Makunduchi

History

The Wahadimu are the Zanzibar Island's original inhabitants, and Makunduchi's native residents. Their old settlement Makunduchi can still be found in the southeast of the island's shore. According to the Native Census of 1924 done by the British, a total of 3,911 people lived there: 1,190 adult males, 1,531 adult females, 615 boys, and 575 girls. There are 1,579 cottages in total. The residents claim that the name Makunduchi is derived from the name of the place they claim to have come from, which was called Kunduchi and was located on the mainland across from the island's southernmost portion. Makunduchi was the only location in the Zanzibar Sultanate where camels were still used for transportation as of the 1920s. These are primarily owned by the Indians known as Makumbaro. Makunduchi is the only location having a settlement of these Indians, whose homes are in Cutch and Kathiawar, with the exception of a few in Zanzibar City. There are roughly thirty families of potters living there, and the word comes from the Sanskrit Kumbhakar. They coexist in harmony with the Wahadimu, and raise their children in the countryside. The kids can converse in Kihadimu as well as the locals. The fronds of the wild date palm are used by the ladies of Makunduchi and Jambiani to create colorful mats with a fringe. This fringe is not made on the mats of other villages and is known as Ndevu, meaning beard. In 1919 the British colonial office builds the Ras Makunduchi Lighthouse next to the historic settlement.