Swahili (society)
As Swahili or Swahili is called a cosmopolitan, composed of a variety of cities company whose trading activities the entire coast of East Africa dominated for centuries. The term Swahili is derived from the Arabic word sawāḥilī ("coastal inhabitant") and only became an ethnonym in the 19th century . Inhabitants of the coastal regions originally referred to themselves as Arabs or Omani , another name was the term Zanj or Zenj (Arabic for 'black'). Swahili society was pluralistic, but there was hierarchy based on ethnic origin. Society defined itself through Islam, the language and the urban culture. However, there was never a formation of states. It had a merchant character, presumably due to its geographical location in the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean, and had relationships with various other cultures such as the Somali , the Indians and the Europeans .
Transportation and relationships with other companies
The earliest Swahili settlements date back to 100 BC. Dated to AD 400. They lived as shepherds, robbers / pirates or farmers. They knew early on how to work iron. The Swahili used dhows , small boats with which they used waterways in the monsoon season to conduct transcontinental trade. Through them Asian rice, coconuts, bananas, millet, domestic chicken and goats reached Africa. The existence of the Swahili Society has been documented by historical, written sources since around the first millennium. There is, for example, a mention in the Periplus Maris Erythraei as the Azan coast , a navigational travel guide for seafarers written in Greek . There were immigrants to Swahili society, for example, from Indonesia (via Madagascar ), from Arabia and Persia, and the Swahili were also the first society that had extensive contact with Europeans, namely the Portuguese . An Indian diaspora has lived within Swahili society for over 1000 years , and its members never saw themselves as Swahili. Many stranded sailors from countries such as Persia and China lived on Lamu Island .
economy
Swahili's prosperity was based on trade. On the one hand, they acted as middlemen for goods from inland Africa such as gold, tortoiseshell and rock crystal, from the 18th century especially for ivory and slaves. On the other hand, they were firmly involved in international trade from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. The impulses from trade also boosted the local economy. Such was Mogadishu famous for the production of valuable cotton fabrics, shipyards emerged in many cities, Zanzibar and Kilwa talked mints. In addition, the Swahili operated horticulture, grain plantations, livestock, some gold mines and various crafts. In the 19th century, Zanzibar became rich primarily because of its extensive clove plantations , but also as a hub for the intensive caravan trade as far as the Congo. The caravans from the coast were feared because of their slave robbery, Swahili was known for centuries among Africans as the language of the slave traders and therefore had a bad reputation.
Urban culture
The cities of the Swahili were famous throughout the Indian Ocean for its wealth and flourishing culture. Mombasa, Lamu, Zanzibar City or Bagamoyo still bear witness to this past today. Typical for Swahili cities was the separation into parts and the combative competition between these parts of the city, for example through dance groups.
The Tanzanian poet, author and essayist Shaaban Bin Robert , who mainly worked in the city of Tanga , is known as the "Poet Laureate des Swahili".
See also
- Pepo , also Sheitani , is an obsession cult that is widespread in the Swahili culture in all strata of the population
literature
- James de Vere Allen: Swahili Origins: Swahili Culture and the Shungwaya Phenomenon (Eastern African Studies). James Currey, London 1993
- John Middleton: World of Swahili: An African Mercantile Civilization. Yale University Press, New Haven 1994
- Joan Russell: Communicative Competence in a Minority Group: A Sociolinguistic Study of the Swahili-speaking Community in the Old Town, Mombasa. EJ Brill, Leiden 1981
Web links
- Swahili Studies: A Working Bibliography ( Memento January 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive )