Tabora

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 105-DOA0716, Deutsch-Ostafrika, Tabora, Inderläden.jpg

In the early 1830s, coastal traders increasingly settled in the region to take advantage of the ivory and slave caravan trade. Swahili and Omani traders established Kazeh, near present-day Tabora, in the 1850s. By 1870, Tabora was home to a population of 5,000-10,000 people living in roughly fifty large square houses. These homes accommodated up to several hundred people each and had inner courtyards, adjacent garden plots, store rooms, servant quarters, and outbuildings for slaves.

The town was surrounded by Nyamwezi villages, whose people provided produce and caravan labor. In this period the Sultan of Zanzibar appointed a representative there.Deutsch, Jan-George. "Emancipation without Abolition in German East Africa: c. 1884-1914", Ohio University Press. 2006. p. 22. It was part of the Kingdom of Unyanyembe. Tabora was a center of trade for traders from as far North as the Buganda Kingdom. By August 1871, one-quarter of the town was burned when the forces of the Nyamwezi ruler Mirambo sacked it.[https://books.google.com/books?id=j6XymwBhAO8C&pg=PR76 Stanley: Africa's Greatest Explorer, authored by Tim Jeal, Faber & Faber, 2011, p. 76]

Although the German East Africa protectorate was proclaimed over the region in 1885, as late as 1891 travellers reported it to be a lawless town. The German colonial administration did not gain control of it until later that year. As a major station on the Central Line, it became the most important administrative centre of central German East Africa.

In 1916 the colonial garrison had an emergency mint at Tabora, making some gold pieces as well as large numbers of crude copper and brass German East African rupie minor coins, Mint marked with a "T".[http://www.tokencoins.com/gea01.htm German East African "gun metal coin"]

During the Tabora Offensive in the East African Campaign of World War I, colonial armed forces of the Belgian Congo (Force Publique) under the command of General Charles Tombeur captured the town on 19 September 1916 after 10 days and nights of heavy fighting.{{cite book| author=David van Reybrouck| author-link=David van Reybrouck|title=Congo: The Epic History of a People|publisher=De Bezige Bij|location=Amsterdam|isbn=9789023472797}}

Tabora and its people mainly rely on agricultural activities as either sustenance farmers or small-scale tobacco farmers. Tabora also hosts a ballast quarry.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}

Water supply is managed by the Tabora Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (Tuwasa), sourced from Igombe and Kazima Dams.{{cite web |title=Tabora Urban Water Supply And Sanitation Authority |url=http://www.tuwasa.go.tz/ |website=www.tuwasa.go.tz}} The Igombe River is a tributary of the Malagarasi River and the Malagarasi-Muyovozi Wetlands.

File:Farmers harvesting rice.jpg

Tabora's streets are lined with century-old mango trees planted by Omani traders. Tabora is known as the fruit capital of Western Tanzania, and markets are often filled with local produce.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}

Tabora has many small local restaurants offering typical Tanzanian restaurant food like Ugali (a thick maize porridge), chips, or rice with beans, beef or chicken. For breakfast or lunch, there is usually chipsi-mayai (chips and egg), which is basically a couple of eggs fried together with some chips. Although the food is bland, it is usually served with Tanzanian chili sauce, which gives the meal some character.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}

A local specialty is pumpkin in peanut butter sauce. This goes with the rice pilau served widely throughout the region.

For snacks there are local sambusa (samosa), some goat meat on a stick or some freshly roasted corn of the cob, all widely available in Tabora. There is a choice of fruit in the large regional market of Tabora, including pineapples, watermelons, and bananas.

Tabora has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) with two seasons of approximately equal length. The wet season is from November to April and is followed by a dry season from May to October.

{{Weather box

|location = Tabora (1991–2020)

