BAGAMOYO HISTORY
BAGAMOYO
HISTORY:
Bagamoyo
was the most important trading entrepot of the east
central coast of Africa in the late 19th century.
Bagamoyo's history has been influenced by Indian and
Arab traders, by the German colonial government and by
Christian missionaries. About 5 km south of Bagamoyo,
the Kaole Ruins with remnants of
two mosques and a couple of
tombs can be dated back to the
13th century, showing the importance of Islam in those
early Bagamoyo times. Until the middle of the 18th
century, Bagamoyo was a small and insignificant trading
center where most of the populations were fishermen and
farmers. The main trading goods were fish, salt, and
gum, among other things.
In the
late 18th century Muslim families settled in Bagamoyo,
all of which were relatives of Shamvi la Magimba in Oman.
They made their living by enforcing taxes on the native
population and by trading in salt, gathered from the
Nunge coast north of Bagamoyo.
In the first half of the 19th century, Bagamoyo became a
trading port for ivory and the
slave trade, with traders coming
from the African interior, from places as far as
Morogoro, Lake Tanganyika
and Usambara on their way to
Zanzibar. This explains the meaning of
the word Bagamoyo ("Bwaga-Moyo") which means "Lay
down your Heart" in Kiswahili.
It is disputed whether this refers to the slave trade
which passed through the town (i.e. "give up all hope")
or to the porters who rested in Bagamoyo after carrying
35lb cargos on their shoulders from the Great Lakes
region (i.e. "take the load off and rest"). Since there
is little evidence to support that Bagamoyo was a major
slave port (Kilwa, much further south, has earned this
status), and that tens of thousands of porters arrived
at Bagamoyo annually in the latter half of the 19th
century, it is more likely that the name of the town
derives from the latter interpretation.
The
slave trade in East Africa was officially prohibited in
the year 1873, but continued surreptitiously well to the
end of the 19th century.
In 1868, Bagamoyo local rulers, known as majumbe,
presented the Catholic "Fathers
of the Holy Ghost" with land for a
mission north of the town, the first
mission in East Africa. This caused resistance by the
native Zaramo people which was
mediated by representatives of Sultan Majid and, after
1870, by Sultan Barghash.
Originally the mission was intended to house children
who were rescued from slavery, but it soon expanded to a
church, a school, and some workshops and farming
projects.
But Bagamoyo was not only a trade centre for ivory and
copra; it was also a starting
point for renowned European explorers. From Bagamoyo
they moved out to find the source of the River Nile and
explored the African inner lakes. Some of these were
Richard Francis Burton,
John Hanning Speke, Henry
Morton Stanley and James
Augustus Grant.
Although often believed so, David Livingstone
had never been to Bagamoyo in his lifetime. Only after
his death he was laid out in the Old Church's tower
(nowadays named Livingston Tower) to wait for the high
tide to come in and ship his body to Zanzibar.
Bagamoyo
was the German headquarters of German East Africa (first
under the auspices of the German East African Company
and then the German Imperial Government) between
1886-1891. Dar es Salaam became the new capital of the
colony in 1891. During World War I,
in 1916, a British air attack and naval bombardment was
launched on Bagamoyo, the Germans were overrun and the
German garrison taken.
When the German Empire decided to build a railway from
Dar es Salaam into the interior in 1905, Bagamoyo's
importance began to decline.
Today -
Bagamoyo is a centre for dhow
sailboat building. The Department of
Antiquities in Tanzania is working to
maintain the ruins of the colonial era in and around
Bagamoyo and to revitalize the town. The
Bagamoyo College of Arts (“Chuo cha Sanaa”)
is an internationally famous arts college in Tanzania,
teaching traditional Tanzanian painting, sculpture,
drama, dancing and drumming.
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