Kitava (Kitao or Kitau)
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Ibn Majid (1470) is the only medieval author to mention Kitao. So it must still have been in existence in 1470. There is also an unsure mention on the
Chinese Maokun map as Kidaer.
Taken from: Reise in Ostafrika in den Jahren 1903-1905 by Voeltzkow, Alfred
(About Manda Island)
The absence of stone buildings is said to be due to the fact that after the destruction of Manda by the ruler of Pata (around 1291), the inhabitants of the island's other towns, Taka and Kitao, were terrified and left their homes and sought refuge elsewhere. Some of them went to Lamu (this is information found in the Pate chronicle) …..
….. To the northeast at Cape Kilindini, we meet the ruins of the island's ancient capital, Manda Ku, formerly a thriving city with extensive commercial traffic, destroyed by the Portuguese in 1589.
…… some graves at Ras Kitao in the southwest opposite of Shela, and on the mainland side at Mlango Mkanda, where an old watchtower is said to have been preserved, point to larger settlements in earlier times.
…. Ras Kitao, which is difficult to pass, and we too came within a few meters of the rocky coast and driven by the dangerous breakers. At a small settlement near Ras Kitao, opposite Shela the island of Lamu, where we arrived the next noon, we went ashore. The shore is bordered by bush, …. My first Excursion was to the cliffs at Ras Kitao, which had already caught my interest while driving past. The path leads to Along the sea shore, which after a short time changes from sand to rocky beach mixed with sand and finally represents a cliff with a smooth beach terrace. Ras Kitao is terribly rugged, probably not just because of the extremely strong surf, which can exert its full effect unhindered in the absence of an abrasion surface, rather than based on the nature of the rock on top of the actual reef limestone, similar to sandstone …..
…. According to the Chronicle of Lamu, Kitao is one of the places that is said to have been founded by Abdul Malik bin Murian in the year 77 of the Hedjra (697AD but not correct) and is mentioned as early as 1507 as an earlier large city, which was already in ruins at that time. According to tradition, as a result of the capture of Manda by the Sultan of Pata, the residents left the city and moved to Shela, Lamu and Pata. Only a few old graves remind of the former population.
…. Taka on the island of Manda was also afflicted, but stayed inhabited and was only abandoned by its inhabitants much later, because people still lived there until 1094 H. Kitao finally escaped the same fate, since its inhabitants asked for peace in good time, but was probably completely abandoned before 1094 H (1683AD).
Takwa has in its outer wall a gate strait leading to Kitao.