Medieval Swahili Caravanserai
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Taken from: Fortifications et urbanisation en Afrique orientale par Stéphane Pradines 2004
P48-50
Husuni Ndogo and Mkame Ndume are the only known Swahili coastal forts before the 16th century. Husuni Ndogo is an Indo-Persian architectural model imported to Kilwa in the 13th century. The Mkame Ndume of Pujini is a building of more African character, although it is also a quadrangular fort of the 15th century, perhaps an imitation of the caravanserai of Kilwa. …………………
Husuni Ndogo of Kilwa.
The city of Kilwa Kisiwani is located on the island of Kilwa, in the south of present-day Tanzania. The fort of Husuni Ndogo is located near the beach, 80m east of the palace of Husuni Kubwa of which it is the predecessor. Husuni Kubwa is perched on a hill overlooking Husuni Ndogo closer to the sea. The term husuni derives from the Arabic hisn and means fort in Swahili. Husuni Ndogo dates from the beginning of the 13th century. This rectangular enclosure, 69.5m by 51m, covers an area of 109m2. The walls of Ndogo are flanked by six-sided polygonal towers, two towers on the north and south flanks and three towers on the east flank. The symmetry of the building is broken by a rectangular projection in the middle of the western wall. In the current state of research, we do not know if this is a gate facing the beach and accessible by an earthen ramp, or a firing platform to defend the palace. The corners of the fort are defended by 9-faceted circular towers. The chaining of the corners of the towers is made of cut stone. The walls of the enclosure are 1.2 m thick and are made of regular beds of coral limestone rubble bound by mortar. Their current maximum height is 2.5 m, but the building is in ruins. The foundations do not exceed 1 m in depth. Buttresses 1.8 m long run along the entire length of the walls inside. The only entrance is arranged in the middle of the south facade; it is defended by an internal chicane 3.7 m wide. To the north is a square well 16 m deep, associated with an octagonal tank 2 m in diameter. The incomplete walls and the lack of occupation structures inside the enclosure indicate that Husuni Ndogo was dismantled or was not completed. A person in the Portuguese fleet made this observation on July 24, 1505, after the sack of Kilwa by Almeida:
Taken from: The Voyage from Lisbon to India 1505-6 being an account and journal by Albericus Vespuccius. (=Amerigo Vespucci) ………pXVIII
On the 19th July they descried the land of South Africa between Sofala and Mozambique; and, passing on, they anchored off the bar of Quiloa on 22nd July. Two days later, the whole fleet, consisting of eight ships, sailed up to the town; being badly received by the then reigning king, d’Almeida landed his forces, stormed the city, and founded the fort of Santjago upon the site of “a castle with four towers which was already half built” Upon the 27th July the king of the town fled away, and another king, Muhammed Ancon, reigned in his stead, after receiving the golden crown at the hands of d’Almeida.
(Note: There are serious doubts if Vespuccius really made this voyage. But he did write the book)
We believe that the fort was partially dismantled in the 14th century to build the new palace of the sultan at Husuni Kubwa.
"[…Sulaiman al-Hassan ibn Daud…] became the lord of the trade of Sofala and the islands of Pemba, Monfia, Zanzibar, and a large part of the shores of the mainland. In addition to being a conqueror, he embellished the city of Kilwa, building a stone fortress, walls, towers, and noble houses[…]". (Kilwa Chronicle; De Barros version.)
According to the Chronicles of Kilwa, Husuni Ndogo was built between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century by Sultan Sulayman al-Hasan b. Dawud (1170-1188) or Sultan Al-Hasan b. Sulayman (1191-1215). At this time, Kilwa took control of the Sofala region and took charge of the gold trade. Many products passed through the city, which became considerably richer and attracted covetousness. The creation of a fortified palace serving as a caravanserai may have then become a necessity. Husuni Ndogo was abandoned in the 14th century with the creation of a new palace, less functional, but more prestigious. Duarte Barbosa tells us that the sultan has his palace near the beach where the ships are unloaded: this is undoubtedly Husuni Kubwa …………..
(Note: This quote of Duarte Barbosa is not correct. “the sultan has his palace near the beach where the ships are unloaded” is not from Duarte Barbosa. It is added as extra information after a quote out of the work of Barbosa by Dorman, 1938 p64 in TNR nr 5-6).
During the expedition of Dom Francisco d'Almeida in 1505, De Barros specifies that the sultan's palace is located at the end of the city:
"[…] in one part of the city, the king had his quarters arranged in the manner of a fortress with towers and turrets and all kinds of defenses, with a door opening onto a quay to access the sea, and another large door on the side of the fortress opening onto the city […]".
This description corresponds quite well to Husuni Ndogo, dated between the 13th and 15th centuries by Neville Chittick's surveys. Husuni Ndogo is said to be contemporary with the palace of Husuni Kubwa, built by Al-Hasan b. Sulayman II (1310-1333) or Dawud ibn Sulayman (1333 to 1356). The 14th century was a period of prosperity in Kilwa, the Mahdali dynasty undertook many urban developments, including the enlargement of the Friday Mosque and the creation of a new palace. This vast building was erected on a rocky promontory above the old palace-caravanserai of Husuni Ndogo.
