14th century – 15th century
Lamu archipelago, northern Kenya
Pate was a settlement in the Lamu archipelago whose local chronicle attributed an important role to it as early as the thirteenth century and claimed that it conquered the coast in the first half of the fourteenth century. Critical examination of the sources and archaeological evidence rejects those claims, placing Pate’s rise no earlier than the later fifteenth century and its major importance in the seventeenth century.
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The Story
Pate occupies a prominent place in the histories of the Lamu archipelago, but the passage treats its traditional narrative with caution. According to the town’s chronicle, Pate became important as early as the thirteenth century and conquered the entire coast, including Kilwa, during the first half of the fourteenth century. These claims would make Pate an unusually powerful early coastal polity.
A critical examination of the written sources, combined with archaeological evidence, has concluded that this part of the chronicle lacks historical foundation. Pate does not appear to have been a place of consequence before the latter part of the fifteenth century. The contrast between the chronicle’s claims and the archaeological assessment makes Pate a useful example of the need to test dynastic traditions against material evidence.
The excerpt places Pate’s major importance much later, in the seventeenth century. Within the period discussed here, it should therefore be understood as a settlement whose later prominence was projected backward by its local historical tradition. Its location in the Lamu archipelago nevertheless places it within the northern Swahili urban world.
14th century – 15th century
Lamu archipelago, northern Kenya
Pate was a settlement in the Lamu archipelago whose local chronicle attributed an important role to it as early as the thirteenth century and claimed that it conquered the coast in the first half of the fourteenth century. Critical examination of the sources and archaeological evidence rejects those claims, placing Pate’s rise no earlier than the later fifteenth century and its major importance in the seventeenth century.
Continue exploring
The Story
Pate occupies a prominent place in the histories of the Lamu archipelago, but the passage treats its traditional narrative with caution. According to the town’s chronicle, Pate became important as early as the thirteenth century and conquered the entire coast, including Kilwa, during the first half of the fourteenth century. These claims would make Pate an unusually powerful early coastal polity.
A critical examination of the written sources, combined with archaeological evidence, has concluded that this part of the chronicle lacks historical foundation. Pate does not appear to have been a place of consequence before the latter part of the fifteenth century. The contrast between the chronicle’s claims and the archaeological assessment makes Pate a useful example of the need to test dynastic traditions against material evidence.
The excerpt places Pate’s major importance much later, in the seventeenth century. Within the period discussed here, it should therefore be understood as a settlement whose later prominence was projected backward by its local historical tradition. Its location in the Lamu archipelago nevertheless places it within the northern Swahili urban world.
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