Swahili+Movement

Communication
Kiswahili is originally Bantu mixed with some Arabic and English words. The word Swahili comes from the Arabic word Coastal People. Swahili has been described as "One of the twelve great languages of the world" and is spoken by millions of people in Central and Eastern Africa.

Swahili Transfer of goods
Swahili people traded tools like drills, axes, knife blades made from Obsidian (natural glass), copper, turquoise shells, salt, iron from meteorites, silver, gold and other materials. Such as waterproof baskets and pots to protect seed and weather from animals. They traded food like rice, sorghums, coconuts, bananas, mangos, clove, fish, and a few livestock. They also traded cloth, clothes, jewelry, feathers, household items and animal hides. Swahili people traded with the Arabian Penisula and South Asia.

Swahili people also traded their ideas for example they discussed how to make new medicine and new communication skills.

Many Swahili people relied on trading for money, and it is also their job to trade. Some cities were known for a certain thing for example, Zanzibar was known for its spice, the clove. Since over 30 large cities were involved in the Swahili trade, some cities were in charge of certain things for example Mogadishu controlled most of the gold trade. Some cities even began to [|prosper] from trading like Kilwa; it prospered from trading with the Asians. The Swahili people were smart traders because they always made a [|profit] by trading the item for a higher price than they got it from. Traders gathered goods from China such as rice, jade and silk. Peppers, spices, and grains were traded from India, these would then be sent to other civilizations in Africa. Other [|exports] included leopard skins and rhinoceros horns. Gold and food products were common in trade, but ivory was very valuable in other countries; it was almost as valuable as gold! The Swahili were believed to have started trading and [|migrating] since 500A.D.!

http://whc.unesco.org/exhibits/afr_rev/africa-k.htm This is a picture of the swahili people going to trade with other countries.

Swahili Pages:

Swahili Homepage Swahili Human Place Swahili Physical Place Swahili Environment Swahili Movement Swahili Regions Swahili Location Our Resources