Kimweri ye Nyumbai
| Kimweri ye Nyumbai | |
|---|---|
| Simbe Mwene (Lion King) of the Shambaa kingdom | |
| Reign | 1815–1862 |
| Predecessor | Kinyashi Muanga Ike |
| Successor | Shekulwavu |
| Died | 1862 |
| Dynasty | Kilindi |
Kimweri ye Nyumbai (or Shekulwavu) (died 1862) was the ruler of the Shambaa people of the Usambara Mountains in what is now Tanzania between around 1815 and 1862. Under his rule the kingdom reached its greatest extent. However, disruptions caused by the introduction of firearms and the slave trade caused the kingdom to fall apart after his death.
Kimweri ye Nyumbai belonged to the Kilindi dynasty, founded by Mbegha. According to legend, Mbegha was a hunter who came from far away to live in the Usambara rain forest, where he killed wild pigs for food. The Shambaa were impressed by his prowess and accepted him as ruler of the town of Vuga, their capital in the western Usambara mountains. The Kilindi rulers took the title "Simbe Mwene", the Lion King. Mbegha was succeeded by his son Bughe, who was succeeded by his son Kinyashe, Kimweri's father. Kinyashi strengthened the kingdom's political and military organisation in response to raids from slavers and cattle raiders. He gained control of the Wazigua country to the south in the lower Pangani River valley, and of the eastern Usambara mountains, nearer to the coast.
The expanding East African slave trade in the 19th century was controlled by the Omani Arabs, whose sultan had moved his capital to the island of Zanzibar. The route from the port of Pangani at the mouth of the Pangani River to the Usambara Mountains and Mount Kilimanjaro was one of the most important of the trade routes across Tanganyika, along which slaves and ivory were brought to the coast in exchange for cotton cloth and guns. Kimweri ye Nyumbai was the Kilindi leader at a time when his people were taking control of the trade on behalf of the Arabs.
The Shambaa kingdom reached its greatest strength during the reign of Kimweri ye Nyumbani. He expanded the kingdom, and by 1835 controlled all of the coastline below the Usambaras. He ruled from the hilltop town of Vuga over an area southeast of Mount Kilimanjaro that contained about 500,000 people. His realm stretched from the mountains to the coastal region between Tanga and Pangani, and into the plains to the south and east. An 1853 report said of the island settlements in the Pangani River that "the Wasegua [Zigula] have settled here [on these islands] in this fruitful region by the permission of Chief Kimweri".
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