THE
“THE CITY OF KILWA IS AMONGST THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF CITIES
and elegantly built,” wrote Ibn Battuta, one of history’s great
travelers. The city minted its own coins and had houses with
indoor plumbing. Its residents wore clothing of imported
silk. During its golden age, from the 12th to the 18th centu-
ries, Kilwa was one of some three dozen prosperous ports that
dotted what is known as the Swahili coast. Those ports, which
stretched from present-day Somalia to Mozambique, had
evolved into powerful city-states that grew rich from Indian
Ocean trade. They flourished as ships from Arabia, India, and
China called at their ports to carry away goods that made the
Swahili wealthy.
Arabian sailors arriving in Africa found good harbors, a
sea full of fish, fertile land, and opportunities for trade. Many
stayed to marry local women, bringing with them the Islamic
faith. The interplay of African and Arabian languages and
customs created an urban and mercantile culture that is
unique to this coast.
At its core, though, the culture was African—a fact that
early archaeologists failed to recognize. Subsequent exca-
vations at sites along the coast have shown how wrong they
were. On Songo Mnara Island in Tanzania, for example,
archaeologists uncovered a planned community that boasted
a palace hung with tapestries, several dozen blocks of houses,
six mosques, and four cemeteries, all inside a wall.
The Swahili trade network fell apart as the Portuguese
muscled in and redirected goods toward the Mediterranean
and Europe. But even as the trade hubs became backwaters,
the rich Swahili culture endured through centuries of colo-
nial occupation. “Swahili history is about adaptation and
incorporation,” explains Abdul Sheriff, a Tanzanian histo-
rian. “Swahili culture may not be quite the same tomorrow
as today, but then nothing living is.”
800 –150 0 EAST AFRICA
Swahili city-states on the shores of
the Indian Ocean enjoyed centuries
of wealth, thanks to trade linking
them to Arabia, India, and beyond.