Born c. 1820,
Malawi, Africa
Died October 12, 1885,
Zanzibar, Africa

Sidi Mubarak Bombay, a former African slave, was an unsung hero of African exploration. As leaders of caravans, Bombay and men like him were indispensable to the various parties of Europeans who explored Africa during the nineteenth century. They made the expeditions possible by hiring and training porters and guides, bartering for food with native tribes along the way, nursing the Europeans back to health when they became ill, and generally providing an efficient support system. Bombay was awarded a silver medal by the Royal Geographical Society in recognition of his outstanding service on an expedition led by the British explorer John Hanning Speke (see entry).

Sidi Mubarak was a member of the East African Yao tribe, whose homeland is around Lake Nyasa. At the age of 12 he was captured by Swahili traders and transported to...