Swahili Coast and East African Slave Trade (c. 9th–19th centuries)

1. Kilwa Kisiwani founded as Swahili port

   Jan 1, 801Labels: Kilwa Kisiwani, Swahili Coast

   • UNESCO WHC
   • Britannica

2. Indian Ocean slave trafficking expands to Abbasid Iraq

   Jan 1, 850Labels: Zanj, Abbasid Iraq

   • Britannica Zanj
   • Britannica Slavery

3. Zanj Rebellion begins near Basra

   Sep 1, 869Labels: Zanj Rebellion, Basra

   • Britannica Zanj

4. Zanj Rebellion crushed by Abbasids

   Aug 1, 883Labels: Abbasid Caliphate, al-Muwaffaq

   • Britannica Zanj

5. Great Mosque of Kilwa built and expanded

   Jan 1, 1101Labels: Great Mosque, Kilwa Kisiwani

   • UNESCO WHC
   • UNESCO Kilwa

6. Ibn Battuta describes Kilwa’s prosperity

   Jan 1, 1331Labels: Ibn Battuta, Kilwa

   • UNESCO WHC

7. Portuguese build Fort Santiago at Kilwa

   Jan 1, 1505Labels: Fort Santiago, Portuguese Empire

   • Fort Santiago

8. Portuguese impose control over Kilwa

   Jul 25, 1505Labels: Portugal, Kilwa

   • UNESCO WHC
   • Fort Santiago

9. Oman expels Portuguese from Muscat

   Jan 23, 1650Labels: Oman, Muscat

   • Siege Muscat

10. Oman captures Fort Jesus at Mombasa

    Dec 13, 1698Labels: Fort Jesus, Omani Sultanate

    • Siege Mombasa
    • UNESCO Fort Jesus

11. Moresby Treaty restricts Zanzibar slave exports

    Sep 1, 1822Labels: Moresby Treaty, Zanzibar

    • Moresby Treaty
    • Britannica Said

12. Saʿīd ibn Sulṭān moves court to Zanzibar

    Jan 1, 1840Labels: Sa d, Zanzibar

    • Britannica Said

13. Hamerton Treaty limits slave exports to Persian Gulf

    Jan 1, 1845Labels: Hamerton Treaty, Zanzibar

    • Hamerton Treaty

14. Frere Treaty closes Zanzibar’s slave market

    Jun 5, 1873Labels: Frere Treaty, Sultan Barghash

    • TNA Treaty
    • Frere Treaty

15. Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty triggers British protectorate

    Jul 1, 1890Labels: Heligoland Zanzibar, Britain

    • Britannica Treaty
    • UK Treaties

16. Sultan Hamoud’s decree abolishes legal slavery

    Apr 5, 1897Labels: Sultan Hamoud, Zanzibar

    • Tanzania Timeline
    • Hansard 1897