Askari Monument
Sanamu ya Askari(Swahili) | |
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| 6°49′00″S39°17′22″E/ 6.8166341°S 39.2895626°E | |
| Location | Kivukoni,Ilala,Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |
|---|---|
| Designer | James Alexander Stevenson |
| Material | Bronze |
| Opening date | 1927 |
| Dedicated to | Tanganyikanaskari |
TheAskari MonumentorDar es Salaam African Memorial[1]inKivukoniWard inIlala DistrictofDar es Salaam,Tanzania,is a memorial to theaskari(African soldiers) who fought in theBritish campaignagainst theGerman Armyin East Africa inWorld War I.It was unveiled in 1927. The monument is located at the centre of aroundabouton Samora Avenue at the perpendicular junction to Maktaba Street and Azikiwe Street, a place that reportedly also marks the exact centre of downtown Dar es Salaam.
The monument was erected in honour of theKing's African Riflesand theCarrier Corps.The main feature of the monument is "The Askari",[2]abronze sculptureof an African soldier. It was realised in the United Kingdom by British sculptorJames Alexander Stevenson,who worked forWestminster'sMorris Bronze Founders.Stevenson signed the statue with his pseudonym "Myrander". Before being sent to Dar es Salaam, the statue was exhibited at theRoyal Academy,receiving critical praise.[citation needed]The soldier has a rifle withbayonetpointed towards theDar es Salaam harbour.[3]The statue stands on a stonepedestal.On the narrow sides of the pedestal are plaques with a dedication inSwahili(Arabic and Latin script) and English; on the wide sides of the pedestal are two pictorial plaques showing fighting African soldiers and the Carrier Corps. The English inscription includes "If you fight for your country even if you die your sons will remember your name", which is attributed toRudyard Kipling.
In the place where the Askari Monument is located, there used to be another statue, namely that of German explorer and army majorHermann Wissmann,governor ofGerman East Africain the late 19th century. The statue of theWissmann Monument,unveiled in 1911, represented Wissmann standing, one hand on his hip and one on hissword,looking towards the harbour; at his feet, an African soldier covering a dead lion with a German flag. When the British entered Dar es Salaam in 1916, they removed this statue along with those ofKarl PetersandOtto von Bismarck.[4]
The monument in Dar es Salaam belongs to a group of three Askari Monuments that were unveiled in the same year in what was thenBritish East Africa;the other two are atMombasaandNairobi.[5]A separate Dar es Salaam British and Indian Memorial, commemorating by name more than 1,500 British and Indian officers and men who died in East Africa during and after January 1917 and who have no known grave, is now in Dar es Salaam War Cemetery.[6]
Gallery
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Memorial plaque of eight fighting African soldiers -
Memorial plaque of eight Carrier Corps -
Inscription in English -
Memorial inscription in Swahili - Arabic script -
Memorial inscription in Swahili - Latin script
Notes
[edit]- ^Cemetery details: Dar es Salaam African Memorial.Commonwealth War Graves Commission.Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^Tanzania
- ^V.The Rough Guide to Tanzania,Rough Guides 2006,ISBN1-84353-531-9.
- ^V. Hodd, p. 341
- ^V. Samson, p. 161
- ^Cemetery details: Dar es Salaam British and Indian Memorial.Commonwealth War Graves Commission.Retrieved 25 November 2020.
References
[edit]- Michael Hodd,East Africa Handbook,Footprint Travel Guides 2002,ISBN1-900949-65-2.
- Anne Samson,Britain, South Africa and the East Africa Campaign, 1914–1918,J. B. Tauris 2005,ISBN1-84511-040-4
External links
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