“Hale!” “Halele!”
A very long time ago, at the north-western tip of Maore, facing the large island you can see offshore, there lived a wise and respected chief. He was called Mwalimu Boro, “Master Boro”. He was a fani, that is, chief of the land, as his ancestors had been before him.
One day, a boat landed on the beach. Out of it stepped a prince from a so-called Shirazi family, who had long sailed from port to port. The prince greeted the fani, asked for his hospitality and settled in the village. He was educated, pious and a skilled speaker; before long, he asked for the hand of Mwalimu Boro's daughter.
The old chief thought for a long time, then he agreed. From this marriage a new lineage was born, which united the land's old chiefs with the travellers who came from the sea. Its descendants became the first princes of Mayotte, and the island entered the age of the sultans.
Mwalimu Boro was thus the last of the fani. But he was not forgotten: the beach where he ruled kept his name. It was called M'tsa Boro, “Boro's beach”, and the village is still called Mtsamboro today.
What we know about it
This story was collected from the elders of Mtsamboro and published by Mayotte's cultural services in the Cahiers des archives orales series; it was also the subject of the first episode of the Halé Halélé podcast. The name Mtsamboro does seem to come from m'tsa (a shortened form of m'tsanga, “the beach”) and Boro.
The traditions vary on the names: the prince is called Attoumani ben Mohamed in some versions and Makabayila in others, and the chief Mwalimu Poro or Boro. They agree on the essentials: Mtsamboro welcomed the first sultan of Mayotte at the end of the 15th century, before power settled in Tsingoni. Read: The time of the sultans.
Further reading
- Voices of the archipelago Collectivité territoriale de Mayotte, Délégation aux affaires culturelles, Mwalimu Boro. Quelques éléments rapportés par la tradition orale et pouvant contribuer à établir l'histoire du roi Mwalimu Boro. Cahiers des archives orales.
- Voices of the archipelago Abby Saïd Adinani, Halé Halélé (podcast mensuel), depuis 2022.
- Outside view Claude Allibert, Mayotte, plaque tournante et microcosme de l'océan Indien occidental : son histoire avant 1841, 1984. Anthropos.