The kingdom reached its height in the early 19th century under Kimweri ye Nyumbai (died 1862), but by 1840 was already losing control to the better-armed Zigula people in the plains.

The Sambaa yielded to the German colonialists in the 1880s without putted up resistance, although members of the dynasty continued to be nominal rulers.

[3] His reign is noted for the decline of traditional authority within the Shambaa Kingdom, as external pressures and internal disputes weakened the monarchy.

Unlike his father, Kimweri was formally educated by the colonizer and was the obvious choice of the colonial authorities.

[4] In the late 1940s and 1950s he tried to form a coalition supporting the government's Usambara erosion control scheme, bringing together devout Muslims, merchants and wealthy farmers.