Swahili Coast and the Development of the East African City-States
SWAHILI COAST AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAST AFRICAN CITY-STATES
IntroductionIntroductionThe eastern coast of Africa changed profoundly around the beginning of Christian era, first, Bantu speaking population from the interior migrated and settled along the coast from Kenya to South Africa. Second, merchants and traders from Europe (Greeks and Romans) and Asia realized the strategic importance of the east coast of Africa for commercial purposes. These commercial links are mentioned by the Greek sailors/geographers dating to the time Egypt was under the leadership of Ptolemy dynasty. The document is called periplus of the Eritrean Sea and is the earliest surviving description of East Africa. This therefore means that historically East Africa is known from quite early and therefore a historical archaeology of the region can be deciphered. The periplus of the Eritrean sea was followed by Arabic, Chinese, Indian, Portuguese and later English and other European written records. It is therefore possible to synthesize historical records with archaeology data for proper reconstruction of East Africa history using an approach referred as historical archaeology. However, before engaging in this debate, it is important to highlight why East Africa coast attracted settlers from quite early – literate or not.Geography
The Swahili coast refers to the East African coast and adjacent islands. It is a 20 to 200km – wide strip of the East African coast and is more than 3000km long. It extends from Mogadishu in Somalia to Cape Delgaldo in Mozambique. The area also include the Comoro and Lamu Archipelagos and the islands of Mombasa, Pemba, Zanzibar, Mafia and Kirimba. The area witnessed civilization as a result of various local and international factors. However the decline of this literate civilization can also be attributed to the same forces.
Discuss ecological factors which led to the development of Swahili civilization.
The Swahili coast is ecologically diverse and has a
IntroductionIntroductionThe eastern coast of Africa changed profoundly around the beginning of Christian era, first, Bantu speaking population from the interior migrated and settled along the coast from Kenya to South Africa. Second, merchants and traders from Europe (Greeks and Romans) and Asia realized the strategic importance of the east coast of Africa for commercial purposes. These commercial links are mentioned by the Greek sailors/geographers dating to the time Egypt was under the leadership of Ptolemy dynasty. The document is called periplus of the Eritrean Sea and is the earliest surviving description of East Africa. This therefore means that historically East Africa is known from quite early and therefore a historical archaeology of the region can be deciphered. The periplus of the Eritrean sea was followed by Arabic, Chinese, Indian, Portuguese and later English and other European written records. It is therefore possible to synthesize historical records with archaeology data for proper reconstruction of East Africa history using an approach referred as historical archaeology. However, before engaging in this debate, it is important to highlight why East Africa coast attracted settlers from quite early – literate or not.Geography
The Swahili coast refers to the East African coast and adjacent islands. It is a 20 to 200km – wide strip of the East African coast and is more than 3000km long. It extends from Mogadishu in Somalia to Cape Delgaldo in Mozambique. The area also include the Comoro and Lamu Archipelagos and the islands of Mombasa, Pemba, Zanzibar, Mafia and Kirimba. The area witnessed civilization as a result of various local and international factors. However the decline of this literate civilization can also be attributed to the same forces.
Discuss ecological factors which led to the development of Swahili civilization.
The Swahili coast is ecologically diverse and has a