The site of Dar es Salaam was originally a small village named Mzizima (Kiswahili for healthy town) dating back to 8th century. Later, it became the site of plantations growing cassava, millet and maize. Dar es Salaam, an Arabic name meaning “haven of peace,” was formally founded by the Majid bin Sayyid, the Sultan of Zanzibar, in 1866. The city fell into decline after the death of the Sultan in 1870 but its fortunes were revived when the German East Africa Company established a trading station there in 1887. As the German colonial presence in east Africa grew, Dar es Salaam became the administrative and commercial center of the colony. In 1900 it became the eastern terminus of the Central Railway Line that ran into the interior of German East Africa.