Ali Mfaume: A Comorian Hub in the Western Indian Ocean

Abstract

Ali Mfaume was a prominent member of the Comorian community of Zanzibar in the early twentieth century, one of the leaders of the customary associations and president of the Comorian Association Liberal Party. Drawing upon archival documents, and particularly on the documents dealing with his estate, this chapter explores the way relationships were maintained through his personal links with other members of the diaspora both in the Comoros themselves, and elsewhere in eastern Africa. Although the Comoro Islands themselves would seem to be the logical hub of Comorian diasporic networks, the better communications that were afforded by Zanzibar—the East African “cosmopolis”—the relative prosperity of the island, and the long-term strategies engaged by Comorians, both at home and away, to maintain diasporic engagement with the homeland, led to the latter island playing a major role as a centre for Comorian networks across the region.