What Is The Takwa Settlement History Essay

What Is The Takwa Settle workforcet History EssayTheTakwa drop downment is situated on the to the south side ofManda Island, in theLamu Districtin the coastal province ofKenya. They argon the ruins of a Islamic townshipshipsfolkship which was aband mav set aside round the 18th nose candy.The Takwa locate can be easely reached fromLamutown. The ruins were first excavated by James Kirkman in 1951. In 1972 the site was cle ard again under the supervision of James de Vere Allen, the conservator of the Lamu Museum.Takwa was never a too mountainous bulge. It was founded around family 1500, and likely aband hotshotd around 1700. Kirkman thought that it was perhaps a place were sanctified men or sacred tidy sum retreated. The Great Mosque at Takwa is relatively sur portray keep ond. The former(a) structure remaining of importance is the Pillar grave, which has an inventory with the naming of 1681-1682. It is reported that when Takwa was aband stard, its inhabitants settle d just across the bay atShelaonLamu Island. Twice a stratum the battalion of Shela come to the Pillar Tomb in Takwa to pray for rain. (Martin, p. 27) The Takwa Ruins were designated a Kenyan National deposit in 1982.mu ArchipelagoFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaLamu ArchipelagoMap ofKenyashowing the islandsLamu IslandLamu townsfolkShelaMatondoniKipanganiManda IslandManda Town TakwaManda aerodrome public opinion poll IslandFaza pate TownRulers of Pate-Bwana Mkuu-Bwana Tamu-Fumo MadiSiyuKizingitiniShanga Kiwayu Island Administrative warmheartedness archaeologicsite realism Heritage SiteTheLamu Archipelagois located in theIndian Oceanclose to the compass northern coast ofKenya, to which it be considerables. The islands lie between the towns of weakandKiunga, close to the border withSomalia, and is a break away ofLamu District.The largest of the islands argonPate Island,Manda IslandandLamu Island. littler islands includeKiwayu, which lies in theKiunga Marine National Reserv e, andManda Toto. To daylight the largest town in the archipelago isLamu Town, onLamu Island. The town is on the universe of discourse Heritage List.The archipelago contains several archeological/historic sites of great significance, much(prenominal) asTakwaandManda Town( two onManda Island) andShanga(onPate Island). Some run by dint of been parti exclusivelyy excavated in later geezerhood, shedding Copernican new light onSwahilihistory and nicety.The islands argon reputed to be one of the western to the highest degree ports of call of the greatChinesefleet ofZheng He, or flat to be the resting place of a wreck of one of his ships. No say evidence has yet been discovered of his prattle, although it is known that he visitedMombasa, further polish the Kenyan coast, in around 1415.editReferencesAllen, James de VereLamu, with an appendix on archaeologic finds from the region of Lamu by H. Neville Chittick.Nairobi Kenya National Museums.Lamu town is the oldest living Swahili town in Kenya, comparable to others such as Zanzibar in Tanzania. The town get winds thorn to at to the lowest degree the 12th nose candy. Since this time Lamu has flourished as a marine trading centre whose main population, the Swahili, engaged in international trade, seek and farming. The architecture of Lamu is unambiguously Swahili, with its narrow passages, storied buildings, intricately carved woody doors and numerous mosques.Lamu is also unique in that it is host to three museums and a Fort with an impressive exhibition space, namelyLamu Museum,Lamu Fort,German Post attitude Museum, andSwahili House Museum. Lamu Museum can arrange guided tours to various archaeological and historical sites, whether to neighbouring Manda Island or further afield to Pate Island, where the ruins of the earliest known Swahili settlement of Shanga dated to the 8th century AD can be visited.Lamu friendshipThe Lamu Society was varianceed in the early 1980s to offer a forum for ideas a nd projects that would encourage the conservation of the island residential argonas historic material culture. The Society has been implemental in raising funds and assisting in the work required to document, preserve and restore aspects of earlier time periods and hence in the development of theLamu Museum.The Societys publications concentrate on the history and preservation of the islands heathenish heritage, whilst its periodic newsletter informs members nigh events and ongoing aspects of interest.Religious CentreSince the 19th century Lamu has been regarded as an weighty religious centre in atomic number 99 Africa. Every year, thousands of pilgrims from the region cumulus to Lamu town for the famousMaulidi,or Milad-un-Nabi, celebrations