1

EAST AFRICAN COASTAL HISTORICAL TOWNS

Asiatic or African?
Jacob L. Kimaryo*
A Paper Presented to the Conference: U-landsforskning 2000, January 13-15, 2000, University
of Gteborg, Sweden

Abstract
The East African coast is dotted with ruined and extant historical towns of significant cultural importance. Albeit the builders and
inhabitants of these towns are known to have been the Swahili, who these historic people were in terms of their origin has been a
matter of serious debate since the beginning of the 20th century. So far two perspectives have emerged out of this debate, which
respectively advocate for Asiatic and African ancestries of the historic Swahili. This paper makes a critical review of the two
perspectives about the founders and dwellers of East African coastal historical towns. The review shows that the Asiatic
perspective is based on colonial deliberate falsification of African history, and to certain extents limited historical understanding
about the East African coast. The African perspective on the contrary, is founded on credible evidence from historical records and
recent archaeological findings and interpretations. The evidence strongly suggests that historical Swahili people are descendants
of Bantu and Cushitic speaking people who settled along the East African coast in the first millennium. These Africans are
believed to have attained a common cultural and linguistic base hence became Swahili per se around the 11th century through the
medium of Islam. This cultural and linguistic transformation is believed to have originated in Shungwaya alias Shirazi in the
northern coast of Kenya from where it spread southwards to the rest of the East African coast. To conclude, the review shows that
although some non-Africans particularly Arabs and Persians were absorbed into Swahili population over the different historical
epochs of the East African coast, historic Swahili people remained decidedly African in ancestry and culture.
Keywords: East Africa, historical towns, Swahili origins, Tanzania, Swahili towns, Kenya

Introduction
The East African coast which stretches more than a thousand kilometres from the northern end
of Kenya to the southern end of Tanzania, is dotted with ruined and extant historical towns of
significant cultural importance. The builders and inhabitants of these towns have generally been
referred to as the Swahili (Sk, 1970; Sutton, 1992; Allen, 1982, 1993; Fage, 1995; Horton,
1996; Romero, 1997; Chami, 1998; etc.). However, what constitutes this population group in
terms of origin thus ethnic composition in different historical epochs of the East African coast
has so far been a matter of serious debate since the beginning of the 20th century. Out of this
debate, two perspectives about the identity of historic Swahili have emerged which advocate for
Asiatic and African ancestries respectively. This paper which is based on an ongoing research
project financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), makes
a critical review of the two perspectives about the founders and dwellers of East African coastal
historical towns. It is expected that the review would contribute to more understanding about the
realisation and evolution of Swahili as a cultural population group and builders of East African
coastal historical towns.

Dr Jacob Kimaryo is an Urban Planning Consultant based in Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: kimaryoconsult@gmail.com

Copyright 2015 Jacob Kimaryo Consultancy. Registered in Sweden by Bolagsverket. All Rights Reserved

Asiatic Perspective: Swahili as Predominantly Asiatic

Proponents of this view, e.g. Coupland (1956), Hollingsworth (1951), Kickman (1963, 1974),
Chittick (1965, 1984), etc., see the historical Swahili as consisting of people of Arabic and
Persian origin and from intermarriages between the Asians and African women.
Coupland (1956) portrayed the whole of historic East African coast as a colony of immigrants
from the Middle East. Coupland further observed that, indigenous inhabitants of the region were
relegated to the roles of wives and slaves for the immigrants. Earlier, Hollingsworth (1951) had
alleged an existence of a Persian or Arab-Persian Empire called Zenj Empire along the East
African coast before the 15th century. Accordingly, he argued that civilization that took place in
the region during that time was inherent in the Asian settlers. Coupland and Hollingsworth
observations were based purely on historical and cultural narratives and assumptions.
The Asiatic perspective was supported further by Kirkman (1963, 1964), and Chittick (1965,
1984). Kirkman (1963) in correlating physical evidence from his archaeological excavations in
Gedi and other sites of historical towns along the Kenyan coast with cultural and historical
narratives concluded that the sites were Arabic colonial settlements. A year later, James
Kirkman in his Men and Monuments on the East African Coast, reiterated the Asiatic view as
thus:
The historical monuments of East Africa belong, not to the Africans but to Arabs and Arabised Persians, mixed in
blood with the African but in culture utterly apart from the Africans who surround them. (Kirkman, 1964)

