Wituland
Witu Sultanate Wituland | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
c. 1810[1]–1905/1923 | |||||||
Left: Flag of Sultan Fumobakari (1890) Right: Flag as a British protectorate (1893–1920) | |||||||
Arabic | |||||||
Religion | Islam | ||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||
Mafulme | |||||||
• 1810s - 1848 | Bwana Mataka | ||||||
• July 1895 – 1923 | Fumo `Umar ibn Ahmad | ||||||
History | |||||||
• Established | c. 1810[1] | ||||||
• Disestablished | 1905/1923 | ||||||
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Wituland (also Witu, Vitu, Witu Protectorate or Swahililand) was a territory of approximately 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi) in East Africa centered on the town of Witu, just inland from the Indian Ocean port of Lamu, north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya.
History
Establishment of the Witu Sultanate
Founded in the 1810s and then becoming fully independent from nominal
Witu Relations with the Geledi Sultanate
The
German protectorate (1885–90)
In 1885, the
In 1889, Wituland issued a number of postage stamps although their postal usage has not been verified.
British rule and the Witu expeditions
In accord with the 1890
First expedition (1890)
Shortly afterwards several German merchants were murdered,[7] and a mixed British & Zanzibari punitive expedition was sent out. The troops landed and descended on Witu on October 26, 1890. After a series of shoot-outs, Sultan Fumo Bakari ibn Ahmad fled from the town, with roughly 3,000 of his remaining gunmen. He was deposed by the British and died soon afterwards.[8]
After a short reign by Bwana Shaykh ibn Ahmad, the rulership (now reduced to a shaykhdom and made a vassal of the
Second expedition (1893)
A brother of Fumo Bakari, by the name of Fumo Oman, resisted the new regime and began leading increasingly violent raids on villages and farms around the nearby town of Jongeni, northeast of Witu. A brief attempt at diplomacy failed, and the British and Zanzibari governments prepared a second naval expedition to sail to Witu.
A small expeditionary force landed at Witu in July and a second request to negotiate was sent to Fumo Oman. It was rejected and the marines marched on the principal towns under rebel control. Thick forest and camouflaged pits with sharpened stakes surrounded the strongly fortified towns, and the rebel gunmen had prepared defensive positions that allowed for heavy fire. However, after prolonged and intense shoot-outs, the naval marines fought their way into each town, and destroyed the fortifications.[9] Fumo Oman fled and Fumo 'Umari bin Hamid was reinstated.
Fumo 'Umari moved the capital to Jongeni, but the growth of British power and of the regional importance of Zanzibar saw Witu's position and influence gradually decline.[10]
End of Witu
In 1905 oversight for Witu was moved from the
List of rulers
The known ruling Sultans (styled mfalume in Swahili) are:
- 1810s-1848: Bwana Mataka
- 1848- 1858: Mohammed Sheikh (son of Bwana Mataka)[11]
- 1858–1888: Ahmad ibn Fumo Bakari
- 1888–1890: Fumo Bakari ibn Ahmad
- 1890–1891: Bwana Shaykh ibn Ahmad
- 1891–1893: Fumo `Umar ibn Ahmad (1st time)
- 1893 – 7 July 1895: Vacant
- 7 July 1895 – 1923: Fumo `Umar ibn Ahmad (2nd time)
See also
Notes
- JSTOR 41409885.
- ^ JSTOR 217198.
- ^ a b German Wituland, a colonial rarity
- JSTOR 217198.
- JSTOR 41409885.
- ISBN 978-1434315823. Retrieved 2015-02-16.
- ^ Witu 1890, A punitive expedition on the East African coast
- ISBN 978-0-7146-1723-7.
- ^ "The Royal Navy and the East Coast of Africa 1890-1899". Archived from the original on 2016-05-01. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
- ^ Marina Tolmacheva, "Introduction" to The Pate Chronicle, ed. and tran. by Marina Tolmacheva (East lansing: Michigan State University, 1993) p. 1
- JSTOR 41409885.
External links
- German Wituland, a colonial rarity (archived link)
- Map of German Protectorate of Witu (Deutsch-Witu)
- WorldStatesmen- Kenya
Media related to Swahili Sultanate at Wikimedia Commons