Swahili people
Waungwana وَؤُنْڠوَانَ | |
---|---|
Regions with significant populations | |
Arabic, French | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Islam (Sunni, Shia, Sufism)[9] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Mijikenda, Pokomo, Comorians, Bajunis, Shirazi, Mwani, Manyema, Bravanese, Makwe and Lemba |
The Swahili people (
The original Swahili distinguished themselves from other Bantu peoples by self-identifying as Waungwana (the civilised ones). In certain regions (e.g.
The name Swahili originated as an
Definition
This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. The reason given is: A genetic study, published on March 29, 2023, confirmed the presence of significant Iranian-origin ancestry in the Y-chromosomal DNA of medieval inhabitants of the Swahili coast, strongly supporting elements of the Persian-admixture origin story. Therefore, this section, which currently rejects the Persian-admixture narrative, needs to be updated to reflect recent findings.
Citation: Brielle, E.S., Fleisher, J., Wynne-Jones, S. et al. Entwined African and Asian genetic roots of medieval peoples of the Swahili coast. Nature 615, 866–873 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05754-w. (March 2023) |
The Swahili people originate from Bantu inhabitants of the coast of Southeast Africa, in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. These Bantu-speaking agriculturalists settled the coast at the outset of the first millennium. Archaeological finds at Fukuchani, on the north-west coast of Zanzibar, indicate a settled agricultural and fishing community from the 6th century CE at the latest. The considerable amount of daub found indicates timber buildings, and shell beads, bead grinders, and iron slag have been found at the site. There is evidence for limited engagement in long-distance trade: a small amount of imported pottery has been found, less than 1% of total pottery finds, mostly from the Gulf and dated to the 5th to 8th century. The similarity to contemporary sites such as Mkokotoni and Dar es Salaam indicate a unified group of communities that developed into the first centre of coastal maritime culture. The coastal towns appear to have been engaged in Indian Ocean trade at this early period, and trade rapidly increased in importance and quantity between the mid-8th and the 11th century.[12]
A local 15th genealogy, the
There are two main theories about the origins of the
The modern Swahili people speak the
Religion
Islam established its presence on the Southeast African coast from around the 9th century, when Bantu traders settling on the coast tapped into the Indian Ocean trade networks. The Swahili people follow the Sunni denomination of Islam.[28]
Large numbers of Swahili undertake the
Language
The Swahili speak as their native tongue the
With its original speech community centred on
Genetics
In 2022, DNA was extracted, analyzed and compared in 80 samples taken from people buried between 1250 and 1800 CE in towns that were mostly along the Swahili Coast in modern Kenya and Tanzania. It is believed that these people were Swahili elites because they were buried in cemeteries near the main mosques. Before 1500 CE, the inhabitants carried both African, as well as Asia/Near East ancestry, which was mainly Persian-related (with more than half of their DNA originating from African ancestors and another large proportion of DNA coming from Asian ancestors). The male ancestors of elite Swahili people were a mix of approximately 83% Asian and 17% African; about 90% of the Asian DNA was Persian, and the rest was Indian. The female ancestors of Swahili elites were about 97% African and 3% Asian. This is consistent with the narrative of the Kilwa Chronicle. After this time, Arabian ancestry becomes more prevalent, which correlates with the archaeological and historical record of interactions with Southern Arabia (Oman).[13][35][36]
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. Trade contacts have been noted as early as 100 CE by early
Although most Swahili live with living standards far below that of upper hierarchy of the wealthiest nations, the Swahili are generally considered a relatively economically powerful group due to their history of trade. They are comparatively well-off; According to the United Nations, the island of Zanzibar has a 25% higher per capita GDP than the rest of Tanzania.[43] This economic influence has led to the continued spread of their culture and language throughout East Africa.
Architecture
Thought by many early scholars to be essentially of
Notable People
- Abdisalam Ibrahim
- Charles Okere
- Jamal Mohamed
- Mohamed Husseini
- Musa Mudde
- Saad Musa
- Shabani Nonda
- Yussuf Poulsen
See also
References
- ^ "Swahili facts, information, pictures - Encyclopedia.com articles about Swahili". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- ^ PeopleGroups.org. "PeopleGroups.org - Coastal Swahili of Tanzania". peoplegroups.org.
