Swahili City-States

Swahili City-States

Trade Brings Cultural Diffusion

Kilwa

Mogadishu

Population

Geography

Origins

Government

• Small island very close to the mainland + some of mainland itself
• Modern day Tanzania
• 700 AD: Bantu-speaking people immigrate from mainland
• 900 AD: Arabs arrive --> become large trading empire

• 4,000 inhabitants sometime around 900 AD
• Arabs and Bantu-Speaking Africans
• Swahili
• Intermarrying
• Wealthy Arabs enslaved Africans
• Trading at coast: cultural diffusion

• 956 AD: Ali becomes the first ruler of Kilwa
• United everyone, furthering trade and taxes
• Minted coins
• 13th and 14th Cenutries: Islamic families rule
• 15th Century: Ibn Sulaiman
• Rebuilds Great Mosque
• Builds Husuni Kubwa
• Appoints officials: wazir and amir
• Officials oversee trade, regulate tax shipments, and watch over port
• Wazirs and amirs compete:
• --> Rulers have short terms
• --> Kilwa becomes vulnerable to Portuguese invasions

• Sandy, rocky red soil
• Land not very suitable for farming crops
• Palms and fruit trees as source of food for poorer inhabitants
• Hot climate allowed birds, oxen, cows, sheep, lambs, and goats to live there
• Monsoons helped a lot with trade

http://linoit.com/users/eniles/canvases/Firsh%20Hour%20Swahili

http://www.21food.com/products/chinese-red-sorghum-24210.html

Religion

Architecture

Trade and Industry

Food Production

• Muslims arrive and bring their religion with them
• Many Mosques built
• Blending with culture

• Trade influenced architecture and building methods
• Built with stone rather than wood
• Roofs made of stone placed over wood to help keep homes cool
• Large, irrigated gardens
• Mosques
• Husuni Kubwa (palace): 100 rooms, galleries, patios, sophisticated bathrooms, pool for baths

• Farming was very difficult
• Rely on other sources of food --> fruit trees (coconuts, bananas, oranges, lemons)
• Honey from beehives
• Millet, rice, sorghum only things able to be grown
• Shellfish
• Meat from sheep, cattle, goats, and hens
• Well water

• Richest and most popular city for trade
• With China and Indonesia
• Monsoons (April to October) winds make Kilwa convenient and in the right path
• Exports: cotton fabric, beads, honey, coconuts, gold, copper, iron, ivory, rhinocerous horns
• Imports: Chinese porcelain, cotton, silk, pottery, glass
• Became popular by helping inland African cities
• Wealth ended with Portuguese

http://islam.about.com/od/history/a/crescent_moon.htm

Characteristics

Context

Significance

Characteristics

Key economic traits

Key political traits

When and where did they flourish?

Key economic traits

Key political traits

Why did they matter?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

When and where did they flourish?

• City-state
• Arab-run Sultanate

• Originally settled in 700 AD by Bantu-Speakers
• Arabs came in 900 AD
• Present day is Tanzania
• Peak of the city-state was in the 13th and 14th century
• Island close to mainland

• Trade played the biggest role
• Highest trading port of all time

• Officials (wazirs and amirs) --> weakened, short terms

• Trade + cultural diffusion
• Swahili language: intermixing Arab and Bantu

• Trade across the Arabian sea
• Trade with interior of Africa
• Rising economies of other city-states bolstered Mogadishu
• Weavers made cloth
• trading gold, livestock, slaves, leather, and ivory

• Founded by Arabs, flourished in 1100's
• Present-day Somalian coast

Key social/cultural traits

How did they interact with other cultures?

How did they interact with the environment?

How do they reflect themes or established storylines?

Key social/cultural traits

Monsoons and fruit trees

Through trade: Arabs + Bantu, language, intermarriage, slaves

• Monsoons assist them in trade
• Fruit trees feed poor
• Can only grow certain things

• Adopt and adapt Muslim culture
• Relatively wealthier lives than nearby places

Corrupt leaders fought for power, Kilwa became vulnerable

wells, architecture, irrigated gardens

• Arabs and Bantu --> Swahili
• Trade
• Adopt Islam

S

I

A

G

P

E

R

• Originally, Bantu inhabited
• Arabs and Persians come

Capitalize on trade

woven cloth, brass and bronze statues, mosques, palaces

Islam

Beck, Roger B. Ancient World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 2009. Print.

