- 105.) He is said to have spent three years in Lamu followed by thirteen years in Somalia. He was away from home and out of contact for such a long time that his parents, thinking he had died, went to check with the Chief Qadhi whether they should hold mourning ceremonies for him or not. (Shakombo Ali, Mtongwe, 22/9/87.) Digo Muslims who lived in a Muslim com- munity away from home for a prolonged period, clearly underwent what Turner calls a "liminal transition", separated from their own society "with abundant opportunity to learn and speculate on ultimate things.• (Cf. Victor Turner, Dramas, Fields and Metaphors, London, 1974: 259.) During this time, their previous status was destroyed and they emerged prepared for "new responsibilities and privileges." (Cf. Victor Turner, The Ritual Process, London, 1969: 103.) 87 In contrast, Muslim institutions failed to develop in northern Mijikenda villages where the younger generation of Muslims were not educated. See Chapter III, pp.86,99. 88 See Chapter I, pp.29-32. 89 See, for example, Chapter IV, pp.l24-125,129, and Chapter V, p.157. 90 See Chapter IV, pp.124-125. 91 See Chapter IV, pp.lll-112. 92 See Chapter IV, p.124. 9J See Chapter V, pp.152-153. 94 See Chapter IV, pp.130-135. 95 See Chapter IV, pp.135-143. 96 See Chapter IV, pp.llS-116. 97 For a summary and analysis of these issues, see C.C.Stewart, 'Islam,' in A.D.Roberts (ed), The Cambridge History of Africa, vol.7 (from 1905 to 1940), 191-222. The different circumstances in East Africa and West Africa are clear when one considers, for example, that Islamic law (shari'a) became the legal code for Senegalese Muslims in 1857. Cf. Stewart, 'Islam,' p.206. -182 The early years of colonial mle, 1895-1933 The growth of Islam among the Mijikenda during the first decades of colonial rule is best understood as the continuation of processes already underway. By the time Britain assumed colonial power in 1895, Mijikenda Muslim communities existed north and south of Mombasa, and the broad outlines of Mijikenda Islam had been traced. Colonial rule did not so much establish the course of Islam as modify and influence its direction. The advent of colonial rule coincided with the Rising of Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid, who attempted to rally anti-colonial fervour under the banner of Islam.98 The Mijikenda response was mixed. Secular relations and common economic interests seem to have been more important than religious ideology in creating an anti-colonial bond. Many of the northern Mijikenda, pagans and Muslims alike, who had long-standing relations and close economic ties with the Mazrui,99 supported Shaykh Mbaruk. Most Digo south of Mombasa, whose links with the Mazrui were tenuous, if not hostile,100 showed little inclination to join the Rising. Islam has sometimes emerged as a by-product in the aftermath of similar risings,101 but no such link is evident between the spread of Islam and the Rising of Shaykh Mbaruk. After the Rising, conditions north of Mombasa were not favour- able to the growth of Islam, and the northern Mijikenda, mainly pagan before the Rising, did not turn to Islam in large numbers thereafter. The town of Mtanganyiko, the main centre of northern Mijikenda Islam, never fully recovered after being destroyed in 1895.102 The Rising did not benefit the northern Mijikenda Muslims. Rather, by disrupting the plantation economy the Rising disabled the Muslim communities that were sustaining Islam among the northern Mijikenda, and debilitated the very Islam it purported to promote.103 In spite of being under strong Muslim influence by 1895, the Digo displayed little anti-colonial feeling, perhaps because of their long-standing ties with the Busaidi Arabs of Zanzibar, who were seen as acquiescing to, if not supporting, British rule. Digo Muslims were sensitive, however, to Christian influence, and opposed colonial educational initiatives in which they perceived a Christian bias.104 98 See Chapter III, pp.94-%. 99 See Chapter III, pp.SB-90. 100 See Chapter V, p.145. 101 For example: "In German East Africa, the savage repression of the Maji Maji revolt in 1905-07 induced the Ngindo and other peoples in the south-east to espouse Islam as a modem belief-system which owed nothing to Europeans." Stewart, 'Islam', p.198. 102 See Chapter III, pp.97-98. 103 See Chapter III, pp.%-100. 104 See Chapter IV, p.88. -183 At the same time they readily accepted government schools that included Muslim religious education in the curriculum.105 In theory, the British colonial administration maintained a position of official neutrality towards Islam.l 06 In practice, neutrality was impossible, for colonial policies and practices had a direct effect on the lives of Muslims. When struggling to establish control during the early years of colonial rule, the British relied heavily on Muslim officials in the coastal region. From positions of authority, Muslim officials were able to promote Islam;107 at other times they used their influence with Miji- kenda Muslims on behalf of the colonial government.108 The policy favouring European agriculture (and the development of Mombasa as a port for upcountry goods) stunted the economic growth of the coastal hinterland109 and weakened Muslim society, Mijikenda Muslims included, north of Mombasa.110 On the other hand, the legal judgment of 1928 that the Islamic law of inheritance should apply to Digo Muslims favoured the growth of Islam among the Digo.111 The appeal of Digo elders, Muslim and pagan together, against this judgment, on the grounds that it forced the pace of change too rapidly,112 exemplifies the accommodating nature of Digo Islam and the democratic manner in which Islam had spread during the preceding sixty or seventy years.113 The effect of the First World War on Islam among the Mijikenda is difficult to gauge. Many Mijikenda were displaced, permanently or temporarily, 114 and others were exposed to outside influences (including other African Muslims) through contacts with refugees or work in the Carrier Corps.115 Some Muslim refugees from German East Africa remained in Kenya after the War,116 and one foreign Muslim ex-soldier is known to have settled among the Mijikenda and undertaken Qur'an school teaching.117 The part of Mijikenda country where Islam grew most vigorously 105 In 1931, the District Officer noted that the Digo are "not adverse to education but they are very insistent on the Koranic teaching being included in the curriculum of the bush schools." Annual Report 1931, Digo District, KNA, DC/KWL/1/17. 106 See Chapter IV, p.138. 1°7 See Chapter IV, pp.116-117,129. 108 As for example when the British asked the Liwali to exhort Digo Muslims to withdraw their applications for land titles. See Chapter IV, p.l34. 109 See Chapter III, p.75. 110 See Chapter III, pp.96-97. 111 See Chapter IV, p.142, and Appendix VII. 112 See Chapter IV, p.142. 113 The Digo elders who first became Muslim had hardly propagated Islam. Though second-generation and third-generation Digo Muslims were more assertive, their behaviour was never coercive. Now, as late as 1928, many Muslim Digo elders were doing all they could to assuage their pagan colleagues. 114 See Chapter V, pp.145-146. 115 See Chapter III, p.99, footnote 166. 116 See Chapter V, p.146, footnote 18. 117 See Chapter IV, pp.123-124. -184 after the War, from Msambweni north to Mombasa, was not directly affected by the fighting. South of Msambweni, the War was more disruptive; some villages with Muslim communities were abandoned and never reoccupied.ll8 The broadening character of the First World War is usually considered a catalyst of social change in Africa. In this the Mijikenda were not excluded. It is likely that a number of Mijikenda became Muslim, or changed from being nominal to practising Muslims, because of their War experiences. But there is little evidence that they strengthened Mijikenda Islam in the rural areas in anything more than a general way. By the end of this period, clear distinctions in status existed within the Digo Muslim community. Literate Imams and teachers had emerged as a new elite in Digo society, and a hereditary tradition of learning had begun.119 Early access to schooling had been the key determinant in establishing this tradition. The children of the first generation of educated literate Digo had an enormous advantage over their age-mates whose parents were still illiterate. What was true in the rest of the Muslim world of East Africa was beginning to be true among the Digo: "The best qualification for becoming a learned man was to be the son of another learned man."120 But the standard of Islamic scholarship among Digo teachers was still relatively low, and Digo Muslims remained isolated from the greater Muslim world. The first Digo did not go on the pilgrimage (Ar. hajj) to Mecca until the 1940s. 121 Few teachers had done any advanced religious studies, and most teachers relied on these returning few for contact with the Muslim tradition of higher learning.122 The vast majority of Digo remained illiterate, or were only just beginning the struggle to acquire literacy while adjusting to the basic claims of their faith. In the early 1930s, Quranic education was still more widespread than secular education, though this advantage was soon to be lost. Members of the new class of religious clerics, some of whom were successful entrepreneurs in their own right, were among those best prepared to take advantage of the new conditions of the cash economyl23 and of "the enlarged scale of political and economic life under colonial rule."124 And at that time, before the effects of 118 See Chapter V, p.146, footnote 17. 119 The tradition continues. For example, Uthman bin Shaykh Mwinyi bin Mwalimu Ali bin Muhammad bin Ali Ganyuma is the present Imam of Pungu Mosque. See Chapter IV, pp.109-lll. There are many similar examples. 120 B.G.Martin, 'Notes on Some Members of the Learned Classes of Zanzibar and East Africa in the Nineteenth Century,' in African Historical Smdies, 4 (1971): 525-46. The quotation is on page 530. 