Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site
in 2001, Stone Town is a hotchpotch of cultures, architecture
and languages. Over the centuries, Stone Town has grown from a
small fishing village on the peninsula of Unguja’s west coast to
a thriving town, with an extraordinary history. From as early as
150AD Arab, Asian and Persian traders sailed across the Indian
Ocean to trade with the Bantu people, naming the Africa’s east
coast as Zinj el Barr, meaning land of the black people, which
later became Zanzibar.
Colonial rulers came and went, starting with the Portuguese in
the 15th century who built a small settlement which later grew
into Stone Town. They were ousted by the Omani Arabs and the
time of slave, spice and ivory trade began. Zanzibar became
predominately Muslim, cloves and coconuts were St one Town grown
and sold in their tonnes and the influence of the Arabs became
more strongly felt as Seyyid Said bin Sultan made Zanzibar the
capital of the Omani empire. The archipelago became a British
Protectorate in 1890, with the Sultans implementing policy on a
local level. Following the revolution in 1964, Zanzibar became
independent and joined with the United Republic of Tanganyika to
form Tanzania.
Walking around Stone Town, you can see the impact of the
different cultures on the buildings around you and the faces of
the inhabitants. Coral and stone houses boast imposing Zanzibar
doors, with their brass studs to defend against charging
elephants, carved with script from the Qu’ran. Indian houses
have courtyards behind the shop fronts and intricately carved
balconies. Arab houses are characterised by their white washed
walls, flat terraces and small windows to preserve the modesty
of the women. The roof top walkways from house to house have
been destroyed, so these days the women walk the streets,
covered in diaphanous buibuis. Men sit on the barazas, the stone
ledges outside the house, playing games, talking and greet
visitors, much in the way they did a century ago.
Zanzibar doors
"Watoto wangu wawili kutwa wagombana bli usiku hulala salama
salimini mlango"
- My two children quarrel all day but sleep peacefully together
at night – the two halves of a door.
A Sw ahili riddle
The evolution of huge carved doors as an expression of
status and wealth in Zanzibar society began in the Swahili era,
but reached its zenith in the nineteenth century, when the
buying power of the wealthy Omani Arabs combined with the skill
and artistry of Indian carvers. Richard Burton, visiting
Zanzibar in 1858, commented: “The higher the tenement, the
bigger the gateway, the heavier the padlock, and the huger the
iron studs which nail the door of heavy timber, the greater the
owner’s dignity” The iron studs, mentioned by Burton and still
prominent on the doors of modern Zanzibar, were a throwback to
Indian defences against war elephants. War elephants may have
been unknown in Zanzibar, but the door fitted in perfectly with
the Arab ideal of a domestic residence that could also serve as
a defensive purpose. Many doors had smaller windows or doors let
into them to allow only one visitor at a time to pass in and
out.
Apart from their massive, thick construction, the main feature
of Zanzibar doors was the decorative carving that adorned the
frame, the central pillars and the semi-circular area above the
door. Traditionally, a rope or chain pattern ran around the
outermost strip of the door to enslave evil spirits and keep the
family of the house safe from harm. The inner frame and middle
post were carved with abstract motifs such as lotus or rosette
patterns, or a decorative theme reflecting the owner’s
profession – the owner of a fleet of fishing boats, for example,
might choose a pattern of scales. In later years, the
traditional Islamic prohibitions of portrayals of living
creatures were relaxed, leading to the depictions of lions or
eagles found in palaces such as the House of Wonders. A door’s
carving almost always included pious verses from the Qu’ran,
sometimes picked out in gilt.
