Book contents
- Making Identity on the Swahili Coast
- African Identities: Past and Present
- Making Identity on the Swahili Coast
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface
- A Note on Spellings and Currency
- A Note on Nomenclature
- Abbreviations
- Maps
- Introduction
- Part One Becoming Bagamoyo
- Part Two Fitting into their Way of Life: Local Community and Colonial Control
- 4 The Particularities of Place
- 5 Colonial Power, Community Identity, and Consultation
- 6 “Curing the Cancer of the Colony”
- Epilogue
- Glossary
- Select Bibliography
- Index
4 - The Particularities of Place
Space, Identity, and the Coastal Rebellion of 1888–1890
from Part Two - Fitting into their Way of Life: Local Community and Colonial Control
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2019
- Making Identity on the Swahili Coast
- African Identities: Past and Present
- Making Identity on the Swahili Coast
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface
- A Note on Spellings and Currency
- A Note on Nomenclature
- Abbreviations
- Maps
- Introduction
- Part One Becoming Bagamoyo
- Part Two Fitting into their Way of Life: Local Community and Colonial Control
- 4 The Particularities of Place
- 5 Colonial Power, Community Identity, and Consultation
- 6 “Curing the Cancer of the Colony”
- Epilogue
- Glossary
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Bagamoyo holds a central place in the history of the 1888 Coastal Rebellion as the site of the most violent and prolonged struggle of the entire episode. Examining events there, I consider two approaches which support spatial identity as an influential force: the organization of the uprising, in which the spatial attachments of the hinterland (Zaramo, Doe, and Kwere) and upcountry (Nyamwezi) peoples to the town play a role in influencing their solidarity with the townspeople; and how a framework that emphasizes the spatial origins of each group of rebels involved in the Bagamoyo uprising distinguishes between the different communities obfuscated by the broader category of Swahili society. Despite the far reaching presence of Swahili culture along the coastline, the Swahili were not simply interchangeable from one town to the next. I also investigate the level of violence used by the Germans along the coast to show how this was contingent on the local particularities of each place. Together these points highlight the need for considering the importance of place for explaining local behavior in the context of a widespread rebellion.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Making Identity on the Swahili CoastUrban Life, Community, and Belonging in Bagamoyo, pp. 175 - 210Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019