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 Periodical article |
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| Title: | Early Swahili History Reconsidered |
| Author: | Spear, Thomas T. |
| Year: | 2000 |
| Periodical: | International Journal of African Historical Studies |
| Volume: | 33 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 257-290 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | East Africa |
| Subjects: | Swahili history History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
| External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/220649 |
| Abstract: | The identity and history of the Swahili-speaking peoples of the East African coast have long been contentious, and they continue to be so today. In 1985, Derek Nurse and the present author analysed these conflicting historical claims in the light of the archaeological, linguistic and historical evidence available to propose a new interpretative framework for viewing Swahili history, largely in terms of internal forces. Since that time, some 270 books, theses and articles on Swahili history have appeared. The present article reviews this literature and reassesses the state of East African coastal historiography. It pays attention to the bases of Swahili culture, the archaeology of early Swahili societies, archaeological evidence on coast/hinterland relations, historical linguistics, middlemen societies, historical documents, the role of the East African coast in the wider Indian Ocean, and the rise of Swahili towns. In appraising the contributions of the new work as a whole, the author finds two contrasting images of Swahili history: one continuous and inclusive, the other discontinuous and exclusive. In terms of the former, Swahili appear to share a common cultural tradition, language and history and constitute a single maritime civilization; in terms of the latter, Swahili appear as different groups of people adapted to the coastal environment. Seen thus, each town was distinctive and autonomous. However, these two images are not irreconcilable, and over the 'longue durée' the fundamental outlines of Swahili history are now well established. Notes, ref. (Comment by Randall Lee Pouwels in: International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 34, no. 3 (2001), p. 639-646.) |
