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Essay Archive - Swahili
Swahili
The name Swahili derives from an Arabic word Swahili, the plural of
sahel, which means coast. The Swahili are the descendants of the Arabs who came
to the East African coast and intermarried with the Local Bantu-speakers. Arab
traders sailed down to the coast on the north-east monsoon winds, between
November and April, and sailed back up to south-west on the reverse monsoon
winds, between June and October, already in pre-Islamic times.
The coast, the land of Zenj to the Arabs, was inhabited by peoples of
undetermined origin-perhaps by Bushmanoid groups, by Bantu speakers, perh....
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