Swahili Culture

The Swahili culture refers to an important and influential trading culture, based on the eastern coast of Africa, beginning in the 6th century AD and continuing up until the 15th century Portuguese colonization. The Swahili Coast, as the region is called, was the base of extensive trade imports and architecture of stone and coral, where people lived as traders, farmers and fishers.

Swahili Culture Guide
The cultures of the Swahili coast were international traders, and a sophisticated, literate blend of Islamic and African cultural traits.

Swahili Chronology
A description of the rise of the Swahili traders on the eastern coast of Africa, a list of sultans and a timeline of important events.

Kilwa Chronicle
The Kilwa Chronicle is a (somewhat unreliable) historical genealogy of the Shirazi dynasty of the Swahili Culture.

Kilwa Coins
Kilwa coins are metal objects minted by Swahili Islamic sultans on the eastern coast of Africa between the 11th and 15th centuries AD.

Swahili Towns
The towns of the Swahili coast were made up of stonehouses--elaborate buildings for leaders and traders made of quarried rock and coral--and wattle and daub structures for the majority of the population.

Swahili Economy
Elites of the Swahili society maintained large homes based on international trade: the non-elites were involved in a smaller way, and were farmers and fishers.

Swahili Coast Bibliography
This bibliography includes books and articles used to create the Guide to the Swahili Culture, a feature on About.com describing the medieval traders of the eastern coast of Africa called the Swahili Coast.

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