We interpret the site of Husuni Ndogo as one of the coastal caravanserais that were linked to maritime trade throughout the Middle Ages, from the coasts of Spain to those of the Indian Ocean. Husuni Ndogo is particularly similar to the enclosures recently studied by Monik Kervran in the Indus Delta region, such as Rana Kot, Kuree Kot, Kanjikot and Juna Shah Bandar. Built in fired bricks, these military and commercial works are composed of a quadrangular enclosure of about 100 m on each side and equipped with round towers in the four corners and semi-circular towers along the sides; twin towers frame an entrance that is most often single. These enclosures often had interior fittings or a residential keep, as at Juna Shah Bandar. ……………… Husuni Ndogo shares many characteristics of these caravanserais of the Indus Delta. The building is also said to have served as the seat of local power until the early 14th century. Kilwa acquired this fort-caravanserai in the 13th century when the city began to control the gold trade from Mozambique. The city of Kilwa undertook a policy of major works between the 13th and 14th centuries and received architectural influences from the regions with which it was connected: the Indus Delta, the Deccan, Iran and Gujarat. The well-organized plan of Husuni Ndogo, with regularly spaced towers, seems to be the work of a qualified architect who may have come from one of the regions mentioned above. We know from the Chronicles of Kilwa that many Indians were settled on the island and were present in the economic and political life of the city. In 1502, a treasurer or advisor to the Sultan bore a name of Indian origin: Rukn al-Din al-Dabuli. He is also nicknamed Muhammed Ankoni and will be enthroned by the Portuguese after the capture of the city, in 1505. Many oral sources speak of armed Wadebuli invasions. These Wa-Debuli would have originated from Daybul in the Indus delta or from Dabhol in the Deccan. The influence of Bahmanid India is visible in the great mosque of Kilwa which has a central courtyard with an extension topped with domes comparable to the Djamij’a of Gulbarga dated 1367. The forts of the Deccan have thick enclosures flanked by semi-circular towers which change morphology in the 14th century and are replaced by a polygonal variety. At the technological level, we are witnessing the same simplification of masonry as in East Africa, the walls in large well-cut blocks give way to irregular rubble inserted in thick beds of mortar. Husuni Ndogo has towers that may have been inspired by a model from the Bahmanid Deccan. Several large Swahili sites received, with a little delay, architectural influences from Seljuk Iran between the 13th and 14th centuries, such as the Fakhr al-Din Mosque in Mogadishu, the Somana palace in Mozambique or the Husuni Kubwa palace. This is reflected in the use of decorative elements such as conical bosses or incised medallions representing solar spirals. The hexagonal corner towers of the Husuni Ndogo fort can also be compared to Iranian military architecture of the 13th-14th centuries.
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Mkame Ndume of Pemba
P51-52
Mkame Ndume is a fortification located in the village of Pujini on the eastern coast of Pemba Island, Tanzania. …… The fort, 125m on each side, covers an area of 1.5 hectares. The structure is surrounded by a rampart 2m high and 5m thick, preceded by a V-shaped ditch on the north side, connected to the sea by a canal now invaded by mangroves. …… The rampart is composed of an earth filling with a coral limestone facing, the top of which is completely leveled. …… It is extremely difficult to say whether there were towers attached along the enclosure. …… In the northwest corner, a staircase leads to the top of the curtain walls. Three large buildings stand inside the fort. The central building, with thick walls, measures 46m long by 8m wide. One wing of the building consists of a portico with columns, of which eight bases remain. A square well is built to the south of the courtyard and supplies water to the people of the fort. Traces of houses made of perishable materials have been discovered to the south of the enclosure and outside the enclosure. In 1915, Pearce excavated a hypogeum dug in the north-east corner of the courtyard and still visible today. A flight of fourteen steps leads to a circular chamber cut into the rock. The north wall is decorated with a niche and a plaster covering with bas-relief motifs representing a siwa. The room was covered by a dome, fragments of which were visible on the floor. Pearce located and uncovered a second underground chamber to the west of the fort. In 1931, Ingrams continued the excavations and uncovered steps leading to a side underground room located 3m below ground. ……… The housing structures in the quadrangular enclosure and the canal connecting the fort to the sea, are elements that support an economic explanation. The underground chambers would have been used to store valuable goods, gold, ivory or even cereals. …… The research of LaViolette, Clark and Horton has shown that the site of Pujini has been occupied since the 11th century, but that the fort of Mkame Ndume was built and occupied for a short period of time, from 1450 to 1520, when it was destroyed by the Portuguese. The creation of the fort is attributed to Mkame Ndume who would be, according to traditions, a Sirazi or Debuli prince who reigned over the whole island of Pemba, Pujini being his capital. Oral tradition relates that he had the stone brought from the north of the island to build his residence. This chief would have been very cruel and warlike, but he is also known as a great builder of mosques and a good navigator. He would have started shipbuilding yards all over the island of Pemba. Oral traditions of Pemba also speak of these newcomers, the Wa-Debuli. Originally from India, they are said to have conquered territories by force and then forced people to build houses and mosques in stone. Recently, Adria LaViolette preferred to compare Pujini's work to a palace. However, we specified in our introduction that the difference between a palace and a castle is sometimes minimal, the residence of the lord can also receive fortification elements. Mkame Ndume is at the same time a palace, a fort and a warehouse. We believe that the fort of Mkame Ndume is a copy of the caravanserai of Husuni Ndogo or more simply the adaptation of a model of maritime caravanserai like those listed by Monik Kervran in the delta of the Indus. This interpretation of Pujini's Mkame Ndume is based on the plan of the fort and oral traditions involving Indian builders.