What was the Swahili culture like?

What was the Swahili culture like?

Around the 8th century, the Swahili people engaged in the Indian Ocean trade. As a consequence, they were influenced by Arabic, Persian, Indian, and Chinese cultures. It is the mixture of Perso-Arab and Bantu cultures in Kilwa that is credited for creating Swahili as a distinctive East African culture and language.

What culture speaks Swahili?

Swahili culture is practiced at the coast of Kenya, Somali, Tanzania and the adjacent islands of Zanzibar, Comoros. Swahili culture and language can also be found in the interior of Kenya and Tanzania and further in Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi.

What do most Swahili practice?

Since the 12th century, most Swahilis have practiced Sunni Islam. Traditional Muslim holidays such as Ramadan are observed, as well as the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. As Muslims, the Swahili adhere to fairly strict gender-based rules of conduct.

What are the Swahili known for?

Swahili is widely used as a lingua franca in: (1) Tanzania, where it is the language of administration and primary education; (2) Kenya, where it is, after English, the main language for these purposes; (3) Congo (Kinshasa), where a form of Swahili is one of the four languages of administration, the main language for …

What do the Swahili people believe in?

The Swahili people follow the Sunni denomination of Islam. Large numbers of Swahili undertake the Hajj and Umrah from Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique. Traditional Islamic dress such as the jilbab and thob are also popular among the Swahili.

What created and cemented the rich Swahili culture?

Marriage between women of Africa and men of the Middle East created and cemented a rich Swahili culture, fusing urban and agricultural communities, rich in architecture, textiles, and food, as well as purchasing power.

What is unique about Swahili?

The word Kiswahili is a general term for many varieties of the language spoken along the East African coast. Also unique to Swahili speakers is the way they communicate with each other indirectly by use of the popular language, also known as leso.

What are some Swahili traditions/holidays?

What are some Swahili traditions/holidays? Swahili people celebrate the nation’s secular public holidays. These include (in Kenya), Jamhuri Day and Madaraka Day- which mark the steps toward Kenya’s Independence in the early 1960s. In Tanzania, secular holidays are Labor Day (May 1), Zanzibar Revolution Day (January 12); Nane Nane (formerly Saba Saba- Farmer’s Day, in August); Independence Day (December 9); and Union Day (April 26) (which commemorates the unification of Zanzibar and the

What religion is Swahili?

Swahili – Religion and Expressive Culture. The Swahili are Sunni Muslims; even though their former Omani rulers of the sultanate of Zanzibar were Ibadhi, the Swahili were shown religious tolerance. The first mosques on the coast date from about the mid-tenth century, the identity of Swahili as Muslims dating also from that period.

What is the ethnic group of Swahili?

The Swahili people (or Waswahili) are an ethnic and cultural group inhabiting East Africa. Members primarily reside on the Swahili coast, in an area encompassing the Zanzibar archipelago , littoral Kenya, the Tanzania seaboard, and northern Mozambique . The name Swahili is derived from Arabic: سواحل ‎,…

What is the culture of Swahili?

Swahili culture is the culture of the Swahili people inhabiting the Swahili Coast . They speak Swahili as their native language, which belongs to the Niger-Congo family. Swahili culture is the product of the history of the coastal part of the African Great Lakes region.