Kua or Ruins of Kua () is a Medieval Swahili, National Historic Site located in Jibondo ward of Mafia District in Pwani Region of Tanzania. The site is located on Juani Island of the Mafia Archipelago. As of 2016, the site is currently on the list of 50 at-risk cultural heritage sites in 36 countries.
Overview
Kua is located on Juani Island's southwest shore in Tanzania's Mafia Archipelago. The main settlement appears to have been occupied in the early sixteenth century and abandoned in the early nineteenth century, however there is evidence of the older occupation to the south of the site. There hasn't been any systematic archaeological investigation of the site's standing remains and the material culture that surrounds them. Regarding the quality of the demolished buildings from an architectural standpoint, there are differing viewpoints.
Kua, according to European historians and archaeologists is known as the "Pompeii of East Africa," is a vast complex of coral-stone buildings that may have been encircled by a web of smaller settlements akin to those seen around other stone town sites along the Swahili coastw. Recent site surveys reveal that the settlement, which once covered over 30–40 acres, included seven mosques, four cemetery areas, a sizable double-story "palace," at least 10 "complex structures" (likely homes with multiple distinct spaces/rooms), about 30 "walled courts," which may have been connected to homes made of non-stone materials, and a large number of internal and external latrines. Numerous historical records mention the site's significant overgrowth as an issue, and it appears that this has affected how much of the site has been examined and recorded in the past.
According to the "Kua Chronicle," a history of Kua written by Freeman-Grenville in 1955, Shirazi people "who had come long ago from Persia" established the location. Although the exact date of the founding of Kua is uncertain, it is depicted on the maps of Arab geographer Al-Idrisi in 1154 as Kahua. The ancient settlement was focused in an area south of the main ruin complex, known as Mkokotoni. The Mkokotoni site may have been inhabited from at least the 13th century AD, according to numismatic evidence from the area, and Freeman-Grenville cites the potential existence of celadon pottery from the 14th century AD.
Many historians (Freeman-Grenville 1962; Kirkman 1964; Piggott 1941a, 1941b; Revington 1936) have cited an account of the collapse and subsequent abandonment of the site derived from local traditions, even though dates for the foundation of Kua still need to be firmly established through additional archaeological reconnaissance. According to a common myth, the Sakalava from Madagascar stormed Kua in the early 19th century A.D. and "arrived in their small canoes called 'laka' and captured many people." It's believed that this raid was planned by a Kua craftsman who, after becoming dissatisfied with how slaves and other people were treated by their overlords, escaped and brought reinforcements back.
The raid may be more precisely pinpointed to sometime between "1810 and 1835" because the Sultan of Zanzibar, whose authority over the Mafia Archipelago was well-established by 1812, was informed of the attack. This led to "an expedition being formed and sent to pursue the invaders... [who]... were found on a small island and defeated, the prisoners brought triumphantly back to Mafia." It is also likely that the raid took place before 1838, the year in which the Sultan is believed to have "made a treaty with Queen Seneekoo of the Sakalava," given the alleged reaction to the raid. Kua was abandoned after the Sultan's capital was moved to adjacent Chole Island because, despite this triumph, legend has it that Kua never fully recovered from the attack.
Chole was heavily involved in long-distance commerce networks during this time, and it was crucial to the supply of cowrie shells to other parts of Africa. Although Kua participated in long-distance trading networks, as shown by the substantial amounts of imported goods, including as ceramics and beads, Piggott hypothesised that the "population [could not] have depended on sea trade" due to the harbor's characteristics. Uncertainty exists on whether this comment applies to local networks and maritime exploitation as well as long-distance trade; yet, fishing was probably a significant component of the local population's sustenance economy.