Moshi

Rindi of the Chagga was another major chief ruling in the Kilimanjaro region in 1860, making Moshi an important base for ivory and slave trading with Zanzibar. He signed a Treaty with the Germans in 1885 and Moshi became their headquarters and most important economic and political centre.

In his diary dated 23 March 1888 young Heinrich Hessel recalls proudly that on the preceding day at noon the German detachment in Moshi had hoisted the German flag. The flag had unfurled splendidly. Hessel writes: "No drop of rain had fallen in spite of the rainy season." At lunch they had first toasted the Kaiser, then the crown prince. He ends his entry observing: "we have to see to it that this flag stays for ever". Writing this down he is not aware that his young life is fast coming to an end. Half a year later he is killed in action at Kilwa in the revolt against the Germans.

Attached are lists of villages and other offices where you may find a circular date stamp. Well, most are circular and almost all are dated. The lists are loosely arranged as follows:

Name as it appears in an early cancel or in the majority of cancels. Many town names, especially in Africa and Asia, have a number of spellings in English. These are ignored. But, if the town name changed significantly, the newer name is in parentheses. Names often changed because of confusing same or similar names in the same colony.

Also, independence led to de-Anglicization, especially if the town name included words such as "fort". If the town is a post office outside of the colony but administered by the colony, that is indicated.

Next is the earliest date "known" of a dated cancel or, sometimes the date of opening. If not from literature, then from my collection. Sadly, most early dates from my collection are not that early.

Then there are letter or numeral killers used alone or in conjunction with a date stamp. Sometimes several different numbers were used, perhaps in different styles. This is a huge field, only touched on here.

Lastly, the location of the village is given (or will later be given) by latitude and longitude. Sometimes this is only approximate, variables including inaccurate old maps, inaccurate new maps, moving of towns, confusion over similar town names, quirky software and my own clerical errors.

The lists are a place to get started. They are incomplete, the degree depending on what literature is available to the author. Focus is on villages with post offices around the turn of the century without attempting to include newer offices. The cut-off date for each colony varies, depending on manageability of the number of offices.

Many of the village marks are rare. Occasionally, only a single example is known. Some offices were open only a few months and have disappeared from modern maps.

TANGANYIKA

[short list, with some names from Northern Tanzania]

Arusha 1922 3s22 36e41

Babati 1935 4s13 35e45

Kondoa 1920 4s54 35e47

Loliondo 1937 2s03 35e37

Mbulu 1920 sl 3s51 35e32

Monduli 1939 3s18 36e26

Moshi 1917 3s21 37e20

Ngare Nairobi 1928

Oldeani 1934 3s21 35e33

Singida 1926 4s49 34e45

Usa River 1929 3s22 36e50

After we had settled in [M'bagathi Holding Camp, five miles south (?) of Nairobi} the time was ripe for making arrangements for leave, for those so entitled, both European and African. My turn came round about the middle of October.

Two days before departure too Sao Hill, I developed 'German measles' so decided not to report it otherwise off into quarantine I�d go for 21 days! Fortunately, by the time I set off towards the Southern Highlands of Tanganyika I felt slightly better. The journey was rather tedious. I Departed from Nairobi Railway Station at 5.00 pm, or thereabouts, to Voi arriving there 01.00 am and then transferring to the Voi/Moshi train, due in at Moshi at about 4.00 pm. Being a 'Hornby' type railway set-up there were very few facilities, No restaurant car! But at Maktau Station there was a dak-bungalow, or station cafe, where one could buy a cup of tea and a few 'eats". In my case I wanted some breakfast but, having overslept, by the time I was ready the train was about to depart so my next meal looked like being in Moshi much later in the afternoon.

My recollection of events in Moshi is rather vague! I met a family friend, now a captain in one of the KAR Battalion's, who told me to use his army quarter in the cantonment as he was living in the hotel with his wife. After a good night's sleep I was up at 6.30 am preparing for the lorry convoy departing for Mbeya, far to the south at 7.30 am. That day we, there were others like me proceeding on leave, traveled as far as Babati where the convoy pulled off the road for the overnight stop! There was no accommodation whatsoever, nor anything else, which meant sleeping under the stars on 'Mother Earth'. Fortunately, I had my bedding roll with me but no campbed, and was that earth hard! Food? the old standby, bully beef and biscuits, eaten in the flickering light of a small fire. Ablutions and calls to nature left a lot to be desired with us floundering around in the darkness. The convoy Commander could have warned us of what to expect on the journey, not that it would have made much difference. Anyway, I think everyone was mighty pleased to see the dawn. Next stopover, Dodoma. On reaching the Babati Trading Centre a hurried stop to make a few purchases of food and soft drinks to ensure I did not suffer from dehydration during the next 160 hot miles!

