Swahili people
 |
| Total population |
|---|
| 1,328,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Kenya, Mozambique, Comoros |
| Languages |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
The Swahili people are a Bantu ethnic group and culture found in East Africa, mainly in the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya, Tanzania and north Mozambique. According to JoshuaProject, the Swahili number in at around 1,328,000.[1] The name Swahili is derived from the Arabic word Sawahil, meaning "coastal dwellers", and they speak the Swahili language. Only a small fraction of those who use Swahili are first language speakers and even fewer are ethnic Swahilis.
Contents |
[edit] Definition
The Swahili are Bantu inhabitants on the coast of East Africa, in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. They are mainly united under the mother tongue of Kiswahili, a Bantu language.[2] This also extends to Arab, Persian, and other migrants who reached the coast some believe as early as the 7th-8th c. CE, and mixed with the local people there, providing considerable cultural infusion and numerous loan words from Arabic and Persian.[3] Archaeologist, Felix Chami notes the presence of Bantu settlements straddling the East African coast as early as the beginning of the 1st millennium. They evolved gradually from the 6th century onward to accommodate for an increase in trade (mainly with Arab merchants), population growth, and further centralized urbanization; developing into what would later become known as the Swahili City-States.[4]
[edit] Religion
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Islam established its presence in the East African coast from around the early 2nd millennium AD, when Bantu traders settling on the coast tapped into the Indian Ocean trade networks. Because of the interactions that ensued with the wider world, Islam emerged as a unifying force on the coast and helped to form a unique Swahili identity. The Swahili follow a very strict and orthodox form of Islam. For example, Eid-ul-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, is widely celebrated in areas where the Swahili form a majority.[5] Further, large numbers of Swahili undertake the Hajj and Umrah from Tanzania,[6] Kenya,[7] and Mozambique.[8] Traditional Islamic dress such as the jilbab and thob are also popular among the Swahili. In addition to more orthodox practices, the Swahili also are known for their use of divination, which has adopted some syncretic features from underlying traditional indigenous beliefs. In addition to orthodox beliefs in djinn, many Swahili men wear protective amulets around their necks, which contain verses from the Koran. Divination is practiced through Koranic readings. Often the diviner incorporates verses from the Qu'ran into treatments for certain diseases. On occasion, he instructs a patient to soak a piece of paper containing verses of the Qu'ran in water. With this ink infused water, literally containing the word of Allah, the patient will then wash his body or drink it to cure himself of his affliction. It is only prophets and teachers of Islam who are permitted to become medicine men among the Swahili.[2]
[edit] Economy
For centuries the Swahili depended greatly on trade from the Indian Ocean. The Swahili have played a vital role as middle man between east, central and South Africa, and the outside world. Trade contacts have been noted as early as 100 AD. by early Roman writers who visited the East African coast in the first century. Trade routes extended across Tanzania into modern day Zaire, along which goods were brought to the coasts and were sold to Arab, Indian, and Portuguese traders. Materials attributed to this network of trade were also found at Great Zimbabwe. During the apogee of the Middle Ages, ivory and slaves became a substantial source of revenue. Many slaves sold in Zanzibar ended up in Brazil, which was then a Portuguese colony. Swahili fishermen of today still rely on the ocean to supply their primary source of income. Fish is sold to their inland neighbors in exchange for products of the interior.
[edit] Architecture
Previously thought by many scholars to be essentially of Arabic or Persian style and origin; archaeological, written, linguistic, and cultural evidence instead suggests a predominantly African genesis and sustainment. This would be accompanied later by an enduring Arabic and Islamic influence in the form of trade, inter-marriage, and an exchange of ideas.[9][10] Upon visiting Kilwa in 1331, the great Berber explorer Ibn Battuta was impressed by the substantial beauty that he encountered there. He describes its inhabitants as "Zanj, jet-black in colour, and with tattoo marks on their faces", and notes that "Kilwa is a very fine and substantially built town, and all its buildings are of wood" (his description of Mombasa was essentially the same).[11] Kimaryo points out that the distinctive tattoo marks are common among the Makonde. Architecture included arches, courtyards, isolated women's quarters, the mihrab, towers, and decorative elements on the buildings themselves. Many ruins may still be observed near the southern Kenyan port of Malindi in the Gede ruins (the lost city of Gede/Gedi).[12]
[edit] Sources
- ^ Swahili people listing - JoshuaProject, Retrieved on 2007-08-28
- ^ a b http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Swahili.html
- ^ Gilbert. Coastal East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean
- ^ African Archaeological Review, Volume 15, Number 3, September 1998, pp. 199-218(20)
- ^ http://zanzibar.net/music_culture_festivals_events/religious_festivals_-_eid_ul_fitr
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7140977.stm
- ^ http://allafrica.com/stories/200911191155.html
- ^ http://www.hajinformation.com/display_news.php?id=1432
- ^ East African Coastal Historical Towns: Asiatic or African? - by Jacob L. Kimaryo (2000)
- ^ Mark Horton, Shanga: a Muslim Trading Community on the East African Coast (Nairobi: 1996)
- ^ Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354 - Medieval Sourcebook, Retrieved on 2007-08-28.
- ^ Ruins of the walled city of Gedi, Kenya
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Story of Africa: The Swahili — BBC World Service
- Swahili Culture
