Between Empires: Sheikh-Sir Mbarak al-Hinawy (1896-1959)

An illustrated biography of one of the most prominent Omani Arab Muslim figures of coastal East Africa. Sheikh-Sir Mbarak al-Hinawy (1896-1959) served as Liwali (governor) for the Coast under the Sultanate of Zanzibar from 1940-1949. He witnessed the final decades of the British imperial era, colonialism and the rise of African nationalism from the port-city of Mombasa, the coastal capital of present-day Kenya. Based upon unpublished archival photographs and documents in Arabic, Swahili and English from the private archives of the al-Hinawy family and other collections, as well as ethnographic research in Mombasa, Muscat and London, the book is an account of a man who, in the shadow of two empires, used his skills and talents to build his society, and preserve its complex culture.