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Swahili City States of East African Coast (African Studies)

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  1. Introduction
  2. Hundreds of Swahili towns and villages lie scattered along almost 2,000 miles of the East African coast from Somali to Mozambique. While many Swahili are rural farmers and fishermen, others are cosmopolitan traders and craftspeople who reside in urban stone houses. Yet all are bound by a common language, culture, and Muslim religion that both Swahili and others have long seen as the product of Persian and Arab immigrants who came to trade and settled to create distinctive maritime communities. Since the mid-1980s, however, the consensus of both local and scholarly opinion has shifted to stress their local origins, the fact that Swahili is an African language, and the ways coastal religious beliefs and cultural patterns have come to embrace both local practices and foreign influences. In short, Swahili are now seen as an African people who, on moving to the coast and engaging in overseas trade, developed into distinctive, mercantile, cosmopolitan communities that served as economic and cultural intermediaries between their mainland neighbors and overseas visitors. The earliest Swahili towns emerged in the 8th century and, with increasing trade and wealth, developed into prosperous and complex city-states in the 15th century before they were displaced by the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries, Omani in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Europeans in the 20th century. Yet Swahili towns have endured throughout as bearers of a distinctive coastal culture.
  3.  
  4. General Overviews
  5. Swahili culture and society were formed via complex historical interactions between Africans and immigrants in a dynamic Indian Ocean world. Horton and Middleton 2000 gives an up-to-date synthesis of Swahili history, society, and culture, while Pouwels 1987 provides a broad overview focused on the role of Islam in Swahili history. Nurse and Spear 1985 provides a detailed reconstruction of Swahili historical development that has been updated in Spear 2000. Kusimba 1999 offers a review of the archaeological data regarding coastal state formation, and Middleton 1992 provides a dynamic ethnographic analysis of mercantile Swahili society.
  6.  
  7. Horton, Mark, and John Middleton. The Swahili: The Social Landscape of a Mercantile Society. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.
  8.  
  9. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  10.  
  11. Coauthored by an archaeologist and an anthropologist, this modern synthesis traces the development of the Swahili as a mercantile society and culture within the wider Indian Ocean world from its origins to the present.
  12.  
  13. Find this resource:
  14.  
  15.  
  16. Kusimba, Chapurukha M. The Rise and Fall of Swahili States. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira, 1999.
  17.  
  18. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  19.  
  20. A thorough review of coastal archaeology to trace the development of Swahili states in the broader archaeological context of the adjacent mainland from the 9th to the 16th century.
  21.  
  22. Find this resource:
  23.  
  24.  
  25. Middleton, John. The World of the Swahili: An African Mercantile Civilization. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.
  26.  
  27. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  28.  
  29. A dynamic ethnography showing how a middleman culture developed along the length of the East African coast as Swahili towns became polyglot, multiethnic frontiers mediating between African and immigrant peoples, economies, and cultures.
  30.  
  31. Find this resource:
  32.  
  33.  
  34. Nurse, Derek, and Thomas Spear. The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an African Society, 800–1500. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985.
  35.  
  36. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  37.  
  38. Written by a linguist and a historian, analyzes a wide array of archaeological, linguistic, ethnographic, and documentary evidence to argue that Swahili are an African people, who on moving to the coast and engaging in maritime trade became a distinctive, urbanized, Muslim society. See also Spear 2000.
  39.  
  40. Find this resource:
  41.  
  42.  
  43. Pouwels, Randall L. Horn and Crescent: Cultural Change and Traditional Islam on the East African Coast, 800–1900. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
  44.  
  45. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511523885Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  46.  
  47. A cultural history of Swahili focused on the spread of Islam and the development of Swahili culture over more than a millennium.
  48.  
  49. Find this resource:
  50.  
  51.  
  52. Spear, Thomas. “Early Swahili History Reconsidered.” International Journal of African Historical Studies 33.2 (2000): 257–290.
  53.  
  54. DOI: 10.2307/220649Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  55.  
  56. An updated revision of Nurse and Spear 1985 that takes account of subsequent work to refine and summarize the authors’ argument regarding the local origins of the Swahili. Available online by subscription.
  57.  
  58. Find this resource:
  59.  
  60.  
  61. Bibliographies
  62. There is a very large published literature on Swahili history, society, language, and culture. For the most authoritative lists of sources, see Spear 2000 for secondary accounts and Pouwels 2002 for primary ones. The Works on the Swahili Coast compilation is less thorough but includes a number of cultural studies not included in either Spear 2000 or Pouwels 2002. Baschieri 2005 describes an important archival collection of original Swahili manuscripts.
  63.  
  64. Baschieri, Angelica. “The Swahili Manuscripts Project at SOAS, 2000–2004.” African Research and Documentation 99 (2005): 37–43.
  65.  
  66. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  67.  
  68. A description of the largest collection of original Swahili manuscripts in Britain dating from the 1790s to the 1970s that is catalogued online at the Swahili Manuscripts Database.
  69.  
  70. Find this resource:
  71.  
  72.  
  73. Pouwels, Randall L. “Bibliography of Primary Sources of the Pre-Nineteenth Century East African Coast.” History in Africa 29 (2002): 393–411.
  74.  
  75. DOI: 10.2307/3172171Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  76.  
  77. An extensive collection of primary and some secondary sources for Swahili history that supplements Spear 2000. Available online by subscription.
  78.  
  79. Find this resource:
  80.  
  81.  
  82. Spear, Thomas. “Swahili History and Society to 1900: A Classified Bibliography.” History in Africa 27 (2000): 339–373.
  83.  
  84. DOI: 10.2307/3172120Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  85.  
  86. A comprehensive list of secondary works on Swahili anthropology, archaeology, language, and history. Available online by subscription.
  87.  
  88. Find this resource:
  89.  
  90.  
  91. Tanzania Studies Association. Works on the Swahili Coast.
  92.  
  93. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  94.  
  95. An online resource that includes cultural sources not included in Spear 2000 or Pouwels 2002, but it is not as thorough or up-to-date as either of them.
  96.  
  97. Find this resource:
  98.  
  99.  
  100. Reference Works
  101. There are a number of reliable comprehensive reference works for the study of Africa. Freeman-Grenville 1991 is a historical atlas aimed at undergraduates that links good-quality maps with historical summaries. Murray 1981 is a cultural atlas that combines excellent maps, illustrations, and text. Researchers looking for a comprehensive encyclopedia should consult Middleton and Miller 2008, while those interested in a historical encyclopedia can look to Shillington 2005. Finally, Vogel 1997 offers a comprehensive and accessible collection of articles on African archaeology and prehistory.
  102.  
  103. Freeman-Grenville, G. S. P. The New Atlas of African History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.
  104.  
  105. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  106.  
  107. A historical atlas that graphically portrays the development of Indian Ocean trade (pp. 24–25, 46–47, 74–75); the spread of Islam (pp. 42–43); the Swahili Coast, Lamu, and Zanzibar (pp. 56–58, 80–83); and Portuguese settlements in the 15th and 16th centuries (pp. 66–67).
  108.  
  109. Find this resource:
  110.  
  111.  
  112. Middleton, John, and Joseph C. Miller, eds. New Encyclopedia of Africa. 5 vols. New York: Scribner’s, 2008.
  113.  
  114. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  115.  
  116. A comprehensive encyclopedia with reliable entries by established authors. See especially entries for the Eastern African Coast (Vol. 2, pp. 148–152), Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean (Vol. 2, pp. 145–148), Ethnicity: Eastern Africa (pp. Vol. 2, 328–333), Islam: Eastern and Southern Africa (Vol. 3, pp. 53–57), Languages: Niger-Congo (Vol. 3, pp. 231–233), and Zanzibar (Vol. 5, pp. 321–328).
  117.  
  118. Find this resource:
  119.  
  120.  
  121. Murray, Jocelyn, ed. Cultural Atlas of Africa. Oxford: Phaidon, 1981.
  122.  
  123. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  124.  
  125. A reliable introduction to African culture, with excellent maps and illustrations of such subjects as art and architecture, language, music and dance, religion, kingdoms, education and literacy, and the African diaspora.
  126.  
  127. Find this resource:
  128.  
  129.  
  130. Shillington, Kevin, ed. Encyclopedia of African History. 3 vols. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2005.
  131.  
  132. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  133.  
  134. Select articles by established scholars on different aspects of African history. See especially entries on Swahili (Vol. 3, pp. 1509–1519) and Zanzibar (Vol. 3, pp. 1709–1717).
  135.  
  136. Find this resource:
  137.  
  138.  
  139. Vogel, Joseph O., ed. Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa: Archaeology, History, Languages, Cultures, and Environments. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira, 1997.
  140.  
  141. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  142.  
  143. A thorough and easy-to-understand review of African archaeology and prehistory. See especially articles on Eastern Africa, including language (pp. 166–171), Iron Age (pp. 439–444), Swahili (pp. 507–513), and historical archaeology (pp. 549–554).
  144.  
  145. Find this resource:
  146.  
  147.  
  148. Journals
  149. A number of authoritative academic journals publish current research on Africa generally, and they are worth consulting because they publish some articles that are relevant to East Africa. The Journal of African History and International Journal of African Historical Studies provide detailed coverage of current research in African history, while History in Africa focuses on the unusual historical methods employed by African historians. Africa has long focused on anthropology, but now extends to other fields as well, and the African Archaeological Review covers archaeology. For East Africa specifically, Azania focuses on current work in archaeology and history; Kiswahili on Swahili language and literature; and the Journal of Eastern African Studies on interdisciplinary studies.