- ^ "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of Population by Socio-Economic Characteristics" (PDF). Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ Inquérito Nacional aos Agregados Familiares sobre Condições de Vida: Resultados Gerais (in Portuguese). Maputo: Instituto Nacional de Estatística. 1998.
- ^ a b c d "Swahili - Worldwide distribution". Worlddata.info. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
- ISSN 1468-2621.
- ^ "Popular African Languages in the United States". Akorbi. 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
- ^ PeopleGroups.org. "PeopleGroups.org - Central Swahili of Congo (Kinshasa)". peoplegroups.org. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
- ^ "The People of the Swahili Coast". 23 March 2020.
- ^ JSTOR 220649.
- ^ Horton and Middleton, "The Swahili: The Social Landscape of a Mercantile Society." Wiley. 2000.
- ^ Horton, Mark and Middleton, Tom. "The Swahili: The Social Landscape of a Mercantile Community." (Oxford: Blackwell, 2010), pg. 46.
- ^ PMID 36991187.
- ^ Horton & Middleton 2000: 20
- ^ Bakari 2001: 70
- ^ J. De V. ALLEN (1982), The Shirazi problem in East African coastal history, Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde, Bd. 28, FROM ZINJ TO ZANZIBAR: Studies in History, Trade and Society on the Eastern Coast of Africa (1982), pages 9-27
- ^ Allen, J. The Shirazi problem in East African coastal History." Frobenius Institute. 1983. Page 9. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41409871
- ^ Horton, Mark & Middleton, John. "The Swahili: The Social Landscape of a Mercantile Society." (Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2000) Pg. 59.
- ^ Horton, Mark & Middleton, John. "The Swahili: The Social Landscape of a Mercantile Society." (Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2000) Pg. 61
- ^ Meier, Prita. "Swahili Port Cities: The Architecture of Elsewhere." (Bloomington Indiana: Indiana University press, 2016) Pg. 101.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9.
- ISBN 0-8122-1207-X.
- ^ Kaplan, Irving (1967). Area handbook for Kenya. American University (Washington, D.C.). Foreign Area Studies. pp. 38 & 42. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- ISBN 0-521-20981-1.
- ISBN 0-521-20981-1. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ H.N. Chittick (1965), The Shirazi colonization of East Africa, Journal of African History, Volume 6, Number 3, pages 275-294
- ISBN 9966-46-761-0. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ "The People of the Swahili Coast". education.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
- ^ "Tanzania Hajj pilgrims stranded". BBC News. 12 December 2007.
- ^ "Kenya: Mombasa Pilgrims Jam Airport for Hajj Trip". 19 November 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2017 – via AllAfrica.
- ^ "hajinformation.com".
- ^ "Swahili People". Archived from the original on 2006-09-18. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ William Frawley, International encyclopedia of linguistics, Volume 1, (Oxford University Press, 2003), page 181
- ^ Daniel Don Nanjira, African Foreign Policy and Diplomacy: From Antiquity to the 21st Century, ABC-CLIO, 2010, p. 114
- )
- ^ Joanne Silberner (April 12, 2023). "What's the origin of the long-ago Swahili civilization? Genes offer a revealing answer". NPR.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-86746-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4390-8477-9.
- ^ a b The East African Slave Trade BBC, BBC, accessed February 15, 2012.
- ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Volume 3, Part 2. By Sir H. A. R. Gibb. pg. 206, (2001), accessed February 15, 2012.
- ^ Swahili-Chinese interaction The Cambridge History of Africa: From c. 1050 to c. 1600. By J. D. Fage. pg. 194, (1977), Cambridge Publications, accessed February 15, 2012.
- ^ Garlake (2002) 184-185
- ^ "UNdata - record view - Per capita GDP at current prices - US dollars". UN.org. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- ^ "urban-research.net". 2000. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- ^ Horton, Mark (1996). Shanga: the archaeology of a muslim trading community on the coast of East Africa. The British Institute in Eastern Africa.
- ^ "Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354 - Medieval Sourcebook, Retrieved on 2007-08-28".
- ^ "Ruins of the walled city of Gedi, Kenya. - Leisure, health and housing - Port Cities". PortCities.org.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
External links
- Media related to Swahili people at Wikimedia Commons
- The Story of Africa: The Swahili — BBC World Service
- Swahili Culture
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .
- F. Le Guennec-Coppens et D. Parkin, Autorité et pouvoir chez les Swahili, Karthala, 1998, p. 262