Mafia District: History
The earliest inhabitants of Mafia Island are Bantu communities from the Matumbi, Ndengereko, and the Rufiji across the Mafia strait on the mainland. On Mafia Island, those who claim to be of Bantu ancestry, yet occasionally identify as Washirazi make up the largest group. This indicates their longstanding Muslim status where they claim to be descended from Persian immigrants who arrived on the East Coast in about the tenth century. However, in Mafia, these individuals frequently refer to themselves as Wambwera rather than Washirazi. Wapokomo, who is claimed to have arrived in the community from northern Kenya during the Portuguese era, belongs to a second, considerably smaller category. Since the Wambwera and the Wapokomo have intermarried, a significant section of the population now considers themselves to be either one depending on the circumstances.
The first written records of the island begin with various conquests starting with the Swahili Sultanate of Kilwa (11th–15th century), then the Portuguese (16th–17th century), Oman Arabs (18th century), the German Empire (1890–1915), and the British Empire (1915–1922).
The coastal civilizations of Swahili city-states were at their height during the 12th and 15th centuries. Their kings and merchants constructed mosques, pillar tombs, and palaces; they issued coins and imported products from most of the known world, including Tang and Ming China. Africans and traders from other parts of the Indian Ocean, particularly the Persian Gulf region, coexisted in these settlements.
Mafia Island had taken a leading role in long-distance trade networks circling the Indian Ocean during the Swahili period. Following its absorption in the 11th century, the Mafia's connection to the sultanate of Kilwa expanded its role in commerce networks. The Kisimani Mafia was founded on the strength of Kilwa's power. Coins recovered at both Kisimani Mafia and Kua also demonstrate this. According to the discovery of Kilwa coins, Kisimani peaked during the 11th and 13th centuries. The Kilwa Chronicle also mentions that some of the first Kilwa sultan's sons made their way to Kisimani Mafia, a modern-day name for the island's southwest tip. The Mafia Island was taken over by the Portuguese when they came in the 16th century. To oversee and protect the trade connections with the far east of the island, they constructed a fort on the east coast.
Since the Kilwa sultanate, colonial control has had a mixed impact on the history of the Mafia archipelago. Both German and British colonial rule have had a significant impact on the Island's current sociopolitical situation.
According to historian Revington, slaves of affluent people whose descendants now live in Kua and Kisimani Mafia were the main inhabitants of Mafia Island during the 17th century. The Madagascar-born Sakalava people "arrived with small canoes called 'laka' and captured many people" in the 18th century, raiding local treasuries of these small cities on Mafia Island. Despite the eventual release of the prisoners, Kua was never again conquered, and as a result of the attack, the sultan's capital was transferred to Chole Island. …