Annotation

This illustration is of the trading city state of Kilwa or Kilwa Kiswani on the Swahili Coast (that is modern Tanzania) which flourished between the 12th and 15th century C.E. It illustrates well the welcoming nature of the city in which much of this trade occurred: indigenous Kilwanese traded on behalf of themselves and their inland neighbors with the Muslims and Chinese traders and explorers who arrived on their shores.