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Aryek
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Posted: Thursday October 6th, 2005 20:18 |
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Since people seemed to enjoy the little piece on the Shona Empire, I thought I'd create another thread for another unknown African empire. The Swahili City States was created by another Bantu speaking group who converted to Islam during the Middle Ages when trade with Arabia, India and China was bringing ample income to the East African coastal areas. The empire streached from present day Somali to Mozambique.
The eastern coast of Africa changed profoundly around the close of the first millenium AD. First, Bantu-speaking from the interior migrated and settled along the coast from Kenya to South Africa. Second, merchants and traders from the Muslim world and India realized the strategic importance of the east coast of Africa for commercial trafiic and began to settle there. From 900 AD onwards, the east coast of Africa saw an influx of Shirazi Arabs from the Persian Gulf and even small settlements of Indians. The Arabs called this region al-Zanj, "The Blacks," and the coastal areas slowly came under the control of Muslim merchants from Arabia and Persia. By the 1300's, the major east African ports from Mombaza in the north to Sofala in the south had become thoroughly Islamic cities and cultural centers.
The language that grew out of the mix of Arabs and Bantu is one of the most common and widespread of the lingua franca (a lingua franca is a secondary language that is a combination of two or more languages): Swahili or Kiswahili (from the Arabic word sawahil which means "coast"). Swahili is primarily a Bantu language with some Arabic elements; it is written in the Arabic alphabet. Like the language, the Swahili culture was a mixture of the two cultures, Bantu and Arabic, and we call the civilizations of the African east coast "Swahili" to reflect the hybrid nature of those civilizations.
The Swahili civilizations slowly expanded southwards until they reached Kilwa in Zanzibar (from the Arabic word al-Zanj ). Later, Swahili civilization carved out a small territory even further south around Sofala in Zimbabwe. While the northern cities remained localized and had little influence on African culture inland from the coast, the Sofalans actively went inland and spread Islam and Islamic culture deep in African territory.
The major Swahili city-states were Mogadishu, Barawa, Mombasa (Kenya), Gedi, Pate, Malindi, Zanzibar, Kilwa, and Sofala in the far south. These city-states were Muslim and cosmopolitan and they were all politically independent of one another; nothing like a Swahili empire or hegemony was formed around any of these city-states. In fact, they were more like competitive companies or corporations each vying for the lion's share of African trade. The chief export was ivory, sandalwood, ebony, and gold. These cities were also culturally cosmopolitan: they were formed from a cultural mix of Bantu, Islamic, and Indian influences, but commerce brought Chinese artifacts and culture as well as Indian culture.
While the Arabs and Persians were significant players in the growth of Swahili civilization, the cities were run by a nobility that was African in origin (with possible admixture of Persian or Arab blood). Below the nobility were the commoners and the resident foreigners who made up a large part of the citizenry. Like other Islamic African states, slavery was actively practiced.
These city-states began to decline in the sixteenth century; the advent of Portugese trade disrupted the old trade routes and made the Swahili commercial centers obsolete. The Portugese wanted native Africans to have no share in African trade and busily set about conquering the Islamic city-states along the eastern coast. In the late seventeenth century, Oman (in the south of Arabia) then conquered all the Portugese cities along the coast and the eastern African coast was controlled by the Omani sultanate for another two hundred years.
Richard Hooker
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Aryek
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Posted: Thursday October 6th, 2005 20:29 |
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These traditional dhows have been used over the centuries for maritime communication. Photo: National Museums of Kenya /Lorna Abungu 1991.
The Swahili fishing village of Kizingitini, on Pate Island. Photo: National Museums of Kenya /Lorna Abungu 1991.
The coast of East Africa, as it stretches from Somalia to Mozambique, and the islands of Comores and Madagascar, are dotted with the remains of Swahili towns, often in ruins. These settlements are the testimony of a long history of Swahili culture.
Remains of a domestic house at Shella, Lamu, showing decorative niches. Photo: National Museums of Kenya / Lorna Abungu 1991.
The city of Mogadishu, as seen from the sea. Photo: National Museums of Kenya / J. De Vere Allen collection.
Mbarak Hinawy street in Mombasa old town, leading to the old port. Photo: National Museums of Kenya / Bevin Deiters 1993.
