East Africa was comprised of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zanzibar. Rwanda and Burundi were part of the German East Africa (Deutsche Ost Afrika 1885-1917). After the defeat of Germans at the end of First European War in 1917 Tanganyika became a Trust Territory of the United Nations, but was treated as a colony by the British. Unlike other European powers which used the colonies as profitable enterprises or places of settlement, Germany had little interest in colonizing African countries, but it did have Cameroon in West Africa and South West Africa. Private German enterprise did not succeed in making Tanganyika a profitable venture. 

Serengeti is a well known reserve of wild life in the north of Tanzania. It was in this area at Olduvai Gorge that where in 1931 Lois Leaky and Mary Leaky  found evidence of the oldest hominid remains and foot steps of man walking on two feet. Archaeological evidence from this discovery points to the fact that that all mankind evolved from East Africa about 50,000 years ago and spread to the rest of the world. Colours of people evolved and changed as an adaptation to degree of exposure to sun. The story of Masais is told in the Novel through the character of Koinet. 

Masais are one tribe living in the north of Tanzania and South of Kenya near Serengeti National Park. Masais speak a different language called Maa. During the formation of Kenya and Tanganyika as Nation States, Masais got divided between the two countries. This tribe with their unique culture that thrives on cattle raising maintain their traditional culture. They live at Serengeti  National Park in the north of Tanzania near Arusha where there is wild life sanctuary still containing some of the best game parks in the world.  

Tanganayika became a nation state from tribal society comprised of about 260 tribes during the colonial rule. Julius Nyerere, reverently called Mwalimu, was the first President of the country in 1962 who led the Tanganyika African National Union. He studied at Makerere University of East Africa and Edinborough University of Scotland.  He went along with the Arusha Declation made by the Tanganyika African National Union ( TANU )which followed socialist policies and nationalized all the properties of the Indians and terminated the jobs of the Indians in the Tanzanian civil service. The properties were not restored to the Indians in Tanzania as was done in Uganda. It is important for countries like Canada that provide aid to Tanzania to put pressure on the government to restore the properties to the Indians.

World history and media documentaries, made mostly by West Europeans, makes scant reference to the fact that the First World War of 1914 to 1918 was entirely an European War. It started after the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.  This war which caused millions of casualties, including 80,000 Indian colonial troops which fought in different parts of the world, was also fought also on East African soil for the conquest of Tanganyika held by the Germans at that time. Colonies were treated as possession of the Europeans.  The four year war was fought between Europeans but predominantly Germans and British in Europe, but also in East Africa, and both of whom used large number of African soldiers in East Africa called Askaris. British who ruled India at the time ordered 8,000 Indian troops to be brought to Tanga port on the East coast of Tanganyika to join the British forces of about 3,500 to fight for the British against the Germans. The number of Africans and Indians in this theater of war is estimated to be 2,500 Germans, 3,500 British and about 80,000 Africans which number includes the support personnel. The victory of Britain signed at the Treaty of Versailles in Paris transferred the control of Taganyika to British hands as a trust territory of United Nations but was treated the same as any other colony. 

Dar es Salaam was named by Arabs. The name means ‘haven of peace’ and it was so named because of the tranquil harbour which gave sanctuary to the dhows and small ships that plied the Indian Ocean between India, Middle East and East Africa following the monsoon winds. When Germans took control in 1886, they developed the town with roads, schools, churches and buildings, some of which still stand at the beautiful harbour of the city. The Luthern Church, the St. Joseph’s Church, and the colonial administrative buildings still adorn the harbor. Askari statute which replaced the statute of a German commander stands today at the intersection of Samora Avenue and Maktaba Streets in the centre of the downtown as a reminder of about 40,000 African soldiers who fought for the British against the Germans. The city is now a major metropolis attracting a large number of people from the countryside and is a hub for travel to Serengeti in the north of the country.

Gujarati Indians, mostly from west part of Indian in Gujarat,began to settle in  East Africa by travelling with Dhows following the monsoon winds. They needed to look for employment elsewhere for economic opportunities in the mid 19th to first half of the 20th century when India became impoverished during British Raj. In Zanzibar they worked under the regime of the Sultan. In the remaining East African countries they worked as shopkeepers and traders and later manufacturers and professionals. They were only about 2% of the population of the respective countries, but were primarily responsible for the economic development of the economies of East Africa under the umbrella of the British Empire. Most of the properties of the Indians were either confiscated or nationalized by the African governments after independence which the British granted to these countries with democratic principles of majority rule. Many Indians were permitted to acquire British Nationality. During the independence period of nineteen sixties and seventies there was a mass exodus of these Indians to western countries, including England, India, and Canada and the US. During this period of uncertainty many Indian did not have any nationality and flew back and forth to countries which did not acknowledge their passports. In the Zanzibar revolution of 1964 the Africans drove out many Indians and raped Indian women. In 1972 Idi Amin of Uganda, a military leader, deposed all Indians regardless of their nationality with a notice of 90 days and asking them to leave all their properties to the Africans. After Arusha Declaration of Tanzania in 1967, all civil service jobs and properties of Indians were taken by the African State. Much of this aftermath of the Empire’s transition period in East Africa, and suffering of the Indians who supported the British, has gone unnoticed. This novel “Love in the Empire” is a story of just one person and family that illustrates the challenges of loss of homeland and cultural transition in this period. It was a period of migration of one generation to East Africa from India and second generation from East Africa to the west in the post colonial period. These enterprising people in adjusting to the west, have established a very record of achievements in the west which this novel illustrates.  