that ar held during the third month of the Muslim calendar to mark the birth of the Prophet Muhammed. The East AfricanMaulidiis believed to have been started by Habib Swaleh Jamalely, a Comorian Arab who emigrated to Lamu and established himself as a scholar and doctor of conventionalistic Arabic medicine. He was a pious man whose deeds be still emulated today, as exemplified byMaulidi. TheMaulidicelebrations are known to bring people from as far as the Comoros, Sudan and Democratic country of Congo.Lamu Heritage AttractionsLamu is a dominant cultural centre reputable for its historic past and traditional socio-cultural traditions. As such visitors to Lamu can enjoy a large and divers(prenominal) collection of heritage and cultural attractions. At the district level, Lamu has the remains of umpteen heritage sites. These range from towns, like Shanga, Pat and Manda to ascorbic acids of monuments, like Siyu Fort. Some of these sites, such as Manda, are easily accessible, while others are located in thick vegetation making access difficult. The development of access to these areas is shortly cosmos addressed by the sites management team.Lamu was listed as a World Heritage Site on the 14 declination 2001. This landmark status came after 28 eld of strict conservation of Lamu Old Town. As a national monument the town has mevery fascinating architectural qualitys, unrivalled by any other Swahili town along the East African littoral. The old town has approximately 532 theater of operationss. About 496 of these houses are in private owned, 23 are considered public and 13 are religious buildings chiefly mosques.The town has survived the pressure of modern destruction and development by both government and private developers. The towns well-conserved architectural setting of narrow streets, divided by blocks of lined houses, has fascinated many visitors. Perhaps of most appeal are the stone walled houses in which flat roofs are supported by miscellaneous mangrove poles.The interior of a typical Lamu house is divided by two or three long galleries, with at least one or two self-contained rooms. The walls are covered with geometric affix designs and wall niches. Lamu town has several build ings of importance including the Lamu Fort andYumbethe former house of a Lamu Sultan. Aside from Lamus physical heritage the town has a full-bodied living culture. For almost a century, each calendar year sees Lamu deluge with religious tourists from across the globe, here to attend the popular Maulidi Festival.About 20,000 religious tourists come to the town to attend this Festival, during the Islamic month ofRabil awal. The climax of the Maulidi celebrations comes in the final week of this month. At this time various traditional Swahili dances from the neighbouring towns of Pat, Siyu, Ndau, Faza and Matondoni are hosted at the Riadha Mosque grounds to entertain the pilgrims. Taking advantage of the colourless week ofmfungo sita, (Rabil awal) Lamu Museum also arranges a series of cultural events, such as traditional dhow races,baogames, donkey races, henna painting and Islamic calligraphy competitions.typically during the month of August, though occasionally occurring later in th e year, Lamus second large festival is held. TheLamu Cultural Festivalis organised by the Lamu Cultural forwarding Group. It is a three-day Swahili cultural festival that combines traditional dances, indoor and outdoor cultural activities and an exhibition of Lamus wealthy material culture. The Cultural Festival, like the Maulidi, also draws crowds as large as 20,000.Lamu Old Towns museums and fort are maintained and managed by the National Museums of Kenya. These are the Lamu Museum, known for its exquisite Swahili ethnography exhibits the Swahili House Museum, a restored 18th century house, reflecting the lifetime of privileged Lamu Swahilis the Lamu Fort, built in 1814 by Bwana Zeid Ngumi the last Sultan of Lamu and the German Post Office Museum, showing the home office when it was operational in the late 19-20 th Century.Lamus material culture is surpass shown by its carved doors and traditional furniture which can be viewed all over the town. There are almost 18 woodcarvin g workshops in Lamu mainly producing Swahili doors, furniture and smaller artefacts, such as the miniature dhows that are popular with tourists. One of the busiest workshops in the town is the Skanda Woodcarving Workshop, this was receptiveed close to 50 years ago and is credited with having trained hundreds of woodcarvers who are now scatter all over Kenyas major towns. Visitors are welcome to view woodcarving classes at the workshops. There are also gift and curio shops scattered around the Old Town, selling quality local anesthetic