Ruins of the "Palace" at Gede, showing the massive entrance. Photo: National Museums of Kenya / Lorna Abungu 1993.
The Swahili are urbanised African muslims, who have integrated many Asian cultural and architectural features into their own traditions. Written records of the trade links between Africa and Asia date back to the 1st century AD. But the trade reached its peak in the 15th century, referred to as the "golden age" of Swahili civilisation. Mogadishu, Pate, Lamu, Mombasa and Zanzibar are thriving towns still today. Indian, Arabic and African building traditions blend together to form a unique and cosmopolitan architectural heritage. Text: George H.O. Abungu.
Ruined storey house in the ancient Swahili town of Pate. Photo: National Museums of Kenya / Lorna Abungu.
Pillar tomb near the "Palace" at Gede. Photo: National Museums of Kenya / Lorna Abungu 1993.
Fluted pillar tomb at the 8th century site of Shanga. Photo: National Museums of Kenya / Lorna Abungu 1991.
Last edited on Thursday October 6th, 2005 20:30 by Aryek
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Mezmerized
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Posted: Thursday October 6th, 2005 22:48 |
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@Aryek.......
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Aryek
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Posted: Friday October 7th, 2005 04:59 |
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Mezmerized wrote: @Aryek.......
Thank you sis. But honestly if we don't teach ourselves about our own history, who will. It's pitiful how many black people there are, even Africans themselves, who don't know their history past colonization and slavery. I don't know why more and more of our people are not taking the time to learn their own history. Who knows maybe they think that their ancestors stood around and stared at the sun for thousands of years until outsiders came to the continent or something.
I'm just trying to bring a little exposure to these lost kingdoms that my dumb arse didn't even know about until two years ago. When I have the time, I'm going to start a thread about the different political systems that existed in Africa before the 1800. I've been doing these really interesting readings on Akan democracy and I can't wait to brag about my tribe for once. Oh I also found out a little tid bit might interest you because it's on the Congo, or the Mangebetu Kingdom as it was called. Apparently one of your kings, built the largest wooden palace in the world. It's said to rival one of the Japanese wooden palaces in terms of it's size and grandeur. I can't find any pictures on the internet at the moment eventhough there's a drawing of it in my African history book. If you know anything about this palace, could you provide me with more information?
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Mezmerized
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Posted: Monday January 23rd, 2006 00:37 |
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Aryek wrote: Oh I also found out a little tid bit might interest you because it's on the Congo, or the Mangebetu Kingdom as it was called. Apparently one of your kings, built the largest wooden palace in the world. It's said to rival one of the Japanese wooden palaces in terms of it's size and grandeur. I can't find any pictures on the internet at the moment eventhough there's a drawing of it in my African history book. If you know anything about this palace, could you provide me with more information?
Aryek...i just came back to this thread as i was flicking through the forum...i forgot about it because i was off line soon after i posted here...still a great thread and i am glad i found it again
I know about the Kingdom and have been reading about it on the Net recently.....they had geometry and the arts is probably the most impresive i have seen from Central African Kingdoms....i'm computer illiterate so i will have to wait for Abs to help me post some of the pictures here.
Like you, i can't find any pictures of the palace on the net, what History book did you take it from so i can look it up?
Anyways, great thread and i look foward to seeing more about the Akan democracy system
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Aryek
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Posted: Monday January 23rd, 2006 02:20 |
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Mezmerized wrote: Aryek wrote: Oh I also found out a little tid bit might interest you because it's on the Congo, or the Mangebetu Kingdom as it was called. Apparently one of your kings, built the largest wooden palace in the world. It's said to rival one of the Japanese wooden palaces in terms of it's size and grandeur. I can't find any pictures on the internet at the moment eventhough there's a drawing of it in my African history book. If you know anything about this palace, could you provide me with more information?
Aryek...i just came back to this thread as i was flicking through the forum...i forgot about it because i was off line soon after i posted here...still a great thread and i am glad i found it again
I know about the Kingdom and have been reading about it on the Net recently.....they had geometry and the arts is probably the most impresive i have seen from Central African Kingdoms....i'm computer illiterate so i will have to wait for Abs to help me post some of the pictures here.
Like you, i can't find any pictures of the palace on the net, what History book did you take it from so i can look it up?