|single line = Yes

|metric first = Yes

|Jan high C = 28.8

|Feb high C = 29.4

|Mar high C = 29.6

|Apr high C = 29.4

|May high C = 29.7

|Jun high C = 29.7

|Jul high C = 29.8

|Aug high C = 30.9

|Sep high C = 32.3

|Oct high C = 32.6

|Nov high C = 31.1

|Dec high C = 29.1

|year high C = 30.2

|Jan mean C = 23.1

|Feb mean C = 23.3

|Mar mean C = 23.2

|Apr mean C = 22.9

|May mean C = 22.9

|Jun mean C = 22.0

|Jul mean C = 22.1

|Aug mean C = 23.6

|Sep mean C = 25.3

|Oct mean C = 26.1

|Nov mean C = 24.9

|Dec mean C = 23.0

|Jan low C = 18.3

|Feb low C = 18.0

|Mar low C = 17.9

|Apr low C = 17.6

|May low C = 16.5

|Jun low C = 14.7

|Jul low C = 14.6

|Aug low C = 16.5

|Sep low C = 18.3

|Oct low C = 19.4

|Nov low C = 19.1

|Dec low C = 18.6

|year low C = 17.5

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 162.1

|Feb precipitation mm = 142.7

|Mar precipitation mm = 153.4

|Apr precipitation mm = 105.8

|May precipitation mm = 29.2

|Jun precipitation mm = 1.9

|Jul precipitation mm = 0.9

|Aug precipitation mm = 0.9

|Sep precipitation mm = 9.3

|Oct precipitation mm = 26.0

|Nov precipitation mm = 109.4

|Dec precipitation mm = 202.2

|year precipitation mm = 943.8

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 13.1

| Feb precipitation days = 10.3

| Mar precipitation days = 11.1

| Apr precipitation days = 8.0

| May precipitation days = 2.9

| Jun precipitation days = 0.2

| Jul precipitation days = 0.1

| Aug precipitation days = 0.2

| Sep precipitation days = 1.1

| Oct precipitation days = 3.1

| Nov precipitation days = 9.1

| Dec precipitation days = 15.7

| year precipitation days = 74.9

|source = NOAA{{cite web

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230917045311/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Tanzania/CSV/TABORA_63832.csv

| archive-date = 17 September 2023

| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Tanzania/CSV/TABORA_63832.csv

| title = Tabora Climate Normals 1991–2020

| work = World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020)

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = 17 September 2023}}

|date=November 2011

|source 2 = Tokyo Climate Center (mean temperatures 1991–2020)

{{cite web

| url = https://ds.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/tcc/tcc/products/climate/normal/parts/NrmMonth_e.php?stn=63870

| title = Normals Data: Tabora Airport- Tanzania Latitude: 5.08°N Longitude: 32.83°E Height: 1181 (m)

| publisher = Japan Meteorological Agency

| access-date = 1 December 2022}}}}

File:Tabora Airport.jpg

Tabora is small enough to walk from one side of town to the other. Bicycle taxis, motorbike taxis and regular taxis are available.

Tabora at the moment is served by mostly paved road T18 from Singida Region to Kigoma and partly unpaved road T8 from Mbeya to Mwanza passing through the district.{{cite web|title=Road Networks|url=http://tanroads.go.tz/HQ/pages/road-networks|website=Tanroads|access-date=23 February 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403031700/http://tanroads.go.tz/HQ/pages/road-networks|archive-date=3 April 2016|df=dmy-all}} Salt flats to the west prevent a direct road from connecting to Kigoma.

In January 2013, the Tanzanian government announced the commencement of work to upgrade to tarmac level the Tabora-Urambo road and the {{convert|127|km|mi}} Nyahua-Tabora-Ndono road.[http://in2eastafrica.net/kikwete-launches-358bn-tabora-road-projects "Kikwete launches 358bn/- Tabora road projects", In2EastAfrica, 9 January 2013] In December 2012, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda stated the Tanzanian government's intent to upgrade the {{convert|359|km|mi}} Tabora-Inyonga-Mpanda road to tarmac level before 2015.[http://in2eastafrica.net/mpanda-tabora-road-to-be-tarmacked-pm "Mpanda-Tabora road to be tarmacked – PM", In2EastAfrica, 20 December 2012] In August 2011, Deputy Minister for Works Harrison Mwakyembe told the National Assembly that the government had begun to tarmac the {{convert|115|km|mi}} Tabora-Puge-Nzega road.[http://allafrica.com/stories/201108100671.html "Tanzania: Tabora Tarmac Road to Be Built", The Citizen, reprinted at allAfrica.com, reported by Daniel Msangya, 9 August 2011]

Tabora is served and is a junction on the Central railway line, which goes east to Dar es Salaam, west to Kigoma on to the Lake Tanganyika and north to the port of Mwanza on Lake Victoria. Trains leave three times a week in any direction.

In 2017, a new station on the standard gauge railway is proposed.

Tabora is served by the Tabora Airport which is located 7 kilometers south of the centre of town. Renovation of the airport was completed in 2015.