121 Few were able to afford the cost. As far as is known, the first Digo (and the first Mijikenda) pilgrim to Mecca was Sulayrnan Abdallah Mwakuaza, the Imam of the Mkunguni Mosque. (See Chapter IV, pp.125,129.) Sulayrnan Abdallah was seen disembarking from the ship in Jidda, but then disappeared and never returned home. (Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga, 16/10/87.) This incident discouraged others. To this day, the hajj is not a strongly established custom among the Digo. 122 See Chapter IV, pp.ll1-112, footnote 50. 123 See Chapter IV, p.llO, footnote 38; Chapter V, pp.l60-165. 124 See Chapter IV, p.133. The quotation is from Andrew Roberts, 'Introduction', in A.D.Roberts (ed), The Cambridge History of Africa, vol.7 (from 1905 to 1940), (Cambridge 1986), 21. -185 secular education had been fully felt, they were the modernisers,125 and Islam was indeed a "modernising force."126 There is evidence that the rate of conversions increased steadily after the War and reached a kind of crescendo by the end of the 1920s.127 At that time, Muslim culture and criteria were clearly permeating deeper into Digo society and beginning to affect Digo life in more basic ways.128 By 1927, the Digo in some areas had begun to give up drinking palm-wine.129 And by 1935, many Digo men were wearing Swahili dress.130 The rise in Muslim feeling among the younger generation of Digo after 1920 seems to have stemmed more from a rejection of the values and authority of pagan Digo society than from a revolt against colonial rule.131 Never- theless, to put the spread of Islam among the Digo in the 1920s into perspective, we should remember that it was based on several decades of prior foundational growth. After all, by 1920 the Digo had built thirty-seven mosques. The building of thirty- three more during the decade 1920-1930 132 represented a quickening and consolidation of Islam, not a new development. External crises are often postulated to explain religious change among peoples. The growth of Islam among the Digo seems to have taken place not as a precipitous response to a crisis, but over time as the deliberate and measured acceptance of a way of life. Much of the early growth of Islam in the 19th century had been inconspicuous and unobserved. What appeared as new to colonial observers had in reality first sent down roots in pre-colonial times. Contact with the wider world in the 20th century accelerated religious change along paths that had already been charted long before the beginning of colonial rule. 125 See Chapter IV, p.141, and Chapter V, p.163. 126 Roberts, 21. 127 See Chapter IV, p.140.The Annual Reports of 1927 and 1928 both refer to this tendency. "Islam appears to be spreading amongst the coastal Wadigo." (Digo District Annual Report 1927, KNA, DC/KWL/1/13.) "Islam continues to spread among the Wadigo of the coast...The Digo are generally speaking losing their tribal characteristics and are rapidly adopting the Mohammedan religion." (Digo District Annual Report 1928, KNA, DC/KWL/1/14.) 128 See Chapter V, p.150. 129 This change, which is evidently attributable to the Muslim precept forbidding the consumption of alcoholic drink, first appears in colonial records in February 1927, when the District Commissioner wrote: "To Muhaka, Msambweni..Pongwe, Kikoneni, Mkongani...saw no signs anywhere of excessive drinking or Iembo [palm-wine] tapping." (Digo District Diary, Feb- ruary 1927, KNA, MP/47/1156.) At Kiteje, the next month, he observed: "Found no signs of tapping, and people say they have given up the practice." The next day, at Magojoni (eight miles from Kiteje), he found something similar: "Inspection of the coconut shambas revealed no signs of tapping. This is extraordinary considering that the Magojoni people were in the past a very hard-drinking crowd. It is encouraging to find that so many of the Wadigo have given up tapping for tembo [palm-wine]." (Digo District, Safari Diary, entries for 16th and 17th March 1927, KNA, MP/47/1156.) 130 In that year, commenting on the "average Digo family budget", the District Commissioner wrote: "The average poor man owns two kanzus (Swahili-style gowns], one for special occasions and one for daily use." District Commissioner, Digo District, to Medical Officer, Msambweni, 26 October 1935, "Papers of Economic interest", KNA, DC/KWL/10/1. 131 In 1924, H.B.Sharpe, the District Commissioner, wrote ihat among the Digo "religious feeling is running strongly in some locations in the Mombasa vicinity. It is taking the form of objecting to all Native Tribal authority and in requests for village Kadhis instead of native councils...a reaction of youth to the authority of age as represented by the elders." Station Diary, Vanga District, entry for 19th March 1924, KNA, DC/KWL/5/1. 132 See Appendix X. -186- Glossary The Glossary contains Arabic, Swahili and Mijikenda words that appear more than once in the text or that appear without explanation. Foreign words that appear only once with an accompanying explanation in the text are not included. In printing out the text of the thesis, it has not been possible to distinguish between the short and long vowels of Arabic words or to print out special Arabic consonants; the closest possible English transliteration has been used. 'alim (pl. 'ulama) (Ar.) - a learned person, particularly in the religious sciences clzuo (pl. ryuo) (Sw.) - a Qur'an school 'ibn (Ar.) - Islamic religious knowledge Imam (Ar.) - a Muslim prayer-leader, often in charge of a mosque jihad (Ar.) - the holy war waged by Muslims against infidels kaya (Miji.) - one of the ten original Mijikenda settlements; also used for secondary and subsidiary villages arising out of those settlements Liwali (Sw. from the Arabic wali) - Governor maulid (Ar.) - birthday, particularly of the Prophet Muhammqd; in some places the word is used to refer to the celebrations associated with that day mganga (Sw.) - one who practises healing and divination, not following written traditions mu'allim (Ar.) - a teacher of advanced Islamic religious knowledge (sometimes written as ma'allim and pronounced in Swahili as maalim) mwalimu (Sw.) - a teacher (also used for a tabibu) mwanatsi (Digo) - the senior elder of a kaya, who normally leads ritual ceremonies ngambi (Digo) - the council of elders of a Digo kaya Qadi (Ar.) - a Muslim judge (also written as Qadhi in English) Ramadhan (Sw. from the Arabic ramadan) - the Muslim month of fasting shamba (Sw.) - a plot of agricultural land sharif (Ar.) - a person who claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad tabibu (Sw. from the Arabic tabib) - one who practises healing, divination, etc., usually in accordance with a written tradition tariqa (Ar.) - a Sufi order (sometimes called a brotherhood) -188 Migration from the original kayas Beginning as early as the 17th century, the Digo migrated from their two original kayas (Kwale and Kinondo) to found new, secondary kayas (Map 6). The secondary kayas came to assume primary importance for members of the founding clans. Political institutions grew up within the secondary kayas, and elders of the secondary kayas would no longer return to their kaya of origin for religious or burial ceremonies.4 The northern Mijikenda tended to remain more centralized. They founded other kayas, but these are more aptly described as subsidiary rather than secondary (Map 5), for the inhabitants of the new northern Mijikenda kayas usually acknowledged dependence on their kaya of origin. The founders of some of the new kayas are said to have buried protective charms from an original kaya in the new kayas. In the second half of the 19th century, dispersal and extensive migration (for example, of the Duruma southwards and the Giriama northwards) brought the kaya system of the northern Mijikenda under stress.5 The following table shows some secondary and subsidiary kayas and the kayas from which they originated: Original kaya Giriama Rabai Chonyi Kambe Duruma Kwale Kinondo Secondary/subsidiary kayas Kidzini Fimboni, Chijembeni Chilulu Bate, Bura Chonyi, Kulu Mtaye, Longo, Waa Diani, Muhaka Among the Digo, further dispersal and migration from secondary kayas led to the founding of tertiary kayas, some of which are shown in the following table (see Map 6): Secondary kayas Longo Jombo Diani Tertiary kayas Kiteje, Timbwani GonJa, Chwaka, Jego Vikongeni 4 See Chapter I, pp.29-31. 5 See Map 9, p.77, and Map 14, p.217. -189 Some secondary and tertiary Digo kayas grew to prominence, but they have never had the same historical importance as the two original Digo kayas, Kwale and Kinondo. Few persons live in the kayas today. In spite of efforts by Mijikenda elders to preserve the kaya sites, the existence of some kayas is threatened by fuel gatherers who are cutting back the kaya forests. Other kaya sites have been included in forest reserves, and are relatively safe from destruction. The National Museums of Kenya has recently sponsored an ecological study of the kayas, possibly with a view to declaring some of them protected sites or national monuments.6 6 See SA.Robertson, "Preliminary Floristic Survey of Kaya Forests of Coastal Kenya," Malindi 1987. -190 Appendix II: The Nine Tribes and their Relations with the Mijikenda The Confederation of the Nine Tribes The earliest known list of the Nine Tribes (Swa. Miji Tisia), recorded by Guillain in 1848, shows the following Swahili peoples: the Mvita, Mtwapa, Kilifi, Malindi, Jomvu (including the Ozi, said to have become too few to constitute a separate group), Shaka, Pate, Faza, and Gunya.1 Another early list, compiled by Taylor in the 1880s, shows eight of the nine peoples in Guillain's list, but gives the Katwa instead of the Malindi as the ninth member.2 From a comparison of the lists of Guillain and Taylor, it would seem that either the Katwa took the place of the Malindi some time after the middle of the 19th century, or one of the writers has given the wrong information. Guillain's comment about the change of status of the Ozi may help to explain the apparent error or change, and give an answer to the question, "What happened to the Malindi?" At the time Taylor wrote, the Malindi probably still formed part of the Nine Tribes, but had been relegated (like the Ozi before them) to the status of a sub-group. If so, the emergence of the Katwa as one of the named members of the Nine Tribes, in place of the Malindi, would reflect more a change in status within the confederation than a change in confederation membership. The list recorded by Hollis in 1899 seems to confirm this.3 He shows the same nine members as Taylor, and includes the Malindi as a sub-group of the Mvita. In giving details about other sub-groups, Hollis mentions how the Jomvu (formerly a sub-group of the Mvita) had "been made a separate 'mji' [lit.