​Discuss the role of city states on the east coast of Africa in the spread of Islam in the region in the period between 1700 and 1900 A.D.

KCSE IRE Paper 2 2007 Question 5(a) with Answers and Marking Scheme.

​Discuss the role of city states on the east coast of Africa in the spread of Islam in the region in the period between 1700 and 1900 A.D.  (12 marks)

1. By 1700 the city states on the east coast Of Africa had developed into cosmopolitan centres where Swahili/Islamic civilization and culture thrived and this way of life attracted inhabitants from the neighbouring communities and those from the mainland who were involved in the long distance trade with the Arabs and Swahili traders The newcomers easily embraced Islam. 
2. Muslim inhabitants of the city states intermarried with the local people who converted to Islam upon marriage. 
3. The Mosques and Madrassas in the city states also attracted the local people to convert to Islam. 
4. Through trade with the Muslim inhabitants of the city states, local people came into contact with Islam and eventually ended up embracing the religion 
5. Local people left their homes to seek employment by Muslim inhabitants as domestic workers, in business and in plantations. These workers eventually embraced Islam. 
6. Local people who left their rural homes, occasionally visited their relatives and took Islam with them to the villages. 
7. In the 19th century (during the rule Of Sayyid Said bin Sultan) Muslim traders began to travel to the mainland of East African to obtain goods and bring them to the city states. These traders come into contact with the inland tribes to whom they propagated Islam. 
8. Some of those traders who went to the mainland stayed in the trading centres where they traded with the local people resulting in the establishment of Muslim centres such as Taveta, Ujiji, Tabora, Mumias and Buganda. 
9. Those Muslim centres in the mainland became important in propagating Islam to the surrounding areas. 
10. The city states were ruled by Muslim rulers/sultans who extended their authority beyond the city states to the neighbouring local communities who not only came to accept the rule of their Muslim rulers but Islam as well. 

(6 x 2 = 12 marks)