A similar historical interpretation was suggested by Neville Chittick in his archaeological works
in Kilwa Kisiwani (Chittick, 1965) and Manda in the Lamu archipelago (Chittick, 1984).
In Kilwa Kisiwani, Chittick implied Asiatic connection of the towns inhabitants from the names
of a number of Kilwa rulers engraved on excavated locally minted coins. On the basis of
dynastic history, he claimed that the rulers were from a Persian city called Shiraz. To Chittick,
Kilwa Kisiwani was a Persian colonial settlement. He argued that the Persians had a period of
settlement in southern Somalia before they landed in Kilwa Kisiwani (Horton, 1996). It is
important to note here that for some unknown reasons, Chittick in his later two volumes work on
Kilwa (Chittick, 1974) avoided association of the towns population with Persians. Instead he
advanced the towns population as an amalgamation of Arabs and Africans by which albeit the
latter constituted the greater part of the amalgam, they were however absorbed into the society
as wives, slaves or otherwise (ibid:245). In Manda, Chittick revived his old idea of colonisers
from Shiraz in Persia. That he did on the basis of mainly excavated imported pottery. He
modified the idea a little bit by arguing that, the initial point of settlement of the Shiraz Persians
was not southern Somalia as earlier contended but the Lamu archipelago (Chittick, 1984;
Horton, 1996).
Chitticks position and perhaps that of Hollingsworth on the origin of historic Swahili could
have been partly influenced by the Kilwa Chronicles. The latter is a controversial compilation in
Arabic language of what was essentially an oral-historical composition about Kilwa from its
foundation to about 1550 when the compilation was made. According to the compilation, the
founders of Kilwa originated from Shiraz in the land of Persia. They arrived in Kilwa in a ship
led by Ali bin al-Hasan one of sons of the sultan of Shiraz. The story goes on to suggest that in
addition to the ship that landed in Kilwa there were six other ships each led by one of five other
sons of the sultan and himself. Five of the ships landed in different points along the East African
coast including Mombasa, Pemba, and perhaps Shanga. The last ship landed in the Comoro

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islands. Interestingly, the chronicles gave the reason for the immigration of the whole sultanate
to East Africa as being a bad dream the sultan had which he claimed to have correctly
interpreted as a prophecy of destruction of his country. From the Kilwa Chronicles therefore,
most of the early urban civilisations that sprang along the East African coast before about the
16th century were a result of the immigrants from Shiraz in Persia.
The Asiatic perspective about historical Swahili people has also been defended linguistically.
Most such defences have been centred round a popular assumption that earlier Swahili language
was an ancient mixture of Arabic and Bantu languages (see Horton, 1996).

African Perspective: Swahili as Predominantly African

By denying Africans any significant link with historic Swahili people, the Asiatic perspective
implies that Africans per se had little to do if any with the evolution of historical towns in their
own region. This contradicts sharply with records of ancient travellers and geographers who
visited the East African coast and recent archaeological findings. For example, during his visit to
Mombasa and Kilwa in 1331, Ibn Battuta, a famous Moroccan traveller, described Kilwa as a
large city along the coast whose inhabitants were black meaning Africans (see Sutton, 1990:81).
Ibn Battuta went even further to mentioning that the inhabitants had tattoos on their faces, a
facial feature which is common in a number of Bantu speaking tribes including the Makonde
who resides in the area around Tanzania and Mozambique border which is within very close
proximity of Kilwa. Some Chinese descriptions of inhabitants of early settlements along the East
African coast also indicate strongly that the inhabitants were Africans (see Allen, 1993:21-26).
Perhaps the most interesting and credible evidence against the Asiatic view is founded in
findings from recent archaeological surveys and excavations. For instance, an archaeological
interpretation based on recent archaeological excavations on the Kenyan north coast suggests
that historic Swahili were offspring of a Pastoral-Cushitic group from the Rift Valley and
northern part of Kenya (see Horton, 1984, 1987, 1990; Abungu, 1989, 1994). On the basis of
excavated cattle and camel bones, Horton (1984, 1987) argued that the Pastoral-Cushitic people
founded a number of settlements in the northern coast of Kenya between the 8th and 10th
century. He envisaged that the settlements were market centres that provided opportunity for the
African inhabitants to come into contact with foreign traders. The contact is believed to have
resulted in increased knowledge about trade to the inhabitants and some inter-marriages.
According to Horton, the early coastal Cushitic settlements were the origin of Swahili
urbanisation. From the Kenyan northern coast, it spread southwards to the rest of the East
African coast through Cushitic immigrants or influence.
There is reasonable consensus that some early coastal settlements along the northern coast of
Kenya were of Pastoral-Cushitic origin. However, the theory that there were these settlements
that provided the beginning of Swahili urbanisation for the whole East African coast has been
questioned and even refuted all together (see Chami, 1998; Haaland, 1994; Schmidt, 1994; etc.).
Chami (1998) using materials from recent archaeological surveys and excavations in the central
coast of Tanzania asserted the existence of Bantu settlements along the coast as early as the first
five centuries of the first millennium. He continued that the Bantu settlements evolved between
the 6th and 10th century with changing trading opportunities, new technologies, and population
growth giving rise to a new form of coastal urbanisation that spread to the northern and southern
coasts of East Africa. According to Chami therefore, the early urbanisation along the Kenyan
northern coast was influenced by the Bantu urbanisation in the central coast of Tanzania during
the second half of the first millennium.

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The findings from recent archaeological excavations indeed suggest that the inhabitants of early
settlements along the East African coast during the first millennium were Africans. However,
what have remained unresolved are the conflicting claims about where the early African
urbanisation along the East African coast started and its subsequent spreading to other parts of
the coast. The main argument so far has been on whether it originated in the northern Kenyan
coast or the central Tanzanian coast by Cushitic and Bantu speaking people respectively. My
belief is that such point of influence is unlikely to have existed at that stage of the urbanisation
of the East African coast. In other words, African settlements that existed along the East African
coast before about 10th century are likely to have evolved independently involving different
Bantu and Cushitic groups that had no common cultural or linguistic bases. It is this lack of
common cultural tradition that the African settlers of the early settlements along the East African
coast are not classified as Swahili but rather the precedents of Swahili people.
If as it is now indicated that Swahili people are descendants of the Africans who settled along
the East African coast in the first millennium, the question then is how and when did this process
of metamorphosis from non-Swahili to Swahili took place? How did the identity of Swahili
people evolve over different historical epochs of the East African coast? Why were the African
roots of Swahili people suppressed by the proponents of the Asiatic perspective? These crucial
questions about the builders of East African coastal historical towns would be addressed in the
proceeding sections of this paper.

Realisation and Evolution of Swahili Identity

As indicated elsewhere, e.g. Allen (1993), Chami (1998), etc; pre-Swahili settlements attained a
common cultural and linguistic base hence became Swahili per se with the spread of Islam.
There is some archaeological evidence that suggests existence of some Muslim population along
the East African coast by the 8th century. Horton (1996:419-421) in his recent archaeological
surveys and excavation of Shanga in the Lamu archipelago unveiled a small mosque built at the
town centre during the late 8th century with capacity of accommodating only a fraction of the
town population. Albeit each generation replaced the mosque with a building a little larger thus
indicating a growing Muslim population, the latter still represented a small portion of the overall
town population. Horton drew a logical conclusion that only a small number of Shanga
inhabitants were Muslim by the 8th century and that the few Muslims seem to have been local
traders who converted through contact with overseas merchants. It is very likely that such small
groups of local Muslims existed in other towns along the East African coast during that time as
well. That, however, does not in strict terms make the towns Muslim.
It was from the 11th century onwards, when Islam was introduced in full-scale and consolidated
along the East African coast (Allen, 1993; Romero, 1997; etc.). It is strongly believed that the
first propagators of Islam were a group of citizens of Great Shungwaya, a ruined settlement
opposite Pate Island in Kenya on the northern coast (ibid; Horton, 1996). According to Allen
(1993), the Shungwaya alias Shirazi propagators became Muslim converts after had spent some
time in the Muslim world especially Shiraz in Persia under the Buwayhid rule. On their return
home, they spread their new faith in their homeland and the region as a whole. While the
Shungwaya Muslims could have been inspired with Shiraz Shiite Islam and particularly the
Buwayhid court, on returning home did not adopt Shiite Islam wholesale. Instead they modified
the Middle Eastern Islam to suit the society of Great Shungwaya and other Eastern African
coastal settlements resulting in an East African variant of Islam or what is known as the Shirazi
Islam.

