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Swahili Worlds in Globalism

Swahili Worlds in Globalism

Swahili Worlds in Globalism

Chapurukha M. Kusimba, University of South Florida
January 2024
Available
Paperback
9781009074056

    This Element discusses a medieval African urban society as a product of interactions among African communities who inhabited the region between 100 BCE and 500 CE. It deviates from standard approaches that credit urbanism and state in Africa to non-African agents. East Africa, then and now, was part of the broader world of the Indian Ocean. Globalism coincided with the political and economic transformations that occurred during the Tang-Sung-Yuan-Ming and Islamic Dynastic times, 600-1500 CE. Positioned as the gateway into and out of eastern Africa, the Swahili coast became a site through which people, inventions, and innovations bi-directionally migrated, were adopted, and evolved. Swahili peoples' agency and unique characteristics cannot be seen only through Islam's prism. Instead, their unique character is a consequence of social and economic interactions of actors along the coast, inland, and beyond the Indian Ocean.

    Reviews & endorsements

    ‘Kusimba’s approach of presenting his ideas in accessible language has made his work highly readable to audiences even outside archaeology, history and anthropology. … Despite having read hundreds of publications and reports about the Swahili coast and vicinity, I benefitted greatly from reading this book. Combining multiple, interlinked sources to analyse and write about the Swahili worlds makes Kusimba’s volume exceptional. Without any reservation, I recommend it to anyone interested in learning about ancient African globalism but with a focus on the western Indian Ocean region.’ Elgidius B. Ichumbaki, Antiquity

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    Product details

    January 2024
    Paperback
    9781009074056
    106 pages
    227 × 151 × 6 mm
    0.19kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Preface: Swahili Worlds: A Medieval African Urban Civilization
    • 1. Foundations of a Medieval African Urban Civilization
    • 2. The Rise of the Medieval Swahili State
    • 3. What Was the Medieval East African World Like?
    • 4. Global Connections
    • 5. Asian Connections
    • 6. Who Were the Medieval East Africans?
    • Appendices.
      Author
    • Chapurukha M. Kusimba , University of South Florida