Zahra of Kilwa

Coastal shipwright and repair planner · Medieval Swahili coast composite

Zahra of Kilwa is represented within approximately 1250–1500 CE and Swahili coast port towns and western Indian Ocean maritime networks. Research Kilwa Kisiwani and neighboring Swahili towns; coral-stone and earthen urbanism; Kiswahili and Arabic literacy; Islam and local practice; dhow and sewn-plank traditions with terminology caution; mangrove poles, coconut fibre, timber, sail and rope production; monsoon routes; gold, ivory, ceramics, cloth, food, slavery, and household economies; women’s property and work; inland-coastal relations; coins and archaeology; Portuguese arrival.