items.One of the reasons for Lamus inscription on the UNESCO heritage list is its unique social-cultural life, which has remained relatively unchanged for centuries. A traditionally conservative lifestyle is still maintained by many Lamu households. Lamus feminine Muslim population still predominately wearbui buis,and donkeys remain the major form of transport in the town.The ruins of Takwa are located on Manda Island, a 30 minute boat ride from La mu town. Here one can run into the remains of a thriving 16th century Swahili trading post. Among the more(prenominal) notable features at Takwa is the unique Friday Mosque with a large tower atop the qibla wall while the significance of the linchpin is not known with certainty, fewer believe it to symbolise the burial of a Sheikh below the wall. A days visit is quite a a unique experience, and can be complimented by a picnic or overnight camping.LocationThe ruins of Takwa are located on the southeastern corner of Manda Island opposite Lamu. A 30 minute boat ride from Lamu Town. Its geographical localization principle on lay out is at Grid Reference 186 476, Sheet 180/4.Historical scopeTakwa ruins are the remains of a thriving 15th and 16th century Swahili trading town before it was abandoned in the seventeenth century. It is not only important be pass water of its period of occupation but also because of its slow settlement and its relatively well preserved remains. The unique Friday Mosque with a large pillar a top the qibla wall is among the most notable features. This pillar is believed to symbolize the burial of a Sheikh be low the wall.The mental attitude of the site at the narrowest location on the whole island, was most probably a strategy. Takwas position/location with shallow waters must have been of considerable importance especially during its peak, when many of the sails that came into view were likely to be hostile. Therefore access to the site must have been primarily from the shallow channel which could only admit vessels of shallow draft.Takwa eventual abandonment in the 17th century was ascribable to salination of the once fresh water and fadeless fighting between Takwa and Pate people. These ruins were gazetted as a National Monument in 1982 in Gazette notice No. 1514. At present, Takwa is open daily to the Public. It is a very pleasant place for a perfunctory visit, which can be complimented by a picnic and overnight campin g.Takwa is a settlement between three hundred and five hundred years old unmodified by subsequent constructions. The remains of the walled stone town of Takwa are located at a point where Manda Island is almost bisected by a tidal channel flanked by mangroves. Although Takwa is located only a couple of(prenominal) hundred meters from the sea, there is neither a good harbour nor saved anchorage on the ocean side. The shallow channel was likely the best access to the site, as it is today, although only for vessels of shallow draft when the tides are favourable.A major aspect of the settlement is the town wall, of chromatic rag construction, which go to a full height of about three meters and is best viewed whole in the southern areas of the site. The remains of Takwa within the wall cover about 5 hectares and consist of a mosque, houses, a well and structures with perhaps religious or commercial functions. In addition, there are the spaces created by the location of structures, s uch as courtyards, streets and other open areas. All structures were built of coral rag, quarried locally, and set in mortar made of earth, sand and lime.The street, although obscured by rubble today, is significant for the amount of town planning manifold at least five houses with sides on the street are directly aligned with it, and all in the plan are affected by it. Likewise the street leading south directly to the mosque is orientated with an error of less than one degree off contemporary magnetic north hardly an accident. It is elicit to consider that upon leaving the mosque, the faithful stepped onto a street aimed directly at Mecca.Pillar tombs are one of the unique architectural features of the East African coast, and Takwa is justifiably known for its fine example, located just a few meters past the north gate. An inscribed block is set into the north face of the tomb wall. The block calls to Allah, Muhammed, and the first four caliphs, AbuBakar, Umar, Uthman and Ali. At the bottom of the inscription is the Arabic date 1094, which measures that many years from Muhammeds hijrah, or move, from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622. As the Muslim year 1094 began on December 31, 1682, this date corresponds to the Christian year 1683. The tomb is still considered sacred to