Swahili Civilization

The urban culture of the East African coast, built on a Bantu foundation and Indian Ocean trade, whose centre Kilwa was among the Indian Ocean's great trading cities.

Region
East African coast
Period
c. 800 CE – present

Overview

Swahili civilisation combines Bantu African foundations with Arab, Persian and Indian Ocean influences and produced the most sophisticated urban culture on Africa's eastern seaboard. GHA Vol. III dismantles the 'Shirazi myth' by combining archaeology, linguistic analysis and Arabic sources to show that Swahili civilisation is Indigenous African. The Kilwa Sultanate (13th to 15th century) was the Indian Ocean's premier trading city, and its Great Mosque is the most ambitious Islamic stone architecture in sub-Saharan Africa.

Key facts

  • Kilwa Sultanate: the Indian Ocean's premier trading city, 13th–15th century
  • Great Mosque of Kilwa
  • Chinese porcelain plates set into Swahili tombs, primary evidence of trade with China
  • SOAS holds 450 Swahili manuscripts dated 1790 to the late 20th century
  • The 'Shirazi myth' refuted in GHA Vol. III

References

  1. UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. III
  2. UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV
  3. SOAS Digital Archive, Swahili Manuscripts
  4. Rihla (14th c.)
  5. Wiley, History Compass

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