Kilwa

Kilwa was a Swahili sultanate based on Kilwa Kisiwani, an island off the East African coast. In 1337 the Mahdali dynasty ruled the trading city, whose wealth came in part from gold brought through Sofala.

In the fifteenth century Kilwa's overlordship extended along the coast from Malindi and Lamu to Sofala and Inhambane. Vasco da Gama extorted tribute in 1502; in 1505 Francisco de Almeida sacked the city and built Fort Santiago. The Portuguese withdrew in 1512, and Kilwa fell to the Omani rulers of Zanzibar in 1784.