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Swahili Coast Trade
In the 1440s, Swahili city-states such as Kilwa and Mombasa used Indian Ocean monsoon routes to ship interior gold, ivory, slaves, and coastal agricu…
Timeline
- 1440–1445Kilwa · TanzaniaPort cities such as Kilwa were renowned for their coral-stone buildings and mosque complexes, with trading lodges gathering Arab and Indian merchants, becoming hub nodes of East African coastal trade.
- 1445–1449Mombasa · KenyaCaravans brought gold and ivory from the Zimbabwe Plateau and the Great Lakes region, transferring to ships at ports such as Mombasa, and returned with cotton cloth, porcelain, glass beads, and metalware; the city-state economy was highly dependent on overseas commerce.
Sources
- The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and the East African Coast — Lionel Casson (trans.) (1989)
- The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: c. 1050–c. 1600 — J. D. Fage; Roland Oliver (eds.) (1977)
- Kilwa: An Islamic Trading City on the East African Coast — G. S. P. Freeman-Grenville (1962)