The convoy reached the Dodoma Transit Camp about 5.00 pm. Traveling in convoy is an ordeal, mile after mile in a constant cloud of dust, some grey, some red, resulting in a queer application of 'make�up'. The camp consisted of dozens of wooden huts, some large, some small, all equipped with the essentials for comfort, with adjacent 'shower' huts. However, luck was on my side; making my way to the Camp Commandant's office for instructions on where to park myself I met the gentleman concerned. None other than my old friend from the Shinyanga days, 'Hicky", now, Major Hickson- Wood! The first words he muttered were, "Where the bloody hell "have you come from?" rank forgotten, I told him. He insisted I spent the night in his large house and that Kathy would be only too pleased to see me once again. Within an hour I felt much better after having had a good long soak in the bath, most necessary after living in a dust haze for the two past two days. Three more dinner guests came in later, officers off a northbound South African convoy, so, much to Hicky's pleasure, the alcohol flowed rather freely

Next day we were away on the familiar 162 mile journey to Iringa, arriving there just before 6.00 pm. I had sent a telegram to my parents informing them that I would be in Iringa on the evening of 'such an' such' a date, hoping the "0ld Man' would take the hint to come and meet me. Thankfully, he did! Much to my surprise he appeared driving a very smart 1938 model Chevrolet estate car and when I asked who had been bold enough to lend him such a vehicle his reply was short and to the point. "I bought it," said he!

After chasing all round Iringa looking for the lorry my kit was on I eventually tracked it down and then retraced my way back to the hotel for something to wash down the dust in my throat. The Bar was full of young Rhodesians on their way to Nairobi to enlist. One of them, hearing I had just spent eleven months in the 'battle zone' (?) insisted on buying me drinks. After the second pint of beer I thought it advisable to make for home! I Rounded up Pa then away on the last lap of the journey - 61 miles in comfort. A pleasant change after being bounced around in lorries for the past twelve months. Those miles did not take long to cover, one and a half hours.

When we completed the Accounting school, we left Nairobi and hitch hiked back to Tanganyika. Our first ride was one third of our trip back home. Foolishly we left the village that we were dropped off at and started walking the dirt road, expecting to hike to Arusha on the next vehicle that came along. Unfortunately there was not much traffic that day and by nightfall we were still walking. We could hear lions and hyennas in the distance and we knew that we had made a bad mistake and it was too far to turn back by then. Luckily around 7:30 we saw headlights approaching. As luck would have it, a Greek fellow who knew us stopped and picked us up. What a relief that was! He took us to my friend's house where we stayed overnight. Next day his Dad drove me to my home in Moshi, at the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Time wise, this was early 1955 and fortunately I got an accounting job with Cooper Bros., a large English accounting firm. From time to time they would send a couple of us to another town to audit the books of various companies. It was a great experience staying at hotels and getting paid. 1956, my Dad died; he had a small grocery store. I left my job to look after the store. That was not a good decision but it was what happened.

It was thrilling to be sent to such a wonderful place with rather vague instructions to do all I could to improve relations between government and people. I was under the general supervision of the provincial commissioner Mike Molohan, a former Irish rugby international, and his deputy, my old friend Robert Robertson with whom we had stayed at Tabora in 1948.

During the ten or so months I was in the province, I was able to try out my pet ideas for bringing government closer to the people, ideas the government later adopted for the whole territory on my return to Dar es Salaam in 1958.

Moshi was the obvious area on which to concentrate. It was densely populated with a million people living in banana groves (migombani) and coffee small-holdings (vihamba) on the fertile slopes of the mountain. This was where they cultivated the excellent Arabica coffee the Catholic missionaries introduced at the end of the last century. Thanks to the government, local authorities and Catholic and Lutheran missions, Moshi had universal primary education and the highest literacy rate in the territory. The Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU) was probably the most efficient and progressive cooperative organization in Africa. A district commissioner called Sir Charles Dundas, a Scots baronet, started it in the 1920s to enable Chagga coffee growers to compete on equal terms on world markets with the European growers.

It is over 300 years old and extends more than one kilometer below the ground

An underground cave believed to be over 300 years old and which was being used as a war hideout bunker, during the Pre-Colonia Africa, has been discovered in the Rural-Moshi district of the Kilimanjaro region.

The cave, which is about 20 feet deep and extends for more than a kilometer below the ground, is almost an underground village in its own right, being equipped with sleeping chambers, kitchens, cattle pens, sitting and dining rooms, conference halls and 'mortuaries.'

The historical cave is located in the Komakundi village, of the Mamba ward at Vunjo location, an area located at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, within the Rural-Moshi District. At the moment the 300 year-old underground grave is under the custody of the Makundis, a local family residing in the Area.

The residents in the area revealed that the cave was one of about eight other caves that were being used as hideout residences during the pre-colonial civil wars among local tribes especially between the Chagga people and the Maasai.

The Maasai, according to local history, loved to raid Chagga communities and rob therein of their cattle under claims that the animals were actually their rightful possessions bestowed to them by the gods since the first day of earth creation.

As the Chagga men went out to battle, women, children, old people and the disabled would be concealed in the caves that are also full of supplies. Cattle, goats, sheep and other animals were also hidden in the underground sheds.

