Siku ya mwaka: the Swahili New Year: With special reference to Mombasa

The concept of the natural year (Swahili `mwaka´) is found throughout the Bantu family of languages (Guthrie 1970: iv, 143) Today there are three possible years for the Swahili. First there is the Swahili year, the first day of which was once celebrated by all the Swahili people, while the year itself was of especial importance to farmers, to sailors and fishermen as well as to travellers and scholars. Secondly there is the Islamic-Swahili year, the first day of which is, in practice, celebrated on the first day of the first month after Ramadhani - 1 mfungo mosi (and not on 1 Muharram). Finally there is, since the arrival of European- hristians in the the second half of the nineteenth century, the Gregorian year, which is known to Swahilis who have attended primary school and 1 January has been a government holiday ever since