Siyu in the 18th and 19th Centuries

One approach to the unravelling of the Swahili enigma is to undertake studies of individual towns or settlements over one or two centuries. The present study of Siyu, located on Pate Island in the Lamu Archipelago of northern Kenya, is a preliminary outline for such a micro-study. It is unfortunately not yet possible to do more than indicate the remarkable diversity of the population of the town and to point out two extra types of evidence (material culture and Swahili manuscript books) – over and about documents, archaeology and oral traditions – which might well serve to illuminate whole areas of its past. (Source: ASC Documentation).