New Mombasa

Lore & Background

Mombasa's location on the Indian Ocean made it a historic trading centre, and it has been controlled by many countries because of its strategic location. Kenyan school history books place the founding of Mombasa as 900 AD. It must have already been a prosperous trading town in the 12th century, as the Arab geographer al-Idrisi mentions it in 1151. It was a part of the Kilwa Sultanate from approximately the early 14th century until the dissolution of the sultanate in 1513. The oldest stone mosque in Mombasa, Mnara, was built c. 1300. The Mandhry Mosque, built in 1570, has a minaret that contains a regionally specific ogee arch. The city later came under the occupation and control of the Omani Empire in the late 17th century. In the late pre-colonial period, it was the metropolis of a plantation society, which became dependent on slave labour based around the ivory trade. Throughout the early modern period, Mombasa was a key node in the complex and far-reaching Indian Ocean trading networks. Its key exports then were ivory, millet, sesamum and coconuts. Today, Mombasa is a tourism-based town, home to one of the state houses, with an extra-large port and an international airport.

In Their Own Story

The founding of Mombasa is associated with two rulers: Mwana Mkisi and Shehe Mvita. According to legend, Mwana Mkisi is the original ancestor of Mombasa's oldest lineages within Thenashara Taifa (or Twelve Nations). Families associated with the Twelve Nations are still considered the original inhabitants of the city. Mwana Mkisi was a queen from the pre-Islamic era, who founded Kongowea, the original urban settlement on Mombasa Island. Significantly, the names of both the queen and the city have linguistic and spiritual connections with Central Africa. 'Mkisi' is considered the personification of 'ukisi', which means 'the holy' in kiKongo. 'Kongowea' can similarly be interpreted as the Swahili locative of 'kongo', which denotes the essence of civilizational order in central Africa. These legends can be read as an acknowledgement of the Bantu-speaking origins of the Swahili people. Shehe Mvita superseded the dynasty of Mwana Mkisi and established the first permanent stone mosque on Mombasa Island. Mombasa's oldest extant stone mosque, Mnara, was built c. 1300. Shehe Mvita is remembered as a Muslim of great learning and so is connected more directly with the present ideals of Swahili culture that people identify with Mombasa. The ancient history associated with Mwana Mkisi and Shehe Mvita and the founding of an urban settlement on Mombasa Island is still linked to present-day peoples living in Mombasa. The Thenashara Taifa (or Twelve Nations) Swahili lineages recount this ancient history today and are the keepers of local Swahili traditions.

Reader's Guide

Mombasa's location on the Indian Ocean made it a historic trading centre, and it has been controlled by many countries because of its strategic location. Kenyan school history books place the founding of Mombasa as 900 AD. It must have already been a prosperous trading town in the 12th century, as the Arab geographer al-Idrisi mentions it in 1151. It was a part of the Kilwa Sultanate from approximately the early 14th century until the dissolution of the sultanate in 1513. The oldest stone mosque in Mombasa, Mnara, was built c. 1300. The Mandhry Mosque, built in 1570, has a minaret that contains a regionally specific ogee arch. The city later came under the occupation and control of the Omani Empire in the late 17th century. In the late pre-colonial period, it was the metropolis of a plantation society, which became dependent on slave labour based around the ivory trade. Throughout the early modern period, Mombasa was a key node in the complex and far-reaching Indian Ocean trading networks. Its key exports then were ivory, millet, sesamum and coconuts. Today, Mombasa is a tourism-based town, home to one of the state houses, with an extra-large port and an international airport.

Did You Know?

• Mombasa was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907.
• The oldest stone mosque in Mombasa, Mnara, was built c. 1300.
• The Mandhry Mosque, built in 1570, has a minaret that contains a regionally specific ogee arch.
• Mombasa's population was about 1,208,333 people according to the 2019 census.
• In 2018, Mombasa County Governor Hassan Joho issued a directive requiring all buildings in the Old Town and Central Business District to be painted white with Egyptian blue trim.