# Timeline of Tanzanian history

This is a timeline of Tanzanian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Tanzania and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Tanzania. See also the list of presidents of Tanzania.

## Early Pleistocene

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1.65 mya to 1.53 mya | | Oldowan stone tool culture at Olduvai Gorge. |

## 3rd millennium BC

| Year | Date | Event |
| 3000BC | | Evidence of indigenous pottery and agriculture dating as far back as this period is found in the Tanzanian coast and offshore islands. |

## 6th cen

| Year | Date | Event |
| 600BC | | International trade goods including Graeco-Roman pottery, Syrian glass vessels, Sassanian pottery from Persia and glass beads dating to this century are found at the Rufiji River delta. |

## 1st century BC

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1000BC – 300AD | | The earliest settlements in the Swahili coast appear on the archaeological record in Kwale in Kenya, Misasa in Tanzania and Ras Hafun in Somalia. |

## 1st century AD

| Year | Date | Event |
| ~1AD – 50AD | | The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, a Graeco-Roman manuscript is written. It describes the East African coast (Azania) and an established Indian Ocean Trade route |

## 2nd century AD

| Year | Date | Event |
| 100AD – 600AD | | Centuries ahead of European metallurgists, the Haya people from the western shores of Lake Victoria manufacture carbon steel. |

## 4th century AD

| Year | Date | Event |
| 300AD – 1000AD | | Growth of Azanian and Zanj settlements in the Swahili coast. Local industry and international trade flourish. |

## 7th century AD

| Year | Date | Event |
| 614AD – 900AD | | Starting with the first Hijrah (migration) of Prophet Muhammad's followers to Ethiopia, Islam spreads across Eastern, Northern and Western Africa. |
| 630AD – 890AD | | Archaeological evidence indicates that crucible steel is manufactured at Galu, south of Mombasa. Metallurgical analysis of iron artefacts indicates that the techniques used by the inhabitants of the Swahili coast combined techniques used in other African sites as well as those in West and South Asian sites. |

## 11th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1000AD – 1500AD | | Emergence of the Swahili City States. |
| 1000AD – 1200AD | | The oldest Swahili texts in existence date to this period. They are written in old Swahili script (Swahili-Arabic alphabet) based on Arabic letters. |

## 12th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1178–1195 | | Suleiman Hassan (c. 1178–1195), conquers the rival nation of Sofala. |

## 14th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| ~1331 | | Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta visits Kilwa. |

## 15th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1400–1500 | | The ancestors of the Iraqw are credited as the builders of the Iron Age settlement at Engaruka in Northern Tanzania. Complex irrigation systems supporting intensive agriculture supported an estimated peak population of 40,000. It is recognised as the largest abandoned system of irrigated agricultural fields and terraces in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| 1410 | | Kilwa's ruler makes a recorded pilgrimage to Mecca. |
| 1498 | 25 February | The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama is the first known European to reach the East African coast, landing at Kilimane, where he stayed for 32 days. |

## 16th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1505 | 24 July | Sack of Kilwa by the Portuguese Empire marking an end to the Kilwan golden age in the Swahili coast. |
| 1505 | August | Captain John Homere, part of Francisco de Almeida's fleet, captures the archipelago of Zanzibar, making it part of the Portuguese Empire. |

## 17th century

| Year | Event |
| 1698 | Zanzibar falls under the control of the Sultan of Oman. |
| 1698 | Oman's conquest of Kilwa leds the Yao to flee to Mozambique island. |
| 1700 | Over 100,000 slaves pass through Zanzibar as part of the Arab slave trade. |

## 18th century

| Year | Event |
| 1700 | The founding of the Chagga states of Kilimanjaro. |
| 1776 | Kilwa was reviving and becomes East Africa's largest slave port with the Yao returning from Mozambique as slave taders. The enslaved were sold to the French colonies of the Mascarene islands. |
| 1776 | Smallpox plagues southern Tanzania. |

