Editing Comoros (section)

=== Medieval Comoros ===
According to legend, in 632, upon hearing of [[Islam]], islanders are said to have dispatched an emissary, Mtswa-Mwindza, to [[Mecca]]—but by the time he arrived there, the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] had died. Nonetheless, after a stay in Mecca, he returned to Ngazidja, where he built a mosque in his home town of Ntsaweni, and led the gradual conversion of the islanders to Islam.<ref name=verin>{{cite journal |author=Pierre Vérin |title=Mtswa Muyindza et l'introduction de l'Islam à Ngazidja; au sujet de la tradition et du texte de Pechmarty |journal=Études Océan Indien |volume=2 |year=1982 |pages=95–100}}</ref>

In 933, the Comoros was referred to by [[Oman]]i sailors as the Perfume Islands.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110708134026/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199604/the.islands.of.the.moon.htm "Saudi Aramco World : The Islands of the Moon"]. saudiaramcoworld.com. Archived from the [http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199604/the.islands.of.the.moon.htm original] on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 2023-12-06.</ref>

Among the earliest accounts of East Africa, the works of [[Al-Masudi]] describe early Islamic trade routes, and how the coast and islands were frequently visited by [[Muslim]]s including [[Persia]]n and [[Arab]] merchants and sailors in search of [[coral]], [[ambergris]], [[ivory]], [[tortoiseshell]], [[gold]] and slaves for the [[Arabic slave trade]]. They also brought Islam to the people of the [[Zanj]] including the Comoros. As the importance of the Comoros grew along the East African coast, both small and large [[mosque]]s were constructed. The Comoros are part of the [[Swahili Coast|Swahili]] cultural and economic complex and the islands became a major hub of trade and an important location in a network of trading towns that included [[Kilwa]], in present-day Tanzania, Sofala (an outlet for [[Zimbabwe]]an gold), in [[Mozambique]], and [[Mombasa]] in [[Kenya]].<ref name=spear />

The Portuguese arrived in the Indian Ocean at the end of the 15th century and the first Portuguese visit to the islands seems to have been that of [[Vasco da Gama]]'s second fleet in 1503.<ref>Walker, Iain. "Islands in a Cosmopolitan Sea: A History of the Comoros." Hurst Publishers. 2019, p 49-50.</ref> For much of the 16th century the islands provided provisions to the Portuguese fort at Mozambique and although there was no formal attempt by the Portuguese crown to take possession, a number of Portuguese traders settled and married local women.

By the end of the 16th century local rulers on the African mainland were beginning to push back and, with the support of the Omani Sultan [[Saif bin Sultan]] they began to defeat the Dutch and the Portuguese. One of his successors, [[Said bin Sultan]], increased Omani Arab influence in the region, moving his administration to nearby [[Zanzibar]], which came under [[Oman]]i rule. Nevertheless, the Comoros remained independent, and although the three smaller islands were usually [[List of sultans on the Comoros|politically unified]], the largest island, Ngazidja, was divided into a number of [[List of sultans on the Comoros|autonomous kingdoms]] (''ntsi'').<ref name="Thomas Spear 1984 291–305">{{cite journal |author=Thomas Spear |title=The Shirazi in Swahili Traditions, Culture, and History |journal=History in Africa |volume=11 |year=1984 |pages=291–305 |doi=10.2307/3171638 |publisher=African Studies Association |jstor=3171638 |s2cid=162212370}}</ref>

The islands were well placed to meet the needs of Europeans, initially supplying the Portuguese in Mozambique, then ships, particularly the English, on the route to India, and, later, slaves to the plantation islands in the [[Mascarenes]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Prestholdt |first1=Jeremy |year=2007 |title=Similitude and empire: on Comorian strategies of Englishness |journal=Journal of World History |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=113–138 |doi=10.1353/jwh.2007.0015 |s2cid=145310983}}</ref><ref name="Thomas Spear 1984 291–305" />