  150.  
  151. Africa: Journal of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures. 1928–.
  152.  
  153. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  154.  
  155. Long published by the International African Institute in London, it features articles on anthropology, archaeology, and history.
  156.  
  157. Find this resource:
  158.  
  159.  
  160. African Archaeological Review. 1983–.
  161.  
  162. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  163.  
  164. A leading journal of African archaeology with frequent site reports as well as broader conceptual works on the coast.
  165.  
  166. Find this resource:
  167.  
  168.  
  169. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa. 1966–.
  170.  
  171. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  172.  
  173. The journal of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, where many of the earliest reports on archaeological sites appear.
  174.  
  175. Find this resource:
  176.  
  177.  
  178. History in Africa: A Journal of Method. 1974–.
  179.  
  180. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  181.  
  182. Focuses on the unusual historical methods that have been critical for the development of African history, including oral traditions, archaeology, historical linguistics, ethnography, and genetics as well as critical studies of documentary sources, cartography, and historical editing.
  183.  
  184. Find this resource:
  185.  
  186.  
  187. International Journal of African Historical Studies. 1971–.
  188.  
  189. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  190.  
  191. A leading journal of current research in all periods, areas, and aspects of African history. Preceded by African Historical Studies (1968–1971).
  192.  
  193. Find this resource:
  194.  
  195.  
  196. Journal of African History. 1960–.
  197.  
  198. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  199.  
  200. A pioneering journal reporting current research in African history that features archaeological as well as historical studies for all areas and periods.
  201.  
  202. Find this resource:
  203.  
  204.  
  205. Journal of Eastern African Studies. 2006–.
  206.  
  207. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  208.  
  209. A recently established interdisciplinary journal that includes work in the humanities and social sciences broadly.
  210.  
  211. Find this resource:
  212.  
  213.  
  214. Kiswahili: Journal of the Institute of Kiswahili Research. 1970–.
  215.  
  216. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  217.  
  218. The primary source for research on Swahili language and literature. Preceded by the Journal of the East African Swahili Committee (1931–1970).
  219.  
  220. Find this resource:
  221.  
  222.  
  223. Primary Sources
  224. This section is subdivided into two: Collections, which includes published documents as well as local oral traditions, and Narrative Accounts, which consist primarily of 19th-century travel accounts by European visitors.
  225.  
  226. Collections
  227. Freeman-Grenville 1962 provides readily accessible translated excerpts of many of the most important documents on coastal history, but one should consult Casson 1989, Hamdun and King 1994, Tolmacheva 1993, and Shen 1995 for more up-to-date editions and interpretations. Theal 1898–1903 adds documents for the southern end of the coast during the Portuguese period. Kaaya and Bachli 2009 describes an important collection of materials on colonial Zanzibar. Swahili Web is a site where scholars post original documents for use by others.
  228.  
  229. Casson, Lionel, ed. The Periplus Maris Erythraei. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989.
  230.  
  231. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  232.  
  233. An authoritative new translation of a 1st-century Greek account of the coast.
  234.  
  235. Find this resource:
  236.  
  237.  
  238. Freeman-Grenville, G. S. P., ed. The East African Coast: Select Documents from the First Century to the Earlier Nineteenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon, 1962.
  239.  
  240. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  241.  
  242. An accessible collection of translated excerpts of many of the most important Greek, Chinese, Arab, Portuguese, and Swahili documents on the coast. But see Casson 1989, Hamdun and King 1994, Tolmacheva 1993, Shen 1995, and others for more up-to-date editions and interpretations of particular documents.
  243.  
  244. Find this resource:
  245.  
  246.  
  247. Hamdun, Said, and Noël King. Ibn Battuta in Black Africa. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 1994.
  248.  
  249. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  250.  
  251. A modern translation of relevant sections of the celebrated account of a Muslim traveler who traversed the Muslim world, including East Africa, between 1325 and 1349.
  252.  
  253. Find this resource:
  254.  
  255.  
  256. Kaaya, Janet, and Kelley Wolfe Bachli. “Uncovering UCLA Library Special Collections Information Resources for Researchers: The Pre-Independence Socio-Political Landscape in Zanzibar from the Michael Lofchie Collection.” African Research and Documentation: 109 (2009): 43–50.
  257.  
  258. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259.  
  260. Guide to an important scholarly collection of African newspapers, journals, and manuscripts relating to Zanzibari society, politics, and economy from 1909 to 1965.
  261.  
  262. Find this resource:
  263.  
  264.  
  265. Shen, John. “New Thoughts on the Use of Chinese Documents in the Reconstruction of Early Swahili History.” History in Africa 22 (1995): 349–358.
  266.  
  267. DOI: 10.2307/3171921Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  268.  
  269. Discusses the provenance and significance of Chinese accounts dating from the 8th to the 17th century for East African history. Available online by subscription.
  270.  
  271. Find this resource:
  272.  
  273.  
  274. Swahili Web: The Swahili Resource Web Site.
  275.  
  276. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  277.  
  278. A newly established website that includes original documents, maps, photographs, and scholars’ research notes.
  279.  
  280. Find this resource:
  281.  
  282.  
  283. Theal, George McCall, ed. Records of South-Eastern Africa Collected in Various Libraries and Archive Departments in Europe. 9 vols. London: Government of the Cape Colony, 1898–1903.
  284.  
  285. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  286.  
  287. While focused on South Africa, contains important Portuguese documents for the southern end of the Swahili coast.
  288.  
  289. Find this resource:
  290.  
  291.  
  292. Tolmacheva, Mariana, ed. The Pate Chronicle. African Historical Sources 4. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1993.
  293.  
  294. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  295.  
  296. An exemplary critical collection, translation, and annotation of the oral traditions of Pate, a Swahili town in the Lamu archipelago, dating from the early 1900s.
  297.  
  298. Find this resource:
  299.  
  300.  
  301. Narrative Accounts
  302. These are accounts by 19th-century Europeans who visited the coast. While they all suffer from the prejudices and lack of knowledge of their times, when read carefully they provide a great deal of detailed information about life along the coast at the time. Owen 1833 and Boteler 1835 are the accounts of two British naval officers who patrolled Zanzibar, Mombasa, and the coast in the early 1820s. Charles Guillain was a French captain who visited at mid-century (Guillain 1856–1857). Johann Ludwig Krapf was a German missionary who lived and traveled extensively in the Mombasa hinterland from 1837 to 1855 (Krapf 1860). Of the many European travelers who visited Zanzibar and the coast during the later 19th century, Richard F. Burton was one of the most accomplished, and he left a detailed account of his travels to Zanzibar in the 1860s (Burton 1872). Another British traveler, W. W. A. Fitzgerald, conducted an extensive economic survey of the Kenya coast in the 1890s (Fitzgerald 1898).
  303.  
  304. Boteler, Thomas. Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery to Africa and Arabia: Performed in His Majesty’s Ships Leven and Barracouta from 1821 to 1826 under the Command of Capt. F. W. Owen, R. N. 2 vols. London: R. Bentley, 1835.
  305.  
  306. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  307.  
  308. The second of two accounts (the other is Owen 1833) of explorations conducted by the British antislavery patrols in the 1820s, during which they temporarily occupied Mombasa.
  309.  
  310. Find this resource:
  311.  
  312.  
  313. Burton, Richard Francis. Zanzibar: City, Island and Coast. 2 vols. London: Tinsley, 1872.
  314.  
  315. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.77354Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  316.  
  317. Burton was one of most accomplished of the many European travelers who visited Zanzibar and the coast during the later 19th century, and he left his usual detailed account of his travels.
  318.  
  319. Find this resource:
  320.  
  321.  
  322. Fitzgerald, William Walter Augustine. Travels in the Coastlands of British East Africa and the Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba. London: Chapman and Hall, 1898.
  323.  
  324. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  325.  
  326. Commissioned by the British Imperial East Africa Company to conduct an economic survey of the Kenya coast, Fitzgerald traveled extensively throughout the area compiling detailed accounts of economic resources and practices.
  327.  
  328. Find this resource:
  329.  
  330.  
  331. Guillain, Charles. Documents sur l‘historie, la géographie, et le commerce de l’Afrique Orientale. 3 vols. Paris: Arthus Bertrand, 1856–1857.
  332.  
  333. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  334.  
  335. Part 2 (Voyage d’exploration à la côte orientale d’Afrique) is an account of the extensive explorations of a French sea captain along the length of the Swahili coast including detailed descriptions of local towns and a number of engraved plates of local peoples and scenes.
  336.  
  337. Find this resource:
  338.  
  339.  
  340. Krapf, Johann Ludwig. Travels, Researches, and Missionary Labours during an Eighteen Years’ Residence in Eastern Africa. London: Trübner, 1860.
  341.  
  342. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  343.  
  344. One of the earliest missionaries to settle in East Africa, Krapf traveled extensively along the Kenyan coast and hinterlands and compiled vocabularies of a number of languages. Unfortunately, the English translation is severely abridged from the German original, Reisen in Ost-Afrika: Ausgeführt in den Jahren 1837–1855 (2 vols, Kornthal, Germany: Im Selbstverlage des Verfassers, 1858), which is preferred for detailed research.
  345.  
  346. Find this resource:
  347.  
  348.  