Anyways, great thread and i look foward to seeing more about the Akan democracy system
I got the information from a book called "The civilizations of Africa". I forget who the author it's but it's a widely used textbook. It's not written by an African, but the book is very informative. It covers just about every African kingdom before colonization. It's also has a lot of very nice pictures of the buildings and artifacts. There was a drawing of the palace in the book, it's quite impressive, but it wasn't enough. I still want to see more. I've been so interested in Mangebetu every since I read about it, but you know how it goes, if it's not European, then no one takes any interest in it. We really need more African historians. I can't believe there's more information on the net about some stones the Irish put together than there are on this kingdom. I'll have to do more research in the libraries when I get the time.
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Mezmerized
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Posted: Monday January 23rd, 2006 13:26 |
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| Thanks Aryek....i am looking out for the book now
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Prince Hakeem
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Posted: Monday January 23rd, 2006 13:52 |
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Aryek wrote:
I got the information from a book called "The civilizations of Africa". I forget who the author it's but it's a widely used textbook. It's not written by an African, but the book is very informative. It covers just about every African kingdom before colonization. It's also has a lot of very nice pictures of the buildings and artifacts. There was a drawing of the palace in the book, it's quite impressive, but it wasn't enough. I still want to see more. I've been so interested in Mangebetu every since I read about it, but you know how it goes, if it's not European, then no one takes any interest in it. We really need more African historians. I can't believe there's more information on the net about some stones the Irish put together than there are on this kingdom. I'll have to do more research in the libraries when I get the time.
I'm going to purchase this book on the net right now. Thanks for the information.
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The Last African
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Posted: Wednesday January 25th, 2006 09:53 |
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Aryek wrote:
I got the information from a book called "The civilizations of Africa". I forget who the author it's but it's a widely used textbook. It's not written by an African, but the book is very informative. It covers just about every African kingdom before colonization. It's also has a lot of very nice pictures of the buildings and artifacts. There was a drawing of the palace in the book, it's quite impressive, but it wasn't enough. I still want to see more. I've been so interested in Mangebetu every since I read about it, but you know how it goes, if it's not European, then no one takes any interest in it. We really need more African historians. I can't believe there's more information on the net about some stones the Irish put together than there are on this kingdom. I'll have to do more research in the libraries when I get the time.
Is it the book by Christopher Ehret ?
If so then I have some serious shooping to do. I checked out Amazon and saw an interesting number of books.
Keep posting history...
Edit: Ah it darn expensive where I live, seems as if I have to order through Amazon...
Last edited on Wednesday January 25th, 2006 10:04 by The Last African
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Aryek
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Posted: Tuesday March 7th, 2006 14:02 |
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Dark Prince wrote: Aryek wrote:
I got the information from a book called "The civilizations of Africa". I forget who the author it's but it's a widely used textbook. It's not written by an African, but the book is very informative. It covers just about every African kingdom before colonization. It's also has a lot of very nice pictures of the buildings and artifacts. There was a drawing of the palace in the book, it's quite impressive, but it wasn't enough. I still want to see more. I've been so interested in Mangebetu every since I read about it, but you know how it goes, if it's not European, then no one takes any interest in it. We really need more African historians. I can't believe there's more information on the net about some stones the Irish put together than there are on this kingdom. I'll have to do more research in the libraries when I get the time.
Is it the book by Christopher Ehret ?
If so then I have some serious shooping to do. I checked out Amazon and saw an interesting number of books.
Keep posting history...
Edit: Ah it darn expensive where I live, seems as if I have to order through Amazon...
Yes that is the book. It's like my bible. Lol. Another good book on African Civilizations is C. Magbaily Fyle's "Introduction to the History of African Civilization". I have the first volume which is on Precolonial Africa. It's a great read too.
Oh, and for those interested in videos, Time Life also has a video on Great Zimbabwe. I think it's one of best videos made about an African civilization because it pretty much covers all the important aspects of the civilization including how the European settlers went about trying to steal the history for themselves. There's even a section on the Swahili City States which ties the development of the two civilizations together. It was great seeing how Africans worked so well together once.
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The Last African
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Posted: Monday September 4th, 2006 14:25 |
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| Thanks, I jusf forgot about the book, need to call my local bookstore about it again...
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