This map, created by Wikimedia Commons user AbdurRahman AbdulMoneim in 2022, shows the extent of the Sultanate of Kilwa in the year 1310.

The Sultanate of Kilwa was founded in the 10th century by Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi on the island of Kilwa Kisiwani, off the present-day coast of Tanzania, and was the dominant power on the east coast of Africa for several centuries. Its strategic position enabled it to become the main trading intermediary between the African continent and the trade networks of the Indian Ocean. Control of Sofala, acquired in the second half of the 12th century, was crucial to Kilwa’s expansion, as gold from Great Zimbabwe flowed through that port on its way to Arabia, India and China.

The year 1310 marks the start of the reign of Abu al-Mawahib al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman and, with it, the beginning of its golden age. The map shows the territory controlled by the Sultanate of Kilwa at that time, distinguishing between five categories:

• The heart of the Sultanate of Kilwa, shown in bright orange (the present-day coast of Tanzania).
• The Sultanate’s administrative offices, shown in orange.
• The Kilwana areas of influence, shown in white with red stripes (in Madagascar and the Comoros).
• The Governor’s Office of Mozambique, painted orange with red stripes (in Mozambique).
• The Sultanate of Pate, shown in orange with white stripes (in southern Somalia).

As the map shows, the Sultanate of Kilwa was not a centralised state, but rather a network of trading cities linked by dynastic and commercial ties.

Sources

• Sultanate of Kilwa