= 'town']... owing to the increase in numbers of its members, whilst Ozi, which was formerly an 'mji', has now been included in [among the] Shaka." Hollis's remarks show that within the Nine Tribes, numbers (and presumably, influence) and status were related. Hollis's inclusion of the Ozi as a sub-group of the Shaka, whereas Guillain had earlier included the Ozi as a sub-group of the Jomvu, may indicate that groupings within the confederation, like status, were flexible and liable to change. We should bear in mind, too, that Guillain, Taylor, and Hollis depended for their information on Swahili informants, who would themselves have perceived the make-up of the Nine Tribes each in a particular way. 1 Gui!lain, Documents, Vol II, 237-38. 2 Taylor Papers, Vol VII, p.75. SOAS, MS 47757. To my knowledge this is the second earliest written list of the Nine Tribes. 3 "Mombasa and Kilindini" (file memo by A.C.Hollis, 19th July 1899). KNA, DC/MSA/8/2. Hollis translates the Swahili word kabila as "clan", but more properly kabila is a larger grouping than a clan, for which the usual Swahili word is mbari. See Hyder Kindy, Life and Politics in Mombasa (Nairobi 1972), 50. -191 The Swahili use two different terms for the Nine Tribes: Miji Tisia (Swa. tisia= "nine", from Arabic. tis'a) and Tisa Taifa. In this context, the Swahili use the word taifa (derived from the Arabic ta'ifa) to mean a 'group', whereas the Swahili word mji (plural. miji) has a geographical connotation and is more correctly trans- lated as 'town'. Both these terms are usually translated into English as "Nine Tribes", but the translation "Nine Towns" (for Miji Tisia) is equally correct, and more accurately conveys the fact that the members of the confederation were originally each from a different coastal town. The main members of the Nine Tribes (as shown by Taylor and Hollis) can be divided into southern and northern according to their place of origin, as follows: Southern Northern Mvita Mtwapa Jomvu Kilifi Shaka Pate Faza Gunya Katwa The four southern Swahili peoples, resident in Mombasa (as immigrants) or in towns near Mombasa, are considered the senior members. Their names are usually given first when enumerating the Nine. According to oral traditions, Mtwapa may have been founded as early as the lOth or 11th century, at approximately the same time as Mombasa.4 Preliminary archaeological findings do not support such an early date, but suggest rather that Mtwapa was founded in the late 14th or early 15th century, at the same time as the nearby settlements of Kinuni and Jumba la Mtwana.5 What is clear is that from earliest times the inhabitants of Mtwapa were closely allied with the Mvita of Mombasa, and with others such as the Ng'ombeni and the Nyali (also spelled Nyale) who are now not named among the Nine.6 It is possible that the origin of the four senior members of the Nine Tribes goes back to 4 One tradition, recorded in the early 20th century, even suggests that the Mtwapa settled in the Mombasa region before the Mvita. See "The Memoirs of Bwana Shehe wa Stambuli wa Bala" (English translation of the original Swahili text), KNA, DC/MSA/3/2. For details about the earliest known remains of Mombasa, see Hamo Sassoon, "Excavations at the Site of Early Mombasa," Azania, XV, 1980: 1-42. 5 See Map 3, p.17. James Kirkman, "Kinuni- An Arab Manor on the Coast of Kenya," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, (Oc- tober 1957): 145-150; Wilson, Monumental Architecture, 52-77; Ilamo Sassoon, The Coastal Town of Jumba la Mtwana (Mom- basa 1981). Excavations at Mtwapa are continuing, and it is premature to assign a definite foundation date to the town. 6 There is strong evidence that in the past the Ng'ombeni and the Nyali were important members of the Nine Tribes. The Ng'ombeni, who used to lead the celebrations of the Swahili New Year (Swa. siku ya mwaka), have now entirely disappeared. See "The story of four towns," an account written down by Mbwana bin Mbarafundi Elbaurie on the 29th January 1914. KNA, DC/MSA/3/2. an earlier alliance between the Mvita, the Mtwapa, the Ng'ombeni and the Nyali, which later expanded to include the Jomvu and the Kilifi. The northern members of the Nine Tribes, as their names indicate, were im- migrants to Mombasa from northern towns. Some must have taken refuge in Mom- basa during the troubles of the 16th and 17th centuries/ but others may have migrated to Mombasa in earlier or later centuries. Some immigrants were individu- als or family groups from northern towns that still exist to this day (Faza and Pate). In the case of towns that no longer exist, such as Shaka (and Ozi), whole populations may have moved, and large numbers may have migrated to Mombasa. Through intermarriage with resident Swahili, new immigrants acquired civic status as Mombasans. In this way the number of allied peoples of Mombasa in- creased. With the passing of time, what began as an alliance of the Swahili peoples of the Mombasa area came to include northern Swahili peoples as well, and became the confederation of the Nine Tribes. At some point the number of members of the confederation may actually have been nine, but which tribes constituted the original nine is unknown. As soon as more than nine peoples belonged to the confederation, some members were accommodated as sub-groups, in order to keep the stated number at nine. The significance of the number is obscure, as is the reason why the number of full (named) members has been fixed at nine. Evidently, membership was flexible, and a group that had increased in numbers could be given full membership by convenient- ly relegating a smaller group to the status of a sub-group, as happened to the Malindi and the Ozi. In addition to the eleven different Swahili peoples mentioned by Guillain, Taylor or Hollis, four other Swahili peoples are regarded as belonging, or having belonged, to the Nine Tribes either in their own right or as sub-groups of another people: the Siu (sub-group of the Katwa), the Junda (sub-group of the Jomvu), the Nyali (sub-group of the Mtwapa or the Gunya),8 and the Ng'ombeni (sub-group of the Nyali).9 Writers of the 20th century have drawn up lists of the Nine Tribes, but none has added appreciably to the information given in the 19th century lists.10 On the contrary, imprecise references have rather led to confusion in the literature 7 See Chapter I, pp.22-23. 8 When testifying in 1912, Tabit bin Muktara stated, "I am mzee [senior elder] of the Nyale tribe, a sub-section of the Bajun [Gunya] tribe. I have sold most of the Nyale land." "Testimony of Tabit bin Muktara Bajuni," Tangana Land Case, Application Cause No.15 of 1912, Land Office Archives, Provincial Land Office, Mombasa. 9 For Junda and Nyali traditions, I am grateful to Uthman Mwinyiusi, who granted me various interviews during July, August, and September, 1987. 1° For other lists, see "Memorandum on Coast Federations" (file memo by O.F.Watkins), Mombasa, 31 December 1909. KNA, DC/MSA/3/2; H.E. Lambert, Chi-Jomvu and Ki-Ngare, Sub-dialects of the Mombasa area (Kampala 1958), 10; Hyder Kindy, Life and Politics, 47, 50-51; A.I.Salim, The Swahili-speaking Peoples of Kenya's Coast, 1895-1965 (Nairobi 1973), 27. -192- about which groups make up the Nine and which Swahili peoples have special relations with the Mijikenda. Relations of the Nine Tribes with the Mijikenda Only the four southern members (the Mvita, Mtwapa, Jomvu and Kilifi) of the Nine Tribes developed special relations with the Mijikenda. How the relations originated is unknown, but the Mtwapa, Jomvu, and Kilifi were resident on the mainland and it is likely that such relations began soon after the Mijikenda arrived in the neighbouring hinterland.U The fact that the Kilifi came to have special relations with three Mijikenda peoples, the Ribe, Kambe, and Kauma, can be understood in the light of the close historical connection between the three. According to tradition, the Ribe and Kauma migrated from Shungwaya as one people, and only separated from each other after the founding of kaya Ribe; and the Kambe lived at kaya Ribe, before moving to found kaya Kambe.U The Kauma may even have moved north from kaya Ribe to kaya Kauma because they had already established relations with the Kilifi. After the Kilifi moved from Kilifi to Mombasa in the 17th century; their relations with the Ribe, Kauma and Kambe, continued from the town of Mombasa (Map 7). Unlike the other Swahili groups, the Mvita (resident on Mombasa island) had no mainland residence near the Mijikenda, but it is not surprising that the Mvita affiliated with the Giriama, when we remember that in the 18th century (and possibly earlier) the Giriama controlled trade with the interior in such items as ivory and cattle.B Krapf found the same situation (except that the Busaidi, not the Mvita, were the dominant power), when he arrived at Mombasa in the 1840s: "Most of the articles of trade brought from the interior are disposed of in the Keriama [Giriama] country where the Mombasans resort to buy them." Like the Mombasans of the 19th century, the Mvita of the 17th and 18th centuries sought the economic benefits of special relations with the Giriama.14 11 See Map 7, p.33. 12 Spear, The Kaya Complex, 30-32. 13 For details of early Giriama trade, see Brantley, 12-14. 