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. This happened from around the 11th century to the 15th century.
What type of people live in Swahili Coast?
A mix of African, Arab, and Indian Ocean peoples lived here. Who Lives on the Swahili Coast? The original residents were Africans . They spoke the Bantu languages.
What countries are in the Swahili coast?
| Swahili coast | Countries Kenya Tanzania Mozambique Comoros | Major Cities Dar es Salaam (Mzizima) Malindi Mombasa Sofala Lamu Zanzibar | Ethnic groups | • Bantu Swahili |
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What was the Swahili coast known for?
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 .
Who lived in the Swahili city-states?
Swahili City-States
During the 10th century, several city-states flourished along the Swahili Coast and adjacent islands, including Kilwa, Malindi, Gedi, Pate, Comoros, and Zanzibar. These early Swahili city-states were Muslim, cosmopolitan, and politically independent of one another .
Is Swahili African?
Kiswahili most likely originated on East Africa's coast . ... It's a national language in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and an official language of the East African Community which comprises Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
Is Swahili easy to learn?
How hard is it to learn? Swahili is said to be the easiest African language for an English speaker to learn . It's one of the few sub-Saharan African languages that have no lexical tone, just like in English. It's also much easier to read as you read out Swahili words just the way they are written.
How old is Swahili?
The oldest preserved Swahili literature, which dates from the early 18th century , is written in the Arabic script, though the language is now written in the Roman alphabet. There are about 15 main Swahili dialects, as well as several pidgin forms in use.
Is Swahili a country?
| Swahili | Pronunciation [kiswɑˈhili] |
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How did Islam affect Swahili?
Arab traders first introduced Islam to the Swahili coast in the ninth century. Appreciating its religious value, the Swahili people also recognized that adopting their neighbor's religion would help their trading relationships as well, granting them new access to trade networks.
Who benefited from the Swahili trade?
At their height from the 12th to 15th century, the Swahili Coast city-states traded with African tribes as far afield as Zimbabwe as well as the period's great trading nations across the Indian Ocean in Arabia, Persia, India, and China.
Why is African reconstruction difficult?
Writing African history has been challenging and mostly difficult, due to a lack of both comprehensive written records and holistic archaeological evidence that covers all the zones of Africa from past times .
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.
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).
What two languages make up Swahili?
Swahili is predominantly a mix of local Bantu languages and Arabic . Decades of intensive trade along the East African coast resulted in this mix of cultures.
Where are most Swahili people found?
The half-million people known as Swahili live along the coastline of East Africa from Somalia to Mozambique .
