The Shomvi: A Precursor to Global Ethnoscapes and Indigenization in Precolonial East Africa

Abstract

This article examines the precolonial history of the region surrounding Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, through oral traditions and memories about the Shomvi people, who lived in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. Elite members of Shomvi settlements claimed “foreign” origins in the Middle East, Yemen, and Persia and viewed themselves as highly mobile, continually “founding” settlements throughout the region and moving back and forth between them. Traditions also suggest that the growth, maintenance, and reproduction of coastal communities were premised on a conceptual bifurcation of the community into the foreign and highly mobile Shomvi elite and others claiming to be “indigenous” residents of the region, who drew privilege and prestige from their role as first peoples and hosts to the Shomvi. A discussion of precolonial traditions and memories of the region supports what more and more scholars are recognizing: discourse concerning “globalization” and “indigenous” peoples, usually thought to be characteristic of the post-colonial period, may have had analogues that antecede the penetration of industrial capitalism and the entrenchment of European colonialism.

Private Business Investments in Heritage Sites in Tanzania: Recent Developments and Challenges for Heritage Management

“…Today, the Kunduchi ruins site prominently features an ancient mosque built in the fifteenth century by the people called Debli, considered a distinct community from the Swahili and also believed to have built mosques at various other sites along the Tanzanian coast (Owens 2004(Owens , 2006Sassoon 1966). The mosque, situated north and some distance away from the main cluster of tombs, is fashioned from large pieces of high-quality coral stone (Sassoon 1966).…”

“…The origins and end of the Debli people at Kunduchi are not immediately clear. According to Owens' (2004Owens' ( , 2006 recent account, the Debli died out at Kunduchi, left no descendants and later on, the Shomvis' ancestors found the ruined mosque, which they rebuilt to use for Friday congregations. However, Owens's account, which was based on oral traditions that described the origins of Kunduchi with the Debli people and their later disappearance, are difficult to assess in any concrete way and answers to such questions remain speculative.…”

“…There are no people who presently claim Debli ancestry among Tanzanian ethnic groups. However, their ancient mosque was and is still intermittently used for special prayers by devoted Muslims especially during the Eid festivals (Masele 2007;Owens 2004Owens , 2006. In the southern part of the site, there are 54 tombs dated to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, some of which have columns stretching 4.5-5 m high and that contain colorful porcelain bowls and plates from China and the Middle East.…”

“…The origin of the founders of the Kunduchi ruins site is a contentious subject (Anthony 1983;Brown 1971;Chami et al 2004;Chittick 1970;Owens 2004Owens , 2006. Arabic epitaphs on tombstones at the site tell the story of the al-Hatimi al-Barawi lineage, thought to contain successive Diwanis (delegated rulers).…”

“…Arabic epitaphs on tombstones at the site tell the story of the al-Hatimi al-Barawi lineage, thought to contain successive Diwanis (delegated rulers). According to oral traditions, the family came from Oman by way of Barawa, a settlement south of Mogadishu in present-day Somalia, and apparently ruled the Tanzanian coast between Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo including early coastal ports such as Msasani, Mjimwema, and Mboamaji, where they also got the name Shomvi (Anthony 1983;Brennan and Burton 2007;Brown 1971;Chittick 1970;Owens 2004Owens , 2006Sassoon 1966). However, the precise date of the arrival of the Shomvi people on the central Tanzanian coast is not known (Chami et al 2004), and issues about their identity remain unresolved (Anthony 1983;Baker 1947;Brown 1971;Owens 2004Owens , 2006Sassoon 1966).…”