  349. Owen, W. F. W. Narrative of Voyages to Explore the Shores of Africa, Arabia and Madagascar: Performed in H. M. Ships Leven and Barracouta under the Direction of Captain W. F. W. Owen, R. N. 2 vols. London: R. Bentley, 1833.
  350.  
  351. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  352.  
  353. The first of two accounts (the other is Boteler 1835) of explorations conducted by the British antislavery patrols in the 1820s, during which they occupied Mombasa.
  354.  
  355. Find this resource:
  356.  
  357.  
  358. Early Peoples of the East African Coast, 1st–8th Centuries
  359. During the course of the 1st millennium, Bantu-speaking peoples settled along the coast, where they engaged in farming, fishing, potting, and ironwork, becoming in due course the Swahili and related peoples. The main sources for this period are archaeological and linguistic, which Nurse and Spear 1985 and Spear 2000 survey in detailed historical reconstructions. Chami 1998 surveys the archaeological evidence, while Kusimba 1999 provides a useful review and interpretation of coastal archaeology, and Shipton, et al. 2013 explores the relationship between the development of farming and metallurgy, interactions among foragers and farmers, and the development of coastal and Indian Ocean trade. Nurse and Philippson 1980 details the linguistic classification of the eastern Bantu languages that is crucial for reconstructing coastal history; Nurse and Hinnebusch 1993 further refines it in an exhaustive study of Swahili and the related Sabaki languages.
  360.  
  361. Chami, Felix A. “A Review of Swahili Archaeology.” African Archaeological Review 15.3 (1998): 199–218.
  362.  
  363. DOI: 10.1023/A:1021612012892Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  364.  
  365. Much of the archaeological evidence is found in hundreds of individual site reports that vary markedly in detail and interpretation. Chami provides a readily accessible and useful catalogue and review of the evidence.
  366.  
  367. Find this resource:
  368.  
  369.  
  370. Fleisher, Jeffrey, and Stephanie Wynne-Jones. “Ceramics and the Early Swahili: Deconstructing the Early Tana Tradition.” African Archaeological Review 28.4 (2011): 245–278.
  371.  
  372. DOI: 10.1007/s10437-011-9104-6Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  373.  
  374. Early peoples of the coast between the 7th and the 10th century are characterized by their use of a similar style of pottery, usually classified as Early Tana Tradition or Triangular-Incised Ware (ETT/TIW). While individual site reports tend to each use their own typology, this systematic reclassification employing a common typology of pottery from all along the coast points to important similarities and differences among them that connect these sites with early Swahili ones, thus confirming the local origins of the Swahili sites.
  375.  
  376. Find this resource:
  377.  
  378.  
  379. Kusimba, Chapurukha M. The Rise and Fall of Swahili States. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira, 1999.
  380.  
  381. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  382.  
  383. A review and synthesis of the archaeological evidence for the historical development of Swahili towns.
  384.  
  385. Find this resource:
  386.  
  387.  
  388. Nurse, Derek, and Thomas J. Hinnebusch. Swahili and Sabaki: A Linguistic History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
  389.  
  390. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  391.  
  392. The authoritative history of Swahili and related Sabaki languages. While much of the work consists of detailed historical reconstructions of Swahili phonology, lexis, and morphology primarily of interest to linguists, the introductory and concluding chapters provide more accessible overviews of the historical development of all the dialects of Swahili.
  393.  
  394. Find this resource:
  395.  
  396.  
  397. Nurse, Derek, and Gérard Philippson. “The Bantu Languages of East Africa: A Lexico-Statistical Survey.” In Language in Tanzania. Edited by Edgar C. Polomé and C. P. Hill, 26–67. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.
  398.  
  399. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  400.  
  401. Provides a thorough classification of the East African Bantu languages, from which their historical development can be reconstructed.
  402.  
  403. Find this resource:
  404.  
  405.  
  406. Nurse, Derek, and Thomas Spear. The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an African Society, 800–1500. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985.
  407.  
  408. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  409.  
  410. A detailed analysis of the archaeological, linguistic, ethnographic, oral, and documentary sources to argue that the historical roots of Swahili lay in the Bantu-speaking, ironworking peoples who settled along the coast during the 1st millennium CE. See also Spear 2000.
  411.  
  412. Find this resource:
  413.  
  414.  
  415. Shipton, Ceri, Richard Helm, Nicole Boivin, Alison Crowther, P. Austin, and Dorian Fuller. “Intersections, Networks and the Genesis of Social Complexity on the Nyali Coast of East Africa.” African Archaeological Review 30.4 (2013): 427–453.
  416.  
  417. DOI: 10.1007/s10437-013-9140-5Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  418.  
  419. Early findings of a significant new project that identifies increasing relations between foragers and farmers, the interior and coast, rural and urban, and the coast and the wider Indian Ocean world from the 8th to the 15th century that parallel the development of the Swahili towns.
  420.  
  421. Find this resource:
  422.  
  423.  
  424. Spear, Thomas. “Early Swahili History Reconsidered.” International Journal of African Historical Studies 33.2 (2000): 257–290.
  425.  
  426. DOI: 10.2307/220649Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  427.  
  428. A revised update of Nurse and Spear 1985 that also provides a useful synthesis of subsequent work. Available online by subscription.
  429.  
  430. Find this resource:
  431.  
  432.  
  433. East Africans in the Indian Ocean World
  434. Africans have participated in Indian Ocean trade networks since Egyptian and Greco-Roman times. The Indian Ocean in World History website provides a useful introduction to the area through interactive maps, historical summaries, study guides, and documents. Beaugard 2012; Boivin, et al. 2013; Pouwels 2002; Pearson 2003; and Sheriff 2010 provide interpretative overviews of historical interactions, while Pearson 1998 and Alpers 2009 focus on the Portuguese period. See also the Oxford Bibliographies articles on Indian Ocean Trade Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern Slave Trades, and Oman, the Gulf, and East Africa.
  435.  
  436. Alpers, Edward A. East Africa and the Indian Ocean. Princeton, NJ: Marcus Weiner, 2009.
  437.  
  438. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  439.  
  440. A collection of historical essays focusing on trading networks, cultural exchanges, and the movement of peoples across the Western Indian Ocean from 1500 to 1800 and featuring extended studies of the lesser-known areas of Mogadishu and the Mozambique Channel and adjacent islands.
  441.  
  442. Find this resource:
  443.  
  444.  
  445. Beaugard, Philippe. Les mondes de l’océan Indien. 2 vols. Vol. 1, De la formation de l’Etat au premier système-monde afro-eurasien (4e millénaire av. J.-C.–6e siècle ap. J.C.); Vol. 2, L’océan Indien, au coeur des globalisations de l’Ancien Monde (7e–15e siècle). Paris: Armand Colin, 2012–.
  446.  
  447. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  448.  
  449. A monumental study of what the author characterizes as an Afro-Eurasian world system that extended far beyond the Indian Ocean into the Mediterranean, Middle East, Central Asia, China, India, and the African interior that was integrated by the spread of goods, ideas, and religious beliefs. Volume 2, on the 7th to 15th century, is most relevant to the involvement of the East African coast and Madagascar in this world system.
  450.  
  451. Find this resource:
  452.  
  453.  
  454. Boivin, Nicole, Alison Crowther, Richard Helm, and Dorian Fuller. “East Africa and Madagascar in the Indian Ocean World.” Journal of World Prehistory 26.3 (2013): 213–281.
  455.  
  456. DOI: 10.1007/s10963-013-9067-4Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  457.  
  458. A significant original work that details increasing interaction around the Indian Ocean from the 7th century CE through examining the distribution and diffusion of wild and domestic plants and animals within the context of the development of farming, iron work, and urban settlement along the East African coast.
  459.  
  460. Find this resource:
  461.  
  462.  
  463. Indian Ocean in World History.
  464.  
  465. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  466.  
  467. A well-designed website designed for use by high school students but also useful for beginning undergraduates that includes interactive maps, historical summaries, study and teacher guides, documentary sources, and recommended reading on Indian Ocean history from prehistory to the present. Stresses historical interactions around the Indian Ocean but stronger on the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia than on East Africa.
  468.  
  469. Find this resource:
  470.  
  471.  
  472. Pearson, Michael N. Port Cities and Intruders: The Swahili Coast, India, and Portugal in the Early Modern Era. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
  473.  
  474. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  475.  
  476. The most thorough account of Indian Ocean trade during the Portuguese period, Pearson traces the flows of goods, peoples, and customs from the Asian and African hinterlands to their coastal entrepôts and across the Indian Ocean in this detailed study of the economic, social, and cultural dynamics of a maritime world.
  477.  
  478. Find this resource:
  479.  
  480.  
  481. Pearson, Michael N. The Indian Ocean. London: Routledge, 2003.
  482.  
  483. DOI: 10.4324/9780203414132Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  484.  
  485. Arguing that Indian Ocean is the world’s oldest maritime world system, Pearson traces the history of commerce, migration, conquest, and the movement of ideas around the Indian Ocean over the past three thousand years in this comprehensive modern introduction.
  486.  
  487. Find this resource:
  488.  
  489.  
  490. Pouwels, Randall L. “Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean to 1800: Reviewing Relations in Historical Perspective.” International Journal of African Historical Studies 35.2–3 (2002): 385–425.
  491.  
  492. DOI: 10.2307/3097619Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  493.  
  494. Analyzes the influence of commercial, social, and cultural interactions between East Africa and Arabia, Persia, India, and Portugal from 100 to 1800 CE in the emergence of Swahili civilization. Available online by subscription.
  495.  
  496. Find this resource:
  497.  
