The Ibadis in the Region of the Indian Ocean: Section One: East Africa (Studies on Ibadism and Oman)

In the early Middle Ages, members of Omani royal families and their followers began to emigrate to the coastal regions of East Africa, with some of them founding small princedoms. After approximately 150 years of Portuguese dominance, the Omanis drove the Portuguese out of the coastal areas north of Mozambique, and a period of prosperity began under Omani rule. In a treaty signed in 1822 between the British and the Omani ruler, Sayyid Said, the British ceded supremacy to the Omanis over the coastal areas of East Africa between northern Mozambique and southern Somalia. This led to another period of prosperity under Omani rule, which ended in the so called “Revolution of Zanzibar" in 1964. In this book the author presents a comprehensive survey of the archaeological evidence of the Islamic period in the coastal areas of Kenya and Tanzania, and provide relevant sources written in African, Oriental, and Western languages.