Who are the Swahili?

Who are the Swahili? | Hiistoriya

Рет қаралды 23,448

4 жыл бұрын

A look into the identity of the Swahili people native to the East African Coast. The Swahili are a Bantu community that is native to the East African coast. They were the western Indian Ocean's middlemen in the intercontinental trade that linked Africa to Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Bibliography
-Allen, J. De V. Swahili origins: Swahili culture & the Shungwaya phenomenon, J. Currey, 1993
-Chiraghdin, Shihabuddin. “Kiswahili na Wenyewe” Kiswahili 44.1 (1974): 48-53
-Kindy Hyder. Life and Politics of Mombasa. Nairobi. English Press,1972
-Lodhi, Abdulaziz, Y. “Language and Cultural Unity in Tanzania,” Kiswahili (1974) 44/2:10-13
-Mazrui, Alamin M, and Ibrahim N. Shariff. The Swahili: Idiom and Identity of an African People. Trenton, N.J: Africa World Press, 1994.
-Nurse, Derek and Spear, Thomas. The Swahili: Reconstructing the History and Language of an African Society, 800-1500. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985
Senkoro, F.E.M.K. “Tenzi za Kiswahili,” Umma 6.2 (1976): 116 31
-Sharrif, Ibrahim Noor. Knappert’s Tales. Kiswahili 41.2 (1971): 47-55
-Sheriff, Abdul, Slaves, Spices and Ivory in Zanzibar. London: James Currey, 1987.
-Stingand, Captain C.H. The Land of Zinj, London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd., 1913.
-The Encyclopedia Britannica. XXXVI, Cambridge University Press,1911
-Whiteley, W. Swahili: The Rise of a National Language. London: Methuen and Co., 1969
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Пікірлер: 133

@wayne_gakuo 4 жыл бұрын

As someone coming from Mombasa, I am glad to see such initiatives in ensuring the preservation of the Swahili culture. Tuwe na mijadala zaidi kuhusiana na uhifadhi wa mila na desturi za Waswahili

@ChristopherYoung1018 3 жыл бұрын

I don’t care what anybody say Swahili speaking people are Africans not Arabs. It sounds like to me that these Swahili speaking people were Influenced by Arabs just like every other African descendent people throughout the world let’s not cause any confusion Swahili speaking people are indeed Africans who was influenced by outsiders. Yes some of them might be Arabs or even mix with Arabs and African but they are African people first with a unique culture

@zaidsk786 2 жыл бұрын

Very well said

@VIVIHESS 2 жыл бұрын

Yes

@dlasky 2 жыл бұрын

Wow, the "Wa Siwa hili" origin of _Swahili_ is very compelling, surprised I never head of it

@Bryan_Mutai 4 жыл бұрын

Wooow ❤️We're all in this learning and unlearning process together. Thank you so much!

@firdausali8470 3 жыл бұрын

As a mswahili myself I loved watching this clip, and I honestly hope you continue your work with more episodes. The video was very informative 👌🏽👌🏽

@a.a.nassir8832 4 жыл бұрын

In my opinion Waswahili never used to self-identify as Waswahili. They had individual local identities eg Waamu, Wamvita, Wapate etc. Waswahili as a term, in my opinion, includes these nationalities and assimilated Swahilis ie migrants from self-identify as Swahili by culture.

@umojaafrika2447 3 жыл бұрын

That's very cool I didn't know about the bantu origin of the word swahili !

@kihunipunk 4 жыл бұрын

I'm looking forward to learning more about the Swahili. This is a great start. 👏👏👏👏👏👏

@kashgohel 4 жыл бұрын

Great video. Thank you for creating this!

@joellutimbalumala5369 4 жыл бұрын

I cannot wait to learn more!!! Thank you for this!

@adon9768 6 ай бұрын

being swahili is what definites us as one people. wami mtru(mutu) wa chisua(kisua) ya maore. Je suis de l'île Mayotte donc je suis swahili.🇾🇹🇾🇹🇾🇹

@Tahreni 4 жыл бұрын

Wonderful and well done. More please.

@njoxxg8178 4 жыл бұрын

So informative! Thanks for doing this.

@mariwashuma422 4 жыл бұрын

Very well done! Looking forward to the rest of the lessons!

@jamesasenji3235 4 жыл бұрын

Wonderful content. Looking forward for more

@LauraEkumbo 4 жыл бұрын

This is amazing!!!!!!! Shukran for all the work you're doing to share this knowledge!

@slimbrown29 4 жыл бұрын

Excellent. Looking forward to the next episode.

@NoahOwino 4 жыл бұрын

great work on this👏🏿... you've just woken lots of curiosity- looking forward to learn some more👍🏿

@SorayaMugambi 4 жыл бұрын

Highly informative and entertaining too. Can't wait for more videos!

