Mombasa, the Swahili, and the Making of the Mijikenda

by Willis, Justin

• ISBN13: 9780198203209
• ISBN10: 0198203209
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-04-08
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

This is a history of the Kenyan city of Mombasa and its surrounding settlements from the mid-nineteenth century to the height of colonial rule in the 1930s. Justin Willis sets out to place the island and town of Mombasa in its African context, incorporating the findings of recent historical and anthropological research. Willis examines the institutions and social networks which simultaneously united and divided the people of the region before the colonial period, demonstrating both their interdependence and the creation of distinct population categories. This is a radical re-interpretation of the history of Mombasa and its hinterland, based on thorough archival research. It offers valuable insights into the nature of ethnic identity, and makes an important contribution to the growing body of scholarly work on the African city.

Table of Contents

List of Maps
Abbreviations
Explanatory Notes
Introduction	p. 1
'Singwaya was a very big city': The Swahili and the Nyika to 1890	p. 17
Histories of the Coast, and the Structure of Hinterland Communities	p. 21
Clients and Slaves in the Nineteenth Century	p. 47
'Why the natives will not work': Labour, Trade, and the Story of Singwaya, 1890-1919	p. 77
Squatting and Trade in the Hinterland	p. 81
Casual Labour and the Swahili in Mombasa	p. 95
'Close contact with the coast residents is most prejudicial': State Intervention, 1900-1931	p. 115
The Creation of Administrative and Landowning Categories	p. 118
The Control of Trade	p. 135
Planning Mombasa	p. 145
Labour Legislation, Casuality, and the Cost of Labour	p. 161
'Other dances': Mombasa and the Mijikenda, 1925-1934	p. 171
New Networks of Labour	p. 174
The Twelve Tribes and the Mijikenda	p. 184
Conclusion	p. 201
Appendix: Biographies of Informants	p. 203
Bibliography	p. 215
Glossary	p. 224
Index	p. 225
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