  498.  
  499. Sheriff, Abdul. Dhow Culture of the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce, and Islam. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010.
  500.  
  501. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  502.  
  503. Focusing on the quintessential Indian Ocean vessel, the dhow, and the sailors and merchants who traversed the Western Indian Ocean from one port city to another in them, traces the development of maritime culture from the decline of the Roman Empire though the rise of Iranian, Arab, and Portuguese influences.
  504.  
  505. Find this resource:
  506.  
  507.  
  508. The Rise and Fall of the Swahili Towns
  509. The earliest Swahili fishing and farming communities developed along the coast from Somalia to Mozambique in the 8th and 9th centuries, expanding in numbers and size until they reached a peak in the 14th and 15th centuries, before they were displaced by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The general works listed here span the period of Swahili development from the 8th to the 15th century. Kusimba 1999 provides a general review of the archaeological evidence of the origins of Swahili towns from the 9th to the 11th century through their florescence in the 14th and 15th centuries, while Nurse and Spear 1985 and Spear 2000 provide detailed analyses of the evidence to construct a new synthesis. Pouwels 1987 covers the longue durée of Swahili cultural history, focusing on Islam, while Horton and Middleton 2000 discusses the development of mercantile society. Wilson 1978 and Wilson 1980 catalogue the extraordinary profusion of Swahili settlements the length of the Kenya coast, while Pollard 2008 surveys changes in the maritime landscape of Tanzania.
  510.  
  511. Horton, Mark, and John Middleton. The Swahili: The Social Landscape of a Mercantile Society. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.
  512.  
  513. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  514.  
  515. An archaeologist and an anthropologist provide a historical and social overview stressing the role of local and maritime trade and urbanization in the development of a single Swahili civilization the length of the coast.
  516.  
  517. Find this resource:
  518.  
  519.  
  520. Kusimba, Chapurukha M. The Rise and Fall of Swahili States. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira, 1999.
  521.  
  522. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  523.  
  524. A concise survey of the archaeological evidence for the development of Swahili states and culture within the context of broader developments on the mainland.
  525.  
  526. Find this resource:
  527.  
  528.  
  529. Nurse, Derek, and Thomas Spear. The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an African Society, 800–1500. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985.
  530.  
  531. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  532.  
  533. A detailed historical reconstruction of the development of the Swahili towns emphasizing local historical processes. See also Spear 2000.
  534.  
  535. Find this resource:
  536.  
  537.  
  538. Pollard, Edward. The Archaeology of Tanzanian Coastal Landscapes in the 6th to 15th Centuries AD (the Middle Iron Age of the Region). British Archaeological Reports 1873. Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 76. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2008.
  539.  
  540. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  541.  
  542. Shifts the focus of study of Swahili towns from prominent stone towns to broader changes in maritime cultural landscapes from 500 to 1500 CE.
  543.  
  544. Find this resource:
  545.  
  546.  
  547. Pouwels, Randall L. Horn and Crescent: Cultural Change and Traditional Islam on the East African Coast, 800–1900. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
  548.  
  549. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511523885Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  550.  
  551. A study of the long-term historical development of the Swahili, focused on the spread of Islam and its influence on Swahili culture.
  552.  
  553. Find this resource:
  554.  
  555.  
  556. Spear, Thomas. “Early Swahili History Reconsidered.” International Journal of African Historical Studies 33.2 (2000): 257–290.
  557.  
  558. DOI: 10.2307/220649Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  559.  
  560. A revised update and summary of Nurse and Spear 1985. Available online by subscription.
  561.  
  562. Find this resource:
  563.  
  564.  
  565. Wilson, Thomas H. The Monumental Architecture and Archaeology North of the Tana River. Nairobi, Kenya: National Museums of Kenya, 1978.
  566.  
  567. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  568.  
  569. A comprehensive checklist of Swahili settlements along the northern Kenya coast. See also Wilson 1980.
  570.  
  571. Find this resource:
  572.  
  573.  
  574. Wilson, Thomas H. The Monumental Architecture and Archaeology of the Central and Southern Kenya Coast. Nairobi, Kenya: National Museums of Kenya, 1980.
  575.  
  576. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  577.  
  578. A comprehensive checklist of Swahili settlements along the southern Kenya coast. See also Wilson 1978.
  579.  
  580. Find this resource:
  581.  
  582.  
  583. Mogadishu, Kilwa, and the Gold Trade, 9th–15th Centuries
  584. Much of the wealth of the coast was produced by the export of gold from Zimbabwe through Sofala, Kilwa, and Mogadishu to Arabia and India. Pikirayi 2001 provides a comprehensive history of Zimbabwe. Gold was then traded from Zimbabwe along the coast to Mogadishu and Kilwa, where it was stockpiled for ships arriving from Arabia and India on the annual monsoon. As a result, these were among the wealthiest and grandest coastal towns, as demonstrated in the extensive site report of Kilwa in Chittick 1974, navigational aids described in Pollard 2011, and the briefer studies in Chittick 1982; Sinclair, et al. 2012; and Duarte 1993 of Mogadishu, Chibuene, and Mozambique.
  585.  
  586. Chittick, H. Neville. Kilwa: An Islamic Trading Center on the East African Coast. Nairobi, Kenya: British Institute in Eastern Africa, 1974.
  587.  
  588. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  589.  
  590. A comprehensive report on one of the earliest and most impressive sites on the coast that reveals the extent of its wealth based on the gold trade.
  591.  
  592. Find this resource:
  593.  
  594.  
  595. Chittick, H. Neville. “Mediaeval Mogadishu.” Paideuma 28 (1982): 45–62.
  596.  
  597. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  598.  
  599. While Mogadishu was one of the most important early Swahili towns, it has been little studied by archaeologists or historians beyond this brief initial exploration. Available online by subscription.
  600.  
  601. Find this resource:
  602.  
  603.  
  604. Duarte, Ricardo Teixeira. Northern Mozambique in the Swahili World: An Archaeological Approach. Stockholm: Central Board of National Antiquities, 1993.
  605.  
  606. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  607.  
  608. A survey of a number of smaller Swahili sites along the little-studied northern Mozambique coast that establishes their presence but provides little detail regarding their roles in trade.
  609.  
  610. Find this resource:
  611.  
  612.  
  613. Pikirayi, Innocent. The Zimbabwe Culture: Origins and Declines in Southern Zambezian States. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira, 2001.
  614.  
  615. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  616.  
  617. A comprehensive modern history of the African states that dominated the Zambezi valley and Zimbabwe plateau from the 10th century and supplied gold and other products that were important in Swahili and Indian Ocean trade.
  618.  
  619. Find this resource:
  620.  
  621.  
  622. Pollard, Edward. “Safeguarding Swahili Trade in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries: A Unique Navigational Complex in South-East Tanzania.” World Archaeology 43.3 (2011): 458–477.
  623.  
  624. DOI: 10.1080/00438243.2011.608287Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  625.  
  626. Describes unique intertidal stone architecture along a 120-km stretch of Tanzania’s southeastern coastline that appears to have been constructed as navigational aids for ships plying the Sofala-Kilwa route during the Indian Ocean gold trade.
  627.  
  628. Find this resource:
  629.  
  630.  
  631. Sinclair, Paul J. J., Anneli Ekblom, and Marilee Wood. “Trade and Society on the South-east African Coast in the Later First Millennium AD: The Case of Chibuene.” Antiquity 86.3 (2012): 723–737.
  632.  
  633. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  634.  
  635. Based on extensive findings of exotic trade beads dating from the 8th to the 10th century, identifies Chibuene on the southern Swahili coast as the earliest coastal port to link the states developing in its interior with the new Swahili towns growing up along the northern coast.
  636.  
  637. Find this resource:
  638.  
  639.  
  640. The Earliest Towns, 8th–9th Centuries
  641. The earliest Swahili communities sprang up simultaneously at a number of widely scattered places along the coast, including Mogadishu in Somalia; Shanga, Manda, Pate, and Ungwana in the Lamu archipelago and adjacent mainland of northern Kenya; Unguja Ukuu and Mkotoni on Zanzibar; Kilwa in southern Tanzania; Dembeni and Sima in the Comoros; and Chibuene in Mozambique. Subsequently, they slowly developed into substantial commercial centers, accumulating products of the African interior for trade with merchants from Persia, Arabia, and India. The extensive excavations at Shanga (Horton 1996), Manda (Chittick 1984), Kilwa (Chittick 1974), and, to a lesser degree, Ungwana (Kirkman 1966) and Pemba (LaViolette and Fleisher 2009) enable detailed historical reconstructions of the development of these towns from their pre-Swahili roots through their final days, though only Horton 1996 provides a fully realized account. Horton’s interpretative framework stresses the local origins of Swahili towns, marking the shift in scholarly opinion from a previous stress on foreign origins that is no longer adequate. While frequently cited, Allen 1993 is a highly speculative and untrustworthy interpretation of Swahili origins.
  642.  
  643. Allen, James de Vere. Swahili Origins: Swahili Culture and the Shungwaya Phenomenon. London: James Currey, 1993.
  644.  
  645. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  646.  
  647. An oft-cited but highly speculative and unreliable account of Swahili origins. The author’s use of evidence is highly suspect, and he is frequently prone to making unsubstantiated assertions.
  648.  
  649. Find this resource:
  650.  
  651.  
  652. Chittick, H. Neville. Kilwa: An Islamic Trading Center on the East African Coast. Nairobi, Kenya: British Institute in Eastern Africa, 1974.