## 19th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1819 | | The Shambaa Kingdom enters a golden age under Kimweri ye Nyambai's reign. |
| 1820 | | Famine in Ukerewe. |
| 1822 | | United Kingdom signs the Moresby Treaty with Sultan Seyyid Said to begin the abolition of slavery in Zanzibar. |
| 1840 | December | Omani Sultan Seyyid Said moves his capital to Zanzibar City. |
| 1842 | | Ngoni king Mputa Maseko arrives and settles in Songea. While Zwangendaba settles in Ufipa. |
| 1843 | | The last Sultan of Kilwa is deported to Oman. |
| 1848 | 11 May | German missionary Johannes Rebmann, accompanied by Johann Ludwig Krapf, become the first Europeans to report seeing Mount Kilimanjaro. |
| 1850 | | The Zigua burn Saadani to the ground. |
| 1850 | | Swahili is spoken widely among the Gogo and Sagara. |
| 1855 | | King Muyigumba conqueres the northern and central Hehe chiefdoms into a unified Hehe state. |
| 1856 | | Sultan Seyyid Said dies at sea and is succeeded by his sons Thuwaini bin Said, in Muscat and Oman and Majid bin Said, in Zanzibar. |
| 1857 | 26 June | British explorers Richard Burton and John Speke travel from Zanzibar to the East African coast and begin their exploration of continental East Africa. |
| 1857 | | Maize is grown in the Pangani Valley. |
| 1858 | 13 February | Burton and Speke reach Lake Tanganyika, the first known Europeans to do so. |
| 1860 | | King Mirambo of the Nyamwezi rises to power. |
| 1861 | 2 April | Zanzibar and Oman are split into two separate principalities with Majid bin Said becoming the first Sultan of Zanzibar. |
| 1863 | | Songea's king Mputa Maseko is killed by dissident Ndendeuli who flees east to the Kilombero valley and recreates Ngoni style military state forming the Mbunga people, forcing the Pogoro to flee eat to the Mahenge plateau. |
| 1863 | | The French Holy Ghost Father established their first church in Zanzibar and move it to Bagamoyo in 1868. |
| 1869 | | The Kiva rebellion, where Bondei rebel against the Shambaa Kingdom's rule. |
| 1870 | | Islam becomes the major religion among the Zigua and Bondei. |
| 1873 | | Zanzibari Sultan Barghash bin Said stops the export of slaves over the sea. |
| 1874 | | Civil war in the Shambaa Kingdom turns Pangani into a rival slave port to Bagamoyo and Kilwa. |
| 1875 | | Bagamoyo pays tribute to the Zaramo fearing attack. |
| 1875 | | The Mbugu of Gare kill a Kilindi royal in rebellion. |
| 1876 | | Barghash bin Said closes Zanzibar's slave market. |
| 1876 | | Kilwa's biggest export switches from slaves to wild rubber. |
| 1878 | | The Hehe and Ngoni go to war with the Invasion of Mshope by the Hehe. |
| 1880 | | Fipa King Kapufi of Nkasi hires an Arab Prime minister in his court. |
| 1881 | | The Pare at Mbaga attack a slave trader settlement of Kisiwani. |
| 1882 | | The Ngoni and Hehe end their war with Bena partitioned amongst them as a buffer. |
| 1882 | | King Songea Mbano of the Ngoni raids the eastern stateless peoples like the Ngindo, Makonde and Mwera forcing them to flee further eastwards leaving empty land. |
| 1884 | 28 March | The Society for German Colonization is formed by Karl Peters in order to acquire German colonial territories in overseas countries. Peters signs treaties with several native chieftains on the mainland opposite Zanzibar. |
| 1884 | 23 November | The Germans led by Peters land at Saadani and start the invasion reaching thr Ngulu mountains and signing a sham treaty with Chief Mafungu Biniani of Ngulu . |
| 1884 | 2 December | Mirambo of the Nyamwezi empire dies. |
| 1885 | 3 March | The German government announces its intention to establish a protectorate in East Africa. |
| 1885 | 2 April | The German East Africa Company is formed by Karl Peters to govern German East Africa. |
| 1886 | 1 November | An agreement is reached between Britain and Germany designating a 10-mile (16 km) wide strip of land along the coast as being controlled by Sultan Barghash bin Said, along with Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia. The area that is to become Tanganyika is assigned to Germany while the area to become Kenya is assigned to Britain. |
| 1887 | 25 May | The Germans occupy Dar es Salaam. |
| 1887 | | The Zaramo attack two German stations in Dar es Salaam . |
| 1888 | April | The German East Africa Company leases the coastal strip opposite Zanzibar from Sultan Khalifah bin Said for 50 years. |
| 1888 | | The Zigua boycott a station in Old Korogwe. |
| 1888 | September | Tanga is bombed by German warships. |
| 1889 | June | Germans capture Saadani after fierce fighting Bwana Heri flees inland . |
| 1889 | July | Germans capture Pangani after heavy shelling from the sea. |
| 1889 | 15 December | Germans hang Abushiri . |
| 1890 | 1 July | The Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty makes Zanzibar and Pemba a British protectorate. |
| 1890 | 1 August | The Sultan of Zanzibar signs an anti-slavery decree. |
| 1890 | 1 May | Germans bombard Kilwa for three days into submission. |
| 1891 | February | The Battle of Kibosho. |
| 1891 | November | Mangi Rindi dies. |
| 1896 | 27 August | The Anglo-Zanzibar War is fought between Zanzibar and the United Kingdom. It lasted approximately 38 minutes and is the shortest war in history. |
| 1896 | November | The Germans and Chagga sack Meru. |
| 1897 | 5 April | Sultan Hamoud bin Mohammed issues a decree making slavery illegal in Zanzibar. |
| 1897 | | Mangi Sina dies. |
| 1898 | 19 July | Following years of resistance, Chief Mkwawa of the Hehe is cornered by German soldiers and commits suicide in lieu of capture. |
| 1898 | | Katukamoto of Urambo, who was held accountable for the murder of an askari, was imprisoned. Following this event, the remnants of Mirambo's empire were systematically dismantled. |

