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Zanzibar coastal trade
Around 1200 CE, trade in the Zanj region centered on Zanzibar and the neighboring East African coast reached new heights, with Arab, Persian and Indi…
Timeline
- 1200Zanzibar · TanzaniaThe port of Zanzibar gathered merchant ships from Hormuz, Aden, Gujarat and elsewhere, trading ivory, ambergris, kola nuts and slaves for cotton cloth, metal goods and spices, forming a steady monsoon-driven trade rhythm.
- 1200East African coast (Zanj region) · Zanj regionCoastal city-states traded gold, ivory and slaves with the African interior through Bantu-speaking middlemen, sending resources to Indian Ocean markets and deepening the integration of East Africa with the Arab-Indian commercial sphere.
Sources
- Zanzibar https://www.britannica.com/place/Zanzibar
- The African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean — Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya and Richard Pankhurst (2003)