  653.  
  654. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  655.  
  656. A comprehensive report on one of the grandest sites on the coast. By not excavating earlier periods, however, the author neglects to uncover its pre-Islamic roots that challenge his interpretation stressing foreign origins.
  657.  
  658. Find this resource:
  659.  
  660.  
  661. Chittick, H. Neville. Manda: Excavations at an Island Port on the Kenya Coast. Nairobi, Kenya: British Institute in Eastern Africa, 1984.
  662.  
  663. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  664.  
  665. A model excavation of an early Swahili town that suggests local influences in its development but remains tied to earlier interpretative frameworks stressing foreign origins.
  666.  
  667. Find this resource:
  668.  
  669.  
  670. Horton, Mark. Shanga: The Archaeology of a Muslim Trading Community on the Coast of East Africa. London: British Institute in Eastern Africa, 1996.
  671.  
  672. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  673.  
  674. This exemplary study is the first to conclusively demonstrate a town’s local origins and the range of influences on its subsequent development. Horton charts in meticulous detail the development of the town from a local fishing village in the 8th century to a vibrant Muslim port in the 15th, supplanting previous interpretations.
  675.  
  676. Find this resource:
  677.  
  678.  
  679. Kirkman, James S. Ungwana on the Tana. The Hague: Mouton, 1966.
  680.  
  681. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  682.  
  683. An important early excavation that is unfortunately tied to now-dated interpretations stressing Ungwana’s foreign origins.
  684.  
  685. Find this resource:
  686.  
  687.  
  688. LaViolette, Adria, and Jeffrey Fleisher. “The Urban History of a Rural Place: Swahili Archaeology on Pemba Island, Tanzania, 700–1500 AD.” International Journal of African Historical Studies: 42.3 (2009): 433–455.
  689.  
  690. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  691.  
  692. Identifies Pemba as an important area of early Swahili development from the 8th to the 15th century based on trade and increasing urbanization.
  693.  
  694. Find this resource:
  695.  
  696.  
  697. Expansion of Trade and Islam, 11th–15th Centuries
  698. Overseas trade with the Persian Gulf and Arabia expanded from the 11th century, causing increasing numbers of Muslim merchants and clerics to visit and eventually settle in the coastal towns. By the 13th century, most Swahili communities were at least nominally Muslim, and, over the succeeding centuries, Islam became indelibly imprinted on coastal towns, architecture, and culture, culminating in the 14th and 15th centuries. Horton 1996 provides the most detailed analysis of this process. While dated by the authors’ assumptions of foreign origins (see the Earliest Towns, 8th–9th Centuries), Garlake 1966 provides an early survey of coastal architecture, and Chittick 1974, Kirkman 1954, and Kirkman 1963 offer detailed studies of Kilwa and Gedi, respectively, while Wynne-Jones 2010 provides a reconstruction of Vumba. Zhao explores the roles of imported Chinese pottery widely distributed on Swahili sites, but not all coastal settlements grew into urban trading centers, as demonstrated by Fleisher 2010 and Pawlowicz 2012.
  699.  
  700. Chittick, H. Neville. Kilwa: An Islamic Trading Center on the East African Coast. Nairobi, Kenya: British Institute in Eastern Africa, 1974.
  701.  
  702. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  703.  
  704. A detailed study of the later development of the most prominent site on the coast.
  705.  
  706. Find this resource:
  707.  
  708.  
  709. Fleisher, Jeffrey. “Swahili Synoecism: Rural Settlements and Town Formation on the Central East African Coast, AD 750–1500.” Journal of Field Archaeology 33.3 (2010): 265–282.
  710.  
  711. DOI: 10.1179/009346910X12707321358919Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  712.  
  713. In contrast with the usual emphasis on trade in the development of Swahili towns, stresses the role of emerging religious centers that increasingly attracted migrants from rural areas in the development of towns on Pemba, which were more inclusive than towns on the northern coast as a result.
  714.  
  715. Find this resource:
  716.  
  717.  
  718. Garlake, Peter S. The Early Islamic Architecture of the East African Coast. London: Oxford University Press, 1966.
  719.  
  720. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  721.  
  722. A survey of coastal architecture focusing on the 13th–15th centuries that assumes dominant foreign influence.
  723.  
  724. Find this resource:
  725.  
  726.  
  727. Horton, Mark. Shanga: The Archaeology of a Muslim Trading Community on the Coast of East Africa. London: British Institute in Eastern Africa, 1996.
  728.  
  729. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  730.  
  731. A now-classic study that shows in extraordinary detail the growth of the town, increase in wealth, and growing Muslim influence accompanying the expansion of trade from the 11th to the 15th centuries that now supplants all earlier studies.
  732.  
  733. Find this resource:
  734.  
  735.  
  736. Kirkman, James S. The Arab City of Gedi: Excavations at the Great Mosque, Architecture and Finds. London: Oxford University Press, 1954.
  737.  
  738. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  739.  
  740. A detailed site report of a town on the Kenyan coast that flourished from the early 13th century to the early 16th century. See also Kirkman 1963.
  741.  
  742. Find this resource:
  743.  
  744.  
  745. Kirkman, James S. Gedi: The Palace. The Hague: Mouton, 1963.
  746.  
  747. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  748.  
  749. This account of the palace complements the author’s earlier study of the mosque (Kirkman 1954).
  750.  
  751. Find this resource:
  752.  
  753.  
  754. Pawlowicz, Matthew. “Modelling the Swahili Past: The Archaeology of Mikindani in Southern Coastal Tanzania.” Azania 47.4 (2012): 488–508.
  755.  
  756. DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2012.723510Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  757.  
  758. A case of a coastal settlement that remained more rural and more attached to its interior neighbors than to Indian Ocean trade and the wider Swahili world that provides a counter to the development of trade and urbanized Swahili societies elsewhere.
  759.  
  760. Find this resource:
  761.  
  762.  
  763. Wynne-Jones, Stephanie. “Remembering and Reworking the Swahili Diwanate: The Role of Objects and Places at Vumba Kuu.” International Journal of African Historical Studies 43.3 (2010): 407–427.
  764.  
  765. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  766.  
  767. Vumba Kuu was a small Swahili town on the southern coast of Kenya that flourished in the 14th and 15th centuries but was abandoned in the late 16th century and is reconstructed here using oral traditions and archaeological excavation.
  768.  
  769. Find this resource:
  770.  
  771.  
  772. Zhao, Bing. “Global Trade and Swahili Cosmopolitan Material Culture: Chinese-Style Shards from Sanje ya Kati and Songo Mnara (Kilwa, Tanzania).” Journal of World History. 23.1 (2012): 41–85.
  773.  
  774. DOI: 10.1353/jwh.2012.0018Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  775.  
  776. Analyzes the role of imported Chinese ceramics, ubiquitous on Swahili sites, in Indian Ocean trade and as marks of social status in Swahili towns.
  777.  
  778. Find this resource:
  779.  
  780.  
  781. Madagascar and the Comoros Islands
  782. While not Swahili, the Comoros Islands and northern Madagascar are closely related communities whose histories are very similar. The works cited here are more suggestive than authoritative but indicate the broad lineaments of the histories and cultures of these areas—Wright, et al. 1984; Wright 1992; Lambek 1993; and Ottenheimer 1985 for the Comoros and Vérin 1986 for Madagascar. See also the Oxford Bibliographies article on the Comoro Islands.
  783.  
  784. Lambek, Michael. Knowledge and Practice in Mayotte: Local Discourses of Islam, Sorcery and Spirit Possession. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993.
  785.  
  786. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  787.  
  788. An insightful study of religious pluralism and syncretism in Comorian religious practice.
  789.  
  790. Find this resource:
  791.  
  792.  
  793. Ottenheimer, Martin. Marriage in Domoni: Husbands and Wives in an Indian Ocean Community. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland, 1985.
  794.  
  795. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  796.  
  797. Ethnographic study of marriage in Domoni, a Comorian society closely related to Swahili, that provides further evidence of the diversity of coastal societies.
  798.  
  799. Find this resource:
  800.  
  801.  
  802. Vérin, Pierre. The History of Civilisation in North Madagascar. Translated by David Smith. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: A. A. Balkema, 1986.
  803.  
  804. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  805.  
  806. A general overview of the area that suggests an important role played by Swahili traders along the northern coast of Madagascar.
  807.  
  808. Find this resource:
  809.  
  810.  
  811. Wright, Henry T. “Early Islam, Oceanic Trade, and Town Development on Nzwani: The Comorian Archipelago in the XIth–XVth Centuries AD.” Azania 27.1 (1992): 81–128.
  812.  
  813. DOI: 10.1080/00672709209511432Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  814.  
  815. A continuation of Wright and colleagues’ earlier study (Wright, et al. 1984) describing subsequent development in the Comoros. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  816.  
  817. Find this resource:
  818.  
  819.  
  820. Wright, Henry T., Carla Sinopoli, Laura Wojnaroski, et al. “Early Seafarers of the Comoro Islands: The Dembeni Phase of the IXth–Xth Centuries AD.” Azania 19.1 (1984): 13–59.
  821.  
  822. DOI: 10.1080/00672708409511327Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  823.  
  824. A preliminary description of the earliest towns in the Comoros that suggests parallel lines of development with the Swahili towns of the mainland. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  825.  
  826. Find this resource:
  827.  
  828.  