the Muslim people of Shela, few of whom are believed to have come from Takwa and who visit the tomb twice a year to pray for rain.The Takwa mosque is located some the geographical centre of the site, reflecting the central place of Islam in the religious and social life of many in the community. The mosque is characterized by an unusual and striking pillar, which rises from the centre of its north wall. It is possible that the mosque is located on the site of the tomb of a revered person. The pillar, as a characteristic feature of the coast, may have been placed on the mosque in memorial of the burial site. The ruined remains of about 55 structures occur north of the mosque, with about an e qual number to the south.Takwa may have been abandoned due to repugnance from nearby Pate, whose ascendancy began about three hundred years ago. Perhaps trade competition contributed to the site abandonment, or possibly Takwa became involved in the rivalry between Lamu and Pate, which might explain why some of the Takwa people asked to settle at Shela on Lamu Island. Another likely cause for abandonment was the inferior water supply, for the wells at the mosque and near the pillar tomb are salty today. It might have been easier for the Takwans to resist hostility from Pate than to endure the increasing salinity of their life-sustaining wells.Artefacts found during excavations in the 1979s include numerous pottery vessels both locally produced and imported for provision and storage, a b subscribe to oven, glass beads, spindle whorls, a glass flaskful of unknown use, fragments of a smoking pipe, fish and mammal bones suggesting a varied diet, and finished iron implements and iron slag indicating blacksmithing on site.This is a rich inventory of artefacts but it nevertheless only reflects what has not perished in the archaeological take down. No cotton or other cloth has survived. almost all wood is gone, probably moved to Shela, which, considering contemporary woodcarving is likely quite a loss. Leather products such as purses, belts and sandals have all decayed, and especially valuable items would have been removed as the people left Takwa. raze with the interesting picture of Takwa known from archaeological research, we are still futile to gain a complete piciture of the sites history.A safari to Takwa A visit to Takwa National Monument is a very pleasant way to shed a morning or afternoon, or even an entire day with overnight camping. Visitors may leave Lamu or Shela by sailing dhow or motorboat, cross Lamu Harbour to Manda Island and enter a narrow channel flanked by mangroves. Although at high tide boats and dhows can reach the very end of the cha nnel, it is best to be prepared to wade a few meters through ankle or knee deep salt water. Far from being dangerous or uncomfortable, this approach makes you feel like an explorer, setting the mood for entrance into the serene and majestic ruins.Physical description and climateThe Lamu Archipelago is a small group of island situated on Kenyas northern coast line, near Somalia. It is made up of Lamu, Manda, Pate and Kiwayu Islands. Lamu Town is the headquarters of Lamu District, one of the sixsome districts of Kenyas Coastal Province, which borders the Indian Ocean to the east, the Tana River District to the south-west, the Garissa District to the north and the Republic of Somalia to the north-east.Temperatures range from 23 to 30 degrees celsius throughout the year. The hottest months are form December to April, while the coolest are from May to July. There are also long rains from mid-April to the end of June.Commerce brought the East African coast into contact with nonadjacent peoples and cultures as early as two thousand years ago. The earliest known historical records the 1st Century ADPtolemys Geography talk of the coast, its inhabitants, and the trade. Arab merchants began to settle permanently between the 9th and 12th centuries, bringing with them a new religion, Islam. They referred to the people they found there by various names, including Swahili, which meant people from the coast. Over the years, the traders intermarried with the local people and some Swahilis trace their origins to the Arab populace.The Old Town of Lamu is first mentioned by the Arab writer/traveller, Abu al Mahasini, who met a Qadhi (Muslim Judge) from Lamu when visiting Meca in 1441. Lamu flourished as an single-handed city-state and remained a thriving seaport through the turbulent Portuguese invasions, its Omani domination during the 17th century and battles with the neighbouring islands of Pate and Manda. Under Omani security department and with a slave based economy, Lamu remained prosperous for over two hundred years until the 19th century. It