The now ruined town is located on an island off the south coast of Tanzania. Also known as the pearl of the south during its glorious years, Kilwa Kisiwani was one of the largest and wealthiest trading cities of the medieval East Africa. Today, however, the historical town is buried under the ground except a couple of ruined buildings. The latter, some of which were excavated in the 1960s and 80s include Husuni Kubwa Palace which with its 100 rooms is the largest pre-European stone building in eastern and southern Africa. Others include the Great (Friday) Mosque, Makutani Palace, Husuni Ndogo and the Gereza.

 Documentary evidence suggests that the ruined town was established in the 11th century with the spread of Shirazi Islam along the East African coast. Conceived and propagated by descendants of Pastoral-Cushitic settlers of the East African northern coast, Shirazi Islam was an East African variant of the Middle Eastern Islam, and it provided the basis for the formation of Swahili culture.

From its establishment to the 16th century, Kilwa Kisiwani was an autonomous Swahili city-state and a great player in overseas trade along the East African coast. Through exporting gold and ivory that originated from as far places in the hinterland as Mozambique and Zimbabwe, Kilwa Kisiwani observed considerable economic and physical growth. Most of the ruined town was built during this period. The size and character of the town during this period has been described in earlier literature by travellers who came to the town like Ibn Battuta, a famous Arabic traveller. Ibn Battuta described the town in 1331 as one of the finest and substantially built towns he had seen.

With the occupation of the East African coast by the Portuguese from the 16th and 17th centuries, the economy of Kilwa Kisiwani declined rapidly. This decline has been linked to Portuguese control of Kilwa Kisiwani's sources of gold in Mozambique and above all prevention of free movement of goods in the India Ocean. With exception of the earlier mentioned Gereza, the local name of a fort built by the Portuguese, there was more or less total physical stagnation of the town during this period due to the changed economic circumstances. That notwithstanding, Kilwa Kisiwani remained an independent Swahili city-state during this period except from 1505 - 1512 when the Portuguese occupied it.

The departure of the Portuguese from the East African coast by the end of the 17th century resulted in resurgence of sea-borne trade with ivory and slaves as major exports from Kilwa Kisiwani. Accumulated wealth provided by the improved economic conditions stimulated urban expansion and regeneration activities that include construction of the earlier mentioned Makutani Palace and surrounding buildings, and rehabilitation or perhaps reconstruction of the Gereza. Even during this period, Kilwa Kisiwani continued to be an autonomous Swahili city-state until 1784 when it came under Omani protectorate rule. Without any changed economic circumstances in the region, Kilwa Kisiwani began degenerating both physically and demographically in the beginning of the 19th century and by the 1840s the town had been abandoned and reduced to ruins.

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