Which best describes why the location of the Swahili Coast made it a center of trade? It was accessible to people from different parts of the world . What was the relationship between the Shona people and the groups along the Swahili Coast? They traded with each other.
Why was the Swahili Coast a center of trade?
African merchants from the Swahili coast used oceanic trade routes across the Indian Ocean to trade raw materials such as gold, ivory, and leopard skins to Eurasia for manufactured goods. goods were transported by ship using monsoon winds, and Islam came from Arabia to the Swahili coast. ... Songhai rose as a trade center.
Where is the Swahili trade Center located?
Kilwa lies on an island off the coast of Tanzania and north of Madagascar , and archaeological and historical evidence shows that the Swahili Coast sites conducted an active trade between interior Africa and the Indian Ocean during the 11th through 16th centuries CE.
What was traded on the Swahili Coast?
The Swahili Coast appears to have reached its zenith during the Medieval Period, from around the 11th to 15th centuries. During that time, the Swahili Coast comprised numerous city-states that traded across the Indian Ocean. ... They traded across the Indian Ocean for items, such as pottery, silks, and glassware .
What trade network was the Swahili Coast part of?
Many different ethnic groups were involved in the Indian Ocean’s trade network , however, especially in the western part of the Indian Ocean, Swahili coast being included, Muslim merchants dominated trade due to their ability to fund the construction of vessels.
What did the Khoi have that the Portuguese wanted?
The Khoikhoi people at the Cape traded sheep, cattle, ivory, ostrich feathers and shells for beads, metal objects, tobacco and alcohol . Unlike the Portuguese, the Dutch did not trade guns as they did not want the Khoikhoi to use the guns against them.
When was Kilwa at its economic height?
Kilwa Kisiwani reached its highest point in wealth and commerce between 13th and 15th centuries CE . Evidence of growth in wealth can be seen with the appearance of stone buildings around the 13th century CE, before which all of the buildings were wattle-and-daub.
Why did Kilwa become so wealthy?
Trade – Kilwa & Sofala
This southern Swahili outpost was important to such cultures as Great Zimbabwe (c. 1100 – c. 1550 CE) in modern-day Zimbabwe and vice-versa. Indeed, gold from Zimbabwe that reached Sofala helped make Kilwa the most prosperous of all the Swahili coast cities, overtaking Mogadishu.
What is the religion of Swahili?
This group was known as the Shirazi. Today, most Swahili people are Sunni Muslims . It is the largest group within the religion of Islam. The Swahili Coast peaked during the medieval period.
How old is Kilwa?
Founded in the late 10th century by settlers from Arabia and Persia (now Iran), it became one of the most active commercial centres on the east coast of Africa. Held briefly by the Portuguese (1505–12), it thereafter gradually declined in importance and was finally abandoned.
What type of people live in the Swahili coast?
The Swahili people (Swahili language: WaSwahili) are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting East Africa. Members of this ethnicity primarily reside on the Swahili coast, in an area encompassing the Zanzibar archipelago, littoral Kenya, the Tanzania seaboard, northern Mozambique, the Comoros Islands, and Northwest Madagascar.
What do you call someone from Swahili?
INTRODUCTION. For at least a thousand years, Swahili people, who call themselves Waswahili , have occupied a narrow strip of coastal land extending from the north coast of Kenya to Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, and also several nearby Indian Ocean islands (e.g., Zanzibar, Lamu, Pate).
Why is the Swahili Coast important?
The Swahili Coast, an 1,800-mile stretch of Kenyan and Tanzanian coastline, has been the site of cultural and commercial exchanges between East Africa and the outside world – particularly the Middle East, Asia, and Europe – since at least the 2nd century A.D.
Why was Aksum an important trading center?
This gave Aksum a cultural connection to the Christian kingdoms that were growing more powerful across Europe, which soon included the Byzantine Empire. The desire to increase the power of Christianity helped secure Aksum as the go-to trade center for Christian kingdoms, furthering the status of the trade nation.
What is the origin of Kiswahili?
The language dates from the contacts of Arabian traders with the inhabitants of the east coast of Africa over many centuries . ... Under Arab influence, Swahili originated as a lingua franca used by several closely related Bantu-speaking tribal groups.
What role did the Swahili civilization play in Indian Ocean trade?
9. What was the role of Swahili civilization in the world of Indian Ocean commerce? Economically, Swahili cities provided commercial centers that accumulated goods from the interior of sub-Saharan Africa and exchanged them for the products of the Indian Ocean trading network .
