Pate Island

Pate or Paté is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. It is the largest of the Lamu Islands, which lie between the towns of Lame and Kiunga, close to the border with Somalia.

From the seventh century, Paté was an early site of Arabic colonisation. It long vied as a Swahili port with Lamu and with Takwa on Manda Island and came to prominence around the fourteenth century, but was subjugated by Lamu in the nineteenth century.

There is no motorized transport on the island. The main administrative centre on the island, with the police station, is Faza.

Faza

Faza, on the North coast, dates back at least to the fourteenth century. In 1587 Faza was destroyed by the Portuguese as the local Sheikh had supported Mirale Bey, a notorious privateer who had earlier played a key role in ousting the Portuguese from Muscat. The Portuguese arrived from Goa with some 650 men on their punitive expedition, and unleached their fury on Faza. Everybody they could find was killed, including the lokal Sheikh. The Portuguese preserved his head in a barrel of salt for display in India. After 4 days of loothing they invited Fazas archrivals from Pate town to take away anything that they liked from Faza.

Faza was later resettled. The Portuguese in Faza constructed a chapel there, however, nothing remains of it. In the 18th century Faza again fell into decline due to the rise of Pate. The English Consul Holmwood visited the place in 1873 and found it "dirty and infected with diseases".

Pate Town

Pate Town is situated on the South-West coast of the island. According to the Pate Chronicle, the town of Pate was founded by refugees from Oman in 8th century and re-founded by members of the Nabahani family, also from Oman, in 1204. The Pate Chronicle also claims that in the 14th century Pate was so powerful that it had conquered most of the coastal towns of East Africa. However, recent archeological findings (by Neville Chittick) suggest that the early references in the Chronicle to Pate are wrong and that the town is in fact younger.

The 18th century was known as the "Golden Age of Pate", when the town was at its height of powers and also prospered in fine arts. Builders constructed some of the finest houses on the East Africa coast, with extensive elaborate plaster works. Goldsmiths made intricate jewelry, fine cloths (including silks) were made by Pate´s weavers and carpenters prodused fine wooden furniture. Both men and women wrote poetry in the Kiamu dialect of Swahili. The use and production of the musical instrument known as Siwa were most famous. Two examples of Siwas still remains in the museum in Lamu.

The downfall of Pate town came as a consequence of continuous quarrelling/warring with its neighbours from the end of the 18th century. In 1813 the famous "Battle of Shela" took place at Shela. This was an attempt by Pate, allied with the Mazrui clan from Mombasa/Oman, to subject Lamu. The attempt failed totally, and many were killed. Only a handful of people managed to return to Pate, and their lossess were felt for years. By 1892 the number of inhabitants had fallen to only 300, down from 7000. Today, the town have recovered some. Agriculture is today the main economic activity.

Siyu

Siyu is situated on the North coast of Pate island. As no major excavations have been done in Siyu, its age is not known, but it might date from the 13th century. Gaspar de Santo Bernadino visited the town in 1606, and stated that it was the largest town on the island.

Siyu´s main claim to historical fame is that it through several battles withstood the Sultans of Zanzibar. In 1843 the Sheikh of Siyu, Bwana Mataka, and the new Sheikh of Pate, repudiated the sovereignty of Seyyid Said, Sultan of Oman and Zanzibar. In response, Seyyid Said assembled an army consisting of 2000 people from Muscat, Baluchistan and Lamu. Leading them was his relative General Seyyid Hamad bin Ahmed Al-Busaidy, known as Amir Hamad. He had previously been Governor of Bandar Abbas (in 1824). He landed at Faza in early January 1844. On January the 6th they moved towards Siyu, but were ambushed and forced back to Faza. After three weeks without victory Amir Hamad sailed off.

In 1845 Siyu gave Seyyid Said one of his greatest military defeats. When Siyu finally succumbed to Zanzibars dominance, under Sultan Majid in 1863, it was one of the last towns on the whole of East Africas coast to do so.

Kizingitini

Kizingitini is situated on the North coast and is the largest fishing port on the island.

Shanga

Shanga is situated on the South-East coast. It is an important archaeological site.

References

Tolmacheva, Marina; Weiler, Dagmar (translator): The Pate Chronicle: Edited and Translated from Mss 177, 321, 344, and 358 of the Library of the University of Dar Es Salaam (African Historical Sources) ISBN 0870133365
Mark Horton; with contributions by Helen W. Brown and Nina Mudida: Shanga: the archaeology of a Muslim trading community on the coast of East Africa. Memoirs of the British Institute in Eastern Africa; No. 14 London: British Institute in Eastern Africa, 1996. ISBN 1-872566-09-x
Martin, Chryssee MacCasler Perry and Esmond Bradley Martin: Quest for the Past. An historical guide to the Lamu Archipelago. 1973.
Allen, James de Vere: Lamu, with an appendix on Archaeological finds from the region of Lamu by H. Neville Chittick. Nairobi: Kenya National Museums.
Strandes, Justus: The Portuguese Period in East Africa.
Kirkman, James: Men and Monuments on the East African Coast .

Archaeological sites in Kenya | Islands of Kenya | Towns in Kenya

Île Pate | Pate