Place · island

Kilwa Kisiwani

Kilwa Kisiwani is an island off the southern coast of Tanzania, seat of the Kilwa Sultanate, which from the 13th century controlled the gold trade from Sofala. Ibn Battuta visited in 1331 and praised it as one of the most beautiful towns in the world. The Portuguese sacked it in 1505, and its ruins, including the Great Mosque and Husuni Kubwa, form a World Heritage Site.

Kilwa Kisiwani
Image: Khalidsalewa · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

SwahiliLegacy

Mentioned in 1 state history

Kilwa Sultanate

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kilwa Kisiwani. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kilwa-kisiwani
MLA
“Kilwa Kisiwani.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kilwa-kisiwani. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kilwa Kisiwani.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kilwa-kisiwani.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kilwa Kisiwani’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kilwa-kisiwani (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