History of Mombasa, Kenya

Arab traders founded the city in the 11th century and it quickly became the most important trading center of East Africa, mostly exporting ivory and slaves. Vasco da Gama was the first known European to visit Mombasa, receiving a chilly reception in 1498. The town was taken over by the Sultanate of Oman in 1698. In 1840 it was taken by the sultan of Zanzibar who presented the town to the British in 1898. It soon became the capital of the British East Africa Protectorate and is the sea terminal of the Uganda Railway, which was started in 1896. Many workers were brought in from British India to build the railway. Mombasa was part of the state of Zanzibar until 1963 when it was ceded to the newly independent state of Kenya.