Swahili culture

The Swahili people inhabit an area on the east coast of Africa.

History

A thousand years ago, the eastern coast of Africa was seen as highly valuable commercial land. Therefore, many Muslims and Bantu-speaking people migrated and settled along the African coast. Due to this combination of peoples, a unique language and culture arose on the eastern coast. The Swahili civilization spread down the coast until it reached Zanzibar.^[1]

Some main Swahili city-states included Gedi, Pate, Malindi, Zanzibar, and Kilwa. Many of these city-states were Muslim and very cosmopolitan. Each of these states were politically independent of each other^[2]. They all competed against one another for the best of the African trade business. The chief exports of these cultures were ebony, gold, ivory, and sandalwood. These city-states began to decline towards the sixteenth century. Therefore, Swahili trading centers went out of business.^[3]

Even though the trade centers went obsolete hundreds of years ago, Swahili culture is still present today. Aspects of Swahili culture are diverse due to its many origins when it first developed. For example, Swahili cuisine has influences from Indian, Arabic, and European cultures. There are also alterations to certain dishes due to religious reasons. For instance pork is seldom used in food because most of the Swahili are Muslim.^[4] Some food items common in everyday lives of the Swahili are fish, tropical fruits, and exotic spices.

Arts and crafts

Another cultural aspect of the Swahili culture is their use of arts and crafts, which the Swahili find significance in. When creating art they express themselves through creativity as well as shape and function. Some multicultural influences can be seen in Swahili art, furniture, and architecture.^[4] They do not often use designs with images of living beings due to their Muslim heritage. Instead, Swahili designs are primarily geometric. There are important clothes that are part of their arts and crafts such as the Kanga. The Kanga is not only a rectangular piece of cloth but is an artifact of the Swahili culture. The cloth should be made with extreme care. If the cloth doesn’t match the season then it doesn’t deserve to be a Kanga and can be used as a baby diaper or an apron for the kitchen. Even though the Kanga is quite cheap, it is still a main part of Swahili culture. The Kanga is made in Kenya and is mostly appealing to woman rather than men but men are not restricted to using it. The cloth is used as a sling to carry babies, melons on their heads and can also be used as a kitchen apron.

Music

An additional part of Swahili culture is their music. Tarabu is the main type of music that the Swahili listen to. It is a combination of Swahili tunes sung in rhythmic poem mixed in with Arabic or even Indian melodies.^[5] It was traditionally performed at weddings and gatherings. Over the years Tarabu has grown to not only included ethnic instruments, but also the fiddle, tambourine, guitar, keyboard, and drums. Even though the instruments have changed, the basic singing style is still the same as always^[4].

References

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