## 20th century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 1900 | 2 March | Great Hanging at Old Moshi was a mass execution of 19 Chagga and Meru leaders together with their noblemen by German colonial officers. |
| 1905 | July | The Maji Maji Rebellion starts as a violent resistance to colonial rule in Tanganyika. |
| 1907 | August | The Maji Maji Rebellion ends, leaving between 200,000 and 300,000 rebels dead. |
| 1914 | 8 August | The East African Campaign of the First World War begins. |
| 1914 | 3 November | The Battle of Tanga, the first major military engagement of the First World War, takes place. (to 5 November) |
| 1916 | 4 September | Dar es Salaam is occupied by troops from the United Kingdom and South Africa. |
| 1919 | 28 June | Following the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles divides German East Africa, with the United Kingdom acquiring the largest section which it names the Tanganyika Territory. |
| 1920 | | Sir Horace Byatt is appointed the first governor of Tanganyika. |
| 1920 | 10 January | The British mandate over Tanganyika comes into force. |
| 1929 | | The Tanganyika African Association is founded by members of the Tanganyika Territory African Civil Service association. |
| 1946 | 13 December | British mandate over Tanganyika is converted to a United Nations Trusteeship. |
| 1954 | 9 June | Germany returns the skull of Hehe chief Mkwawa (died 1898) to Tanzania and it is put on display near Iringa. |
| 1954 | 7 July | Julius Nyerere forms the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and becomes its first president. |
| 1961 | October | The University College, Dar es Salaam is established as one of three constituent colleges of the University of East Africa, with 14 law students. |
| 1961 | 9 December | Tanganyikan independence; Julius Nyerere as Prime Minister. |
| 1961 | 14 December | Tanganyika becomes a member of the United Nations. |
| 1962 | 22 January | Julius Nyerere resigns as Prime Minister and is succeeded by Rashidi Kawawa. |
| 1962 | 9 December | Tanganyika becomes a republic with Julius Nyerere as its first president. |
| 1963 | 16 December | Zanzibar becomes a member of the United Nations. |
| 1963 | 19 December | Zanzibar receives independence from the United Kingdom, becoming a constitutional monarchy. |
| 1964 | 12 January | The Zanzibar Revolution by local Africans overthrows the Sultan of Zanzibar and his primarily Arab government. Sheikh Abeid Karume becomes the first President of Zanzibar. |
| 1964 | 26 April | The Republic of Tanganyika and the Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba unite to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. |
| 1964 | 1 November | The United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar changes its name to the United Republic of Tanzania. |
| 1965 | 21 September | President Nyerere is returned to power in a one-party election. |
| 1965 | 1 October | Nyerere is sworn in for his second presidential term. |
| 1967 | 5 February | President Nyerere issues the Arusha Declaration, outlining the principles of Ujamaa. |
| 1969 | 24 September | The Arusha Agreement is signed between the European Union and the East African states of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. |
| 1970 | 1 July | Tanzania's first university, the University of Dar es Salaam is founded from the split of the University of East Africa into three national universities. |
| 1971 | 1 January | The Arusha Agreement is enacted. |
| 1972 | 7 April | Vice President Abeid Karume is assassinated in Zanzibar Town. |
| 1972 | 11 April | Aboud Jumbe becomes the second President of Zanzibar and Vice President of Tanzania. |
| 1976 | | Archaeologist Mary Leakey and her team discover homoinid fossil footprints at Laetoli, south of the Olduvai Gorge. |
| 1977 | 5 February | Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and Zanzibar's Afro-Shirazi Party merge to become Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). |
| 1977 | 18 April | The border between Tanzania and Kenya is closed. |
| 1977 | 25 April | The constitution of Tanzania is adopted. |
| 1978 | 27 October | Ugandan forces under Idi Amin invade Tanzania, starting the Uganda–Tanzania War, also known as the Liberation War. |
| 1979 | 11 April | Tanzanian troops capture the Ugandan capital of Kampala, heralding the end of the Uganda–Tanzania War and Amin's regime. |
| 1983 | | Tanzania's first AIDS diagnosis is made in Bukoba district, Kagera Region. |
| 1983 | 17 November | The Tanzania–Kenya border reopens. |
| 1984 | 31 January | Ali Hassan Mwinyi is sworn in as the third President of Zanzibar and Vice President of Tanzania. |
| 1985 | 5 November | Julius Nyerere retires and Ali Hassan Mwinyi becomes the second President of Tanzania. Mwinyi is succeeded as vice president by Joseph Sinde Warioba. |
| 1990 | October | Ali Hassan Mwinyi wins a single-party election with 95.5% of the vote and is sworn in for a second presidential term. |
| 1992 | 28 May | The Civic United Front is formed. |
| 1995 | 29 October | Tanzania holds its first multi-party election. |
| 1995 | 23 November | Benjamin Mkapa is sworn in as the third President of Tanzania. |
| 1973 | February | The Tanzanian parliament moves from Dar es Salaam to the new capital of Dodoma. |
| 1998 | 7 August | The United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya are simultaneously bombed. |
| 1999 | 14 October | Julius Nyerere dies of leukaemia in London. |
| 1999 | 30 November | The East African Community Treaty between Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda is signed in Arusha. |
| 2000 | 7 July | The East African Community Treaty comes into force. |
| 2000 | 29 October | Benjamin Mkapa is re-elected as President of Tanzania, with 72 percent of the vote. |

