Wituland - encyclopedia article about Wituland.

Wituland (also Witu, Vitu or Swahililand) was an approximately 3000 km² territory in East Africa centered on the town of Witu just inland from Indian Ocean port of Lamu north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya.

History

Founded in 1858 by the former ruler of the insular Pate sultanate after several abortive moves to the mainland, the native sultanate of Wituland was a haven for slaves fleeing the Zanzibar slave trade and thus a target of attacks from the Sultanate of Zanzibar (ruled by a branch of the Omani dynasty, under British protectorate).

In 1885, the German brothers Clemens and Gustav Denhardt negotiated a treaty with Ahmed ibn Fumo Bakari, the first mfalume (Swahili for sultan) of Witu who ceded, on 8 April 1885, 25 square miles of territory to the brothers' "Tana Company", and the remainder of the Wituland became the German Protectorate of Wituland (Deutsch-Witu) on 27 May 1885. The Reich was represented there by the German Residents: Gustav Denhardt (1856–1917; in office 8 April 1885 – 1 July 1890) and his deputy Clemens Andreas Denhardt (1852–1928). German rule was relatively mild, and the territory continued being a haven for escaped slaves[1].

In accord with the 1890 Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty, on 18 June 1890 a British protectorate was declared, and on 1 July 1890 imperial Germany renounced its protectorate, ceding the Wituland to Great Britain to be added to British East Africa despite protests from the inhabitants of the territory, who wished to remain under Germany's protection. Shortly afterwards several German merchants were murdered, and a British punitive expedition was sent out. Roger Keyes, then only 18 years old, was part of the force.

In 1889, Wituland issued a number of postage stamps although their postal usage has not been verified. Its flag (31 July 1893 – 1920) was red with a Union Flag in the centre.

The known ruling Sultans (styled mfalume in Kiswahili) are:

1858 - 1888 Ahmad ibn Fumo Bakari
1888 - 1890 Fumo Bakari ibn Ahmad
1890 - 1891 Bwana Shaykh ibn Ahmad
1891 - 1893 Fumo `Umar ibn Ahmad (1st time)
1893 - 7 July 1895 Vacant
7 July 1895 - 1923 Fumo `Umar ibn Ahmad (2nd time)

Sources and external links

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List of former German colonies and protectorates

Colonies	Africa	Wituland German East Africa (Tanganyika • Rwanda • Burundi) German South-West Africa (Namibia) German West Africa (Kamerun • Neukamerun • Togoland)
	Pacific	German Samoa German New Guinea (German Solomon Islands German Marshall Islands Caroline Islands Mariana Islands Nauru Palau)
Concessions	China	Kiaochow (Kiautschou) Tsingtao
Unrecognised	Antarctica	New Swabia

Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:

1,000,000 m²
100 ha (hectare)

Conversely:

1 m² = 0.

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East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:

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Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)

Arctic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Southern Ocean

This article is about the water body. For the Indian fusion music band, see Indian Ocean (band).

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State Party Kenya
Type Cultural
Criteria ii, iv, vi
Reference 1055
Region Africa

Inscription History
Inscription 2001 (25th Session)
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Tana may refer to:

Tana, short-hand form of Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar
Tana or Tanais, medieval trading city on the Sea of Azov, near the modern city of Azov.

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Motto
"Harambee" (Swahili)
"Let us all pull together"
Anthem
Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu
"Oh God of All Creation"
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1820s 1830s 1840s - 1850s - 1860s 1870s 1880s
1855 1856 1857 - 1858 - 1859 1860 1861

:
Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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List of Rulers of Pate

Located at Pate Island, Kenya.

Term Incumbent Notes
1203 Pate sultanate independence from Kilwa Kisiwani
Mfalume (Sultans)
Nabahani Dynasty
1688 to 1713 Bwana Mkuu, Mfalume
1713 to 17?? Bwana Tamu
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Sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the Arabic
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Slavery is a social-economic system under which certain persons — known as slaves — are deprived of personal freedom and compelled to perform labour or services.
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Zanzibar

Flag
Map of Zanzibar's main island
Zanzibar is part of Tanzania
Coordinates:
Country Tanzania
Islands Unguja and Pemba
Capital Zanzibar City
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The history of slavery covers many different forms of human exploitation across many cultures and throughout human history. Slavery, generally defined, refers to the systematic exploitation of labor for work and services without consent and/or the possession of other persons as
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Motto
none
Anthem
Nashid as-Salaam as-Sultani

Capital
(and largest city) Muscat

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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1850s 1860s 1870s - 1880s - 1890s 1900s 1910s
1882 1883 1884 - 1885 - 1886 1887 1888

:
Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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Anthem
"Das Lied der Deutschen" (third stanza)
also called "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"
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Clemens Andreas Denhardt (1852-1928) and his brother Gustav Denhardt (1856-1917), born in Zeitz, Saxony-Anhalt, were distinguished German explorers of Africa at the time of the Scramble for Africa. In association with the physician G. A.
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Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see below for derivation) is a Bantu language. It is the most widely spoken language of sub-Saharan Africa. Although only 5-10 million people speak it as their native language^[1]
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April 8 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

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square mile is an imperial and US unit of area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with the archaic miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared.
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protectorate is a political entity (a sovereign state or less developed native polity, such as a tribal chiefstainship or feudal princely state) that formally agrees by treaty to enter into an unequal relationship with another, stronger state, called the protector
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May 27 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

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A Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a state official of certain representative -diplomatic and/or colonial- types, required to take up permanent residency abroad officially.
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1820s 1830s 1840s - 1850s - 1860s 1870s 1880s
1853 1854 1855 - 1856 - 1857 1858 1859

:
Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s
1914 1915 1916 - 1917 - 1918 1919 1920

Year 1917 (MCMXVII
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April 8 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

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