Who created Swahili civilization?

The word "Swahili" is not only the name of a language and a nation, but also a civilization formed on the coast of East Africa in the Middle Ages. The history of this civilization includes the emergence and evolution of Swahili; The formation of slave city-state system; The rise and prosperity of trade with the northern edge of the Indian Ocean; The local civilization along the coast of East Africa and the exchange and integration of East Asia, Southeast Asia, India, Persia and Arabia. Before Islam was introduced into the coastal areas of East Africa in the 7th century, the coastal civilization of East Africa was dominated by farming, supplemented by gathering, hunting and commerce. After the 7th century, with the introduction of Islam and the immigration of foreigners such as Arabs, Swahili civilization gradually formed. This civilization characterized by commercial cities reached its peak in the13 ~15th century. By the15th century, there were 37 large-scale commercial slavery city-states in the coastal areas from Kenya to Mozambique, such as a string of pearls scattered in East African waters. These cities trade with Arabia, India, Persia and China. East Africa exports gold, ivory, cinnamon, frankincense, tortoise shell, amber and slaves, while imports include celadon, silk and lacquerware from China, textiles and ironware from the Middle East and Indian gems. Business is booming. Urban architecture is also magnificent. 14 century famous traveler Yan Ben? Batuta praised Kilwa as the best-built city in the world. When Zheng He's fleet went to the Western Ocean, it recorded its city: "Living by the sea, building houses with stones, four or five stories high." Its agriculture and horticulture have also reached a fairly high level. /kloc-In the 6th century, some people praised Zanzibar, Pemba and other areas for their fertile land and abundant food, planting rice, millet and wheat, and planting citrus, lemon, pomegranate and honey fruit. Its language and literature, religious belief and political system have also reached a fairly high level. /kloc-in the 6th century, with the invasion and catastrophe of the Portuguese, the development of its civilization came to an abrupt end.

Who is the creator of Swahili civilization? This has always been a mystery debated by scholars. Some scholars believe that Swahili ancestors came from Shiraz, Iran, and the East African coast is an "Islamic outpost". Swahili culture was influenced by the outside world and reached its peak in14th century. This theory holds that Hassan from Persia? Ali, his six sons and some followers left Iran in seven ships in the 10 century and sailed to the coast of East Africa. After arriving in East Africa, the crew of each ship established a residence. The four famous settlements are Mombasa, Pemba Island, Johanna and Kilwa in Comoros Islands. Hassan himself settled in Kilwa. Due to the arrival of these immigrants and Arabs, these settlements gradually formed cities and evolved into city-states after a certain period of time, resulting in Swahili civilization.

Others believe that Arabs are the creators of Swahili culture. Copland, a British East African historian, called the East African city-states "Arab colonies". He suggested that readers "regard a series of coastal colonies and their civilizations as Arab culture." He admitted that some of them were influenced by Persian culture, but thought that the contribution made by African aborigines was very small or even non-existent.

These two views have been questioned since the 1960s. Some scholars believe that the creator of Swahili civilization should be Dongbantu people. According to the introduction of this school in the development and evolution of Swahili, Swahili has obvious Bantu characteristics. For example, one of the characteristics of Bantu language is that nouns are singular and plural, but there is no distinction between yin and yang. According to the nature, it is divided into several categories, and Swahili is also the same. Like Swahili and other Bantu languages, each word usually consists of a root and an affix. When adjectives or numerals modify nouns, corresponding prefixes must be added before the root of adjectives (or numerals) according to the types and singular and plural numbers of nouns, so as to keep the grammatical relationship consistent. Swahili is also one of the oldest languages in Africa. The earliest document that recorded the East African coast was The Return of the Red Sea. This book records that Bantu people settled there before any outsiders reached the coast of East Africa. Local residents have their own language, which is used for business and daily communication, but there is no writing. It is said that this is the earliest Swahili language. Tanzanian scholar Mathias? In his History of Swahili, Mnyabara believes that this primitive Swahili language is probably the Gungozi language in Bantu. At that time, Ngozi was used in Lamu area along the northern Kenyan coast, including Faza and Pat to tana river Valley. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Swahili belongs to Bantu branch of Niger-Congo family. Some linguists believe that Bantu itself can form its own system. Sri Lankan should belong to the eastern Bantu family of Bantu languages. Various oral legends about Swahili people also show that the statement that "Shiraz people" are from Persia is unfounded. First, in the11~12nd century, the focus of Indian Ocean trade has shifted to southern Arabia and the Red Sea; Shiraz is insignificant to the coastal trade of East Africa; Second, Swahili lacks Persian vocabulary, and there are no Persian inscriptions in early mosques or tombs. The argument that Shiraz comes from Arabia is also untenable, mainly because there were few Arabic elements in Sri Lankan before 12 century, and the coastal residents at that time were not Muslims. Some people think that the so-called "hometown of Shiraz" actually refers to southern Somalia, the birthplace of Swahili. Archaeological documents also show that the east coast of Africa was influenced by Arabs after 1000 BC, and they came here to do business and intermarry with local people. These trading Arabs are constantly absorbed by Africans living around them. At the same time, they are constantly replenished from Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Because of their participation, Swahili culture came into being. This kind of culture is a real African complex, which absorbs civilizations outside Africa. Basil? Dai Weixun thinks: Fundamentally speaking, it is mainly Bantu African culture. The early culture on the east coast of Africa is a mixture. It originated from many aspects, but formed a special and obvious African style as a whole. The external factors in Swahili culture are also influenced by Indian, Persian, Indonesian, Malaysian, China and other regions. After the 7th century A.D., Arabia expanded on the coast of East Africa on a larger scale, and a number of commercial city-states appeared from north to south. However, with the passage of time, they married and merged with local Africans, and the descendants of these small city-states became more and more African. The historical records of some travelers at that time also showed that the main body of this civilization was Africans. Arab writers in masudi, Adria and10 ~12nd century all agree that the east African coast is mostly monks and blacks. About 1300, dimas said that the people on the East African coast were black and pagan. /kloc-Marbosa at the beginning of the 6th century also said that the residents of Malindi and Brava were "Moors". Matthew, an archaeologist, after excavating some architectural sites in East Africa, also thinks that it is easier to understand from the historical perspective of its gradually Islamized African culture than from the historical perspective of its Islamic colony from the Persian Gulf. Therefore, according to the materials of the above disciplines, some scholars, such as Allen, Horton, Ruhr, Speer and Matthew, believe that Swahili civilization is not an Arab, Persian or Indian civilization, but an African civilization, and mainly an African civilization in nigro.

It's really hard to determine who is right or wrong. I just hope for further investigation and study.