“Hale!” “Halele!”
Mwali is the smallest of the four islands, and its neighbours were powerful. Several times, the sultans of Anjouan sought to subjugate it, and then came the raiders' fleets. The coastal towns had their ramparts, but what could be done if the ramparts fell?
The elders of Mwali had an idea found on no other island of the archipelago. Far from the coasts, in the forest-covered heights, at Bandamale, on the mountain of the wanaMalungu, they built a secret fortified town. It was not a town like any other: it was a refuge.
To reach it from Djando, you had to go up a river called the Mro wa watoro, the “river of the fugitives”, or of the insurgents. Those who knew the way slipped along it without leaving a trace.
Up there, out of sight, secret councils were held, resistance was prepared, and women, children and the elderly were hidden when misfortune struck the coast. Enemies could take the towns: they never found the heart of Mwali.
The smallest does not survive through strength, but through caution and solidarity.
What we know about it
This story is reported by the Mohélian sociologist Salim Djabir: a fortified town built in the heights, at Bandamale, served as a place of resistance, secret meetings and refuge in times of extreme danger; it was reached from Djando, one of the island's old regions (whose main town is Wanani), by the “river of the insurgents” (Mro wa watoro). According to him, such a place existed only on Mohéli in the whole archipelago.
The context is historical: Mohéli, linked to Kilwa, was threatened by the sultanate of Anjouan, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries, then by the Malagasy raids of the late 18th century. To our knowledge, the site has not been excavated.
Further reading
- Voices of the archipelago Muzdalifa House (entretien avec le sociologue Salim Djabir), Une histoire de Mwali, 2021.
- Outside view Jean Martin, Comores : quatre îles entre pirates et planteurs (2 tomes), 1983 – 1984. L'Harmattan.