  829. The Coast and the Portuguese, 16th–17th Centuries
  830. While Portugal sought to capture Indian trade in the 16th and 17th centuries by establishing garrisons in Mozambique, Mombasa, and Goa, its influence on the coast was mixed. For much of the period, the Portuguese succeeded in little more than plunder that disrupted commerce and caused coastal towns to stagnate and atrophy but did not allow the Portuguese to establish their authority over the coastal towns. Pearson 1998 provides extensive coverage of the Indian Ocean for the period, while Newitt 1995 and Isaacman 1972 focus on the Mozambique coast; Strandes 1961 the central and northern coasts; and Berg 1968, Berg 1971, Boxer and Azevedo 1960, and Kirkman 1974 the Swahili port city of Mombasa.
  831.  
  832. Berg, Frederick J. “The Swahili Community of Mombasa, 1500–1900.” Journal of African History 9 (1968): 35–56.
  833.  
  834. DOI: 10.1017/S0021853700008343Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  835.  
  836. A brief but authoritative history of Mombasa during the Portuguese and Omani periods. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  837.  
  838. Find this resource:
  839.  
  840.  
  841. Berg, Frederick J. “Mombasa under the Busaidi Sultanate: The City and Its Hinterlands in the Nineteenth Century.” PhD diss., University of Wisconsin, 1971.
  842.  
  843. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  844.  
  845. The most complete history of Mombasa, though the main focus is on the succeeding Omani period. Also available from Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1974.
  846.  
  847. Find this resource:
  848.  
  849.  
  850. Boxer, C. R., and Carlos de Azevedo. Fort Jesus and the Portuguese in Mombasa, 1593–1729. London: Hollis & Carter, 1960.
  851.  
  852. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  853.  
  854. A history of Portuguese rule and their fort at Mombasa by a leading historian of the Portuguese empire. See also Kirkman 1974.
  855.  
  856. Find this resource:
  857.  
  858.  
  859. Isaacman, Allen. Mozambique: The Africanization of a European Institution: The Zambesi Prazos, 1750–1902. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1972.
  860.  
  861. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  862.  
  863. A pathbreaking study of how Portuguese attempts to rule the Zambezi valley through appointed Portuguese officials were limited by the officials’ dependence on African polities, leading to their absorption into local political structures.
  864.  
  865. Find this resource:
  866.  
  867.  
  868. Kirkman, James S. Fort Jesus: A Portuguese Fortress on the East African Coast. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974.
  869.  
  870. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  871.  
  872. Report of the archaeological excavation of the fort, one of the few foreign structures on the coast. See also Boxer and Azevedo 1960.
  873.  
  874. Find this resource:
  875.  
  876.  
  877. Newitt, Malyn. A History of Mozambique. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995.
  878.  
  879. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  880.  
  881. While Portuguese power in the northern Indian Ocean was limited, they continued to rule Mozambique until 1975, as recounted in this comprehensive and authoritative history.
  882.  
  883. Find this resource:
  884.  
  885.  
  886. Pearson, Michael N. Port Cities and Intruders: The Swahili Coast, India, and Portugal in the Early Modern Era. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
  887.  
  888. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  889.  
  890. A wide-ranging history of Indian Ocean trade, including detailed accounts of the producers, merchants, bankers, and consumers around the Indian Ocean that the Portuguese sought, not very successfully, to control.
  891.  
  892. Find this resource:
  893.  
  894.  
  895. Strandes, Justus. The Portuguese Period in East Africa. Edited by James S. Kirkman. Translated by Jean F. Wallwork. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Literature Bureau, 1961.
  896.  
  897. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  898.  
  899. A general history of Portuguese attempts to control the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts, initially published in German in 1899.
  900.  
  901. Find this resource:
  902.  
  903.  
  904. The Omani Sultanate of Zanzibar, 19th Century
  905. The Omani slowly supplanted the Portuguese in the northern Indian Ocean over the course of the 18th century, eventually extending their control over Zanzibar, the Lamu archipelago, Kilwa, and Mombasa during the 19th century; dominating the interior trade in slaves and ivory; and developing extensive slave plantations on Zanzibar and the coast at the same time as Britain and France sought greater control over the expanding economy and slave trade. Nicholls 1971 provides a general political narrative and Sheriff 1987 an economic one. The expansion of the slave trade and its impact on local politics on the mainland is detailed by Alpers 1975, while Cooper 1977 explores the rise of plantation slavery. Ylvisaker 1979, Glassman 1995, and Pawelczak 2010 provide insightful accounts of local Swahili towns and mainland societies during the period, and Sheriff 1995 relates attempts to conserve and restore Zanzibar’s old town in the 1990s.
  906.  
  907. Alpers, Edward A. Ivory and Slaves: Changing Pattern of International Trade in East Central Africa to the Later Nineteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.
  908.  
  909. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  910.  
  911. As ivory and slaves increasingly came to dominate East African trade during the 19th century, local politics and economies were transformed, as demonstrated in this study of trade between Kilwa and the southeastern interior and of the ways a new class of African traders and leaders were able to gain power through it.
  912.  
  913. Find this resource:
  914.  
  915.  
  916. Cooper, Frederick. Plantation Slavery on the East Coast of Africa. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1977.
  917.  
  918. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  919.  
  920. In societies that had often employed slaves as soldiers, wives, and fictive kin, the development of plantation slavery in East Africa combined both social and economic forms of dependency, to varying degrees, as detailed in this authoritative study of the rise of plantation slavery on Zanzibar and the Kenyan coast during the 19th century.
  921.  
  922. Find this resource:
  923.  
  924.  
  925. Glassman, Jonathon. Feasts and Riot: Revelry, Rebellion, and Popular Consciousness on the Swahili Coast, 1856–1888. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1995.
  926.  
  927. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  928.  
  929. A fascinating study of the complexities of local politics on the Swahili coast as local Swahili leaders, immigrant traders, common people, and slaves vied with one another as Zanzibari hegemony slowly gave way to German rule.
  930.  
  931. Find this resource:
  932.  
  933.  
  934. Nicholls, C. S. The Swahili Coast: Politics, Diplomacy and Trade on the East African Littoral, 1798–1856. London: Allen & Unwin, 1971.
  935.  
  936. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  937.  
  938. A political history of the establishment of Omani rule in Zanzibar, the development of coastal trade and economy, and increasing European and American interests in the area.
  939.  
  940. Find this resource:
  941.  
  942.  
  943. Pawelczak, Marek. The State and the Stateless: The Sultanate of Zanzibar and the East African Mainland; Politics, Economy and Society, 1837–1888. Warsaw: Institute of History, University of Warsaw, 2010.
  944.  
  945. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  946.  
  947. An extensively researched study of the economic, social, and political relations between the Zanzibar Sultanate and the many Swahili and other mainland societies and polities it traded with.
  948.  
  949. Find this resource:
  950.  
  951.  
  952. Sheriff, Abdul. Slaves, Spices and Ivory in Zanzibar: Integration of an East African Commercial Empire into the World Economy, 1770–1873. London: James Currey, 1987.
  953.  
  954. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  955.  
  956. A major study of Omani Zanzibar political economy, the expansion of inland trade, the development of slave production on the islands, and the eventual subordination of Zanzibar to Britain during the later 19th century.
  957.  
  958. Find this resource:
  959.  
  960.  
  961. Sheriff, Abdul, ed. The History and Conservation of Zanzibar Stone Town. London: James Currey, 1995.
  962.  
  963. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  964.  
  965. Collected studies of the history, mosques, houses, and cemeteries of Zanzibar Stone Town and the efforts overseen by the editor to conserve them.
  966.  
  967. Find this resource:
  968.  
  969.  
  970. Ylvisaker, Marguerite H. Lamu in the Nineteenth Century: Land, Trade and Politics. African Research Studies 13. Boston: Boston University African Studies Center, 1979.
  971.  
  972. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  973.  
  974. This study of 19th-century Lamu reveals the critical ways coastal towns were linked to their hinterlands as well as to the Indian Ocean.
  975.  
  976. Find this resource:
  977.  
  978.  
  979. The Colonial Period to Independence, 20th Century
  980. As eastern Africa came under Italian, British, and German rule and Mozambique remained under Portuguese domination, the political and economic focus shifted from the coast to the interior, where greater wealth beckoned, leaving the coast to lapse into decline. Cooper 1980 details the collapse of plantation slavery on the coast, while Gilbert 2004 shows the continued resilience of the Indian Ocean dhow trade in 20th-century Zanzibar. A number of studies of the period of British colonial rule in Zanzibar cover political economy (Sheriff and Ferguson 1991), politics (Lofchie 1965), the development of racial nationalism (Glassman 2011), and the revolution that overturned the Sultan’s government and led to union with Tanganyika (Clayton 1981). Salim 1973 and Willis 1993 investigate the impact of British colonialism in Kenya on Swahili politics, economy, and identity.
  981.  
  982. Clayton, Anthony. The Zanzibar Revolution and Its Aftermath. London: C. Hurst, 1981.
  983.  
  984. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  985.  
  986. A balanced account of the revolution and the subsequent union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika to form Tanzania in 1964. See also Glassman 2011 and Lofchie 1965.
  987.  
  988. Find this resource:
  989.  
  990.  
  991. Cooper, Frederick. From Slaves to Squatters: Plantation Labor and Agriculture in Zanzibar and Coastal Kenya, 1890–1925. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1980.
  992.  
  993. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  994.  
  995. Traces the end of slavery, the collapse of plantation slavery, and its aftermath on Zanzibar and the Kenya coast following the establishment of colonial rule.
