This culture is sometimes referred to as the Swahili culture. The Swahili culture came as a result of mixing the Arab and African customs.  The intermarriages between the Arabs and the Africans gave rise to a new race of people known as the Swahili people. The Swahili people are those who originated the Swahili language. They themselves emerged at the Coast of Kenya and Tanzania; they were originally overwhelmingly Muslim and they had strong cultural links with Coastal African tribes, on the one hand, and the Arabian peninsular, on the other.

Their language, Swahili, was made up of both Bantu and Arabic words which exist up to date.

The people lived in stonehouses. Their palaces and mosques were built in Arabian and Persian styles.

Such buildings were furnished with Persian rugs, bowls and ornaments of porcelain, glass and stone from distant lands. There were also items of African wood, leopard skins, ivory and gold.

The people who occupied these houses dressed in clothes made of silk and cotton. They also wore copper and gold bracelets and bangles.

The people carried out trade by use of barter means. They later adopted use of cowrie shells as a form of currency.

There were plenty of food crops grown around the coast. Sometimes foods such as rice and wheat were imported from distant places to supplement those produced in the area.

The development of the Swahili culture before AD1500

The Swahili culture came as a result of the intermarriage between the Arabs and the Africans. The Swahili culture developed around the thirteenth and the fifteenth century. It was a combination of ideas and practices from the Arabs, Persians and Africans.   

The Swahili were people of a Brown colour, tall and with long hair. They spoke a language called Kiswahili, their words were borrowed from Arabic and Bantu words.

 

The Swahili were (are) largely Muslims by faith. The Swahili built many Mosques for the worship of Allah. They used Arabic style of building i.e. stone houses with flat tops. They used gold, and silver to decorate their houses.

The Swahili dressed in silk and cotton clothes. They also put on copper and gold bangles.      

The Swahili were naturally traders between the interior and the coast and the outside world.

They kept animals like cattle, goats, sheep, and poultry. They grew millet, rice, vegetables and fruits.  Their staple food is or was rice and spices.  The Swahiii planted large farms of banana and coconuts.

They had social classes like rulers, traders, religious leaders, and workers.

Fishing was another important activity among the Swahili.  The Swahili followed the Islamic laws and justice.

The Swahili culture was the strongest culture in all the coastal states.

Effects of Arabs and Persians’ Settlement on East African Coast

The settlement of the newcomers who were mainly Arabs had so many positive and negative effects. Their settlement at the coast started as early as 1290 A.D. The following are the effects of Arab settlement at the coast.

Firstly, there was emergence of new leadership as a result of the outsiders’ settlement on the East African coast. The new comers established control over the African population and in effect became the rulers. They ruled the East African coast up to the time when the Portuguese chased them away in 1498. The Arabs however returned as rulers after the fall of Portuguese rule. These were the Bu-Said and the Mazrui families.

Secondly, there was the growth of towns as one of the effects of the outsiders’ settlement on the East African coast. Arab settlers led to the development of coastal towns such as Kilwa, Mombasa, and Malindi among others. They started as small trading centres that later developed into major ports serving the world up to the present day.

Thirdly, there was intermarriage as a result of the outsiders’ settlement on the East African coast. Their intermarriage with Africans gave rise to a new race of people known as the “Swahili”.

The fourth effect was the development of Swahili culture. Their settlement on the coast gave rise to the development of the Swahili culture. This was as a result of intermarriage between the natives and the Arabs.

The development of Swahili language was another effect of the outsiders’ settlement on the East African coast. With time Swahili language replaced Arabic as the most spoken language at the coast. Swahili is currently spoken as a lingua Franca in the three East African countries, Rwanda, Congo, Somalia and many other parts of Africa. While the basic foundation of the Kiswahili language was Bantu African, the language quite early demonstrated readiness to borrow extensively from Arabic.  Sometimes the configuration of Arabic and Bantu African concepts constituted a remarkable balancing act as can be seen below:

BANTU                                                                                   ARABIC_

North and South (Kusini and                                      East and West (Mashariki na

Kaskazini – Bantu)                                  Magharibi: Arabic)