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Naturally, the northern coast was the first to adopt Islam under the influence of the Shungwaya
Muslims. Islam provided the medium to the different African communities to build up a
common cultural tradition and language known as Swahili. By the beginning of the 14th
century, Islam and the inherent Swahili cultural package had spread all over the East African
coast. This point of maturity of Swahili culture and language, is confirmed by the earlier
mentioned Ibn Battuta who during his visit to the East African coast in the early 1330s referred
to the coast as Sawahil country (Allen, 1993:138; Chami, 1998). The early Swahili people were
known as Shirazi Swahili on the virtue of their association with Shirazi Islam and traditions.
Albeit Shirazi Islam originated in northern coast, it was, however, in the southern coast where it
survived and flourished. In the northern coast, Shirazi Islamic system was interrupted almost as
soon as it was adopted, by what is known as the Waungwana system (see Horton, 1996; Allen,
1993). For example, while the Shirazi Islamic system became dominant in Mombasa, Zanzibar,
Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara, in Lamu the Waungwana system replaced it almost totally.

Ethnic Composition
The ethnic composition of Swahili people has changed considerably over time. The early
Swahili population comprised mainly of Africans and perhaps some few mixed people from
short-term sexual relations between African women and foreign traders (see Romero, 1997:3).
The population grew by natural increase and absorption of mainly non-Swahili African
immigrants until the beginning of 14th century, after which time significant numbers of nonAfrican immigrants started getting absorbed. Absorbed non-Africans were mainly Arabs from
Oman. Some Persians were also absorbed but were relatively few in numbers until an influx of
them into Zanzibar in the 18th and 19th century (see Allen, 1993:118). Some Indian immigrants
were also absorbed during the 19th and 20th century particularly in Zanzibar and Mombasa.
Nevertheless, despite this absorption over time of non-African immigrants, Swahili people have
remained decidedly African in ancestry and culture.
So far, I have treated the African ancestry of Swahili people without specification into tribes.
Prior to the 17th century, such specification could only be guessed. This is because nothing
much is known about African tribes along the East African coast before this time due to the fact
that tribes in the region before then did not exist as significant social units (see Allen, 1993:82).
Specifications that have been attempted prior to the 17thcentury have been through relating
recent tribal traditions along the coast to those of pre 17th century Swahili and pre-Swahili
Africans. It is in this way Allen (1993) for example, associated Segeju and Katwa tribes with the
inhabitants of Great Shungwaya hence implying that early Swahili population particularly in the
northern coast could have comprised people or descendants from the two tribes. More reliable
African tribal specification of the Swahili people could only be made from the 17th century
onwards following the evolution of tribal consciousness.