was during this period that Lamus inhabitants built most of the traditional coral stone houses and mosques that still stand today, using coral stone and mangrove timber from the archipelago, and employing skilled craftsmen from India.To the Muslim world the banter Maulid (the Arabic word for birth) is often spoken in reference to the Prophet Muhammeds (Peace Be Upon Him) birth. However, in Eastern African and the Indian Ocean region, Maulidi or Milad-un-Nabii (Birth of the Prophet Muhammed, PBUH) is the holy celebration of the birth of Prophet Muhammed, which lasts the full month of Rabi al-Awal and a few weeks before and after.A Maulid itself is any ceremony in which the Prophet is venerated. For that reason, it is understandable why there is controversy over when and where the first Maulid was recited. The most lucid record states that the first public celebration took place in Egypt cd years after the death of the Prophet in the eighth century during the Fatimid dynasty, after which Maulidi was celebrated in Mecca and since has caught on in many other countries in this part of the world. Again there is no precise record of when it began in East Africa, but it is clear Maulidi has been here for centuries.The person who is prudent for how Maulidi is presently celebrated is Swaleh ibn Alwy ibn Abdullah Jamal al-Lail or Habib Swaleh. Born in the Comoros Islands of an Arab father and Comorian mother, Swalehs family are Sharifs. He was the first to include instruments at the Maulids he hosted and was criticized for it. After some years, Swaleh was recognized as a man of the people and a value leader in the community, and they began to follow his example and join in his celebration. At that time no Mosque allowed instruments to be played inside, so he founded the Riyada Mosque and the Mosque College in 1901. To this day, the students of Riyada College lead the recitation, and the Riyada itself is the heart of the festival continuing his legacy.Though it is a month-long celebration, the most important and observed time is sunset on the 11th of Rabi-al-Awal until cluck on the 12th. The Maulid is recited for that entire span of time, as it is on the actual date of the Prophets birth. During the last week of the month, in Lamu, there is a four-day long festival. This begins on the Tuesday and ends on Friday. Since 1990, the National Museums of Kenya has sponsored the gala in Lamu. They organize various community building competitions such as swimming, dhow races, henna competition, tug-of war, and donkey races.Amidst the festival, in homes and in mosques, the people of Lamu recite one of four Maulids Sharaful-Anam, Maulid ya Dibei (ya Rama), Baranzanji, and Simt-al-Durar (String of Pearls). The Maulid ya Rama is written and recited in Kiswahili, the others in Arabic. The most commonly read are the Baranzaji, written by imaum as-Sayyid Jafar ibn Hassan ibn Abda l Karim al-Barazanji (1690-1766), and the Simt-al-Durar, the most recent, written by Khatib Habib Ali Ibn Muhammad al-Habshy (?-1915) from Saudi Arabia. These Maulids can best be described as religious poetry, based on the history and life of the Prophet, with lines and concepts from the Hadith and the Quran.A Maulid can be read at any important event or milestone. In the Swahili tradition, it may be read one to two weeks after the birth of a child, during the shaving ceremony. They are also performed at weddings and less frequently at funerals.Muslims all of the world add their own variations and culture to the recitation. Of all of the major cities and ports in this part of the world, East African Muslims choose Lamu to visit and observe this special time. The uniquely Swahili music, dance, and rituals here are unlike any others. Lamu is a town rich in culture, history, and traditions and will most likely continue to host the biggest Maulidi on the East African coast.LamuFrom Wiki pedia, the free encyclopediaLamu Old Town*UNESCO World Heritage SiteView of the seaside, Lamu TownStatePartyKenya fiberCulturalCriteriaii, iv, viReference1055 share**Africa history historyInscription2001(25thSession)*Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.**Region as classified by UNESCO.Lamu ArchipelagoMap ofKenyashowing the islandsLamu IslandLamu TownShelaMatondoniKipanganiManda IslandManda Town TakwaManda AirportPate IslandFaza Pate TownRulers of Pate-Bwana Mkuu-Bwana Tamu-Fumo MadiSiyuKizingitiniShanga Kiwayu Island Administrative CentreArchaeologicalsiteWorld Heritage SiteLamu townis the largest town onLamu Island, which in turn is a part of theLamu ArchipelagoinKenya.Lamu town is also the headquarters ofLamu Districtand aUNESCO World Heritage Site.table of contentshide1History2Economy3Sights4 check off also