Zanzibar was the hub of the Slave trade. Zanzibar came under the control of Portugal in 1504 and then in 1698 under the control of Sultan of Muscat. The Sultan traded in slaves and ivory and later spices. The island was governed  independently until 27th August,1896 when the British Navy defeated the Sultan regime in a 38 minute war which destroyed the Palace of Sultan, Beit al Hukum. The abolition of slavery law of 1833 of England did not apply to Sultan who continued slave trade until take over by the British. The slave trade was conducted with tacit consent of the tribal chiefs. Approximately 50,000 slaves per annum were collected on the coastal area of Bagamoyo in East Africa. They were then brought to the island of Zanzibar from the mainland and sold to western countries including United States. The Anglican Church stands today in Zanzibar at the location on the main island of Zanzibar where the slaves were once sold for export. 

Gujarati Indians, mostly from west part of Indian in Gujarat,began to settle in  East Africa by travelling with Dhows following the monsoon winds. They needed to look for employment elsewhere for economic opportunities in the mid 19th to first half of the 20th century when India became impoverished during British Raj. In Zanzibar they worked under the regime of the Sultan. In the remaining East African countries they worked as shopkeepers and traders and later manufacturers and professionals. They were only about 2% of the population of the respective countries, but were primarily responsible for the economic development of the economies of East Africa under the umbrella of the British Empire. Most of the properties of the Indians were either confiscated or nationalized by the African governments after independence which the British granted to these countries with democratic principles of majority rule. Many Indians were permitted to acquire British Nationality. During the independence period of nineteen sixties and seventies there was a mass exodus of these Indians to western countries, including England, India, and Canada and the US. During this period of uncertainty many Indian did not have any nationality and flew back and forth to countries which did not acknowledge their passports. In the Zanzibar revolution of 1964 the Africans drove out many Indians and raped Indian women. In 1972 Idi Amin of Uganda, a military leader, deposed all Indians regardless of their nationality with a notice of 90 days and asking them to leave all their properties to the Africans. After Arusha Declaration of Tanzania in 1967, all civil service jobs and properties of Indians were taken by the African State. Much of this aftermath of the Empire’s transition period in East Africa, and suffering of the Indians who supported the British, has gone unnoticed. This novel “Love in the Empire” is a story of just one person and family that illustrates the challenges of loss of homeland and cultural transition in this period. It was a period of migration of one generation to East Africa from India and second generation from East Africa to the west in the post colonial period. These enterprising people in adjusting to the west, have established a very record of achievements in the west which this novel illustrates.

Dar es Salaam was named by Arabs. The name means ‘haven of peace’ and it was so named because of the tranquil harbour which gave sanctuary to the dhows and small ships that plied the Indian Ocean between India, Middle East and East Africa following the monsoon winds. When Germans took control in 1886, they developed the town with roads, schools, churches and buildings, some of which still stand at the beautiful harbour of the city. The Luthern Church, the St. Joseph’s Church, and the colonial administrative buildings still adorn the harbor. Askari statute which replaced the statute of a German commander stands today at the intersection of Samora Avenue and Maktaba Streets in the centre of the downtown as a reminder of about 40,000 African soldiers who fought for the British against the Germans. The city is now a major metropolis attracting a large number of people from the countryside and is a hub for travel to Serengeti in the north of the country. 

World history and media documentaries, made mostly by West Europeans, makes scant reference to the fact that the First World War of 1914 to 1918 was entirely an European War. It started after the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.  This war which caused millions of casualties, including 80,000 Indian colonial troops which fought in different parts of the world, was also fought also on East African soil for the conquest of Tanganyika held by the Germans at that time. Colonies were treated as possession of the Europeans.  The four year war was fought between Europeans but predominantly Germans and British in Europe, but also in East Africa, and both of whom used large number of African soldiers in East Africa called Askaris. British who ruled India at the time ordered 8,000 Indian troops to be brought to Tanga port on the East coast of Tanganyika to join the British forces of about 3,500 to fight for the British against the Germans. The number of Africans and Indians in this theater of war is estimated to be 2,500 Germans, 3,500 British and about 80,000 Africans which number includes the support personnel. The victory of Britain signed at the Treaty of Versailles in Paris transferred the control of Taganyika to British hands as a trust territory of United Nations but was treated the same as any other colony. 

Tanganayika became a nation state from tribal society comprised of about 260 tribes during the colonial rule. Julius Nyerere, reverently called Mwalimu, was the first President of the country in 1962 who led the Tanganyika African National Union. He studied at Makerere University of East Africa and Edinborough University of Scotland.  He went along with the Arusha Declation made by the Tanganyika African National Union ( TANU )which followed socialist policies and nationalized all the properties of the Indians and terminated the jobs of the Indians in the Tanzanian civil service. The properties were not restored to the Indians in Tanzania as was done in Uganda. It is important for countries like Canada that provide aid to Tanzania to put pressure on the government to restore the properties to the Indians.

Masais are one tribe living in the north of Tanzania and South of Kenya near Serengeti National Park. Masais speak a different language called Maa. During the formation of Kenya and Tanganyika as Nation States, Masais got divided between the two countries. This tribe with their unique culture that thrives on cattle raising maintain their traditional culture. They live at Serengeti  National Park in the north of Tanzania near Arusha where there is wild life sanctuary still containing some of the best game parks in the world. 

Serengeti is a well known reserve of wild life in the north of Tanzania. It was in this area at Olduvai Gorge that where in 1931 Lois Leaky and Mary Leaky  found evidence of the oldest hominid remains and foot steps of man walking on two feet. Archaeological evidence from this discovery points to the fact that that all mankind evolved from East Africa about 50,000 years ago and spread to the rest of the world. Colours of people evolved and changed as an adaptation to degree of exposure to sun. The story of Masais is told in the Novel through the character of Koinet.