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.
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
The "Waswahili" are the Bantus who migrated from Tana to the coastal region and inhabited the the Islands.....Mombasa, 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 Wa-Siwa-hili.....people 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.
with all due respect, it is incorrect to state with certainty that more Africans died in the middle east than in the Americas unless you have uncovered some previously unknown proof
Not entirely true. Omanis first came as traders but in 1698 they where called to help drive out the Portuguese, then they betrayed the locals and colonised them until the British arrived and took over most Omani controlled areas. But the British favoured the Omanis as their indirect rulers in East Africa. Omanis were only conpletely driven out in the Zanzibar revolution of the 20th century. Omanis enslaved millions of Africans and wanted to completely Arabised Swahili culture, erasing African roots.
@@Lapiro10 dude I live in the coast. I grew up there, I know all the swahili music composed and played there buddy because I've listened to it. Leave alone this stuff you went out of your way to search lol. Waswahili music is very diverse you cant even pin one and make a solid conclusion. You wont find that kind of authentic stuff on RU-vid alone sorry. I stand by my comment lol.
@@Lapiro10 sure. I listen to it too :). Like I said that's just one of many genres. Also I repeat, they have similar music, culture, food, langauge(because even most Waswahili people speak Arabic and Kiswahili at least where im from) and most part of dressing etc.
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
*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...
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.
Not true. According to historians, genetics and archeology, Bantus expanded into East Africa around 1000 BC. They built the Urewe civilisation, the earliest evidence of Iron smelting in the entire Eastern Africa. They then expanded towards the Indian ocean by 0 AD, and southwards reaching South Africa by 300 AD. Bantu expansion was continuous and different Bantu groups migrated at different times. The Swahili civilisation was built by Bantus. Traders from all over the Indian ocean especially Persians and Jews interacted extensively with the coastal people. The Bantus where matrilineal ruled by queens and matriarchs who intermarried with royals from across the Indian ocean. Arabs where barley present until the 12th and 13th century. And only established control in the late 17th century. Swahili civilisation us around 2000 years old! Omanis moved their capital to Zanzibar in the 19th century and encouraged more Arab migration. Swahili is a typical Eastern Bantu language with loan words from several languages. Most Arabic words are recent additions from the Omani Arabic dialect. Portuguese arrived in the region almost 1500 years after Swahili culture began. They wrongly assumed that they where a Moorish or Arab culture just because they were Muslims.
@@user-vw6bk4pb4l Obviously we are reading different sources regarding the dates of the migrations, as there were no written records 1000 years before Christ in this area, so will accept the recorded ones that I have stated earlier.
@@gianfrancobenetti-longhini8192 Historical study is based on information from Archeology, Genetics, Linguistics, ethnography, geography, geology, palaeontology etc. We combine data from various sources and academic disciplines to paint a more accurate picture of the past. The information I mentioned to you is the academic concensus. There are countless publications on what historians call the "Bantu expansion" or "Bantu migration." And every year there is new information discovered. If you think that written records are the most authoritative source of history you are mistaken. Most of human history is not written down. Many historical documents were written centuries to thousands of years after the said events took place by unknown authors, or people who never met them. Printing didn't exist. Also, we don't have any original manuscript copies of most ancient documents, only hand copies of hand copies. Some are even forgeries. That's why history combines information from many different sources. There are no ancient documents on the Swahili culture, and the Portuguese arrived very very late. Archeology and DNA has proven that Swahili are not Arab. Read the latest DNA study from 2023.
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
@@rourinishein Swahili is the anglicised version of Waswahili, which is what we call ourselves. Another example: Agīkūyū people of kenya is commonly anglicised to "Kikuyu"...so note the language context.
@@KK-ygh yes that's true. I was just pointing out a correction since you mentioned Kiswahili,whose anglicised version is still swahili just like Español is Spanish and Deutsche is German. So if we use Kiswahili in its local and original form, then it has to go hand in hand with Waswahili-people, Uswahili-culture etc. That's all I'm trying to say.
The video is presented in english...the anglicized word Swahili is appropriate...but if the language used is Kiwahihili...calling the people "swahili"would sound wrong.. thats why i pointed out the language context.
@@KK-ygh "Swahili" is generally used to describe the language, people and culture in its anglicised form to the rest of the world. Not many will refer to "Kiswahili" unless they are very familiar with the language or are learning it. Even in Kenya today we have locals calling it "Swahili language" or "Swahili people" because it's what other people in the West use universally on a regular, that it has now become engrained into their brain. I know Tanzanias use original terms. Rwanda as well. But if we are going to use "Kiswahili" even in an English video such as this then it is only appropriate and fair to use "Waswahili" and "Uswahili" as well. It may be an English video but we all want the original terms to be used for a properly researched documentary. If possible, the owner can point out the different variations used today as well. Like it shouldn't matter what context it is. I promise you it would be the same for other languages and communities across the world. I previously agreed with your first statement, only that the same should be applied for everything else too. I hope you understand my point of view. 🤗
