Figure 7.1. Zanzibar Town, 1846. The map shows a narrow strip of land on the south that was the only connection across a creek that separated the town from the main island on the east. The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of rapid growth for Zanzibar. This map is the earliest detailed record of the town to survive. It shows a central area of stone houses surrounded by mud and thatch houses, which covered most of the peninsula and spread across the creek at Darajani, the narrowest crossing point. Though mud huts might have dominated the edges of the town as shown in this map, they were also located within stone houses all over the town. (Source: Map of Zanzibar, 1846 [Plan de Zanzibar, 1846]. Erhard Schieblé; Kœppelin, printing; Arthus Bertrand, editor. In “Voyage à lacôte orientale d’Afrique,” surveyed and written by Ch. Guillain, folio-atlas, plate 9, 1856–1857.)

Figure 7.2. A contemporary map of Zanzibar Stone Town showing buildings by ethnic origin. Even though Indian buildings are generally located along commercial streets and Arab buildings are generally located along the seafront and in the southwest corner of the map, we see no clear ethnic separation in this town. Due to rapid urban growth and changing political economy, the ethnic geography of Omani Zanzibar might have been even more complicated than what is indicated on this map. (Created by the author.)

Figure 7.3. The life of the sultan and the elite in Omani Zanzibar. (a) The sultan arrives at Zanzibar. (Source: https://www.zanzibarhistory.org). (b) The horse guards and state carriage of the sultan of Zanzibar. (Source: https://www.omanisilver.com). (c) Leading Arabs in ceremonial costume. (Source: https://www.zanzibarhistory.org). (d) Arab ladies in Zanzibar. Though absent in public spaces, Arab women had an indelible impact on the residential spaces of the city (Source: The Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.)

Figure 7.4. Everyday urban flows in and out of Omani Zanzibar. (a) Crossing the creek by the bridge at the northern end of the town, people from the shamba (countryside) are carrying produce to the market. (Source: www.zanzibarhistory.org.) (b) People crossing the creek by boats (Source: www.zanzibarhistory.org.) (c) Road through Mmazi Mmoya, in the southern end of Zanzibar Stone Town. Photo by J. Sturtz. (Source: The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies Winterton Collection, Northwestern University.) (d) Landing place of Zanzibar harbor. Photo by J. Sturtz. (Source: http://www.omanisilver.com.)

Figure 7.5. Economic activities in Omani Zanzibar. (a) Zanzibar’s clove trade scene. (Source: www.zanzibarhistory.org.) (b) Slaves for trade. Photo by J. Sturtz. (Source: The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies Winterton Collection, Northwestern University.) (c) Crowd at the Soko Kuu (Great Market), Forodhani, with the fort in the background. Photo by J. Sturtz. (Source: www.zanzibarhistory.org.) (d) Fish Market Street or Soko Mohogo in Zanzibar Stone Town. (Source: The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies Winterton Collection, Northwestern University.)

Figure 7.6. Ceremonies and rituals in Omani Zanzibar. (a) Sikuku (Id el Fitri) day festival in front of the House of Wonders (Source: www.omanisilver.com.) (b) Parade in celebration of Sikuku. (Source: www.zanzibarhistory.org.) (c) A fair in Zanzibar (Source: www.omanisilver.com.) (d) Swahili dance in Zanzibar (Source: www.zanzibarhistory.org.)

Figure 7.7. Palaces and courts in Omani Zanzibar. (a) View from the sea of Palace Square and Harem. (b) Beit al Sahel and Harem on the left; Beit al Hukm in the middle; and the clock tower and Beit al-Ajaib on the right. (c) Beit al-Ajaib with the clock tower. (d) Palace square with Beit al-Hukm. Photo by J. Sturtz. (Source: The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies Winterton Collection, Northwestern University.)

Figure 7.8. Boat-Cistern, built alongside of the Beit al-Sahel, in Zanzibar Stone Town. (Source: The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies Winterton Collection, Northwestern University.)

Figure 7.9. Map of Zanzibar drawn by the Survey of India in 1892 under the direction of Consul General Gerald Portal. The map is the first to accurately show the street pattern and indicate all the names of the different mitaa of the town. To the north, the Darajani Bridge was still the main route out of the town. A road along the neck of land called Mnazi Mmoja provides a new route out of town to the south. In addition, there was a canoe ferry service that crossed to the main island from Mkunazini, and a low-tide track which traversed the creek at its southern end. (Source: Author)

Figure 7.10. Map of Zanzibar City, drawn by Baumann, 1896, based on the 1892 survey. (Source: Oscar Baumann, Die lnsel Sansibar und Ihre Kleineren Nachbarinseln. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1897.]