## 21st century

| Year | Date | Event |
| 2001 | 28 January | Demonstrators in Zanzibar protesting the 2000 elections, clash with police and 32 people are killed. |
| 2001 | 5 July | Ali Mohamed Shein becomes Vice President of Tanzania. |
| 2001 | December | The government controversially decides to spend £28m on a new air traffic control system. |
| 2002 | 24 June | The Igandu train disaster kills more than 200 people and is Tanzania's worst train crash. |
| 2002 | July | Mkapa's government is criticized for purchasing a £15m presidential jet shortly before reaching an agreement with the UK for £270m in aid. |
| 2003 | December | The Kipunji, a new species of monkey, is found in Tanzania—the first new African monkey species since 1974. It is also independently discovered in July 2004. |
| 2005 | 14 December | General elections are held. Anna Senkoro of the Progressive Party of Tanzania–Maendeleo is the first woman in Tanzania to run for president. |
| 2005 | 21 December | Jakaya Kikwete is sworn in as the fourth President of Tanzania. |
| 2005 | 30 December | Edward Lowassa is sworn is as Prime Minister. |
| 2006 | 11 May | Scientists announce that the Kipunji monkey found in 2003 belongs to a new genus of African monkey—the first to be discovered since 1923. |
| 2006 | 9 August | $642m of Tanzania's debt is cancelled by the African Development Bank. |
| 2008 | 6 February | A parliamentary committee reports on corruption within the cabinet. |
| 2008 | 7 February | Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and two other ministers resign following the report on corruption. President Kikwete dissolves the cabinet. |
| 2021 | 17 March | John Magufuli, President of Tanzania, dies. |
| 2021 | 19 March | Samia Suluhu Hassan is sworn in as Tanzania's first female President. |