Kilwa Sultanate trade

Timeline

1. 1371–1375Kilwa port · TanzaniaEach year during the southwest monsoon, Arab and Indian merchant ships arrived at Kilwa port, trading cotton cloth, glass beads, and porcelain for gold, ivory, and slaves. The sultan's court levied customs duties on imports and exports, and caravans then carried the gold inland to Sofala, ultimately entering the Zimbabwe Plateau trade system.
2. 1376–1380Kilwa · TanzaniaThe Sultan of Kilwa maintained suzerainty over vassal ports such as Mombasa, Malindi, and Sofala, forming an alliance of East African coastal city-states. Coral-stone buildings such as the Great Mosque were continually repaired and expanded, Swahili and Arabic were used side by side as the common languages of commerce and religion, and the city's population and wealth reached a 14th-century peak.