  996.  
  997. Find this resource:
  998.  
  999.  
  1000. Gilbert, Eric. Dhows & the Colonial Economy of Zanzibar, 1860–1970. Oxford: James Currey, 2004.
  1001.  
  1002. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1003.  
  1004. A study of the ongoing resilience of the Indian Ocean dhow trade in spite of the general decline of the coastal economy under colonial rule.
  1005.  
  1006. Find this resource:
  1007.  
  1008.  
  1009. Glassman, Jonathon. War of Words, War of Stones: Racial Thought and Violence in Colonial Zanzibar. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011.
  1010.  
  1011. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1012.  
  1013. A meticulous historical study detailing the development and mobilization of ethnic and racial nationalism by Arabs, Swahili, and mainland Africans in Zanzibar during the colonial period and subsequent revolution. See also Lofchie 1965 and Clayton 1981.
  1014.  
  1015. Find this resource:
  1016.  
  1017.  
  1018. Lofchie, Michael F. Zanzibar: Background to Revolution. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.
  1019.  
  1020. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1021.  
  1022. Study of colonial politics and the development of nationalism leading up to the revolutionary overthrow of the Sultan’s government. See also Glassman 2011 and Clayton 1981.
  1023.  
  1024. Find this resource:
  1025.  
  1026.  
  1027. Salim, Ahmed Idha. The Swahili-Speaking Peoples of the Kenya Coast, 1895–1965. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Educational, 1973.
  1028.  
  1029. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1030.  
  1031. A detailed study of the impact of British colonialism on Swahili and Arab politics, identity, and economy on the Kenya coast.
  1032.  
  1033. Find this resource:
  1034.  
  1035.  
  1036. Sheriff, Abdul, and Ed Ferguson, eds. Zanzibar under Colonial Rule. London: James Currey, 1991.
  1037.  
  1038. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1039.  
  1040. Collected articles on the political economy of colonial Zanzibar, including articles on the end of slavery, colonial economy, the peasantry, merchant capital, the working class, the struggle for independence, and the revolution.
  1041.  
  1042. Find this resource:
  1043.  
  1044.  
  1045. Willis, Justin. Mombasa, the Swahili, and the Making of the Mijikenda. Oxford: Clarendon, 1993.
  1046.  
  1047. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203209.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1048.  
  1049. A study that traces shifts in ethnic identities among Swahili and their Mijikenda neighbors in the urban neighborhoods of Mombasa.
  1050.  
  1051. Find this resource:
  1052.  
  1053.  
  1054. Society and Ethnography
  1055. The hundreds of Swahili communities scattered along the East African coast and islands range from small, rural fishing and farming villages to medium-size trading towns such as Lamu and large complex cities such as Mombasa and Zanzibar. Understanding the resulting cultural diversity within a common cultural framework is thus one of the fundamental problems in explaining the development of Swahili societies. The comprehensive overview in Middleton 1992 accounts for these differences within a common urban mercantile civilization. Yet there are a number of detailed ethnographic studies of individual Swahili and Comorian communities (such as Caplan 1975, Swartz 1991) and urban studies (de Blij 1968, Ghaidan 1975) that demonstrate the wide range of differences among them. Strobel 1979, Kindy 1972, and Caplan 2014 add the individual perspectives of women, a Swahili leader within Mombasa society, and a man from Mafia, respectively.
  1056.  
  1057. Caplan, Ann Patricia. Choice and Constraint in a Swahili Community: Property, Hierarchy and Cognatic Descent on the East African Coast. London: Oxford University Press, 1975.
  1058.  
  1059. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1060.  
  1061. Detailed ethnography of a small, conservative Swahili community on Mafia island that can be contrasted with Swartz 1991.
  1062.  
  1063. Find this resource:
  1064.  
  1065.  
  1066. Caplan, Pat. Mikidadi wa Mafia: Maisha ya Mwanaharakati na Familia Yake Nchini Tanzania. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Mkuki wa Nyota, 2014.
  1067.  
  1068. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1069.  
  1070. Biography of a Mafia man whose life exemplifies the dramatic changes on the island since Independence. Expanded English edition available as Mikidadi: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Tanzanian; Individual Biography and National History (Canon Pyon, UK: Sean Kingston, 2015).
  1071.  
  1072. Find this resource:
  1073.  
  1074.  
  1075. de Blij, Harm J. Mombasa: An African City. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1968.
  1076.  
  1077. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1078.  
  1079. Urban study of a large Swahili city that can be compared to the much smaller Lamu (Ghaidan 1975).
  1080.  
  1081. Find this resource:
  1082.  
  1083.  
  1084. Ghaidan, Usam. Lamu: A Study of the Swahili Town. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Literature Bureau, 1975.
  1085.  
  1086. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1087.  
  1088. A classic small Swahili town in the now-isolated Lamu archipelago that can be compared to Mombasa (de Blij 1968).
  1089.  
  1090. Find this resource:
  1091.  
  1092.  
  1093. Kindy, Hyder. Life and Politics in Mombasa. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Educational, 1972.
  1094.  
  1095. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1096.  
  1097. Memoirs of an important 20th-century Swahili leader of Mombasa that conveys the vibrant social and political complexity of colonial Mombasa.
  1098.  
  1099. Find this resource:
  1100.  
  1101.  
  1102. Middleton, John. The World of the Swahili: An African Mercantile Civilization. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.
  1103.  
  1104. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1105.  
  1106. An anthropological study that demonstrates the wide variations among individual Swahili societies as well as their common structural elements as middleman societies where the economies, peoples, and cultures of Africa and the Indian Ocean met.
  1107.  
  1108. Find this resource:
  1109.  
  1110.  
  1111. Strobel, Margaret A. Muslim Women in Mombasa, 1890–1975. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979.
  1112.  
  1113. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1114.  
  1115. One of the few studies of women in Swahili Muslim society.
  1116.  
  1117. Find this resource:
  1118.  
  1119.  
  1120. Swartz, Marc J. The Way the World Is: Cultural Processes and Social Relations among the Mombasa Swahili. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
  1121.  
  1122. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1123.  
  1124. Ethnographic study of a large, complex urban Swahili society that can be usefully compared to Caplan 1975.
  1125.  
  1126. Find this resource:
  1127.  
  1128.  
  1129. Religion
  1130. Swahili Islam is a complex amalgam of African and Middle Eastern religious elements, as demonstrated by Pearson and Pouwels in their respective essays in Levtzion and Pouwels 2000. In addition, Pouwels 1987 discusses the long process of the diffusion of Islam along the Swahili coast using both European and Arabic sources, while Nimtz 1980 and Bang 2003 show how Sufi orders were influential in propagating Islam. Once Islam was introduced to the coast, a long, slow process of Islamization and accommodation with local religious practices produced distinctive Swahili versions of Islam, as shown in Giles 1987, el-Zein 1974, Becker 2008, and McIntosh 2009.
  1131.  
  1132. Bang, Anne. Sufis and Scholars of the Sea: Family Networks in East Africa, 1860–1925. London: Routledge, 2003.
  1133.  
  1134. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1135.  
  1136. A detailed study of the diffusion and transformation of the Alawi Sufi order as it spread from the Hadramawt in southern Yemen to the Comoros and Zanzibar as seen through the life of a noted Sufi scholar. Based on little-used Arabic and Islamic sources, this provides rare insight into the ongoing exchange of ideas between Arabia and East Africa and of the practice of East African Islam during the early colonial period.
  1137.  
  1138. Find this resource:
  1139.  
  1140.  
  1141. Becker, Felicitas. Becoming Muslim in Mainland Tanzania, 1890–2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
  1142.  
  1143. DOI: 10.5871/bacad/9780197264270.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1144.  
  1145. A historical study of religious conflict and the expansion of Islam into neighboring mainland communities under colonial rule.
  1146.  
  1147. Find this resource:
  1148.  
  1149.  
  1150. Giles, Linda L. “Possession Cults on the Swahili Coast: A Re-examination of Theories of Marginality.” Africa 57.2 (1987): 234–258.
  1151.  
  1152. DOI: 10.2307/1159823Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1153.  
  1154. A critical study that demonstrates the complex cultural strands interwoven within Swahili Islam and spirit possession. See also McIntosh 2009 and el-Zein 1974. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  1155.  
  1156. Find this resource:
  1157.  
  1158.  
  1159. Levtzion, Nehemia, and Randall L. Pouwels, eds. The History of Islam in Africa. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2000.
  1160.  
  1161. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1162.  
  1163. An authoritative collection on African Islam. See especially “The Indian Ocean and the Red Sea” by Michael Pearson (pp. 37–59) and “The East African Coast, c. 780–1900 C.E.” by Randall Pouwels (pp. 251–271) for the spread of Islam throughout the Indian Ocean and the development of Swahili Islam.
  1164.  
  1165. Find this resource:
  1166.  
  1167.  
  1168. McIntosh, Janet. The Edge of Islam: Power, Personhood, and Ethno-religious Boundaries on the Kenya Coast. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2009.
  1169.  
  1170. DOI: 10.1215/9780822390961Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1171.  
  1172. An ethnographic study of religious interactions among Muslim Swahili and traditional Giriama in Malindi, revealing the complex ways that coastal peoples have long interacted in culturally pluralistic worlds while maintaining their own distinctiveness. Cf. Giles 1987.
  1173.  
  1174. Find this resource:
  1175.  
  1176.  
