Table of Contents
What linked Swahili city-states?
The rise of the Swahili coast city-states can be largely attributed to the region’s extensive participation in a trade network that spanned the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean’s trade network has been likened to that of the Silk Road, with many destinations being linked through trade.
Why were the Swahili city-states so successful?
These city-states truly achieved international trade dominance around 1350 CE, after they had all converted to Islam. Muslim merchants controlled the world’s most extensive inland and maritime trade routes, and the Swahili city-states had attracted a large number of Persian merchants looking to expand.
What helped the Swahili civilization thrive?
Swahili Civilization flourished from around 11th-century CE to the 16th-century CE on the eastern coast of Africa. Commerce helped this culture to thrive, as well as the spread of Islam and the development of the Swahili language.
What helped the African city-states develop?
Growth. One of the root causes of the growth of city-states in this part of Africa was the migration of the Bantu-speaking people from the Sahara and Sahel regions of Africa. By 1000 C.E., they had developed bustling agricultural communities in the fertile strip of land along Africa’s East coast.
How did Swahili city-states develop?
The Swahili city-states growth was due largely to the increase in trade along the Indian Ocean Basin. Merchants traded gold, slaves and ivory for pottery, glassware, and textiles from Persia, India and China. City-states were governed by kings, who controlled the trade, as well as the taxes.
Who did the Swahili city-states trade with?
At their height from the 12th to 15th century, the Swahili Coast city-states traded with African tribes as far afield as Zimbabwe as well as the period’s great trading nations across the Indian Ocean in Arabia, Persia, India, and China.
How did the Swahili city-states impact trade?
Finally, Swahili city-states also manufactured goods for both their own residents and for trade such as pottery, cloth, and highly decorated siwa, the typical brass trumpet of the region. Goods from Africa included: Precious metals – gold, iron, and copper. Ivory.
When did Swahili city-states emerge?
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.
What role did the Swahili city-states play in the economy of the 1450 1750 time period?
What did Swahili city-states trade?
The city-states were independent sultanates, although they shared a common language (Swahili) and religion (Islam). They traded across the Indian Ocean for items, such as pottery, silks, and glassware.
Where did the Swahili city states trade with each other?
From roughly 1000-1500 CE, the extensive maritime trade that connected China to the Red Sea was dominated by the Swahili city-states, trading cities along Africa’s east coast. These trading cities operated as their own governments and traded in practically every product that could be found between Africa and Asia.
How did the Swahili people influence other cultures?
Around the 8th century, the Swahili people began trading with the Arab, Persian, Indian, Chinese, and Southeast Asian peoples—a process known as the Indian Ocean trade. As a consequence of long-distance trading routes crossing the Indian Ocean, the Swahili were influenced by Arabic, Persian, Indian, and Chinese cultures.
When did the Swahili city states become Islamic?
These city-states truly achieved international trade dominance around 1350 CE, after they had all converted to Islam. Muslim merchants controlled the world’s most extensive inland and maritime trade routes, and the Swahili city-states had attracted a large number of Persian merchants looking to expand.
Why did the Portuguese destroy Swahili coastal towns?
In conquering Swahili towns, the Portuguese destroyed and looted many buildings. The Portuguese were searching for gold and ivory and knew that the Eastern coast was rich in these. Ivory and gold was used to decorate buildings in Swahili coastal towns.