14 Krapfs Journal, entry for 17 February 1845, CMS, CAS/016/168. -193- Appendix III: The Digo and the Kilindini The close ties between the Digo and the Kilindini (of Mombasa) are a part of the living traditions of the two peoples.1 Though the traditions say nothing about the earliest contacts between the Digo and the Kilindini, we can postulate three ways in which such contacts began. It is possible that the Digo and the Kilindini were known to each other in Shungwaya. They both have traditions of migration from Shungwaya. Some Digo and Kilindini may even have migrated from Shungwaya together. If the Digo and the Kilindini were not in contact in Shungwaya, it is likely that they first established contact with each other in the southern hinterland of Mombasa. According to one tradition, preserved among the Digo of Kikoneni, the Digo who were fleeing from Shungwaya managed to shake off their Galla pursuers by camping one night on the outskirts of a Muslim town south of Mombasa. The Galla, on hearing several muezzins calling to prayer in the town the next morning, considered themselves outnumbered and decided to move on.2 Though questionable history, the story makes good drama, and does raise the intriguing possibility that the first Digo to arrive on the southern Kenya coast found Muslim (and other) peoples settled there. Did the Digo perhaps settle at kaya Kinondo because there were other persons in the area? If so, who were these persons, and what relations did the Digo have with them? Various peoples could have been living on the southern Kenya coast at that time. The Bondei (of northeastern Tanzania) were once living north of the Umba river and are said to have moved south when the Digo arrived, but the Bondei were certainly not Muslims at that time.3 The Shirazi may have been in the Kinondo area, as well as in such towns as Tumbe, Munge, and Kifundi, in the 15th and 16th centuries (Map 2), or may have moved to the Kinondo area from the Shirazi towns farther south after being defeated by the Vumba early in the 17th century.4 The Kilindini may also have been living near kaya Kinondo. According to their traditions, they were at Ukunda before moving to Mombasa.5 From 1 Saidi bin Khalfan, Bomani, 28/10/85, Muhammad Ahmad Matano, Kibokoni, 4/12/86, and numerous other informants. The earliest European account of Digo-Kitindini relations is in C. Guillain, Documents, Vol II, 244. Also see AH.J. Prins, The Coas- tal Tribes of the Northeastern Bantu (London 1952), 40-41,46. 2 Omari Muhammad Masemo, Kikoneni, 16/1/76. 3 Testimony of Saidi Pimwe, Dar es Salaam, July 1948, and elders of Mkinga, 4th October 1948, ref. Rhodes House, MSS. Afr.r.84, E.C. Baker, "Wanyika and Wadigo notebook;pp.43 and 73. 4 In a 1917 report, the Acting District Commissioner Thompson (who made extensive enquiries about the Shirazi) noted that the remains of settlements around Galu were possibly of Shirazi origin. File Memorandum "Immigration from Shiraz", KNA, DC/KWL/3/5. 5 Guillain was the first to record Kilindini traditions in detail. C. Guillain, Documents, Vol II, 237-245; F.J. Berg, "Mombasa under the Busaidi Sultanate: the City and its Hinterlands in the Nineteenth Century;Ph.D. thesis (University of Wisconsin 1971), 40-41. -194- Portuguese records we know that the Kilindini moved to Mombasa island (where they founded the village of Kilindini) sometime after 1593, but it is not certain that they all moved to Mombasa island at the same time. They may have been scattered in several groups, some moving to live on Mombasa island, while others remained on the mainland around Ukunda, or between Ukunda and Likoni. In 1634, De Rezende wrote: "Many Arabians live both to the north and to the south along the coast belonging to the fortress of Mombasa. They are like prisoners of the Mozungullos Caffres, because they have to pay them a large tribute in cloth in order to be allowed to live in security." The "Arabians" whom De Rezende referred to as living north of Mombasa would have been the Malindi, the Kilifi and the Mtwapa, and possibly other peoples such as the Ng'ombeni.6 Some of the "Arabians" living south of Mombasa were almost certainly Kilindini. And some, at least, of the "Mozungullos Caffres" with whom they were in contact were probably early Digo settlers at kaya Kinondo. Rezende's 1634 map of Mombasa shows an unnamed mainland settlement in the Likoni area immediately south of Mombasa.7 The inhabitants of Likoni at that time were probably Kilindini (who eventually abandoned their mainland settlements later in the 17th century8). The people who settled (and built stone mosques) at Tiwi, Diani, Kongo and Ukunda, have not been identified,9 but they too could have been Kilindini, who are known to have built a stone mosque in the village of Kilindini on Mombasa island.10 A third possibility is that relations between the Digo and the Kilindini were first established in the Mombasa area. This assumes that the Digo arrived at Kinondo after the Kilindini had moved north from Ukunda. As migration brought the Digo of kaya Kinondo steadily northwards, they would have entered into contact with the peoples of Mombasa, especially with those living in the village of Kilindini on the south of the island. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Digo and the Kilindini drew closer in many ways. They began to trade more regularly, and to intermarry. The Kilindini are said to have welcomed Digo visitors, immigrants and refugees in Mombasa. A 6 See Appendix II. 7 C.R Boxer and Carlos De Azevedo, Fort Jesus and the P01tuguese in Mombasa, 1593-1729 (London 1960), 26. Rezende's map, which first appeared in the Livro do Estado da India in 1636, is reproduced in Boxer and De Azevedo, opposite p. 81. 8 Gray, 12. 9 Ruins of Muslim settlements are found at Tiwi, Diani, Kongo and Ukunda (Map 2). (Wilson, Monumental Architecture, 41- 48.) Ceramics have been found near Tiwi dating to the 14th century (Barno Sassoon, Fort Jesus Newletter, May 1974), and col- lections of pottery from the other sites indicate that the settlements may have started in the 15th or 16th centuries, but this is uncertain, as is the date when they were abandoned. For information about pottery found on the other sites, Iam indebted to Richard Wilding, the Coast Archaeologist of the National Museums of Kenya. According to Kirkman the mosques of these settlements may be as recent as the 18th century. (James Kirkman, Men and Monuments on the East African Coast (London 1964), 166-167.) 10 James Kirkman,The Jumaa of the Three Tribes at Mombasa, a Swahili Mosque, Malindi 1957. -195- -196 Digo fugitive fleeing from his countrymen would be given refuge among the Kilin- dini, and occasionally a Kilindini would take refuge among the Digo. The relation- ship was one of mutual benefit, a kind of unwritten mutual assistance treaty. In 1848, Guillain spoke of the Kilindini as having "suzerainty" over the Digo. "The Digo," he wrote, "depend on the Kilindini shaykhs" (without elaborating what that dependency entailed).11 But by the time Guillain visited Mombasa, Busaidi rule had already given the town greater military and political ascendancy over the surround- ing hinterland, and it would be incorrect to apply Guillain's assessment to Digo- Kilindini relations of the 17th and 18th centuries.U 11 Guillain, Documents, Vol II, 244. 12 See Chapter I, pp.32-34. -197 Appendix IV: The Mijikenda, the Swahili, and the Muslim Tradition of Healing The word mganga (pl. waganga) is used in Swahili, Mijikenda and many other Bantu languages. It is often translated into English as 'medicine-man', but the trans- lation fails (aside from its primitive connotations) to convey the attributes and scope of uganga (the practice or art of being an mganga). The translation 'witch' or 'witch- doctor' (formerly in vogue, but now dying out) is even less accurate than 'medicine- man', and is more appropriate for the Swahili word mchawi (pl. wachawi), which means one who practises sorcery or black magic (Swa. uchawi). An mganga is respected and sought after, and promotes his cures openly; an mchawi is feared and avoided (if he is known or suspected), and casts his spells in secret.1 A Mijikenda mganga practises healing on a broader scale than a Western- trained general practitioner. An mganga is as much a seer and consultant as a healer. He treats misfortune as well as illness, and undertakes to cure or advise about circumstances that a Western medical doctor might normally refer to a psychiatrist or social counsellor. In this regard, an mganga can be considered a gen- eral therapist who treats bodily, mental and social disorders. Most waganga are generalists, able to deal with a wide range of complaints, from toothaches to rheumatism to infertility. Treatment can be preventive as well as restorative. Just as an mganga senses the past causes of present ills, he is able to foresee the future consequences of present behaviour. He has special insight into the moral and spiritual dimension of human acts. This is particularly important in a society where disease and misfortune are not always attributed to natural or human causes. And so an mganga is consulted about such matters as the propitious day and hour for one's wedding, or why one's marriage is going wrong, or what one should do to succeed in one's business. This dimension of therapy is, of course, present in the Western world (with a different approach) in the field of social or vocational counselling, but is not considered medicine in the strict sense. The tradition of healing among the Swahili is referred to as utabibu wa kitabu, that is, "the art of healing by the book." "The book" in this case does not refer to the Qur'an, but to the fact that the healer is working from written medical texts, some of which may have been handed down from father to son, or within the same family, for generations. A Swahili healer is called tabibu, or out of respect he might be called mwalimu (lit. teacher). The Swahili would not call him an mganga, 1 The dividing line between uganga and uchawi lies more in intentions than in methods. An mganga using his power for evil purposes becomes an mchawi. Cf. Farouk Topan, "Oral literature in a ritual setting: The role of spirit songs in a spirit- mediumship cult of Mombasa, Kenya," Ph.D. thesis (University of London 1971): 127-28. For an extensive commentary on sor- cery (on the Tanzania coast), see Peter Lienhard!