Kilwa Kisiwani was once the most famous trading post in East Africa.  In 9th century  the  Swahili wealth owner of the island sold it to a trader called Ali bin Al-Hasan, the founder of Shiraz Dynasty.  From 11th Century to early 15th Ali bin Al-Hasan managed to create a powerful city (Kilwa Kisiwani) and as major trading center along east African coast. He built a great mosque, established close trading links to interior of southern Africa as far as Nyasaland and Zimbabwe.

In this sense , Kilwa Kisiwani became the principle trading port on the Indian Ocean. Its wealth came from the exchange of gold and iron from Great Zimbabwe and other part of Southern Africa, ivory and slaves from mainland Tanzania  with textiles, Jewelry, porcelain and spices from Asia.

By the 13th Century Kilwa had become the most powerful city on the East African Coast, exercising political and trading  domination  as far as Pemba Island in the north and   Sofara (the modern Beira in Mozambique) in south . It is the  offshore location and the tidal currents that isolate the island from the mainland protected them from landslide attack.

The outside world came to know Kilwa through a Moroccan intellectual travel {Abu Abdullah Ibn Batuta} who had visited Kilwa in 1331, and the Portuguese sailors who visited the place about 170 years after Batuta, these travelers are credited with much of the Kilwa's Written History:-  about the life, wealth and powerful trade control on East African Coast. When Abu Abdullah Ibn Batuta,  arrived at Kilwa, he was amazed with its beauty

"The city large and elegant, its buildings, As typical along the coast, Constructed of stones and coral rag.

Houses were generally single storied, consisting of a number of small rooms separated by thick walls supporting heavy stone roofing slabs laid across mangrove poles.

Some of the more formidable structures contained second and third stories, and many were embellished with cut stone decorative borders framing the entranceway.

Tapestries and ornamental niches covered the walls and the floors were carpeted. Of course, such appointments were only for the wealthy; the poorer classes occupied the timeless mud and straw huts of Africa,

Their robs a simple loincloth, their dinner millet porridge."

Ibn Batuta

By late 15th Century AD, Kilwa's fortunes changed.  Portuguese conquered the island after one of their explorer "Pedro Alvares Cabral" visited Kilwa and reported seeing beautiful houses made of coral stones and terraces of "black moors" as Vasco da Gama called it when he past the island. In 1505 Portuguese  established full control of the island with intention of taking absolute control of the lucrative Indian Ocean trade.  They built a garrison  and establish a  strong trading post with Sofara (Beira in present days).

Today Kilwa has managed to preserve much of the scenery that attracted Ibn Batuta, Pedro Alvares Cabral, and Vasco da Gama. To preserve its beauty UNESCO declared Kilwa a World Heritage Site in 1981

The island is separated from the mainland by a 3 kilometers wide channels. The visitors should expect to see medieval ruins:- 

·  The mosque,  is considered to be (at that time) the largest in East African Coast. It has domed chambers, monolithic pillars, water tanks, and slabs for prayers.

·  Great House, which is believed to be the house of Imam or Sultan.

·  Small domed Mosque, the best preserved and most  ornamental in Kilwa.

·  Mkutini Palace,  built with great walls triangular in shape

·  Gereza (prison) which was built by Portuguese, dominating the view of the island from far.

·  The remarkable ruins however, is the HUSUNI KUBWA overlooking the Kilwa port, as early writers mentioned " it was the largest pre -European building in Equatorial Africa.