Mafia Island
Mafia Island ("Chole Shamba") is part of the Tanzanian Spice Islands, together with Zanzibar and Pemba. As one of the 6 districts of the Pwani Region, however, Mafia Island is governed from the mainland, not from Zanzibar. Mafia Island has never been considered part of Zanzibar.
According to the 2002 Tanzania National Census, the population of the Mafia District was 40,801. [1]
The people of Mafia Island are mainly fishermen; many also engage in small-scale food cultivation.
The island is a good retreat for adventure scuba divers, game fishermen, and those merely seeking relaxation.
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Geography
The Mafia island cluster consists of one large island (394km²) and numerous smaller ones. Some of these are inhabited, such as Chole Island (2km²), with a population of 800. Chole Bay, Mafia's protected deep-water anchorage and original harbour, is studded with islands, sandbanks and beaches. The main town is Kilindoni. The stretch of water between the deltas of the Rufiji River and the island is called Mafia Channel.
History
Mafia Island's history goes back to the 8th century. The island once played a major role in ancient trade between the people of Far East and mainland Tanzania. It was a regular stop for Persian boats. On the tiny island of Chole Mjini, just offshore in Chole Bay, once stood a settlement that constituted one of the most important towns controlling trade from the silver mines of Eastern Zimbabwe, which reached the town via the old ports of Kilwa and Michangani.
In the mid 1820s, the town of Kua on Juani Island was attacked by 80 canoes filled with Sakalava cannibals from Madagascar, who ate many of the locals and took the rest into slavery.
Under a treaty of 1890, Germany took control of Mafia and constructed the buildings still evident on Chole. Germany paid Sultan Sayyid Ali bin Said al-Said of Oman DM 4 million for both the island and part of the mainland coast. In January, 1915, Mafia was taken by British troops as a base for the air and sea assault on the cruiser Königsberg.
Although the Cosa Nostra have, of late, taken up the East African coast as a new venue for money-laundering, the name Mafia probably derives from the Arabic "morfiyeh", meaning "group" or "archipelago", or from the Ki-Swahili "mahali pa afya", meaning "a healthy dwelling-place".
Wards
The Mafia District is administratively divided into 7 wards:
- Baleni
- Jibondo
- Kanga
- Kilindoni
- Kirongwe
- Kiegeani
- Mibulani
Sources
References
- Chami, F. A. 1999. “The Early Iron Age on Mafia island and its relationship with the mainland.” Azania Vol. XXXIV 1999, pp. 1-10.
- Chami, Felix A. 2002. “The Graeco-Romans and Paanchea/Azania: sailing in the Erythraean Sea” by Felix A. Chami. From: Red Sea Trade and Travel. The British Museum. Organised by The Society for Arabian Studies. Downloaded on 20 July, 2003 from: http://www.google.au/search?q=cache:aECfkPV1-0oJ:www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/ane/fullpapers.doc