Swahili origins : Swahili culture & the Shungwaya phenomenon

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Bibliographic Information

Swahili origins : Swahili culture & the Shungwaya phenomenon

James de Vere Allen

（Eastern African studies）

J. Currey , E.A.E.P , Ohio University Press, 1993

  • : pbk
  • : uk
  • : uk, pbk

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

ISBN 9780821410301

Description

Kiswahili has become the lingua franca of eastern Africa. Yet there can be few historic peoples whose identity is as elusive as that of the Swahili. Some have described themselves as Arabs, as Persians or even, in one place, as Portuguese. It is doubtful whether, even today, most of the people about whom this book is written would unhesitatingly and in all contexts accept the name Swahili. This book was central to the thought and lifework of the late James de Vere Allen. It is his major study of the origin of the Swahili and of their cultural identity. He focuses on how the African element in their cultural patrimony was first modified by Islam and later changed until many Swahili themselves lost sight of it. They share a language and they share a culture. Their territory stretches from the coast of southern Somalia to the Lamu archipelago in Kenya, to the Rovuma River in modern Mozambique and out into the islands of the Indian Ocean. But they lack a shared historical experience. James de Vere Allen, in this study of contentious originality, set out to give modern Swahili evidence of their shared history during a period of eight centuries.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780821410448

Description

Kiswahili has become the lingua franca of eastern Africa. Yet there can be few historic peoples whose identity is as elusive as that of the Swahili. Some have described themselves as Arabs, as Persians or even, in one place, as Portuguese. It is doubtful whether, even today, most of the people about whom this book is written would unhesitatingly and in all contexts accept the name Swahili. This book was central to the thought and lifework of the late James de Vere Allen. It is his major study of the origin of the Swahili and of their cultural identity. He focuses on how the African element in their cultural patrimony was first modified by Islam and later changed until many Swahili themselves lost sight of it. They share a language and they share a culture. Their territory stretches from the coast of southern Somalia to the Lamu archipelago in Kenya, to the Rovuma River in modern Mozambique and out into the islands of the Indian Ocean. But they lack a shared historical experience. James de Vere Allen, in this study of contentious originality, set out to give modern Swahili evidence of their shared history during a period of eight centuries.
Volume

: uk, pbk ISBN 9780852550755

Description

James de Vere Allen, who was curator at Lamu Museum, set out to give modern Swahili evidence of their shared history during a period of eight centuries. Kiswahili has become the lingua franca of eastern Africa and yet the history of the Swahili peoples has remained elusive. Some have described themselves as Arabs, as Persians, or even in one place as Portuguese. This book is Jamesde Vere Allen's major study of the origin of the Swahili peoples and their cultural identity. North America: Ohio U Press; Kenya: EAEP

Table of Contents

Preface by J. Middleton - Foreword: The Problem of Swahili Identity - The Earliest Coastal Settlements - Schungwaya: the Setting - Early Trade & Trade-Routes - Swahili Tr aditions & Metaphors - Segeju Traditions - Shirazi Tra ditions & the Composition of Shungwaya - Great Shungwa ya & its Successor States - The First Swahili Diaspora & the Coming of Islam - Shirazi Islam & the Shira zi & Arab-Wangwana Modes of Dominance - Shungwaya the Swahili Settlement - Afterword: Swahili Idenitity Re considered - Bibliography
Volume

: uk ISBN 9780852550762

Table of Contents

  • Preface by J. Middleton - Foreword: The Problem of Swahili Identity - The Earliest Coastal Settlements - Schungwaya: the Setting - Early Trade & Trade-Routes - Swahili Tr aditions & Metaphors - Segeju Traditions - Shirazi Tra ditions & the Composition of Shungwaya - Great Shungwa ya & its Successor States - The First Swahili Diaspora & the Coming of Islam - Shirazi Islam & the Shira zi & Arab-Wangwana Modes of Dominance - Shungwaya &
  • the Swahili Settlement - Afterword: Swahili Idenitity Re considered - Bibliography

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