Swahili: East African City States - African Empires Ep.3

The Swahili city states created a shared culture up and down the coast of East Africa. This often forgotten civilization was key for everything from trade to colonization. Embark with me on this quest to discover the city states of East Africa, and their impact on history.

Main 3 Sources:

[ChronologyCast]

Hey everyone, it's been over a year since I made this video and I have a big regret. I neglected to talk about slavery in the Swahili Coast given that the subject made me uncomfortable at the time. It's a gap that I regret not filling given the weight and severity of the subject. I can't change it now, and I am not remaking the video any time soon if at all. Instead, I implore you guys to look into it yourselves to understand the subject in a greater perspective.

[swahilischool]

The "Waswahili" are the Bantus who migrated from Tana to the coastal region and inhabited the the Lamu, Pemba etc. They identified themselves with where they lived even though they shared a common language and culture (way before trading with Arabs, Persians, Indians and Chinese)....for example those who settled in Mombasa were WaMvita, WaPemba from Pemba. There were collectively known as Waswahili which mean from these Islands. Siwa = Islands in Swahili.

The notion that "Swahili" is an Arabic term which means Coastal People is incorrect. It appeared in the lexicon during colonization. The British couldn't fathom that Africans specifically Bantus could build City States with functioning Govts and a thriving Swahili Trade for more than 1000yrs before any Europeans stepped into East Africa.

As for the slave trade, it goes back to the Zanj People in Basra Iraq and the rebellion of 869 until 883. This pre- dates the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade of the 1600s. It was actually bigger and more Africans died in the Middles East than those in the Americas.

[LionClanChief]

The thumbnail you used is of Zimbabwe that not the Swahili coast. But great video

[sib.]

Your background music is on point purely swahili.

[MwendeSchwinn]

Swahili is not a word derived from Arabic. It is derived from the Bantu languages. It is even a wrong assumption that the Swahili language was influenced by Arabic. The only strong influence related to Arabic was the religion of Islam. When a language has over 90% of Bantu language, it is erroneous to attribute it to Arabic

[prajwalbhat]

very nice video severely underrated channel

[simonlindskog]

Wow this channel is really growing keep up the good work!

[nice_spear]

Hey men i love your vid, keep going !

[kilimounais]

nice video eache of this city had an interesting history even one of them mogadishu becamed a strong sultanete an hydrolic empire that fight the portuguess and won

[clothes-eb]

l did know you can teach me about that😂 congratulations God job Keep it up 💯💪

[waapeterm]

*Mombasa survived* - the Portuguese were kicked out after a two-year siege on Fort Jesus from 1696 to 1698 by the Omani Arabs, led by Saif bin Sultan. The capture of the fort marked the end of Portuguese presence on the Kenyan coast...

[gianfrancobenetti-longhini]

According to other historians, the migration of Bantu people began around 1000, down the Atlantic coast, to Namibia, before starting to turn East towards Zimbabwe. While the second migration in 1500 went east from Cameroon, remaining in the savannah, not the jungles, and arriving in East Africa and then following the Indian Ocean coast, eventually arriving the Transkei area of south east Africa. The East Africa coast had many Arab settlements at the time, as reported by the Portuguese. The Chinese did not return to the area believing that nothing of value could be really useful to them. Many believe that the migrant Bantu sold indigenous people they met there, to the Arabs.

[matthewmann]

And The Middle Easterners, South Asians, And Europeans took over for a while

[sneakysnek]

Where did you get that voice line from intro of your ottoman WW1 video? I can't find it

[velozio]

Here is a comment to sacrifice to the algorithm gods

[NoRockinMansLand]

Somalis of Mogadishu is not part of the Swahili coast btw, its completely different to be honest

[JuniorSaidi-wefy]

It's not "SWAHILI but KISWAHILI" thank you.

[Youngkenyan]

Hey what you see in the thumbnail is the Mijikenda yes swahili but not so quite my friend for there is a people actually called the swahili in my homeland not the thumbnails ones Anyway nice vid

[williams]

Omani came to trade, but Portuguese came to control. Ignorant and shallow analysis.

[suevialania]

Swahili sould be mandatory in África and oficial language in the United Nations replaced and european language like Zpanish!!!