Figure 7.11. A contemporary map of Zanzibar Stone Town showing building use patterns. With public/cultural buildings along seaside streets, commercial buildings along interior streets that run from the west side to the east side, and religious buildings distributed in various parts of the Town, the map shows a complicated land use pattern in Omani Zanzibar. (Created by the author.)

Figure 7.12. The plan and figure-ground drawings of two different areas in Zanzibar Stone Town showing unplanned land plotting patterns within irregular urban blocks defined by narrow and winding streets. (Created by the author from Colonial Street Map of Stone Town, 1924, Mkunazini. Zanzibar: Ministry of Water, Construction, Energy, Lands, and Environment, 1924; and Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Zanzibar: A Plan for the Historic Stone Town, Geneva: Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 1996.)

Figure 7.13. A typical urban block in Zanzibar Stone Town. (a) Plan and four elevations of an urban block in Kajificheni, Zanzibar Stone Town. The block contains a mixture of different building types: Arab courtyard houses, groups of Indian shop front buildings and an L-shaped communal tenement building. (b) An axonometric view of the same Kajijicheni block illustrates an unplanned process of development, where individual structures were built next to each other over time by owners of different races, religions, and cultures. (Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Zanzibar: A Plan for the Historic Stone Town. Geneva: Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 1996, p. 30–31.)

Figure 7.14. The axial map (a) and the segment map (b) of Omani Zanzibar, colored using the choice value of each line. In these renderings, the color ranges from red representing higher values and blue representing lower values. The lines/segments with the highest choice values appear to follow the main streets of the city. (Created by the author.)

Figure 7.15. The axial map (a) and the segment map (b) of Omani Zanzibar, colored using the integration value of each line. In these renderings, the color ranges from red representing higher values to blue representing lower values. The lines/segments with the highest integration values appear to be located in the main commercial areas of the city. (Created by the author.)

Figure 7.16. Views of Omani Zanzibar. (a) A rooftop panorama of Zanzibar showing makuti huts alongside Arab houses with flat roofs and small windows. Photo by J. Sturtz. (Source: omanisilver.com.) (b) Pwani Ndogo (South of Darajani Bridge) dividing Stone Town and N’gambo. (Photo by J. Sturtz.) (c) Darajani Bridge over Pwani Ndogo. (d) Houses in Mchangani, N’gambo. Even though separated from the town by the creek, Ng’ambo and the Stone Town remained dependent on each other in economic and social pursuits. (Source for b, c, and d: The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies Winterton Collection, Northwestern University.)

Figure 7.17. Even though people of different means lived in different types of structures, these structures were not always in separate areas of Omani Zanzibar. (a) A typical (Arab) stone house next to huts. (Source: www.zanzibarhistory.org.) (b) The typical shopfront house of a merchant. Leigh described such shops as “mere holes raised a foot or two above the street.” (Source: www.zanzibarhistory.org.) (c) A typical street in Ng’ambo defined by single-storied Swahili houses with makuti roofs. Referring to such streets, the first Hand book of Zanzibar noted the “silence and cleanliness” of Ng’ambo. It is noteworthy that the street has a stone house at the end. (Source: The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies Winterton Collection, Northwestern University.)

Figure 7.18. A contemporary map of Zanzibar Stone Town showing buildings by ownership. With public properties around the perimeter and private properties in the interior, the map initially suggests a dichotomous spatial geography. This geography, however, is made complicated by a significant number of religious properties. Generally public/communal in nature, these buildings are distributed throughout the map. It is likely that such complexity in spatial geography also existed in Omani Zanzibar. (Created by the author.)

Figure 7.19. Mosques in Zanzibar Stone Town. (Created by the author based on A. Sheriff, Mosques, Merchants & Landowners in Zanzibar Stone Town, in The History and Conservation of Zanzibar Stone Town, A. Sheriff, Editor. London: James Currey, 1995, Figure 4.1.)

Figure 7.20. Map of graveyards in Zanzibar Stone Town and Ng’ambo. (Created by the author based on A. A. Issa, The Burial of the Elite in Nineteenth-Century Zanzibar Stone Town, in The History and Conservation of Zanzibar Stone Town, A. Sheriff, Editor. London: James Currey, 1995, Figures 5.1 and 5.2.)