The current site of Arusha was first settled in the 1830s by the agro-pastoral Arusha
Maasai from the
Arusha Chini community, south of
Mount Kilimanjaro. They traded grains, honey, beer, and tobacco with the pastoral
Kisongo Maasai in exchange for livestock, milk, meat, and skins. Demand for Arusha's foodstuffs increased substantially during the 1860s when the
Pangani Valley trade route was extended through Old Moshi, Arusha, and ultimately to western Kenya. By the 1950s, Arusha was "a
polyglot, westernized little town; it has a Greek community, several Germans predating World War I, and some
German Jewish refugees post-dating World War II." A state of emergency was declared in the Arusha region in 1953 in response to the
Mau Mau Uprising. Journalist
John Gunther noted at the time that "a loyal tribe, the Waarusha, threatened to take violent countermeasures against the Kikuyus themselves, if the British did not. The authorities arrested the leading Mau Mau conspirators, screened thousands more, and deported other thousands back to Kenya." In 1994, the UN Security Council decided by its
Resolution 955 of 8 November 1994 that Arusha should host the
ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The establishment of the tribunal with its foreign employees has influenced the local economy of the city increasing the cost of living for residents. The tribunal has downsized due to its closure in 2014, but its legal successor, the United Nations
International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals established by
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1966, will continue entertaining a branch in Arusha, opening on 1 July 2012. The tribunal indicted 93 individuals and sentenced 62. The Tanzanian government intended to declare Arusha a city on 1 July 2006, but this was delayed due to pending municipality boundary adjustments. Arusha was granted city status on 15 August 2012, with it becoming official on 2 November 2012. In 2013, a quarry located in Arusha collapsed and killed 14 miners after heavy rain. in the background of the city of Arusha. == Intergovernmental organisations ==