The Swahili Coast
In the medieval era, Christian places of worship were rare in Africa. In the trading centers of the north and west, Islam was the dominant nonindigenous religion. East Africans had traded with Arab sailors since before the beginning of the common era, from trade depots along
a narrow coastal strip ranging from today’s Somalia through Mozambique (see Map 11.4). When these traders embraced Islam, the people the Arabs called Swahili, from the Arabic word for “shore,” were quick to follow. From Mogadishu in the north to Sofala in the south, a region known as the Swahili Coast, Arabs and Africans blended their customs to create one of the most vibrant cultures in Africa. They also created a new language—Swahili, an African language with many borrowings from Arabic.In the medieval era, Christian places of worship were rare in Africa. In the trading centers of the north and west, Islam was the dominant nonindigenous religion. East Africans had traded with Arab sailors since before the beginning of the common era, from trade depots along
Looking directly out onto the Indian Ocean, Swahili ports played a key role in trade with all of Asia from the medieval era onward. The great Chinese explorer Zheng He (see Chapter 18) reached the Swahili Coast, trading Chinese porcelain and other goods for African products such as spices and wild animals to take back to the Chinese emperor.
The Swahili were renowned for their architecture. Using local materials such as fossilized coral limestone, they built mosques and other buildings, carving trims and decorations directly into the stone in floral designs, arabesques, and other patterns like those used to decorate the Qur’an (see Chapter 9). So beautiful were these works that, upon visiting Kilwa, medieval explorer Ibn Battuta pronounced it “the most beautiful of cities.” The Great Mosque at Kilwa (Fig. 11.23) would have been where Ibn Battuta stopped to pray. Constructed of pieces of fossilized coral bound together by cement made from sand, the pillars, arches, and walls of the mosque were coated in a glossy plaster also made from coral, into which patterns were excised.
The truth behind the Swahili coastal civilisation, 2:29
A team led by a Tanzanian archaeologist has challenged long held beliefs that Swahili coast civilisation - in East Africa, was heavily influenced by outsiders who arrived to trade with the local communities. After excavating an extensive cave just outside Zanzibar, he has discovered evidence of settlements, animal domestication. Hassan Mhelela has visited the cave and sent us this report.
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