(ed and trans), 77te Medicine Man, Swifa ya Nguvumali (Oxford 1968): 51-80. -198 because an mganga is an unlettered person (no matter how efficacious his treat- ments may be), whereas a tabibu has had to study and read in order to learn his skills. Within the Swahili tradition of healing, there is much that belongs to the legacy of classical Muslim medicine2 (in large part derived from the Greek belief in the four humours that determine, by their relative proportions, a person's health and temperament), but Swahili practice has been modified by local beliefs. For example, Muslim healers in Mombasa use anonymous Arabic texts (printed overseas) that have clearly been written on the East Mrican coast, for they contain Swahili words, and references to local medicines.3 Use of the written word is perhaps the main feature that distinguishes the Swahili tabibu from the Mijikenda mganga. A Swahili tabibu may prescribe potions and medicines prepared from roots and herbs (Swa. miti shamba), just as a Mijikenda mganga might, but the Swahili tabibu will do so following techniques described in written texts, whereas the Mijikenda mganga will do so following methods he has been taught without texts. Another difference is that a Swahili tabibu uses herbs imported from India, whereas an mganga uses local roots and herbs. The mganga has been influenced by Islam, however, to the extent that, like his Muslim counterpart, he will use pieces of written text (of the Qur'an) to prepare amulets (Swa. hirizi; Arabic. hirz).4 A Muslim tabibu fashions many kinds of protec- tive charms, whose power is recognized, by Muslim and non-Muslim alike, as being especially efficacious.5 The difference between Swahili and Mijikenda medicine is clearly seen, for example, in the practice of geomancy (Swahili. kupiga ramli; Mijikenda. kupiga bao),6, the use of protective charms, and the interpretation of dreams. In Swahili 2 As Browne has pointed out, the Muslim tradition of medicine is quite different from the Western tradition: "Of the Prophet's own ideas about medicine and hygiene, we can form a fairly accurate idea from the very full and carefully authenti- cated body of traditions of his sayings and doings, which, after the Quran, fom1s the most authoritative basis of Muslim doc- trine. If we take the Sahih of ai-Bukhari, we find at the beginning of the 4th volume, two books dealing with medicine and the sick, containing in all 80 Chapters. This looks promising; but when we come to examine them more closely we find that only a small proportion deal with medicine, surgery or therapeutics as we understand them, and that the majority are concerned with such matters as the visitation, encouragement and spiritual consolation of the sick, the evil eye, talismans, amulets and protec- tive prayers and formulae." Edward G. Browne, Arabian Medicine (Cambridge 1921): 11-12. 3 One of the better known books is Sa'at ul Khabar printed in Cairo, Egypt. Local handwritten texts in Arabic (with Swahili words and phrases) are also used. 4 Parkin notes how some (non-Muslim) Giriama waganga increase their repertoire by buying charms from Swahili (Muslim) matabibu in Mombasa or Malindi. David Parkin, Palms, Wine and Witnesses (London 1972), 40. 5 Such charms usually contain Quranic texts in one form or another. They can be made out of a piece of wood, metal, leather, or other durable matter, which becomes the material resting-place of the vital essence of the spell used to create the charm. A charm is basically protective, but its magic force can also be productive. See A.H.J.Prins, "Islamic Maritime Magic: a Ship's Charm from Lamu," in H.J.Greschat and II. Jungraithmayr (eds), Wort und Religion: Kalima na Dini (Stuttgart 1969): 294-304. The Digo are said to consider some amulets so powerful that one is protected by them even when breaking a taboo. See L.P.Gerlach, "Some Basic Digo Conceptions of Health and Disease,", pp.9-34 in Proceedings of a Symposium on "Attitudes to Health and Disease among some East African Tribes" held at Makerere College, Kampala, December 1959. 6 The Swahili word ramli is derived from the Arabic word ram!, meaning "sand"; geomancy in Arabic is 'ilm ul-ramli, literally, "knowledge (or science) of the sand." -199 geomancy, there are texts to be consulted, and figures to be drawn and interpreted. The Mijikenda diviner (Mijikenda. mbumga) has no texts to consult. Instead he uses natural objects, seeds from trees, sticks, etc. whose manipulation (allowing them to fall onto the ground, measuring them, etc.) gives him an effective means for inter- preting the future. The work of a diviner is in the nature of consultancy about future options, but he also prescribes cures for patients whose sickness is the result of wrong actions in the past. The interpretation of dreams is not considered part of the work of a Swahili geomancist. Nor is the interpretation of dreams strictly the work of a Swahili tabibu. Some old Swahili persons are known to have knowledge about the meaning of dreams. One might consult an old man or woman, or a friend, about a dream, but this would usually be done without payment of a feeJ Among the Mijikenda, on the other hand, an mganga is consulted about dreams and their meaning. Among the Swahili, women tend to specialize in dealing with spirit possess- ion and in exorcism. Some men might do this work, but it is seen as something separate and outside the mainstream of the work of a tabibu.8 And women special- ize in other fields. For example, one can find women in Mombasa who set broken bones, or who are mid-wives (Swa. mikunga), but a woman who does such work is not considered a tabibu. The exorcism of Muslim spirits is sometimes conducted by a Muslim mwalimu (teacher), and can involve the recitation of the fatiha (opening verse of the Qur'an), the burning of incense, and the reading of religious texts, in addition to dancing and singing.9 Some Muslim teachers, notably Shaykh Al-Amin in more recent times, have spoken out and written against the evils of believing in spirits and consulting waganga, but this does not seem to have changed popular practice. 7 The text that is usually consulted is the Ta'bir ar-Ru'ya by ibn Sireen. 8 See Topan, "Oral literature in a ritual setting," 134-177. 9 G.E.T.Wijeyewardene, "Swahili Conceptions of Health and Disease," pp.83-94 of the Proceedings of a Symposium on "Atti- tudes to Health and Disease among some East African Tribes" held at Makerere College, Kampala, December 1959. -200 Appendix V. Ten Biographical Sketches (The following biographical sketches give some idea of the variety of motives that led Mijikenda to migrate to Takaungu and nearby Mazrui villages, the relations of Mijikenda with Muslims in the area, and the circumstances of Mijikenda conversion to Islam. Some names have been altered to preserve anonymity, but the facts remain unchanged. I am grateful to Muhammad Salim Baya for his assistance in doing field work in this area.) i) My father was a Giriama farmer at Kakoneni. The reason he came to Takaungu was because both his mother and his father had died, and he and his brothers had no one to look after them, so they decided to go to the coast and look for work. My father worked for a Gunya by the name of Muhammad, doing housework and work in the fields. My father's brothers went elsewhere. One went to Gunya country up north where he became a Muslim, and another brother went to Gongoni where he got married and stayed. Another brother got work with a Mazrui at Takaungu, and later went to Mtondia. My father became a Muslim, but he never got a chance to study the Qur'an. My mother was a Giriama from Ganze. My father converted her before marry- ing her. When word reached her father back in Ganze that she had been converted to Islam, he wasn't at all pleased. He immediately sent back the dowry payment and told his daughter to come back to Ganze. My father didn't accept the dowry pay- ment back, but he then promised that he wouldn't force my mother to follow Islam. In fact, by the end of his life he wasn't following Islam either. He left off fasting and he even stopped praying. ii) My grandfather on my father's side was born at Chonyi. When he was a young man, he came to Takaungu as a mercenary to fight for the Mazrui in the Mazrui- Giriama war [1883]. There at Takaungu my grandfather became a Muslim, and married my grandmother who came from Duruma during the Mwakisenge famine [1884]. He converted her to Islam when she was still a young girl. My grandmother never learned about religion, the only thing women were taught then was how to cultivate. My other grandfather was a Kauma. He learned at a Qur'an school in Mavueni at Mambo's. He had come to Takaungu because his brothers wanted to kill him. At Takaungu Salim bin Rashid gave him land to farm at Mavueni. There at Mavueni my grandfather married a Kauma Muslim woman. After she died, he married a Giriama woman from Kaloleni who had come to Takaungu. She wasn't a Muslim, but he converted her. -201 iii) My grandmother was born in Kauma. Her parents weren't Muslim, but she became a Muslim because of her mother's sickness. Her mother was so sick she couldn't go for water or firewood or anything, she couldn't even cook. So my grand- mother's father decided to marry off his oldest daughter, the older sister of my grandmother, at Mkomani so he could get money to marry a second wife. My grand- mother was only four years old then, but she went to stay with her older sister at Mkomani. There were some Muslims at Mkomani, but my grandmother and her sister weren't staying with Muslims, they were staying with Chonyi. My grandmother saw that if she left Mkomani and went to Takaungu, things might be better. So she ran away to Takaungu and was taken in there by a Mazrui family. Besides, she had decided to become a Muslim. When she told the wife of the household that she wanted to become a Muslim, she was taken to Abdallah bin Hemed who was the one who converted her. A woman can't be converted by a woman, because then whose daughter would she be? Later my grandmother had to hide because her Chonyi in-laws came looking for