Prejudice and Limited Historical Understanding

At this juncture, one would wonder why the proponents of the Asiatic perspective fell short of
recognising the African roots of the Swahili people. To the largest extent, the reason could be
considered a matter of mere prejudice and perhaps limited historical understanding of the East
African coastal settlements.
The prejudicial background of the Asiatic perspective is rooted in the perception of Africa by
Western imperialists, colonialists and even neo-colonialists who came to the continent during
the 19th and 20th century. Most of the imperialists and colonialists came to Africa with the
conviction that the continent was far behind human progress and had therefore no urban
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civilisation past. Simple arguments like absence of well articulated social structures consisting
let say nobility, bourgeoisie, peasantry and proletariat, were used to rationalise their position.
Accordingly, any remains of such civilisations whenever encountered were simply attributed to
some non-African groups which were deemed to be superior to Africans (see Allen, 1993). This
falsification of African history was embraced in the colonial doctrine with the purpose for
stripping Africans their confidence so as to make them vulnerable to colonial patronisation and
control.
Precursors of the Asiatic perspective most of whom being Westerners themselves, either shared
the above colonial perception of Africa or were influenced by it. Accordingly, their efforts were
more or less geared towards only providing evidence in support of the perception. It is not
surprising therefore that they received greatest intellectual respectability from colonial
administrations in East Africa. Some of their works were even adopted by colonial governments
as standard history textbooks for schools (see ibid). Neither is it surprising that archaeological
excavations and interpretations by some of the precursors, e.g. Chittick (1965, 1984),
deliberately focused only on imported materials. Furthermore, other non-Africans like Arabs and
Persians seized the opportunity provided by the colonial attitude to elevate their status along the
East African coast through fabricating stories and exaggerating their contribution to the coastal
civilisation.
Prejudice that denies Africans ties to their own historical urban spatial forms has been observed
elsewhere, e.g. Elleh (1997). Elleh questions the rationality of associating Egyptian pyramids
with Arabs whilst there is reasonable evidence that their construction took place long before the
Arabic migration into Northern Africa. It is also only after highly publicised evidence from
some recent archaeological works like those by Reisner and Freidrich Hinkel that Sudans
Nubian historical towns along the Nile, e.g. Gebel Barkal and Meroe, were recognised as having
African origins. The archaeological findings in Sudan and particularly contents of tombs,
paintings and engravings in building structures suggested firmly that the rulers - pharaohs of the
ancient Sudanese towns, like Taharka, were Africans. Hitherto these findings, the Sudanese
towns despite their geographical location were unquestionably taken to be Arabic. Even the
ruins of the large stone built complex of Great Zimbabwe in the heart of the African continent
had until recently been regarded as Phoenician (Allen, 1993).
Limited historical understanding has been argued by some more moderate critics of the Asiatic
perspective, e.g. Sutton (1990), as being the cause of its shortcoming. Lack of adequate and
appropriate archaeological data during the largest part of the last century, about historical
settlements along the East African coast has particularly been cited. But again, while this could
have been so, one has to however realise as indicated earlier the contribution of prejudice to the
situation. According to Sutton (1990), in addition to limited historical knowledge, the Asiatic
perspective was also influenced by tendency of some modern time Swahili people of associating
their family trees to imaginary Arabic ancestors. Sutton observes that as follows:
The misapprehension that the Swahili and their cultural history are Arab or half Arab is based on a shallow
historical understanding. The claims of many Swahili families, for reasons of prestige within Muslim society, to a
distant Arab origin have encouraged an exaggerated notion of Arab settlement of the coast in earlier centuries. The
contacts and variety of influences deriving from them are undeniable; yet the Swahili remain an East African people.
(Sutton, 1990:60)

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Concluding Summary
This paper has provided a concise review of the Asiatic and African perspectives about the
origins of historic Swahili people hence the builders of East African coastal historical towns.
Specifically, the review has shown that the Asiatic perspective is based on the colonial
deliberate falsification of African history, and to certain extents limited historical understanding
about the East African coast. The African perspective on the contrary, is founded on credible
evidence from historical records and recent archaeological findings and interpretations. The
evidence strongly suggests that historical Swahili people are descendants of Bantu and Cushitic
speaking people who settled along the East African coast in the first millennium. These Africans
are believed to have attained a common cultural and linguistic base hence became Swahili per se
around the 11th century through the medium of Islam. This cultural and linguistic
transformation is believed to have originated in Shungwaya alias Shirazi in the northern coast of
Kenya from where it spread southwards to the rest of the East African coast. To conclude, the
review has shown that although some non-Africans particularly Arabs and Persians were
absorbed into Swahili population over different historical epochs of the East African coast,
historic Swahili people remained decidedly African in ancestry and culture.

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