XIIIᵉ siècle – XVᵉ siècle
East African coast from southern Somalia to southeastern Africa
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The Swahili coastal city-states were Muslim urban communities that prospered along the East African coast during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Each town was generally ruled by an independent shaykh or sultan and participated in maritime and hinterland trade. Their societies combined Arab-African ruling and merchant elites, dependent African laborers, and transient Arab or Persian residents, while their architecture, Islam and Swahili language formed a distinctive coastal culture.
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Le récit
During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, numerous towns along the East African coast achieved modest or considerable prosperity. By the fifteenth century they were Muslim communities, as shown by their mosques and graves, and their inhabitants probably spoke an ancestral form of Swahili. Each town appears to have been ruled by an independent shaykh or sultan, making the coast a network of city-states rather than a single unified kingdom.
The principal centers included Kilwa, Mogadishu, Mombasa, Malindi and settlements in the Lamu archipelago, while lesser communities extended toward Kismayu, the Bajun islands and the southern coast. Coastal towns were sharply differentiated from neighboring hinterland peoples, who were described as living by hunting, food collecting or, in some areas, agriculture. Relations varied: agreements and symbiotic alliances existed in some regions, while raids and hostility are also recorded.
The towns were socially stratified. Ruling groups were usually of mixed Arab and African ancestry and included landowners, merchants, religious functionaries and artisans. Pure-blooded Africans, probably including people captured in mainland raids and held in slavery, cultivated fields and performed menial tasks. Transient or recently settled Arabs, and perhaps Persians, formed a distinct group that was not yet fully assimilated into coastal society.
Most city-states probably had a single ruler. Mogadishu, originally a republic, was ruled by a shaykh by the thirteenth century, assisted by officials and a council. Kilwa likewise had a sultan drawn from one family except during usurpations, with a qadi, an amir and a vizier among the principal officials. The excerpt does not clarify how succession was decided, although some sultans appear to have designated their successors.
The towns followed an irregular urban pattern rather than an overall plan. Narrow streets filled the spaces between closely built houses, and the Friday mosque served as the community’s main focus even when hemmed in by surrounding buildings. Larger houses used coral stone and hard lime mortar, while smaller settlements generally had mud-and-wattle houses with roofs of coconut-palm leaves or palm fronds. Mosques and monumental tombs were often the main stone structures in smaller towns.
The coastal towns generally adhered to Sunni Islam and the Shafi'i school. Kilwa had earlier followed the Shafi'i school, temporarily adopted the Khariji school in the period of Ibn al-Mujawir, and had returned to Shafi'i practice by Ibn Battuta’s visit in 1352. Religious life also included Sharifs from the Hejaz, whom the sultan supported through a share of booty acquired in raids against mainland pagans.
Coastal commerce connected the city-states with Arabia, the Persian Gulf, India Ocean routes and the African interior. Trade with the mainland probably relied on barter, while exports may have involved both barter and bullion. Except around the Zambezi, there is little evidence for significant Muslim penetration into the interior; goods from farther inland likely moved through successive village-to-village exchanges before reaching the coast.
The towns’ relationships with nearby African communities were not uniformly coercive. The Book of the Zanj describes Arab immigrants and Zanj communities entering reciprocal patronage arrangements, with African patrons providing support and Arabs offering military protection. A later association between Miji Kenda tribes and Arab groups at Mombasa provides a comparable example. The excerpt nevertheless records raids by Kilwa against mainland tribes and stresses that relations south of Mombasa are less clearly documented.
The coastal city-states were generally not heavily fortified before the sixteenth century, apart from some defensive works in the northern region. Island settlements benefited from the sea as a natural defense, and the towns appear not to have maintained permanent military or naval forces. When mobilized, their weapons included bows, arrows, spears and light shields, with no apparent use of gunpowder.
XIIIᵉ siècle – XVᵉ siècle
East African coast from southern Somalia to southeastern Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Swahili coastal city-states were Muslim urban communities that prospered along the East African coast during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Each town was generally ruled by an independent shaykh or sultan and participated in maritime and hinterland trade. Their societies combined Arab-African ruling and merchant elites, dependent African laborers, and transient Arab or Persian residents, while their architecture, Islam and Swahili language formed a distinctive coastal culture.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, numerous towns along the East African coast achieved modest or considerable prosperity. By the fifteenth century they were Muslim communities, as shown by their mosques and graves, and their inhabitants probably spoke an ancestral form of Swahili. Each town appears to have been ruled by an independent shaykh or sultan, making the coast a network of city-states rather than a single unified kingdom.
The principal centers included Kilwa, Mogadishu, Mombasa, Malindi and settlements in the Lamu archipelago, while lesser communities extended toward Kismayu, the Bajun islands and the southern coast. Coastal towns were sharply differentiated from neighboring hinterland peoples, who were described as living by hunting, food collecting or, in some areas, agriculture. Relations varied: agreements and symbiotic alliances existed in some regions, while raids and hostility are also recorded.
The towns were socially stratified. Ruling groups were usually of mixed Arab and African ancestry and included landowners, merchants, religious functionaries and artisans. Pure-blooded Africans, probably including people captured in mainland raids and held in slavery, cultivated fields and performed menial tasks. Transient or recently settled Arabs, and perhaps Persians, formed a distinct group that was not yet fully assimilated into coastal society.
Most city-states probably had a single ruler. Mogadishu, originally a republic, was ruled by a shaykh by the thirteenth century, assisted by officials and a council. Kilwa likewise had a sultan drawn from one family except during usurpations, with a qadi, an amir and a vizier among the principal officials. The excerpt does not clarify how succession was decided, although some sultans appear to have designated their successors.
The towns followed an irregular urban pattern rather than an overall plan. Narrow streets filled the spaces between closely built houses, and the Friday mosque served as the community’s main focus even when hemmed in by surrounding buildings. Larger houses used coral stone and hard lime mortar, while smaller settlements generally had mud-and-wattle houses with roofs of coconut-palm leaves or palm fronds. Mosques and monumental tombs were often the main stone structures in smaller towns.
The coastal towns generally adhered to Sunni Islam and the Shafi'i school. Kilwa had earlier followed the Shafi'i school, temporarily adopted the Khariji school in the period of Ibn al-Mujawir, and had returned to Shafi'i practice by Ibn Battuta’s visit in 1352. Religious life also included Sharifs from the Hejaz, whom the sultan supported through a share of booty acquired in raids against mainland pagans.
Coastal commerce connected the city-states with Arabia, the Persian Gulf, India Ocean routes and the African interior. Trade with the mainland probably relied on barter, while exports may have involved both barter and bullion. Except around the Zambezi, there is little evidence for significant Muslim penetration into the interior; goods from farther inland likely moved through successive village-to-village exchanges before reaching the coast.
The towns’ relationships with nearby African communities were not uniformly coercive. The Book of the Zanj describes Arab immigrants and Zanj communities entering reciprocal patronage arrangements, with African patrons providing support and Arabs offering military protection. A later association between Miji Kenda tribes and Arab groups at Mombasa provides a comparable example. The excerpt nevertheless records raids by Kilwa against mainland tribes and stresses that relations south of Mombasa are less clearly documented.
The coastal city-states were generally not heavily fortified before the sixteenth century, apart from some defensive works in the northern region. Island settlements benefited from the sea as a natural defense, and the towns appear not to have maintained permanent military or naval forces. When mobilized, their weapons included bows, arrows, spears and light shields, with no apparent use of gunpowder.
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