her, but Abdallah (who had con- verted her) helped her. He took her into his own house. There she learned how to cook, and Abdallah looked for a husband for her. iv) My father was living together with two brothers and a sister in Giriama. Their older brother started catching and selling people, and they got worried that they might be sold, so they decided to run away to Mtanganyiko. There, a Gunya by the name of Mzee Mwinyi took them in, and looked after them. He was the one who converted them to Islam. Later my father started trading at Mtanganyiko. v) When my grandfather came to Takaungu from Chonyi during the Magunia famine [1899], he was already a mature man. He was one of eleven children (ten brothers and one sister), the rest of whom all died of smallpox. When he saw he was alone, he decided to come to Takaungu to start a new life. At Takaungu he was taken in by Muhammad Abdallah bin Nasir, a Mazrui, and he began cultivating for Muhammad until finally Muhammad gave him his own land to farm. He grew maize and planted coconut trees, some of which you can still see at Takaungu. My mother was a Duruma, whose mother had come to Takaungu during the Mwakisenge fam- ine [1884-5] with her two children, one on her back and the other in her arms. When my grandmother reached Takaungu she was taken in by Abdallah bin Nasir. She became a Muslim, but she didn't get married at Takaungu; she just stayed with her children until she died. She began growing maize and cassava -in those days if you asked for land, you would be given some. My father had a farm at Mkongani. I didn't learn the Qur'an, nor did my father or mother. Even though people became Muslims, they didn't take their religion seriously. I never saw my mother pray. She just used to fast during Ramadhan. -202 vi) My mother was a Zaramo and my father a Yao. My father was caught by his own people when he was a young boy and sold to Said Uthman at Takaungu. His master brought him up as if he were his own son. My father died when I was a young boy and Said continued to look after me. I remember one day I was walking through the market with him, and he asked me, "Do you want a kikoi [a kind of loin-cloth]?" I said, "Yes," and he bought it for me. I stayed with him, and when I was ready to marry, he paid the dowry for me. Then I started working as a porter carrying sacks of rice and grain. The grain was coming from Giriama. We would load it on the dhows to be sent to Arabia. The people coming from Arabia to trade would bring clothes, and food like dates to sell to the people here. vii) My great-grandfather Ali was a Digo living at Tiwi. He left Tiwi to come to Mkongani because he had been asked to pay a heavy fine for his son who had run off with someone's daughter. My great-grandfather asked to be given two days to raise the fine, but then decided to leave instead of paying it. The next day he took his wife and five children, together with his brother and his brother's family, and made his way to Likoni, where he crossed to Mombasa. In those days, one could walk across at low tide, with water up to one's chest. Though Ali knew no one at Takaungu, he had heard about the place, and he decided to go there. His brother decided to settle at Mkomani (Kisauni). When Ali reached the outskirts of Taka- ungu, he was spotted by one of the soldiers who brought him before Salim bin Khamis. Salim asked him where he was from and why had come to Takaungu, and then made him stay in Takaungu while he checked with other villages to see whether any slaves had escaped. When Salim was satisfied that Ali was not an escaped slave, he ordered him to be given land to cultivate at Mkongani. My great-grandfather was already a Muslim when he came to Mkongani, but I don't know how he was converted. My grandfather on my mother's side was a Duruma who came to Mkongani looking for a place to stay. Ali gave him land, and he married one of Ali's daughters (my grandmother). Other Digo came to Mkongani, people like Abdulrahman Mwamcharo, Amri bin Omar, and Ali Mwakopa. Omar Mwamcharo built a small mosque out of mud and poles, but it fell down later. viii) My grandfather, a Giriama, had a Mazrui friend living at Konjora. I don't know how their friendship started, maybe they were neighbours. When my father was born, he was given as a small boy to the Mazrui to be brought up. So my father never had to become a Muslim, he was just raised a Muslim from childhood. When he was still a young boy, he started helping out in the shop of this Mazrui. When the Mazrui died, my father moved from Konjora to Tezo and turned to farming. My mother was the daughter of a Giriama Muslim convert and a Ribe woman. My mother never went to Qur'an school, but her brother did. -203 ix) My grandfather was a Yao. He was captured as a slave when he was a small boy and taken to Kilwa. There he was bought by Arabs and brought to Mombasa. After living in Mombasa for some time, trouble broke out between the Mazrui and other tribes, and the Mazrui went to Takaungu and Gasi. My grandfather came to Takaungu with the first Mazrui. When my grandfather was taken as a slave, he wasn't a Muslim, but later he was converted by his master, not only that, he was circumcised there in Mombasa. After reaching Takaungu, my grandfather met my grandmother, a Chonyi, who had come to live at Takaungu. My grandfather never got any religious education, because it wasn't easy for someone like him. At that time there was only one slave in the whole of Takaungu who was given a chance of education by his master, a slave by the name of Khamis Chande. He was so favoured by his master that he was even taken on the pilgrimage to Mecca. There was one Mazrui, Ali bin Sulayman, whose mother was an Ngindo. Ali always treated the Ngindo kindly. He used to attend their spirit dances and would ask them to bring him some of the gruel (Swa. uji) that was cooked for such occa- sions. The doings of the Mazrui were amazing. For example, once Rashid bin Salim's sister was sick and needed special medicine from the forest. The town-crier went around blowing his horn and announcing that all the people of the town had to go out into the forest to look for the medicine, whoever ignored this call did so at his own risk. x) My father was born at Tsangalaweni (Giriama). He came to Takaungu during the Magunia famine [1899] to stay with a sister of his who was married there. He was given work in an Arab's shop measuring oil and scaling fish. Then he got a job with a Barawa trader who had a shop at Mtanganyiko and was taking good to Vitengeni. They used to take soap and oil and cloth to sell there. And later he came to work for a Hadhrarni Arab at Takaungu. He had lived with Muslims for over ten years, but he still hadn't become a Muslim. His Hadhrami master kept telling him to become a Muslim, which he finally did. The Hadhrami paid his marriage dowry for him, and would buy him and his children new clothes for feastdays. -204 Appendix VI: Letters of Charles Dundas 1) Charles Dundas, District Commissioner, Mombasa, 1st July, 1915, to Charles Robley, Han. Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa Sir, I have the honour to submit the following for your consideration:- It seems in the past to have been assumed that a great portion of the Wadigo of this District are to be regarded as Mohamedans and therefore administered as such. It is true that to the East of Shimba Hills the greater number of Wadigo profess to adhere to the Moslem Faith, but in practise this is really only a newly acquired portion of their religious beliefs and usages. It reminds me much of the headman in Nyika District who said he was a Mohamedan but if the government did not approve he was "Islamu kwa kikwetu" [a local-style Muslim] and could always exchange his kanzu [Muslim dress] for a blanket. Mohamedan and Pagan Wadigo alike join in offering sacrifices, and worship at their family graves and ancestral Kayas; one of the few who objects to Digo law is the active guardian of a Kaya, and as such the principal functionary at the pagan religious services there. They make offerings at ancient ruins and freely resort to charms, medicines, magic and tribal dances for the curing of sickness. If the Mohamedan religion were more than skin deep with these people, it might tend to reduce the excessive consumption of liquor which together with the above practises are opposed to Mohamedanism. If the men are mostly Mohamedans, their wives for the most part are not, and this is also contrary to Mohamedan religion. 2. On this veneer of Moslem faith has been based the argument that those profess- ing it should be subject to Mohamedan Law. It seems in fact to be very generally supposed that a change of religion is identical with a change of law, but I can see no foundation for the argument. There are various Mohamedan natives who have their own laws and as regards Christians, there is no Christian law, but every Christian native has his own laws. Nor is it reasonable to suppose that African ideas and Afri- can usage will cease by a mere change of religion. It may be noted that at Freretown after more than 30 years of mission activity the practice of dowry payment is still maintained. In the meantime the solution of this question should lie with the Wadigo them- selves, for it is undesirable, not to say impossible, to force Mohamedan or Digo Law upon them. 3. Despite many obstacles in their way the Digo tribal authorities continue to settle their own affairs and excepting where we have destroyed it, their councils are constituted on the original model which is also the best I have met with in any of the tribes I have had to deal with. They judge entirely according to Digo custom as the only one which is comprehensible to them. Seeing all this and having been assured by the Mudir and many Wadigo that they object to Mohamedan Law, I assembled every Ngambi of the Mohamedan Communities, and having pointed out that they had adopted Mohamedan religion, which implied that they subjected themselves to -206 5. I have previously dealt with the position of the Tribal authorities, but this is so inseparable from the above subject and