Precision Air started flying to the airport three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, east from Julius Nyerere International Airport Dar es Salaam and west from Kigoma.{{cite web|title=Airline confirms relaunch of Dar-Tabora route next week|url=http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Business/Airline-confirms-relaunch-of-Dar-Tabora-route-next-week/-/1840414/2707710/-/t28uw2/-/index.html|website=The Citizen|access-date=29 February 2016}}

Tabora is home to a number of educational institutions, including:

A public boarding school located in Tabora, Tanzania. It was established in 1928 by the British Colonial rulers.{{Cite web |last=YouScholars |date=2022-06-16 |title=Tabora Girls' Secondary {{!}} Details, Contacts and History |url=https://www.youscholars.com/tabora-girls-contacts-phone-number-results-selection-address/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=YouScholars, Inc. |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Wenzek |first=Florence |title=School Micropolitics on the Coast of Tanganyika, 1930s |url=https://mambo.hypotheses.org/1794 |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=Mambo ! |language=fr-FR}} It is one of the oldest girls only school in Tanzania.{{Cite web |date=2021-04-09 |title=Top 10 Secondary Schools in Tanzania |url=https://serveafrica.info/top-10-secondary-schools-in-tanzania/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Serve Africa |language=en-US}} The school was originally established to educate the daughters of local chiefs as prospective wives of other chiefs sons who were also educated around the same area at Tabora Boys Secondary School.{{Cite web |title=TABORA GIRLS 1928 – 2016 Shule ya mabinti wa Machifu iliyoibua vigogo |url=https://www.ippmedia.com/sw/makala/tabora-girls-1928-%E2%80%93-2016-shule-ya-mabinti-wa-machifu-iliyoibua-vigogo}}

The school has produced students who were among the first women leaders in the country, such as Anna Abdallah one of the first woman district commissioners,{{Cite book |last=Sheldon |first=Kathleen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HwqQCwAAQBAJ&q=Abetchew+Bayan |title=Historical Dictionary of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa |date=2016-03-04 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-6293-5 |language=en}} Julie Manning the first woman to study law in Tanzania,{{Cite news |last=Msekwa |first=Pius |date=2021-11-05 |title=Tanzania: 60 Years of Independence - the Progressive Participation of Women in Parliament |language=en |work=Tanzania Daily News |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/202111050135.html |access-date=2023-04-15}} Getrude Mongella the first President of the Pan-African Parliament.{{Cite web |title=Dr Amb. Gertrude Ibengwé Mongella |url=https://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/p/gertrude-ibengwe-mongella/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=World Future Council |language=en-US}}

A public school in Tanzania founded in 1922. The school was established to educate sons of African Chiefs and wealthy tribesmen.{{Cite web |last=Luscombe |first=Stephen |title=The British Empire |url=https://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/donaldcameron.htm |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=www.britishempire.co.uk}}{{Cite web |last=Prof. Keto E. |first=MSHIGENI |title=HIGHER EDUCATION TRENDS IN EAST AFRICA : IMPROVEMENT OF TRAINING AT THE POST GRADUATE LEVEL |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000083993 |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=unesdoc.unesco.org}}{{Cite journal |last=FURLEY |first=O. W. |date=1971 |title=Education and the Chiefs in East Africa in the inter-war period |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24520353 |journal=Transafrican Journal of History |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=60–83 |issn=0251-0391}} The school first followed a tribal structure where students were assigned to dormitories based on their tribe, and received education on their respective tribal customs. In its early days the school was considered the 'Eton of Tanganyika'.{{Cite web |last=Huxley |first=Julian S. |date=1930-08-01 |title=African Education |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1930/08/african-education/651027/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Listowel |first=Judith |date=1970-07-01 |title=Tanzania and her future |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00358537008452884 |journal=The Round Table |volume=60 |issue=239 |pages=275–284 |doi=10.1080/00358537008452884 |issn=0035-8533|url-access=subscription }}

The first self-government cabinet in 1961 had eight ministers whose five were all from Tabora Boys.{{Cite web |date=2021-09-26 |title=Tabora Boys club: 100 years in 2022, what is the way forward? |url=https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/oped/tabora-boys-club-100-years-in-2022-what-is-the-way-forward--3563366 |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=The Citizen |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Philip |date=March 1995 |title=Notes on Pre-Independence Education in Tanganyika. |url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED401213.pdf}}

Among the famous people who studied at this school are Rashidi Kawawa and the father of the Tanzanian nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ippmedia.com/sw/makala/tabora-boys-1922-2016-shule-iliyozalisha-safu-nzima-ya-serikali|title = TABORA BOYS 1922 -2016: Shule iliyozalisha safu nzima ya serikali}}

• Railway stations in Tanzania
• Tabora Deaf-Mute Institute
• Transport in Tanzania

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/T/Tabora.asp Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition (at encyclopedia.com)]
• Tabora Region Socio-Economic Profile, joint publication by The Planning Commission Dar es Salaam and Regional Commissioner's Office Tabora, 1998

{{Commons category|Tabora}}

{{Coord|5|01|S|32|48|E|region:TZ-24_type:city(127000)|display=title}}

{{Cities in Tanzania}}

{{Districts of Tabora}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places in Tabora Region

Category:Regional capitals in Tanzania

Category:1850s establishments in Africa