What is Swahili and what culture is it linked to?
The Swahili culture has a large Arab influence and the word 'Swahili' fittingly means 'coast' in Arabic. 7 With this region being a part of the Indian Ocean trade during the 8th century, Persian, Indian, and Chinese cultures had a significant influence on the Swahili people.
Is Swahili a language or culture?
Swahili culture is the culture of the Swahili people inhabiting the Swahili coast. This littoral area encompasses Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique, as well as the adjacent islands of Zanzibar and Comoros and some parts of Malawi. They speak Swahili as their native language, which belongs to the Bantu language family.
What culture influenced Swahili civilization?
As a consequence of long-distance trading routes crossing the Indian Ocean, the Swahili were influenced by Arabic, Persian, Indian, and Chinese cultures. During the 10th century, several city-states flourished along the Swahili Coast and adjacent islands, including Kilwa, Malindi, Gedi, Pate, Comoros, and Zanzibar.
How did the Swahili culture and language develop?
The language itself began when this stem of the Bantu branch of languages evolved to include Arabic words and was written down in Arabic. This, not surprisingly, was a result of the Muslim merchants who traded with the Swahili. It was in this context that Swahili became a common language in eastern Africa.
What was significant about the Swahili civilization?
The developments include the establishment of stone-built towns to serve as hubs of trade between the Indian Ocean and the interior of Africa in what is referred to as the “Swahili civilization.” Swahili civilization encompasses the local and global connections and trading activities that took place in Eastern Africa, …
What makes the Swahili language a valid example?
What makes the Swahili language a valid example supporting the conclusion that East Africa's geographic proximity to the coast affected its culture? Swahili incorporates the languages of India with Bantu. Swahili blends Islamic and Christian terms.
Why is Swahili important in Africa?
1. Swahili is spoken by over 100m people in Africa so it's pretty hard to ignore a language that's spoken by so many people. Its importance as a lingua franca is recognised by foreign media organisations such as the BBC, which broadcasts radio programmes in Swahili.
Why was Swahili important?
The cultural heritage of Swahili plays an important role in the African Diaspora, making it a prominent starting point in fields of African Studies, African-American Studies, and the study of other cultures of African origin throughout the world.
How did Swahili culture develop in Africa?
The Swahili originated from the intermarriage of Arabs with the coastal Bantu communities. The Swahili live in urban centers along the East African Coast. The Swahili were initially called Wangozi. They are believed to have migrated from Shungwaya to the coast, where they intermarried with the Arabs.
What are the features of the Swahili civilization?
Thus, life in the Swahili culture was characterized by religious, political, economic and social activities. Kiswahili, the national language played a unifying role, among other things.
Why is Swahili important?
The cultural heritage of Swahili plays an important role in the African Diaspora, making it a prominent starting point in fields of African Studies, African-American Studies, and the study of other cultures of African origin throughout the world.
What makes the Swahili language a valid example supporting the conclusion that East Africas geographic proximity to the coast affected its culture?
What makes the Swahili language a valid example supporting the conclusion that East Africa's geographic proximity to the coast affected its culture? Swahili incorporates the languages of India with Bantu. Swahili blends Islamic and Christian terms.
Why is Swahili an important language throughout the continent?
The cultures of Africa have influenced the world, and the Swahili language originated as a commercial language through contact with locals and Arab traders arriving from the Middle East. Over time, the primary influence of Arabic can be seen by many other languages such as German, English, French and Portuguese.
What was the importance of the Swahili peoples?
Economy. For centuries the Swahili depended greatly on trade from the Indian Ocean. The Swahili have played a vital role as middle man between southeast, central and South Africa, and the outside world.
What led to the development of Swahili culture?
Archaeological work indicates that Swahili culture emerged as a package from about 1250CE as the result of the indigenous Iron Age cultures absorbing influences from the Kenyan coast (Chami 2002, 1).
What makes the Swahili language unique?
It's a rich mix of languages 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. Besides Arabic and Bantu, Swahili also has English, Persian, Portuguese, German and French influences due to trade contact.
How did the Swahili culture develop in East Africa?
The Swahili originated from the intermarriage of Arabs with the coastal Bantu communities. The Swahili live in urban centers along the East African Coast. The Swahili were initially called Wangozi. They are believed to have migrated from Shungwaya to the coast, where they intermarried with the Arabs.
What is Swahili and why is it important?
Swahili is a Bantu language and therefore spoken by many communities that inhabit the Great Lakes region and other areas of southeast Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Mozambique. It's particularly useful to have knowledge of Swahili if doing business in Kenya.
How did the Swahili language affect trade in the East African city-states?
What role did the Swahili play in trade? The Swahili were the link between foreign traders and inland Africans, such as the Shona. The Swahili helped inland Africans trade ivory, grain, and even slaves, for the foreign merchants' knives, farming tools, fabrics, and porcelain.
What role did the Swahili civilization play in Indian Ocean trade?
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.
What was the role of Swahili civilization?
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.
How did the development of Swahili enhance trade?
By adopting the religion of the many Muslim merchants trading in the Indian Ocean better connections were made. This probably made these cities more attractive to merchants thereby creating better commercial opportunities.
What did Swahili city-states trade?
The city-states were independent sultanates, although they shared a common language (Swahili) and religion (Islam). They traded across the Indian Ocean for items, such as pottery, silks, and glassware.
How did Swahili became the culture of East Africa?
The Swahili originated from the intermarriage of Arabs with the coastal Bantu communities. The Swahili live in urban centers along the East African Coast. The Swahili were initially called Wangozi. They are believed to have migrated from Shungwaya to the coast, where they intermarried with the Arabs.