Lamu

Lamu arose on the Lamu Archipelago off East Africa. The Swahili town, known locally as Amu, was traditionally said to have been founded in 1370.

In 1441 a traveller met its judge on pilgrimage in Mecca. In 1506 a Portuguese fleet blockaded the harbour and forced its king to pay tribute. Lamu joined the coastal revolt of the decade of 1580 and sought Omani help from 1652. After Pate and Mazrui forces were defeated on Shela beach, Lamu called in an Omani garrison and built a fort, completed in the early 1820s.