Manda is an island of the
Lamu Archipelago
The Lamu Archipelago is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. The islands lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga. It is a part of Lamu County.
The largest of the islands are Pate Island, Man ...
of
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
, known for the prosperous 9th century ports of
Takwa and Manda town. The island is now linked by ferry to
Lamu and is home to
Manda Airport, while Manda Toto island lies to its west. The island is separated from the mainland by the narrow ''Mkanda'' channel.
Both Manda town and Takwa were probably abandoned due to a lack of water in the first half of the 19th century. In the 1960s the Kenya Department of Agriculture recommended building several concrete catchments called ''jabias'' to capture rain water on the island. Two ''jabias'' were built and many families moved onto the island, farming maize,
cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...
,
simsim and cotton.
Manda town
History
The Manda town ruins (on the Northwest coast of Manda Island), were first explored by the archaeologist
Neville Chittick
Dr. Neville H. Chittick (September 18, 1924 – July 27, 1984) was a British scholar and Archaeology, archaeologist. He specialized in the historic cultures of Northeast Africa, and also devoted various works to the Swahili Coast.
Biography
Chit ...
in 1965. The town owes its origins to trade with the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
during the 9th and 10th centuries. The chief trading commodity was probably
elephant ivory.
Mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...
poles were probably also important. Early inhabitants of Manda constructed buildings with burnt square brick and stone and set with a
lime mortar. These building techniques are found only on islands and coastal areas of Kenya. This brick and mortar technology is unique to the previously mentioned areas whereas the bricks averaging about 18 cm (7") (which "match perfectly ...in measure") are unique for East Africa for this period, and are likely to have been brought in from
Sohar
Sohar () is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman. An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town on the Gulf of Oman, Sohar has also been credited as the mythical birthp ...
, in modern-day
Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
. These bricks probably arrived on Manda Island as
ballast
Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within ...
in sailing ships entering the port. From the mid-9th century to the early 11th century buildings were also constructed from coral known as ''coral rag'' cut from dead
coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...
s.
The large scale excavations in 1966, 1970, and 1978 revealed a prosperity unrivaled in East Africa for the period. Signs of this prosperity include
Chinese porcelain
Chinese ceramics are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. They range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese ...
dating from the ninth century onward,
Islamic pottery
Islamic pottery occupied a geographical position between Chinese ceramics, and the pottery of the Byzantine Empire and Europe. For most of the period, it made great aesthetic achievements and influence as well, influencing Byzantium and Europe ...
and glass, and local pottery dated by the associated imports.
[Chittick, 1984, p.11-12] Chittick defines 7 periods for occupation of Manda Island: Mid-9th to early 11th century, Mid-11th to late 13th century, late 13th to 14th century, 15th and early 16th century, Mid-16th to 17th century, and Post-seventeenth century.
A striking feature of the town are large
sea walls built sometime between the 9th century to the 13th century. The walls parallel the shore and are built from large coral blocks. These walls were likely constructed to reclaim sections of the shoreline. Running parallel with the sea with returns running inland, these walls built from large coral blocks are deduced to have been constructed partly to reclaim sections of the shore, and partly to consolidate the edges of the peninsula.
In the July 2013 issue of
Archeology
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeolo ...
it was reported that a Chinese "
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 ...
" cash coin was found on Manda Island, illustrating the reach of Chinese explorers and trade. The coin was issued during the reign of the Yongle Emperor,
Zhu Di which lasted until 1424.
At its peak, the town covered some and its population is estimated to have been about 3,500. Manda prospered until the 13th century when it began to decline.
Ancient DNA analysis has been completed for 3 buried Manda Island individuals in order to determine the proportions of "African-like, Persian-like, and Indian-like" DNA sequences.
The location of the analyzed burials next to mosques is indicative of an elite status in the Manda society. The individuals were dated to between 1400 and 1500 AD. Analysis was completed of the individual's
mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...
(mtDNA),
autosomal DNA,
Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes in therian mammals and other organisms. Along with the X chromosome, it is part of the XY sex-determination system, in which the Y is the sex-determining chromosome because the presence of the ...
DNA, and X chromosome DNA. Analysis of mtDNA, demonstrating maternal ancestry patterns, showed a L* haplotype. The L* haplotype is predominantly found in present-day Sub-Saharan African populations. Y chromosome analysis, demonstrating paternal ancestry patterns, showed that the individual was carrying the J2 haplotype, found more frequently in Southwest Asian or Persian individuals compared to Sub-Saharan African individuals. X chromosomes, containing larger maternal influence, was compared with the 22 autosomal chromosomes, which contain equal maternal and paternal influence. X chromosomes contained more indicators of African ancestry compared to autosomal DNA, further adding to evidence of African ancestry on the maternal side and Persian or Southeast Asian ancestry on the paternal side. The proportion of female African DNA from the samples analyzed was quantified by the authors to be 100%.
Introduction of foreign DNA was estimated to have occurred between 795 and 1085 AD. However, the authors indicate that this likely occurred over "multiple generations" and that mixture of Eurasian and African populations have continually occurred since.
Takwa
The Takwa Ruins was a town in the period 1500–1700, and it was designated a Kenyan National Monument in 1982.
Manda Airport
Manda Airport is the only civilian airport in the
Lamu Archipelago
The Lamu Archipelago is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. The islands lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga. It is a part of Lamu County.
The largest of the islands are Pate Island, Man ...
.
In popular culture
Part of the events in the novel ''Our Wild Sex in Malindi'' (Chapters 14 and 15) by
Andrei Gusev
Andrei Evgenievich Gusev (, born 27 October 1952) is a Russian writer and journalist. He is the author of 10 inventions, 23 published scientific works. One of his co-authors is a winner of the Nobel Prize, a legend of the Soviet physics, the acad ...
takes place on the Manda Island and in neighboring
Lamu.
«Наш жёсткий секс в Малинди» ''(Our Wild Sex in Malindi)''
by Andrei Gusev
Andrei Evgenievich Gusev (, born 27 October 1952) is a Russian writer and journalist. He is the author of 10 inventions, 23 published scientific works. One of his co-authors is a winner of the Nobel Prize, a legend of the Soviet physics, the acad ...
, 2020.
See also
* Historic Swahili Settlements
* Swahili architecture
Notes
References
* Chittick, Neville: ''MANDA: Excavations at an Island Port on the Kenya Coast. British Institute In Eastern Africa'', 1984
*Martin, Chryssee MacCasler Perry and Esmond Bradley Martin: ''Quest for the Past. An historical guide to the Lamu Archipelago.'' 1973.
Further reading
*Wilson, Thomas H.: ''Takwa: An Ancient Swahili Settlement of the Lamu Archipelago.'' Kenya Museum Society.
{{Authority control
Swahili people
Swahili city-states
Swahili culture
Lamu Archipelago
Populated places in Coast Province
Archaeological sites in Kenya
Coastal islands of Kenya
Former populated places in Kenya
Archaeological sites of Eastern Africa
Archaeology of Eastern Africa