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African Merchants of the Indian Ocean: Swahili of the East African Coast

by John Middleton (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
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This short new monograph serves as an authoritative introduction to an unusual people of eastern Africa known as Swahili. Middleton, who has known these people for a half a century, describes their highly stratified, merchant society and civilization, documenting their importance both for anthropologists and for others interested in Africa. Swahili continue today their centuries-old role as merchants in long-distance international trade, a role that has led them to form a society very distinct from any other in Africa. Middleton's brief, personal treatment discusses Swahili recorded history as an integral part of their rich tradition and civilization. He clears up past confusions and mistaken assumptions without trying to define a single "Swahili" identity. His lucid approach unravels contradictions about Swahili being merchants and yet fishermen, who live in both cities as well as small villages, and who reckon various kinds of kinship and marriage. Swahili are often considered by non-Swahili as being both Africans and Arabs, but Middleton shows that they remain African despite having long adopted Islam and many aspects of Arab and Asian cultures.

Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Bohannan-Curtin, Africa and Africans, Fifth Edition (ISBN 9780881338409) and July, A History of the African People, Fifth Edition (ISBN 9780881339802).

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  1. ISBN-10
    1577663144
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1577663140
  3. Publisher
    Waveland Pr Inc
  4. Publication date
    December 31, 2004
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.25 x 8.75 inches
  7. Print length
    134 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Bohannan-Curtin, Africa and Africans, Fourth Edition (ISBN 9780881338409); Curtin, Africa Remembered: Narratives by West Africans from the Era of the Slave Trade (ISBN 9780881339482); and July, A History of the African People, Fifth Edition (ISBN 9780881339802). --From the Publisher

From the Publisher

Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Bohannan-Curtin, Africa and Africans, Fourth Edition (ISBN 9780881338409); Curtin, Africa Remembered: Narratives by West Africans from the Era of the Slave Trade (ISBN 9780881339482); and July, A History of the African People, Fifth Edition (ISBN 9780881339802).

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Waveland Pr Inc (December 31, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 134 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1577663144
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1577663140
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.25 x 8.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

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John Middleton

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
4 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Aaron_in-Portsmouth NH
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful insight into the lives of the Swahili people
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2015
Verified Purchase
Unlike the previous reviewer who appears to have read an entirely different book, this account of the Swahili people is well-written and done so in an engaging way. Nowhere in the book is a reference made to the Swahili being of non-African origin. On the contrary, the author goes to great lengths to disabuse any reader who may approach the topic of the Swahili people, and the language itself, of being of Arab origin. With great care the case is made of a society along the east African coast as being a well-established one long before the return of the Arabs, Persians, and other cultural groups to the region who interacted with this Bantu-influenced culture of traders, merchants, farmers who plied the waters of the Indian Ocean up and down the coast. (I use the phrase "...before the return of the Arabs..." to point out that all of us who are referred to as "Modern Humans" had our origins in southern and eastern Africa and dispersed to the rest of the globe, becoming Arabs, Europeans, Americans, Asians, etc. as part of the process of human evolution.
I highly recommend this book which is easy to read, especially for a new-comer to the topic of the Swahili culture, and has loads of information regarding customs, language, historical facts, the implications of slavery, the role of women and their unique challenges(especially vis-a-vis "non-patrician" women), as well as the complex interplay of "spirits" and Islam in shaping their view of who they are and how they relate to their neighbors in the interior regions of east Africa as well as with external cultures.
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Askia Nyere
1.0 out of 5 stars Insult to Swahili People
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2005
Verified Purchase
This book should be dismissed as another poorly-constructed attempt to rob African people of the honor of their heritage. Middleton claims that Swahili people are actually of Asian and Arab descent, and the only photos in the book of Swahili people are Asians. You don't need to read this book to know his thesis is completely false. The main countries in which Kiswahili is spoken are Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Uganda. Tanzania is 99% AFRICAN, Kenya is 96% AFRICAN and Uganda is 99% AFRICAN. Maybe Middleton is writing about a different Swahili people- the ones that live on Mars.
11 people found this helpful
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