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The Swahili Civilization and
Coastal Trade
Monsoon wind patterns facilitated
trade across the Indian Ocean,
carrying vessels from Africa to the
Gulf, to India and back again, which
led to the development of the East
African ports.
Swahili, the lingua franca of
East Africa, was a development of
the Bantu language with European,
Indian, and Arabic influences.
In 1000–1500, trading cities ran
down the East African coast, from
Mogadishu in present-day Somalia
to Sofala (Nova Sofala) in
Mozambique, which traded inland
with Great Zimbabwe, while
prominent ports were located on the
islands of Kilwa Kisiwani, Lamu,
and Paté, located in the Indian
Ocean close to the southern coast of
Tanzania. The Moroccan, Ibn
Battuta, passed through Mombasa
and Kilwa on his remarkable
journey in 1331, providing the first
accurate accounts of the flourishing
Muslim cities of the Swahili.
Kilwa (Quiloa to the
Portuguese) dates to AD 800 and
was a major center of trade, being
the most prominent of about 35
trading posts on the Indian Ocean. It
was important during the Shirazi
dynasty of the 11th and 12th
centuries, when a great mosque was
built under the rule of Ali al-Hasan,
and trade connections with southern
Africa and the Near and Far East
were established. Kilwa was the
major exchange point for gold, ivory,
iron, and coconuts from the
kingdom of the Mwene Mutabe,
jewellery and textiles from India,
and porcelain from China. The first
gold coins struck south of the
Sahara, after the decline of Axum,
were minted here, one of which was
found south of the Zambezi river.
EAST AFRICA
Words to Understand
Lucrative:
Something that produces profits, money, or
wealth.
Missionary:
A person sent on a religious mission, especially one
sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country.
Sultan:
A ruler of a Muslim country, especially of the former
Ottoman Empire.
LEFT:
Modern Mogadishu in Somalia
was part of an ancient trade route.
OPPOSITE LEFT:
Kilwa Kisiwani was a
settlement on an island off the southern
coast of present-day Tanzania in eastern
Africa. Historically, it was the center of
the Kilwa Sultanate, a medieval
sultanate whose authority at its height in
the 13th–15th centuries AD stretched the
entire length of the Swahili Coast. Kilwa
Kisiwani has been designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
OPPOSITE:
An early 20th century
portrait of Pedro Ávares Cabral.
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