is of such consequence that I desire again to call attention to the necessity of recognising and supporting them. Nothing can be gained by the deposal of authorities whose positions rest on the whole tribal organisation, but if encouraged they are bound to be very useful. By their loyalty the Wadigo of Vanga have been valuable allies in Vanga District; solely by the aid of the elders I got the Tiwi road made for motor traffic and obtained from the tribe 150 porters. They may still be of great assistance in more important directions but they may be of equal assistance to the enemy, one headman was hanged for assisting the enemy but if we had been more in touch and confidence with the Wadigo this regrettable incident might never have occurred. I cannot at any rate conceive that this is a time in which to alienate tribal authorities, and having no desire to participate in the responsibilities of such a policy, I respectfully request that something may be done to rectify the undesirable system which the administration of these people has drifted into. I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, (signed) C.Dundas DISTRICT COMMISSIONER 2) Charles Dundas, Moshi, 15 April1916, to Mr.Charles Hobley (extracts) The practice to be followed is apparently that suggested in the Chief Justice's letter 38A/16 of 25/3/16, and this letter is well and good until you get to paragraph 4 according to which, and subsequent paragraphs, the genuine Mohamedan convert is not subject to the native courts but may go to the Mohamedan Kathi [Judge] in matters of status, marriage, religion, inheritance and divorce. This means that certain persons are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Councils, and moreover it is open to anyone when it so suits his purpose, to declare himself a pure Mohamedan on which point the Kathi will decide. But the chief trouble arise in mixed cases and the most frequent of such cases will be those of inheritance. The question then crops up, can a pagan be deprived of his inheritance by a Mohamedan. For instance, A a Mohamedan dies and his property according to native custom should go to B his pagan brother, but his Mohamedan son C will claim it under Mohamedan law and the Kathi will award it to him, although the probability is that A inherited the property from his brother according to native custom. My own opinion is that so long as two laws may be applied within one and the same tribe, we shall never have satisfactory conditions and that the only proper course is to adopt for one and all the Law claimed by the majority. I cannot see why because a man chooses to become a Mohamedan, he should be entitled to exemption from the laws of his country. -207 Appendix VII: Ruling of the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa1 Court of Appeal for Eastern Aftica CA. 27/1927: Ali Ganyuma v. Ali Mohamed Held: that Mohammedan Law applies and the estate descends patrilineally. Sir Charles Griffin, Chief Justice (Uganda) The suit was first heard and decided by a native tribunal which decided that the estate descended by Wa-Digo custom, that is, matrilineally. There was an appeal to a British Court, the Second Class District Court at Kwale, and before that court an attempt was made to prove that in the clan of the \Vadigo tribe to which the deceased belonged, the customary law of inheritance was patrilineal. The Court de- cided against this contention. From this judgment there was an appeal to the Supreme Court of Kenya (His Honour Mr. Justice Stephen). This is an appeal from the District Commissioner of Kwale on the question whether the property of a native of the Wadigo tribe, who is a Mohammedan, should on his decease be distributed according to the rules of Native Law and Custom... Where natives are Mohammedans, the Mohammedan Law, in my opinion, applies to them. I therefore allow the appeal with costs both here and and in the court below. The Judgment can be supported on the provisions of the Mohammedan Divorce and Succession Ordinance enacted in 1920. Section 4 of that Ordinance is as follows: Where any person contracts marria{Se(s) as a Mohammedan, and such person dies, the law of successiOn applicable to the prop- erty...of any such person shall be in accordance with the principles of Mohammedan law. It is curious to note that throughout the whole of the proceedings in the Lower Courts, no reference has been made to the Mohammedan Divorce and Suc- cession Ordinance which governs the case. The appeal is dismissed. 1 The Appendix includes extracts of the ruling of the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa, taken from the East Africa Protec- torate LAW REPORTS (1927-28), Volume 11 (1929): 30. -209 him, "When you go to town, don't you see the people gathered together inside the buildings every day?" His nephew answered, "I see them." He told his nephew, "Well, those people are praying to God, and they get many good things, food, clothes, that's why you see people in town don't have any work to do. Tomorrow I want you to get all the people to go to the forest to cut down trees so we can build a house of God." They went off together, they cut the trees and brought them. In the afternoon they began to dig some holes. On the second and the third day the work went on apace, until on the fourth day it was finished. They waited for it (the mosque) to dry. While they were waiting for the mosque to dry, the man himself, Hamisi Mchinondo, went to Mombasa to see what was happening. He asked his sister again what the people who pray actually get. His sister answered him, "They get rewards and rest. And you, the way you are, you're not a Muslim, you should become a Mus- lim, then your affairs will prosper." So he agreed to become a Muslim. Someone was called to pour ceremonial water over him, to convert him, and he gave him the name Salehe bin Omari. His sister bought him a white gown, a sleeveless waistcoat, a hat, a walking-stick and shoes. After putting on these things, he went back home. When he got back home, he called the people and told them that he is no longer Harnisi Mchinondo, but Salehe bin Omari, that is, he had become a Muslim. He made a big feast, slaughtered a cow, and invited all the people. Then he told them, "Brothers, as I see it, there's no reason why we should be losing out. Do you see the Swahili, they just worship God, and then they get everything they need, we should do the same. I will be in front, whatever I say, you all answer, Amen." The first day Salehe bin Omari came in his white gown, he stood there at the front of the mosque, and he began to lead the prayers, and the words he said were the following: "Nchisali nasalia tumwa, chinuka chibiru china nluma." Which means, "When I pray, I pray to be served, when I rise up, my groin hurts me." And everyone answered, "Amen." As they were bowing down and rising up, these were the words that were said. The mosque prospered, people kept coming to fill it. They went on praying like this for years. Until one year, the rains were particularly heavy, so heavy that the side of the mosque near the front had fallen down and left an opening. When it came time for evening prayers, the Imam went to his place at the front and began to lead the prayers with the very same words as usual, "Nchisali, nasalia tumwa, chinuka chibiru china nluma." The people answered, "Amen," as usual. They prayed -210 the first time, then as they were saying the prayer a second time, a leopard came in through the opening and grabbed the Imam. There near the front it was small and rather dark, being evening-time, and the people were occupied with praying and didn't see the leopard. The Imam started to shout, "Alumee!" The people thought it was part of the prayer and answered, "Amen!" "Alumee!" They answered, "Amen!" "Alumee, I'm going!" "Amen!" "Alume, I'm going with a leopard!" "Amen!" "Alume, don't think this is a joke!" "Amen!" "Alume, I'm dying!" "Amen!" "Alume, help!" "Amen!" That was the way Imam Salehe bin Omari was carried away by a leopard. When the people looked towards the front they didn't see anyone, the Imam wasn't there. They went to check and only saw blood. Then they followed where he had passed, but because it was night they couldn't go far. They slept until the next morn- ing. In the morning they followed (the tracks) and found his body, with only the head left. They took the head, brought it into town and buried it. -211 Appendix IX. Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid al-Mazrui of Gasi Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid, the son of Rashid bin Salim (the last Mazrui Liwali of Mombasa), was born in Mombasa in c.1828-30. When the Mazrui left Mombasa in 1837, Shaykh Mbaruk (whose father was captured and died in Busaidi hands) went with his mother, who is said to have been a Duruma, to Takaungu. There he grew up and lived his early years of manhood. In 1865, after unsuccessfully contesting the leadership of the northern Mazrui at Takaungu, Mbaruk moved to Gasi. Abdallah bin Khamis, the leader of the southern Mazrui, agreed to give Shaykh Mbaruk the leader- ship of Gasi.l In this capacity Shaykh Mbaruk was paid a monthly subsidy by Sayyid Majid, the Sultan of Zanzibar. Relations between Shaykh Mbaruk and Sayyid Barghash, who succeeded Sayyid Majid in 1870, were strained. During the 1870s and 1880s, Mbaruk quarrelled constantly with Sayyid Barghash, who cut off Mbaruk's monthly subsidy, and used armed force against him on several occasions (1872-3, 1875, 1882, 1886). After Barghash's death in 1888, Mbaruk went to Zanzibar to see Sayyid Khalifa, the new Sultan of Zanzibar, and for a time relations between Mbaruk and the Sultanate improved. Mbaruk undertook to assist the Imperial British East Africa Company (which paid him a monthly stipend) in maintaining order,2 and refrained from open opposition to Zanzibar and the British during the next seven years. In 1895, however, Shaykh Mbaruk supported the claims of his distant cousin and namesake, Mbaruk bin Rashid of Takaungu, to the leadership of Takaungu. Together they fomented armed opposition to the Sultan of Zanzibar and the British. Shaykh