the indian ocean trade and swahili society

• • Emergence of city-states along the Indian Ocean coast, known as Swahili states
• • Cultural diversity among Swahili city-states
• • Influence of Islamic religion and Arabic script in Swahili society
• • Profitable trade with Arab and Indian merchants, exchanging goods like rock quartz, ivory, and gold
• • Emphasis on port cities due to the centrality of trade, rather than territorial control
• • Port cities predominantly ruled by kings from wealthy merchant families, though with limited power
• • Merchant communities retaining most power, focused on policies to enhance trade effectiveness
  • Example of Lamu where merchant families collectively made decisions without a king
• • Multicultural society blending Arab and African communities, though not all treated equally
• • Thriving city-states leading Swahili merchant families to build ships, conduct trading expeditions, and establish new settlements along the coast
• politically independents with common social hierarchy

  • put merchant elite above commoners
• deeply influenced by Muslim traders

  • new language, Swahali, emerged
  • hybrid language intermingling among various cultures
• • as a result of Muslim influence, the Swahili states rapidly became Islamic which only increased their integration into the larger Islamic world of trade
  • mostly elite members and government officials converted to Islam