Economics: Uchumi (Bantu)                                        Politics: Siasa (Arabic)

Parliament: Bunge (Bantu)                                         President: Raisi (Arabic)

Ambassador: Balozi (Bantu)                                       Minister: Waziri (Arabic)

Salt: Chumvi or Munyu (Bantu)                                 Sugar:  Sukari (Arabic)

God: Mungu (Bantu)                                                   Angel: Malaika (Arabic)

Strength: Nguvu (Bantu)                                            Health: Afiya (Arabic)

Slavery: Utumwa (Bantu)                                           Freedom: Uhuru (Arabic)

Maternal Uncle: Mjomba (Bantu)                                Paternal Uncle: Ami (Arabic)   

Paternal Aunt: Shangazi (Bantu)                               Maternal Aunt: Khalati (Arabic)

Meat: Nyama (Bantu)                                                 Fish: Samaki (Arabic)

River: Mto (Bantu)                                                      Sea or Ocean: Bahari (Arabic)

One, two, three, four five: Moja, mbili,                       Six, seven, nine: Sita, Saba, Tisa  (Arabic)

Tatu, nne, tano (Bantu)                                             Twenty to a hundred

Ten: Kumi (Bantu)            :                                        shirimi Mpaka mia (Arabic)

 Source: Professor Ali Mzrui  ( 1999)                                                                       

The espousal of Arab culture is one of the effects of the outsiders’ settlement on the East African coast. Africans copied Arab culture for instance the culture of burial, feeding and dressing. Africans copied the outsiders’ styles and started dressing in fine silk and cotton clothes.

New methods of architecture and housing that came up were one of the effects of the outsiders’ settlement on the East African coast. Africans started building houses of wood and later in stone and bricks like the new comers. In interacting with both Arab and Indian civilizations, Swahili architecture and systems of decoration were affected.  Elaborately carved Lamu doors, copper decorated chests, ivory decorated Lamu thrones, entered Swahili decorative worlds – as well as beautiful copper coffee pots and the small coffee cups.

In the creative synthesis Swahili culture helped to Africanize the tabla (Indian drum) for events which have ranged from tarabu (Swahili concert) to maulidi (celebrating the Prophet’s birthday), alongside matari (dancing drums with small bells attached).  Creative synthesis also incorporated into Kiswahili several food cuisines.  Swahili cuisine seeks to incorporate such South Asian dishes as pilau, biriani, and chapatti – none of which are identical with the Indian varieties.  Some of the spices carry Arab names rather than Indian – such as bizari for curry powder and thumu or thomo for garlic.

Africans were converted to Islam as a result of the outsiders’ settlement on the East African coast. Islamic practices such as fasting during the month of Ramadhan and Juma prayers were common. Slaughtering cows for meat also became a monopoly of Moslems. However, the spread of Islam in the interior was sluggish because people feared circumcision.

Trade developed and increased cowrie shells came into use as money.

New foodstuffs such as rice and wheat were made available at the coast and other parts of East Africa. Coconut, clove and banana plantations were established on most islands of East Africa.

New commodities appeared and were used in East Africa because of the outsiders’ settlement on the East African coast. As a result of the above trade, new commodities were brought in East Africa. They included; silk and cotton clothes, glass, and beads.

Also long distance trade in the interior of East Africa developed as a result of the settlement of Arabs at the coast. This is because new items for this trade were brought from the Far East.

Arabs and Asiatic settlers developed cottage industries like cloth weaving, pottery, boat construction among others along the coast of East Africa.

Arabs increased the population of Asiatic races and the general population at the East African coast.

Slave trade increased as a result of the of the outsiders’ settlement on the East African coast. Rich Arabs demanded slaves for domestic work as well being exported to other countries in the name of slave trade.

There was too much displacement of Africans from their original homes. Arabs displaced local people and took over their homelands.

Inter tribal wars increased as a result of the outsiders’ settlement on the East African coast. The Arabs brought guns and other ammunitions that increased the rate of intertribal wars and tribes raiding each other for slaves.

Arab settlement at the East African coast brought about warfare.  Coastal towns often fought each other in order to control trade.