Siyu: Town of the Craftsmen. A Swahili Cultural Centre in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

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Periodical article

Title:	Siyu: Town of the Craftsmen. A Swahili Cultural Centre in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Author:	Brown, H.
Year:	1988
Periodical:	Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa
Volume:	23
Pages:	101-113
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	Swahili islands urban history History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Architecture and the Arts
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00672708809511388
Abstract:	Studies that acknowledge an African presence and participation in the development of Swahili society often exaggerate the importance of maritime culture and overseas trade in coastal economies. Siyu, a Swahili town on the island of Pate in the Lamu archipelago, successfully developed an agriculturally based economy that supported diverse and productive local craft industries - cloth, woodworking, leather work, metal work, paper, books and bindings. Siyu attained a height of prosperity and production of material culture in the period 1750 to 1850, during which time it was ruled by a family clan called the Matakas, under whom it developed as a centre of arts and religious learning. Notes, ref.