Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE SLAVE TRADE
Slavery has been practised in Africa throughout recorded history, but its greatest
expansion in East Africa came with the rise of Islam, which prohibits the en-
slavement of Muslims. Demands of European plantation holders on the islands
of Réunion and Mauritius were another major catalyst, particularly during the
second half of the 18th century.
At the outset, slaves were taken from coastal regions and shipped to Arabia,
Persia and the Indian Ocean islands. Kilwa Kisiwani was one of the major ex-
port gateways. As demand increased, traders made their way further inland, so
that during the 18th and 19th centuries slaves were being brought from as far
away as Malawi and the Congo. By the 19th century, with the rise of the Omani
Arabs, Zanzibar had eclipsed Kilwa Kisiwani as East Africa's major slave-trad-
ing depot. According to some estimates, by the 1860s from 10,000 to as many
as 50,000 slaves were passing through Zanzibar's market each year. Overall,
close to 600,000 slaves were sold through Zanzibar between 1830 and 1873,
when a treaty with Britain finally ended the regional trade.
As well as the human horrors, the slave trade caused major social upheavals
on the mainland. In the sparsely populated and politically decentralised south, it
fanned up interclan warfare as ruthless entrepreneurs raided neighbouring tribes
for slaves. In other areas the slave trade promoted increased social stratification
and altered settlement patterns. Some tribes, for example, began to build forti-
fied settlements encircled by trenches, while others - notably the Nyamwezi and
other central-Tanzanian peoples - concentrated their populations in towns as
self-defence. Another fundamental societal change was the gradual shift in the
nature of chieftaincy from a religiously based position to one resting on military
power or wealth - both among the 'gains' of trade in slaves and commodities.
The slave trade also served as an impetus for European missionary activity in
East Africa - prompting the establishment of the first mission stations, as well
as missionary penetration of the interior. After the abolishment of slavery on
Zanzibar, the Universities' Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) took over the
slave market, and built the Anglican cathedral that stands on the site today.
St Joseph's Cathedral
CHURCH
(Cathedral St) One of the first sights travellers see when arriving at Zanzibar by ferry are
the spires of the Roman Catholic cathedral. Yet the church is deceptively difficult to find in
the narrow confines of the adjacent streets. (The easiest route: follow Kenyatta Rd to Giz-
enga St, then take the first right to the back gate of the church, which is usually open even
