subject: Swahili Language And Culture [print this page] Swahili is one of the most dominant cultures in the eastern cost of Africa. According to history, many Muslims and Bantu speaking people settled along the eastern coast of Africa thousands of years ago because the eastern coast was then seen as a highly valuable commercial land. This combination of people, culture and languages along the eastern coast developed into a unique culture and language which is now known as Swahili. The Swahili civilization spread beyond the eastern coast and reached other neighboring parts including Zanzibar. Today, there are a number of identified Swahili city-states in Africa including Gedi, Kilwa, Malindi, Pate, and Zanzibar. Majority of these city-states are cosmopolitan and Muslim. While these city-states are all Swahili, each one is politically independent from the other, and is in fact competitive with the others in the African trade business. In fact, these Swahili city-states were considered as the chief exporters of ebony, gold, ivory, and sandalwood.
However, these city-states begun to decline as time passed by. The Swahili trade centers became obsolete hundreds of years ago, but the Swahili culture remained strong and present until today. Since the Swahili actually originated from many different cultures, the Swahili culture is a greatly diverse one with influences of Arabic, Indian, and European.
One example of the diversity of the Swahili culture is the Swahili cuisine which has strong influences of the Indian culture; but with a few alterations such as the use of pork because of the observation of its religious practices and beliefs. Thus, the most common Swahili cuisine consists of fish, tropical fruits, and lots of exotic spices.
On the other hand, one of the strongest aspects of the Swahili culture is their language, which is originally of Bantu origin. Although the language has borrowed words from the Arabic and Persian languages, the syntax of the language is Bantu. Thus, the formation of the Swahili language is actually due to the intercourse of the African and Asiatic people in the eastern coast of Africa, along with a few other vocabularies that it has picked up along the way as it expanded its territories. Generally though, the Arab and Persian cultures have the greatest influence on the Swahili culture and language.
Another important aspect of the Swahili culture is their music. The main type of music that the Swahili listens to consists of Swahili tunes sung in rhythmic poem infused with Arabic and Indian melodies. The Swahili music, which is called Tarabu, is most observed during weddings, ceremonies, and gatherings. Aside from the rhythmic poems and melodies, Tarabu also incorporates ethnic instruments, fiddle, guitar, tambourine, keyboard, and drums over the years. Although the instruments may have changed over the years, the basic singing style of Swahili music is always the same.