  1177. Nimtz, August. Islam and Politics in East Africa: The Sufi Order in Tanzania. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1980.
  1178.  
  1179. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1180.  
  1181. Traces the role of the mystical Qadiri Sufi order in Tanzania that was important in propagating the faith inland from Bagamoyo and in the development of the nationalist movement.
  1182.  
  1183. Find this resource:
  1184.  
  1185.  
  1186. Pouwels, Randall L. Horn and Crescent: Cultural Change and Traditional Islam on the East African Coast, 800–1900. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
  1187.  
  1188. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511523885Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1189.  
  1190. Discusses the long process of the diffusion of Islam along the Swahili coast using both European and Arabic sources.
  1191.  
  1192. Find this resource:
  1193.  
  1194.  
  1195. el-Zein, Abdul Hamid M. The Sacred Meadows: A Structural Analysis of Religious Symbolism in an East African Town. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1974.
  1196.  
  1197. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1198.  
  1199. A penetrating study of religious conflict and syncretism in an important Muslim center in Lamu. See also Giles 1987 and McIntosh 2009.
  1200.  
  1201. Find this resource:
  1202.  
  1203.  
  1204. Arts and Music
  1205. Swahili arts range from traditional dances (ngoma), taarab music, poetry, and spiritual treatments to modern pop music. Gearhart 2005 delineates the roles of traditional music and dance, while Askew 2002 and Fair 2001 explore modern innovations to taarab, and Eisenberg 2012 looks at hip-hop in Mombasa. Arnold 2008 examines Swahili art, Beckerleg 1994 medical epistemology, Kresse 2007 ideas of public morality, political identity, and Islamic reform, and Presholdt 2008 19th-century consumerism. (See also Oxford Bibliographies article on Swahili Language and Literature.)
  1206.  
  1207. Arnold, Marion, ed. Art in Eastern Africa. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Mkuki na Nyota, 2008.
  1208.  
  1209. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1210.  
  1211. Studies of traditional and modern African aesthetics by East African artists and scholars. Includes articles on Swahili art by Abdul Sheriff, aesthetics by Farouk Topan, and kanga cloth by Farouque Abdela.
  1212.  
  1213. Find this resource:
  1214.  
  1215.  
  1216. Askew, Kelly M. Performing the Nation: Swahili Music and Cultural Politics in Tanzania. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
  1217.  
  1218. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1219.  
  1220. An innovative study of the roles of Swahili taarab music and dance in Tanzanian nationalism by an anthropologist who herself became a performer. Includes a CD.
  1221.  
  1222. Find this resource:
  1223.  
  1224.  
  1225. Beckerleg, Susan. Medical Pluralism and Islam in Swahili Communities in Kenya.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly n.s. 8.3 (1994): 299–313.
  1226.  
  1227. DOI: 10.1525/maq.1994.8.3.02a00030Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1228.  
  1229. As one man seeks a cure for an illness, his quest is informed by religious ideology, Swahili identity, medical pluralism, concepts of legitimacy and power, and Islamic reform.
  1230.  
  1231. Find this resource:
  1232.  
  1233.  
  1234. Eisenberg, Andrew J. “Hip-hop and Cultural Citizenship on Kenya’s Swahili Coast.” Africa: 82.4 (2012): 556–578.
  1235.  
  1236. DOI: 10.1017/S0001972012000502Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1237.  
  1238. Views Mombasa hip-hop as a popular expression of the alienation of coastal Swahili and the Indian Ocean world from the rest of Kenya.
  1239.  
  1240. Find this resource:
  1241.  
  1242.  
  1243. Fair, Laura J. Pastimes and Politics: Culture, Community, and Identity in Post-Abolition Urban Zanzibar, 1890–1945. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2001.
  1244.  
  1245. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1246.  
  1247. Studies in gender, class, dress, football, and music in colonial-era Zanzibar.
  1248.  
  1249. Find this resource:
  1250.  
  1251.  
  1252. Gearhart, Rebecca. “Ngoma Memories: How Ritual Music and Dance Shaped the Northern Kenya Coast.” African Studies Review 48.3 (2005): 21–47.
  1253.  
  1254. DOI: 10.1353/arw.2006.0016Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1255.  
  1256. Competitive dance performances are seen as important ways to gain status, establish identity, negotiate difference, communicate with the spirits, and advance through life.
  1257.  
  1258. Find this resource:
  1259.  
  1260.  
  1261. Kresse, Kai. Philosophizing in Mombasa: Knowledge, Islam and Intellectual Practice on the Swahili Coast. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007.
  1262.  
  1263. DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627868.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1264.  
  1265. An ethnographic study of three public intellectuals in Mombasa and their ideas about religious morality, political secession, and reformist Islam in the later 20th century.
  1266.  
  1267. Find this resource:
  1268.  
  1269.  
  1270. Presholdt, Jeremy. Domesticating the World: African Consumerism and the Genealogies of Globalization. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.
  1271.  
  1272. DOI: 10.1525/california/9780520254244.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1273.  
  1274. An innovative study of the impact of globalization in the form of consumer goods on coastal societies during the 19th century.
  1275.  
  1276. Find this resource:
  1277.  
  1278.  
  1279. Language
  1280. Swahili is one of the most widely spoken languages in Africa today, with an expansive vocabulary and rich literature (see the related Oxford Bibliographies article Swahili Language and Literature).
  1281.  
  1282. Historical Studies
  1283. The Swahili language first emerged late in the 1st millennium among people living along the East African coast (Nurse and Hinnebusch 1993) and spread subsequently with the expansion of trade. By the 19th century, its use had spread inland along the trade routes through Kenya and Tanzania as far as the Congo, and, during the 20th century, the British adopted it as the official national language in colonial Tanganyika and Zanzibar (Whiteley 1969, Mazrui and Shariff 1994, Mazrui and Mazrui 1995).
  1284.  
  1285. Mazrui, Ali A., and Alamin M. Mazrui. Swahili State and Society: The Political Economy of an African Language. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Educational, 1995.
  1286.  
  1287. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1288.  
  1289. A political and economic history of the development and spread of Swahili in the 20th century.
  1290.  
  1291. Find this resource:
  1292.  
  1293.  
  1294. Mazrui, Alamin M., and Ibrahim Noor Shariff. The Swahili: Idiom and Identity of an African People. Trenton, NJ: Africa World, 1994.
  1295.  
  1296. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1297.  
  1298. An impassioned critique of Swahili language, literature, and dispossession in colonial and postcolonial Kenya by two leading Swahili scholars.
  1299.  
  1300. Find this resource:
  1301.  
  1302.  
  1303. Nurse, Derek, and Thomas J. Hinnebusch. Swahili and Sabaki: A Linguistic History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
  1304.  
  1305. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1306.  
  1307. A comprehensive and authoritative study of the historical development of Swahili and related Sabaki languages.
  1308.  
  1309. Find this resource:
  1310.  
  1311.  
  1312. Whiteley, Wilfred H. Swahili: The Rise of a National Language. Studies in African History 3. London: Methuen, 1969.
  1313.  
  1314. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1315.  
  1316. Traces the development of Swahili as a modern lingua franca that spread throughout eastern Africa during the 19th and 20th centuries.
  1317.  
  1318. Find this resource:
  1319.  
  1320.  
  1321. Dictionaries and Courses
  1322. Johnson 1992a, Johnson 1992b, and Sacleux 1939 remain important lexical sources for classical Swahili. Akida, et al. 1981 is an important source for the modern language, now widely spoken throughout eastern Africa, and the Kamusi Project provides a continually updated Internet source for modern vocabulary. Hinnebusch and Mirza 1998 is an excellent text for learning Swahili.
  1323.  
  1324. Akida, Hamisi, et al., eds. Kamusi ya Kiswahili Sanifu. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Oxford University Press, 1981.
  1325.  
  1326. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1327.  
  1328. The official Tanzanian Swahili–Swahili dictionary developed by the Institute of Kiswahili Research at the University of Dar es Salaam.
  1329.  
  1330. Find this resource:
  1331.  
  1332.  
  1333. Hinnebusch, Thomas J., and Sarah M. Mirza. Swahili: A Foundation for Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Washington, DC: University Press of America, 1998.
  1334.  
  1335. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1336.  
  1337. A well-regarded text for learning Swahili.
  1338.  
  1339. Find this resource:
  1340.  
  1341.  
  1342. Johnson, Frederick. A Standard English–Swahili Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992a.
  1343.  
  1344. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1345.  
  1346. The standard English–Swahili dictionary, first published in 1939. See also Sacleux 1939.
  1347.  
  1348. Find this resource:
  1349.  
  1350.  
  1351. Johnson, Frederick. A Standard Swahili–English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992b.
  1352.  
  1353. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1354.  
  1355. The standard Swahili–English dictionary, first published in 1939. See also Sacleux 1939.
  1356.  
  1357. Find this resource:
  1358.  
  1359.  
  1360. KamusiGOLD: The Global Online Living Dictionary. Edited by Martin Benjamin.
  1361.  
  1362. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1363.  
  1364. A continually updated, online Swahili–English and English–Swahili Dictionary that includes many of the new terms, generated by modern Swahili speakers.
  1365.  
  1366. Find this resource:
  1367.  
  1368.  
  1369. Sacleux, Charles. Dictionnaire Swahili–Français. Paris: Institut d’ethnologie, 1939.
  1370.  
  1371. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1372.  
  1373. An important historical dictionary. See also Johnson 1992a and Johnson 1992b.
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