Mbaruk's forceful character made him the natural leader of the Rising, which continued until April 1896 when Shaykh Mbaruk took refuge with many of his followers in German East Africa.3 1 Abdallah bin Khamis bin Hemed [Ahmed] ruled Gasi from its foundation in 1837 until 1865, when he handed over to Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid. Hardinge estimated that Mbaruk bin Rashid took over as leader at Gasi in "about 1860." ("Genealogical Tree and List of Chiefs," Inclosure in A.Hardinge, Zanzibar, 28 August 1895, to Marquess of Salisbury, "Correspondence respecting the Recent Rebellion, 18%," Africa No.6 (1896), in Accounts and Papers (Parliamentary Papers), LIX (1896): 34.) Chiraghdin, how- ever, in his authoritative study of the life of Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid, associates Mbaruk's move to Gasi with the succession dis- pute that took place at Takaungu in 1865 between Rashid bin Khamis, the son of Khamis bin Rashid, and Abdallah bin Rashid, the brother of Khamis bin Rashid: Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid supported Abdallah bin Rashid, who was unsuccessful, after which Mbaruk went to Gasi. In the same year 1865, Abdallah bin Khamis bin Ilemed agreed to give Mbaruk bin Rashid the Shaykhdom of Gasi, on the condition that Mbaruk rule in Abdallah's name until Abdallah's death. See Shihabuddin Chiraghdin, "Maisha ya Sheikh Mbaruk bin Rashid ai-Mazrui," Swahili, 31 (1960):150-79. Cashmore correctly gives the date of Mbaruk's accession to power at Gasi as 1865, but states that this took place after Abdallah bin Khamis's death. T.H.R.Cashmore, "Sheikh Mbaruk bin Rashid bin Salim el Mazrui," Norman Bennett (ed), Leadership in Eastern Aftica (Boston 1968): 109-137. The reference is on p.l14. Cashmore states that in 1837 Shaykh Mbaruk bin Rashid went to Gasi with Abdallah bin Khamis, but colonial sources and oral evidence indi- cate that Mbaruk went to Takaungu and resided there until moving to Gasi in 1865. 2 "When the Imperial British East Africa Company took over the Coast strip, Sheikh Mbaruk bin Rashid, who had constantly rebelled against the reigning Sultans of Zanzibar, was at peace with the reigning Sultan Khalif; the late General Mathews made an arrangement with the Company to employ him [Sheikh MbarukJ at a large salary to control the Coast District between the GEA [German East Africa] frontier and Tiwi." File Memo, "Two early histories of the District," KNA, DC/KWL/3/1. 3 Details about the Rising can be found in "Correspondence respecting the Recent Rebellion, 1896" Accounts and Papers (Par- liamentary Papers), Vol LIX (1896): 10-112; see also File Memos "Wasin and Vanga" and "Political llistory" (1912), KNA, DC/KWL/3/5; and "Notes on the Arab Clans of East Africa" by R.Skene (1917), KNA, DC/MSA/3/l. Mbaruk's militant character -212 In 1908, the colonial government agreed to allow Shaykh Mbaruk to return to live in Mombasa. Mbaruk requested that he be allowed to return to Gasi, a request which was granted, but he then decided to remain in Dar es Salaam.4 (continued) was evident even before he assumed leadership at Gasi; he is said to have kept daggers from Yemen at his Takaungu homestead, which he appropriately called Sana'a. I am grateful to Muhammad Abdallah Mazrui for this information, and for showing me the site of Mbaruk's homestead in Takaungu on the 4th March 1987. 4 Mbaruk bin Rashid, Dares Salaam, 9 May 1908, to the Governor; Provincial Commissioner, Mombasa, 3 June 1908, to Sheikh Mbaruk bin Rashid. (KNA, Coast Province, MP/21/76.) In 1909, the Governor wrote: "All the surviving leaders of the Mazrui rebellion have gratefully accepted the terms of the free pardon and, with the exception of Sheikh Mbaruk bin Rashid, they have now settled peacefully in this Protectorate. Sheikh Mbaruk bin Rashid has preferred to remain in Dares Salaam." (His Excellency the Governor to Secretary of State for the Colonies, 23 September 1909, KNA, Coast Province, MP/21/76.) -213 Appendix X. Digo Mosques Mosques built by Digo Muslims south of Mombasa (up to 1970) Place 1891- 1910 1901- 1910 1911- 1920 1921- 1930 1931- 1940 1941- 1950 1951- 1960 1961- 1970 Total Mtongwe/Kiteje 1 1 2 1 1 1 7 Likoni 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 9 Ng'ombenij Pungu/Bombo 2 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 12 Waa/Matuga 1 4 7 1 1 2 3 19 Tsimba (Kwale) 1 2 2 1 1 1 8 Tiwi 1 1 1 2 5 2 2 1 15 Diani/Ukunda 3 2 3 3 2 3 4 20 Kinondo/Muhaka 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 10 Msambweni 3 6 7 5 5 6 32 Mwaluphamba 1 1 2 4 Mkongani 1 1 2 1 5 Kikoneni 2 2 2 2 5 3 1 17 Lungalunga/ Pongwe-Kidimu 1 3 1 2 2 1 2 12 Total 5 14 18 33 29 23 23 25 170 The above table gives a summary, by location and decade, of mosques built by the Digo south of Mombasa during the eighty-year period 1890-1970. The rising number of mosques being built during the first four decades is graphic confirmation of the steady growth of Islam during that period. The idea of a mosque survey (a kind of geographical history of institutional Islam) evolved quite naturally in gathering information about the earliest Mijikenda mosques. People remembered, and in some cases had witnessed, the building of many of the first mosques. Thus the date. of the construction of mosques became one of the more reliable ways of fixing, if not an absolute, at least a relative chrono- logy, of early Mijikenda Islam. -214 Nevertheless, it was difficult to fix the exact date of construction of most mosques built before 1933. Informants were uncertain about dates, even when they had seen the mosque being built; and informants from different villages often gave different information about the order of building of mosques in an area. Since various mosques were sometimes built within months of each other, uncertainty was more often than not the natural consequence of trying to remember a close sequence of events more than half a century ago. Sometimes, there was a clear wish to assert the precedence of one mosque over another. Part of the initial difficulty of the survey lay in defining the nature of a mosque. Confusion arose because one informant would give the date of construction of the first temporary mud-and-thatch structure, whereas another informant would give the date of construction of the first permanent mosque (which was often the second or third building on the same site). The question "When was such-and-such a mosque built?" proved to be too imprecise. Useful information was forthcoming only after asking many clarifying questions, such as "Was that the first building?", "Was there a temporary structure there before?" etc. Eventually a general consensus emerged for most mosques, whose dating can be said to be accurate within a margin of error of five years. The sites of mosques built up to and including 1933 are shown on Maps 11A, 11B, 12 and 13. I decided to use the opportunity of the survey to get information about mosques built after 1933, but these mosques are not shown on the Maps. My original intention was to do a survey of all Mijikenda mosques, including those north of Mombasa, but it soon became clear that in spite of being the pioneers of Mijikenda mosque building (the first two Mijikenda mosques were built north of Mombasa, at Mji Mre and at Mtanganyiko), the northern Mijikenda tended to use mosques built by other Muslims, and in the long run built few mosques of their own. For this reason the above table only shows mosques built by the Digo. The survey of mosques would have been impossible without the help of student and teacher research assistants who worked in their home areas during school holidays. I would occasionally visit them in the field, and we would some- times go together to see more knowledgeable Muslim elders in the area. I would like to record my thanks to all those who took part in the survey. It is not possible to mention all by name, but I would like to thank in particular Husayn Mwadzaya, Abdallah Kugula, Mwamlole Wanakah, Mwanaisha Zani, Khamis Mwandaro, Rashid Mwazimu, Khamis Hare Omar, Rashid Kurera, Khamis Tsumo, Mwana- mkuu Ndaro, Furaha Amani, Mwanamomo Mdzomba, Sofia Saggaf, Khalid Salim, Alawy Zein Alawy, Abdallah Tsumo, Sulayman Madzengo, Ali Mfuru, Juma Musa Juma, Masud Haji Kigona and Musa Mwadunia for their work. -216- Ma'allim Muhammad Ahmad Matano, Kuze Muhammad bin Matano Mwakutanga, Mtongwe Rashid Khamis, Mkomani Muhammad Mbarak, Mtongwe Saidi bin Khalfan Mwabundu, Bomani (Likoni) Shakombo Ali, Mtongwe Sharif Aziz bin Husayn, Kibokoni Ma'allim Yahya Ali Omar, Mombasa Swalehe Abdallah, Kisauni Swalehe Muhammad, Kisauni Uthman Mwinyiusi, Mkomani KWALE DISTRICT Abdallah Ali Mwakulonda, Shamu Abdallah Hamisi Mwariale, Msambweni (interviewed by Abdallah Tsumo) Abdallah Makanzu, Diani Abdallah Mbwana, Chigongoni Abdallah Mwatari, Diani Abdallah Sulayman Zingizi, Vuga (interviewed by Musa Mwadunia) Abdurrahman Mwakutanga, Mvureni (interviewed by Sulayman Madzengo) Ali Mwavua Mwatebwe, Kibundani Bakari Mwampagazi, Chwaka Bakari Salim Gambiri, Ukunda Bakari Shehe Mwakoja, Kivuleni Fatuma Said, Tiwi Haji Sudi Miki, Bumbuni Hamad Mwachirenje, Kinondo (interviewed by Sulayman Madzengo) Hamisi Hilali Mwatumwa, Chigongoni (interviewed by Musa Mwadunia) Hamisi Muhammad Mwakuwamia, Chigato Hamisi Mwachirenje, Kinondo Hamisi Mwakalato, Diani Hamisi Mwamtunda, Lungalunga Hamisi Mwatuwano, Waa Hamisi Sulayman Bugu, Bongwe Hamza Kasim Ndaro, Kigombero (interviewed by Masoud Haji Kigona) Ibrahim Makarani, Tiwi Jerumani Chawiya, Jego (interviewed by Khalid Salim) Juma Nyevu, Makwenyeni Juma Peremende, Mvumoni Juma Salim Pati, Kitsanga Juma Zani, Kundutsi Kassim Kinjoi, Diani Kicheko Mwakiko, Jego Maalim Uthman bin Shaykh Mwinyi, Pungu Mbarakali Mwapodzo, Msukoni Mkulu bin Abdallah, Mwaluvanga Eshu Muhammad Ali Garongo, Denyenye Muhammad Ali Mwajinga, Mkwakwani Muhammad Hamza Hasan Tsari, Msambweni (interviewed by Abdallah Tsumo) Muhammad Husayn Omari Mwakilalo, Mwaembe Muhammad Matano Mwashauti, Ukunda Kilolapwa (interviewed by Hamis Tsumo) -222 Abbreviations ADM CMS IJAHS JAH JEAUNHS IRA! 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