This particular cave, according to the villagers, belonged to the Kwalaka clan. The other caves in the area, were reported to have caved in with time, but the Kwalaka cave, apparently, has been able to withstand the test of time.

Mrs. Stella Goodluck Makundi aged around 40 years, is the widowed wife of one of the clan descendants. Her husband, Goodluck Makundi Kwalaka, died several years ago, leaving her with two children.

A newly established local Cultural Tourism Programme (CTP) in the area, recently discovered and included the cave among its visit itineraries in which, interested visitors will now be paying US$3 (Or Tsh.3000), to view and actually enter into the dark cave.

From the fees, the widow hopes that in future she may be able to meet the staggering costs of educating her two children. The oldest, a girl is currently in Secondary school, while the other, a boy is at Primary level.

Ombaeli Makundi aged 36 years, is one of the 6th generation offsprings in the Kwalaka clan and currently serves as guide and Historian for the Komakundi cave. His family has constructed a traditional hut to house the cave opening. This hut is constantly kept under lock and key.

A wooden frame ladder leads down into the dark cave and the first sight one faces is a gate and guard room, after which a long corridor leads to other compartments, the faint-hearted usually never dare venture further beyond the gate.

"Even during the old times, the cave opening was concealed under the bed, in one of the family houses and covered with a traditional cow-hide carpet." Said Makundi. The other end of the cave opened at the bank of Kiwindwe River, located about a kilometer away.

"The cave was dug from the river bank, so that water could carry away soil that was being scooped out from the hole." He explained, adding that, the cave tunnel was also dotted with ventilators.

Efforts to illuminate the historical cave with modern electric bulbs have proved futile because all the bulbs that were being installed kept bursting a few seconds after being placed. As the result, visitors will now have to do with spot lights.

A Mountain Guide with Safari Leisure Tour Operators based at Kinukamori Water Falls at Marangu, Alpha Moshi, said the tourists for Cultural packages keep increasing. CTP, founded by the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) may be only six years-old, but is out to overtake the mainstream, wildlife tourism.

Moshi explained that a number of foreign visitors who come to scale Mount Kilimanjaro often have relatives who prefer to explore local traditions of the area, by living with local people and performing local activities such as cooking local dishes and listening to local folklore.

2006 award - major research project

�27,500 for 12 months

Following the creation of the German protectorate in 1885, German missionary societies established themselves in different parts of Tanzania. The Leipzig Mission founded its first station on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in 1893. By 1939 half of the (predominantly peasant) Chagga population had been converted; today most people are Christians. Although German rule ended in 1919, German missionaries returned in 1926, including a leading figure in German anthropology and mission history - Bruno Gutmann (1876-1966). In 1963 the mission church became the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania in Northern Tanganyika [later: Tanzania], consisting of 5 dioceses: Northern, Pare, Arusha, Meru and Central.

The Archive

The archive of this church in the small town of Moshi in the centre of the Northern Diocese houses records which extend back to 1895. Some are in English, others in German or Swahili. Most researchers studying the history or anthropology of northeastern Tanzania visit this archive, although the conditions for research are far from ideal. There are plans for the archive to be extended. The material in Moshi suffers from poor shelving, changing temperature and humidity, a complete lack of boxes, in a few cases termites and silverfish, and above all dust. Some papers are in the process of becoming very brittle because of the influence of light. Those held at other former mission stations are in a similar state. Nevertheless, most of the material is still suitable for copying.

The material, produced by missionaries and subsequently by African converts, falls into seven categories, of which the first is the most important in terms of quantity:

* church registers (births, baptisms, communion, catechists, marriages, funerals)

* mission council records

* education records

* diaries

* files on individual missionaries, notably Bruno Gutmann, and on African teachers, pastors and evangelists

* photographs

* first prints of hymnals and portions of the Bible in African languages.

Six parishes in the Northern Diocese (Kidia, Machame, Mamba, Masama, Mwika, Sika) have already agreed to transfer all their archival material to Moshi. There is additional material of historical interest, even more endangered, lying around elsewhere in the same region. These places, which have no archives of their own, belong to different dioceses (e.g. Ilboru in Arusha Diocese, Nkoaranga in Meru Diocese, Shigatini in Pare Diocese), but the need for cooperation and centralisation is recognised by the respective bishops. In the long term it may be possible to persuade some descendants of the first "native pastors" to donate whatever papers and / or photographs they have.

Creating digital copies

Any material not yet inventoried must be sorted and listed before it can be digitally copied. A finding aid will be produced for such material, serving among other things as a link between the digital copies and the originals.

The research team

To transfer the Leipzig Mission records to the Tanzania National Archives is not considered desirable in Moshi, where the records continue to have a meaning for the Church and descendants of the early Christians. Hence it seems more appropriate to work towards better conservation in Moshi itself, while depositing a copy of all digitalised records in

1) the Moshi archive,

2) the National Archives (Dar es Salaam) [master copy],

3) the British Library,

4) the University of Leipzig and possibly

5) Yale University.