ABOUT TANZANIA

 Archeological discoveries in the late 1950s by British anthropologist Dr. L.S.B. Leaky unearthed in the Olduvai Gorgethe fossilized remains of what was termed Homo habilis, an early hominid that lived some 1.75 million years ago in the region of the Great Rift Valley.  Also nearby  (30 kilometres from Olduvai Gorge) are the Laetoli Footprints formed by the earliest human ancestors thought to be over 3.6 million years old.

 The original human inhabitants of the region where hunter gather communities of the Cushitic and the Khoisan groups.    Bantu-speaking people from the west and northwest Africa began to arrive in a series of migrations about 2000 years ago and followed by Nilotic pastoralists from the north that arrived and continued to immigrate into the area throughout the 18th century. With the exception of remains hunter/gather populations (Khoisan and Cushitic), the majority of all 126 African tribes that make up most of the human population of Tanzania today are of Bantu origin.

Arabs & Portuguese

The arrival of the Portuguese mariner Vasco da Gama who became the first European to reach the East African coast, in 1498 en-route to India began a period when the Arab mercantile influence along the coast was challenged, an influence that had been steady for almost half a century. This influence is still evident in the language, religion and architecture of the region to this day. Both Arab and Portuguese traders exploited the interior for ivory, gold and slaves, which were principally exported east into the Indian Ocean trading axis. By 1525 the Portuguese had subdued the entire coast and its control lasted until the early 18th century, when Arabs from Oman established a foothold in the region.

In 1698 a resurgence of Arab influence was realized with the help of Omani Arabs who established a presence on the Island of Zanzibar. In 1840 the Omani Sultan Seyyid Said moved his capital to Zanzibar City and in 1841 Zanzibar became the official seat of the Sultan of Oman where it remained until the beginning of the liberation period.

Travellers and merchants from the Persian Gulf and Western India have visited the East African coast since early in the first millennium. From Zanzibar most of the trades originating from the interior was factored and controlled, including the lucrativeIndian Ocean Slave Trade from which the economy of Zanzibar was largely built. The effect of this revitalization of trade along the east coast was the founding or regeneration of important commercial centers along the coast, including Kilwa, Tanga, Pangani, Kivinje, Lindi and Bagamoyo.

Zanzibar became the center for the Arab slave trade. Between 65 to 90 percent of the Zanzibar Arab-Swahili population was enslaved. Slaves were used to carry ivory to the coast but were also required for clove plantations in Zanzibar and in sugar plantations in Mauritius. Other slaves were exported to the Persian Gulf, Europe and Americas.

One of the most famous slave traders on the East African coast was Tippu Tip, who was himself the grandson of an enslaved