Mambrui is a settlement in Kenya's

Coast Province The Coast Province () was one of Kenya's eight provinces prior to 2010. It covered the entire country's coastline on the Indian Ocean. Its capital city was Mombasa. It was inhabited by the Mijikenda and Swahili peoples, among others. The provin ...

, located east of Marikebuni along the Malindi-Garissa Road, south of Gongoni and north of

Malindi Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Sabaki River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi was 119,859 as of the 2019 census. It is the largest urban centr ...

History

Mambrui also boasts of 14th century architecture with over five buildings built in the 14th century though in dilapidated condition. The village also is home to 11 mosques despite having approximately 200 households. The discovery of a

Yongle Tongbao The Yongle Tongbao (, Japanese: (''Eiraku Tsūhō''); Vietnamese: ''Vĩnh Lạc Thông Bảo'') was a Ming dynasty era Chinese cash coin produced under the reign of the Yongle Emperor. As the Ming dynasty didn't produce copper coinage at the ...

coin in Manda, about 130 km further north, in 2010 drove speculations of more extensive trade relations between China and the

Swahili Coast The Swahili coast () is a coastal area of East Africa, bordered by the Indian Ocean and inhabited by the Swahili people. It includes Sofala (located in Mozambique); Mombasa, Gede, Kenya, Gede, Pate Island, Lamu, and Malindi (in Kenya); and Dar es ...

than previously thought, at least decades before the arrival of

Vasco Da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

. The theory found further backing in the discovery of porcelain shard originating from a Chinese imperial klain. A Chinese archeology team that spent several years excavating the surroundings of the town are yet to validate the hypothesis.

References

{{Archaeological sites in Kenya Swahili people Swahili city-states Swahili culture Populated places in Coast Province Archaeological sites in Kenya Archaeological sites of Eastern Africa

History

See also

References