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A small piece of history
The romantic coastal area of Kenya has a history stretching back over 1000 years.
Greeks, Persian and Arab traders frequented this coastline and evidence of a flourishing maritime trade can be found – gold, ivory and slaves were sent to distant lands from here.
In 1548 the balance of power along the coast changed, when Vasco da Gama ordered his fleet of Portuguese ships to anchor at Malindi. This seemed to have ended a 200-year struggle for control between the Portuguese and the Arabs.
Later Mombassa was taken by the Portuguese and the massive fortification of Fort Jesus, was completed in 1593. Less than 40 years later the Arabs wiped out the garrison, lost the town again and re-captured it after a three-year siege over the years of 1696–1698. Despite the Arab success, European expeditions in the middle of the 19th Century exercised a powerful influence on life at the coast and the interior beyond. All these influences have left their mark on the fantastic patchwork of race, religions, tribes, languages and customs that can be observed among the people of the Kenyan Coastal Region.
Greeks, Persian and Arab traders frequented this coastline and evidence of a flourishing maritime trade can be found – gold, ivory and slaves were sent to distant lands from here.
In 1548 the balance of power along the coast changed, when Vasco da Gama ordered his fleet of Portuguese ships to anchor at Malindi. This seemed to have ended a 200-year struggle for control between the Portuguese and the Arabs.
Later Mombassa was taken by the Portuguese and the massive fortification of Fort Jesus, was completed in 1593. Less than 40 years later the Arabs wiped out the garrison, lost the town again and re-captured it after a three-year siege over the years of 1696–1698. Despite the Arab success, European expeditions in the middle of the 19th Century exercised a powerful influence on life at the coast and the interior beyond. All these influences have left their mark on the fantastic patchwork of race, religions, tribes, languages and customs that can be observed among the people of the Kenyan Coastal Region.