Editing History of Kenya (section)

==19th century history==
{{See also|Indian Ocean slave trade}}
{{further|Muscat and Oman}}
Omani Arab colonisation of the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts brought the once independent [[city-states]] under closer foreign scrutiny and domination than was experienced during the Portuguese period.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McDow, Thomas Franklin.|title=Arabs and Africans: commerce and kinship from Oman to the east African interior, c. 1820–1900|date=2008|oclc=276771040}}</ref> 
Like their predecessors, the Omani Arabs were primarily able only to control the coastal areas, not the interior. However, the creation of [[plantations]], intensification of the [[Atlantic slave trade|slave trade]] and movement of the Omani capital to [[Zanzibar]] in 1839 by [[Seyyid Said]] had the effect of consolidating the Omani power in the region. The slave trade had begun to grow exponentially starting at the end of the 17th Century with a large slave market based at [[Zanzibar]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=East Africa's forgotten slave trade – DW – 08/22/2019 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/east-africas-forgotten-slave-trade/a-50126759 |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=dw.com |language=en |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127075019/https://www.dw.com/en/east-africas-forgotten-slave-trade/a-50126759 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Story of Africa{{!}} BBC World Service|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/9chapter3.shtml|access-date=2021-05-30|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> When [[Said bin Sultan|Sultan Seyyid Said]] moved his capital to [[Zanzibar]], the already large clove and spice plantations continued to grow, driving demand for slaves.<ref>Petterson, Don Revolution In Zanzibar An American's Cold War Tale, New York: Westview, 2002 page 7</ref> Slaves were sourced from the hinterland. Slave caravan routes into the interior of Kenya reached as far as the foothills of [[Mount Kenya]], [[Lake Victoria]] and past [[Lake Baringo]] into [[Samburu people|Samburu]] country.<ref name="Herman">{{Cite journal |last=Kiriama |first=Herman O. |date=2018-05-04 |title=The Landscapes of Slavery in Kenya |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21619441.2019.1589711 |journal=Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage |language=en |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=192–206 |doi=10.1080/21619441.2019.1589711 |s2cid=156049071 |issn=2161-9441}}</ref>

Arab governance of all the major ports along the East African coast continued until British interests aimed particularly at securing their 'Indian Jewel' and creation of a system of trade among individuals began to put pressure on Omani rule. By the late 19th century, the slave trade on the open seas had been completely strangled by the British. The Omani Arabs had no interest in resisting the [[Royal Navy]]'s efforts to enforce anti-slavery directives. As the [[Moresby Treaty]] demonstrated, whilst Oman sought sovereignty over its waters, Seyyid Said saw no reason to intervene in the slave trade, as the main customers for the slaves were Europeans. As Farquhar in a letter made note, only with the intervention of Said would the European Trade in slaves in the [[Western Indian Ocean]] be abolished{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}. As the Omani presence continued in Zanzibar and [[Pemba Island|Pemba]] until the 1964 revolution, but the official Omani Arab presence in Kenya was checked by German and British seizure of key ports and creation of crucial trade alliances with influential local leaders in the 1880s. Nevertheless, the Omani Arab legacy in East Africa is currently found through their numerous descendants found along the coast that can directly trace ancestry to [[Oman]] and are typically the wealthiest and most politically influential members of the Kenyan coastal community.<ref name=":1" />

The first Christian mission was founded on 25 August 1846, by [[Johann Ludwig Krapf|Dr. Johann Ludwig Krapf]], a German sponsored by the [[Church Missionary Society]] of England.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|561}} He established a station among the [[Mijikenda peoples|Mijikenda]] at [[Rabai]] on the coast. He later translated the Bible into Swahili.<ref name=":1" /> Many freed slaves rescued by the British Navy are settled here.<ref name=Herman/> The peak of the slave plantation economy in East Africa was between 1875 – 1884. It is estimated that between 43,000 – 47,000 slaves were present on the Kenyan coast, which made up 44 percent of the local population.<ref name=Herman/> In 1874, Frere Town settlement in [[Mombasa]] was established. This was another settlement for freed slaves rescued by the British Navy. Despite pressure from the British to stop the East African slave trade, it continued to persist into the early 20th century.<ref name=Herman/>

By 1850 [[European exploration of Africa|European explorers]] had begun mapping the interior.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|229}} Three developments encouraged European interest in East Africa in the first half of the 19th century.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|560}} First, was the emergence of the island of [[Zanzibar]], located off the east coast of Africa.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|560}} Zanzibar became a base from which trade and exploration of the African mainland could be mounted.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|560}} By 1840, to protect the interests of the various nationals doing business in Zanzibar, consul offices had been opened by the British, French, Germans and Americans. In 1859, the tonnage of foreign shipping calling at Zanzibar had reached 19,000 tons.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|561}} By 1879, the tonnage of this shipping had reached 89,000 tons. The second development spurring European interest in Africa was the growing European demand for products of Africa including ivory and cloves. Thirdly, British interest in East Africa was first stimulated by their desire to abolish the slave trade.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|560–61}} Later in the century, British interest in East Africa would be stimulated by German competition.