In history, this nation had trade ties with India through the East African sea as early as the 4th Century. Even today, one will come across households that have their daughters-in-law coming from Kutch.

In fact, even the doors and furniture in some of the houses are exactly similar to those found at the Mandvi port.

It is this dominant connection that India and Zanzibar share that has made Vadodara-based historian Adhya Saxena search for more such connecting threads.

Saxena, who is from the Department of History, M S University (MSU), recently visited Zanzibar to give a presentation on ‘Mandvi, Dynamic Port Town of Kachchh-Gujarat: 1,600 to 1,900’ at an international conference on ‘Dialogue between the Civilizations, The Indian Ocean: The Largest Cultural Continuum in the World’ organised by Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute (ZIORI). Mendra Alooh, the wife of Prof Abdul Sheriff, the head of ZIORI, is from Kutch.

“For the last several years, I have been working on the trade history of Mandvi. It was not only the focal point for trading in the Indian Ocean along the East African coast, but it also contributed to the cultural and traditional aspects,” said Saxena.

Even the carving on doors in Mandvi, dhows and vessels are similar in style to those found in Zanzibar, Saxena added.

Ivory and slaves were the primary “items” of trade between Mandvi and Zanzibar. Indian merchants at Mandvi used to aid Arab merchants in their slave trade. Most of these merchants belonged to Bopani and Bhimani communities of Kutch.

“There were over 20,000 people of Indian origin in Zanzibar; but during the internal disturbances in 1960, most of them migrated to countries like the US, the UK and Canada,” said Saxena.

She added, “During my visit to Zanzibar, I worked at the National Archives and also conducted interviews with several Zanzibaris of

Indian origin.” The Indian origin population are mostly composed of Khojas and the Ismailis; but they call themselves Zanzibaris and not Indians.

“I befriended some children. Interestingly, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between Indians and the Africans there. This is because over the years, both have intermarried,” said Saxena.