Swahili City-States

A map of sub-Saharan Africa — A map showing the Swahili City-States, c. 1220-1450 CE. Along the east coast, we see (north to south): Mogadishu, Mombasa, Zanzibar, and Kilwa.

Trade is directly responsible for the rise of states at this time.

Swahili City-States

On the eastern coast of Africa, trade and Islam gave rise to powerful but independent city-states that thrived on Indian Ocean commerce. Something of this region's history can be seen from its name: Swahili is a language that formed through the blending of Bantu and Arabic. These African city-states were profoundly affected by Arab merchants who brought Islam to East Africa, thus pulling them into the activity of Indian Ocean trade.

Cultural Connections

Despite the strong Islamic character of the Swahili city-states, they were highly tolerant and cosmopolitan. Because of the seasonal monsoons, at any given time, these cities were occupied by many merchants of many faiths waiting for the winds to favor their departure. Thus, Christian, Hindu, Confucian, Jewish, and Buddhist merchants were in these cities at the same time.

The Swahili city-states were important points for connecting inland trade to the vast Indian Ocean network.

The Growth of New Cities

The high level of tolerance in the Indian Ocean port cities led to the formation of diasporic merchant communities. The word “diaspora” comes from the Greek, meaning “to disperse.” Merchant diasporas were communities of people from a common culture living together outside their native homeland. They formed in ports, cities, and other important locations along major trade routes. Examples include communities of Jews living in Muslim Cairo, or an enclave of Muslim merchants living in Calicut on the coast of South Asia. The travel journals of Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo both mention the presence of Jewish merchant communities in China.

Diasporic Communities

Diasporic communities provided convenient links to traveling merchants visiting foreign lands. For example, a merchant from South Asia doing trade in another region might find a community of people from his home to bridge the cultural differences between the merchant and the host culture in which he was conducting business. When doing trade far away, it was good to work with people who came from the same place you did.

It was inevitable that culture from diasporic merchant enclaves would influence their host societies. When a Chinese merchant community settled in Nagasaki, Japan, they recruited Buddhist monks from their homeland to join them. Buddhist rites were valued for trade, and monks ensured a cultural consistency with the merchants' homeland. Next came the building of Buddhist monasteries and graveyards. Consequently, the growth of Chinese strands of Buddhism in Japan would have a long-term impact on Japan. The culture of visiting merchants influenced the places they did business.

A map of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia with two cities marked — Important trade cities that benefited from the lucrative trade across the Indian Ocean.

Cities around the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean benefited tremendously from trade. A few examples are:

Malacca

In Southeast Asia, Malacca became an important city in the spice trade. It was a collection point for spices grown on tiny islands across Indonesia. In Malacca, they were packaged and sold in bulk on the Indian Ocean. It grew enormously wealthy as the spice distribution center for the Indian Ocean region. The city's location on the Strait of Malacca allowed it to collect tolls and control passage.

Kilwa

Kilwa, one of the Swahili city-states, became especially important to merchants doing business on Africa’s east coast. This port was the farthest down the coast a merchant ship could sail in a typical monsoon season. For this reason, it attracted trade from the southernmost part of Africa. As an outlet for gold and ivory from Africa’s interior, states such as Great Zimbabwe grew in wealth and power.

The Maritime Outreach of Zheng He

The most extravagant maritime outreach early in this period was that of the Chinese. After the peasant revolt that overthrew the Mongols and established the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese commissioned 7 major voyages under the leadership of Admiral Zheng He. With an estimated 317 ships and a staff of 27,000 men, Zheng He set out to establish the reputation of the Ming in the Indian Ocean. He sailed initially to Southeast Asia and India, but his final three voyages reached as far as the Swahili coast of East Africa.

A map showing Zheng He's Voyages from 1405-1433 — Zheng He travelled the entire network of the Indian Ocean, reestablishing China’s trade connections after they recovered from the Mongol occupation.
The voyages are displayed with red arrows that travel through China, Southeast Asia, to India, the Middle East, and finally to Africa.

Purpose of the Voyages

Unlike the European voyages that began a few decades later, these Chinese expeditions were not driven by attempts to conquer or win converts. They were diplomatic in nature, intended to impress upon others the prestige, wealth, and superiority of Chinese civilization. Once other societies saw this, they would be willing to pay tribute to China for the right to purchase costly Chinese luxury products such as silk and porcelain. On his two-year voyage of 1431-1433 alone, Zheng He established for China 20 tributary and diplomatic relations across the rim of the Indian Ocean.

Reflection: Indian Ocean Trade

The point of this lesson was to teach how merchants adapted to the conditions of the Indian Ocean, how trade helped cities and diverse populations grow, and how religion diffuses. You should be able to compare these patterns with the Silk Road trade routes.

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