"The First Sultanate of Mogadishu in the Account of Ibn-Battouta (1331)." Official Website of the Somali Government. Somali Government, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.somaligovernment.org/history.html>.

"History of Kilwa Kisiwani." The African Executive. The African Executive, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=2438>.

"History of Malindi." The African Executive. The African Executive, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=2264>.

"History of Mogadishu." The African Executive. The African Executive, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=1033>.

"History of Mombasa." The African Executive. The African Executive, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=859>.

"Information About Kilwa, a Swahili Trading State." Mitchell Teachers. Ed. Ted Mitchell. N.p., n.d.

Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://www.mitchellteachers.org/WorldHistory/EmpiresSubSaharanAfrica/PDFs/

comparingthree/InformationAboutKilwa.pdf>.

"Kilwa." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/317855/Kilwa>.

"Malindi Travel Guide." Afrileo Malindi. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. <http://malindi.afrileo.com/

guide.html>.

"Mogadishu, Somalia." Blackpast.org. Blackpast.org, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.blackpast.org/gah/mogadishu-somalia-ca-950>.

"Mozambique." Infoplease. Pearson Education, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. <http://www.infoplease.com/

encyclopedia/world/mozambique-country-africa-history.html>.

"Sofala." Encyclopedia Brittanica. Encyclopedia Brittanica, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/552349/Sofala>.

"The Swahili Coast." British Museum. British Museum, n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/SwahiliCoast_TeachersNotes.pdf>.

Malindi

Sofala

Characteristics

Context

When and where did they flourish?

Key economic traits

Key political traits

Context

Characteristics

Significance

• Agriculture
• Trade

• 13th Century
• Kenya

• Muslim officials controlled

When and where did they flourish?

Key economic traits

Key political traits

Why did they matter?

• Arabs founded Sofala in 915 as trading port
• Present-day Mozambique

• City-state
• Arab-run Sultanate

Southern outpost for Kilwa

...

• Cloth was a big export
• Key southern outpost for Kilwa
• Trade relations with Karanga (Zimbabwe)

How did they interact with the environment?

Key social/cultural traits

How did they interact with the environment?

Key social/cultural traits

How did they interact with other cultures?

Mombasa

• Used Indian Ocean for trade
• Harbor used to hold 100 large ships
• (Then it silted up and became obstructed.)
• Weavers made cloth from wool

• First Bantu
• Then Persian and Arab Muslims

• AGRICULTURE
• Fruit plantations
• Vegetable plantations

• Arabs and Portuguese have higher socioeconomic status (stone houses vs. mud huts)

• Swahili
• Diplomatic relations with China

OVERALL SIGNIFICANCE

Context

Significance

Characteristics

When and where did they flourish?

Key economic traits

Key political traits

Why did they matter?

• First inhabited by Bantu
• Persians come in 9th and 10th centuries
• Mombasa develops into trading power
• Present-day Kenya, Eastern Coastline
• Island city

• Diverse trade
• glass, brass, copper, iron and rhino horn
• Used Indian Ocean to trade w/ Asia

• Powerful trading port
• Developed into Kenya's second-largest city today

• City-state
• Arab-run Sultanate from 10th-17th centuries
• "Island of War"
• Power often changed hands

CULTURAL DIFFUSION THROUGH TRADE

How did they interact with the environment?

Key social/cultural traits

How did they interact with other cultures?

How do they reflect themes or established storylines?

• Took advantage of island location, became trading power in Indian Ocean
• Utilized raw materials for trade

• African, Persian, Arab, Portuguese and British influences
• Visited by Jordanians, Persians, and Arabs
• Explorer Vasco de Gama stopped here

• Originally inhabited by Bantu
• Later, Arab and Swahili traders filtered in
• Amazing architecture in houses, monuments, mosques

• "Island of War"
• Power often changed hands
• Rich culture today results from many influences

Karina Walter and Ketan Agrawal