The history of Tanzania – Tale of uncharted territory

The history of Tanzania is filled with stories of struggle and triumph, victory and peace. This rich history can be traced as far as; from the beginning of human settlement and Tribal Habitation to the beginnings of trade and merchant states along the Swahili Coast. Rich traces also include the arrival of colonialism and the advent of independence while political details and the modern Tanzania are not to be ignored.

Tanzania has a long history of human habitation – some of the earliest hominoid fossils in the world were discovered in Olduvai Gorge and show records of hominoid habitation in the region going back at least 3 million years. It is thought that early hunter-gatherer communities inhabited the northern highlands as far back as 10,000 years ago and remained largely isolated until the arrival of Cushitic-speaking tribes from the north, who brought basic agricultural technologies to the area between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago.

More recent migrations of Bantu-speaking tribes from western Africa began around 1000 BC, and with their assimilation came advances in iron and steel production. Ancestors of the Maasai arrived more recently, beginning their migration around the 15th century and continuing to arrive from the area around southern Sudan for another three hundred years. Battles over grazing and agricultural land began as ethnic groups consolidated and appropriated loose borders and tribal regions.

Trade routes that led from the heart of the continent to the East African coast gradually gave rise to Swahili culture – a blend of Arab, Indian and Bantu influences that created one of the most developed trade networks in the Indian Ocean.

Although archaeological evidence shows the area was used as a trading port for Greek and Persian ships as early as 400 BC, permanent coastal settlements only developed around 800 AD, when civilizations around the Indian Ocean were wealthy enough to support annual voyages and a high volume of trade.
With large caravans laden with gold, spices, ivory, and slaves departing from Zanzibar, Kilwa, and other less prominent East African ports, Swahili civilization grew and flourished until the 15th century, when trade became more confined to Mombasa and Zanzibar.

Portuguese traders dominated the East African coast from 1525 until the early 18th century, when Omani Arabs once again regained control of the slave trade. The first missionaries journeyed to the mainland in the early 19th century and settlements, mission stations, and trading posts were built as far inland as Lake Tanganyika.

In the late 19th century, the German East African Company gained control of large portions of the Tanzanian mainland, although the British held a sphere of influence over the Omani sultans ruling the Zanzibar Archipelago. By 1891, most of mainland Tanzania was under the colonial administration of German East Africa.
At the end of World War I, the Germans relinquished control over the area and handed it over to British administration that governed by a system of indirect rule.
A fledgling national movement in opposition to colonial economic policies was founded in the 1930’s and by the early 1950’s; the movement came into its own. In 1954, an internal constitution was drawn up and resistance unified under the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) with Julius Nyerere elected as its president.

After further elections in 1959, Britain established an internal self-government within the country and by 1962 the independent Republic of Tanganyika was formed with Nyerere as president.
Meanwhile, a popular revolution on the island of Zanzibar ousted the Omani sultan and in 1963, the archipelago gained its independence from British influence and Arab rule. One year later, leaders Nyerere and Karume, the first president of Zanzibar, signed an act of union to create the United Republic of Tanzania, which includes the Republic of Tanganyika and the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar.
Today, Tanzania is a sovereign state under the ruler- ship of His Excellency president Jakaya Kikwete

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