@fatmanyaga9622 4 жыл бұрын

Great research! This is a masterpiece Binti Swahiliya

@YtheraJ 4 жыл бұрын

Very informative. Looking forward to learning more.

@djfita1 4 жыл бұрын

Very informative, subscribed.

@kimathimathiumimanene36 2 жыл бұрын

Very enlightening. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to more Binti Swahiliya.🙏

@Kingori.K 3 жыл бұрын

Well done. Keep them coming

@circleandsquare 3 жыл бұрын

Love this video Nasra! A true act of corrective surgery. More please!!!

@JCNiala 4 жыл бұрын

This is an excellent piece - it corrects many of the historical inaccuracies whilst also explaining Waswahili identity in contemporary terms. Can’t wait to see more of your work. Hongera!

@tinakasia7031 4 жыл бұрын

Well articulated. Waiting for the coming episodes. Never too late to learn. Ahsante sana 👏

@mohamedshariff6706 4 жыл бұрын

Very informative my sister. Educate us on our culture

@wlenjo 4 жыл бұрын

Very informative. Swahili is my first language and I'm glad to learn of its rich history. Thank you for this initiative.

@kariukikiragu 2 жыл бұрын

Asante sana. This is very comprehensive education.

@humphreyajuoga8996 3 ай бұрын

Very accurate history!!! Tanzanians will lose their minds, they can’t comprehend Kiswahili started in Kenya. That’s the problem with ujeuri, it bites back!

@danidejaneiro8378 Жыл бұрын

Great video thanks

@zainabmejja9936 4 жыл бұрын

Great stuff! 👌🏾

@shiblimkali2459 4 жыл бұрын

Great video.

@umojaafrika2447 3 жыл бұрын

Kazi nzuri

@solomonmokua4643 2 жыл бұрын

This was fun to watch 👍👍

@KaloMuokii 4 жыл бұрын

I have been schooled on the Swahili. Asante. Twende kazi!

@swahilischool672 Жыл бұрын

Asante sana.....this is the only true representation I have seen, heard, researched and read with the the true representation of who were/are the Waswahili and what is means.

@shiblimkali2459 4 жыл бұрын

The Changamwe are always forgotten.This reminds me of my lower primary classes.

@howdymegan Жыл бұрын

Kazi Nzuri! This was excellent. Super helpful! I am in Mombasa on the Swahili Coast. While in Nairobi almost everyone speaks decent to excellent English, here many only speak Kiswahili, of which they are very proud of. They say they speak it better here than those in NRBI, which the folks there accept as true. The noun classes clobber me. I don't even really try hardly. I was encouraged when a professional colleague in NRBI admitted she can't even all the way follow them. But the straight forward pronunciation and WONDERFUL people here make it all so so worth it! Keep up the good work!

@husnas.7772 2 жыл бұрын

So proud to identify myself as a kiMvita Swahili 🇰🇪🇰🇪

@bgoatboy 2 жыл бұрын

Asanteni sana marafiki! Nimefurahi sana sababu na kazi huu!

@fatumaabdullah8213 3 жыл бұрын

Love this, we'll done. It's time we wrote and affirmed our own narrative.

@xhairosemary 4 жыл бұрын

Found this one twitter. Looking forward to more information

@MobileTrucking 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this amazing information. As a msawhili I was never thought this in school. I did not know much about my culture except that arabs mixed with locals and arab slave trade.

@VIVIHESS 2 жыл бұрын

Swahili are Bantu with a little bit of persian, arab and indian admixturesthat came later in History through trade.

@evelynmungau9319 4 жыл бұрын

More please!

@harakajoseph3766 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you

@ambroseolwa 4 жыл бұрын

Wonderful

@mohammedwako3234 4 жыл бұрын

Good job

@99gang69 Жыл бұрын

lucid talk , love it

@slug6433 4 жыл бұрын

Nice !

@eddwak 4 жыл бұрын

Great informative content!

@sumuomar7836 3 жыл бұрын

This is a nice, I like that you concluded that you are open for a discussion. I agree with you with you when you mention about Waswahili being the Native of most part of Kenya except for Lamu. Lamu has its own history. Would you mind sharing some details about Lamu, how are the Swahilis Natives of Lamu? Did you know that the Language spoken in Lamu was Arabic until after independence. That is when people started to shift to Swahili and if you look closely most Lamu Swahili Language is derived from Arabic language. Please share more about Lamu i am curious to know how the Swahili were natives of Lamu

@VIVIHESS 2 жыл бұрын

Swahili people talk kiswahili. Those people were probably somalis.

@blessingchanne1866 2 жыл бұрын

Lamu is where bantu, Arabs and somalis met. Some bajuni words come from maay language of southern somalia

@naikiadexa1123 2 жыл бұрын

They don't want to accept that Swahili was never native to East Africa. They are migrants who mixed with the locals.

@gloriaklein4706 Жыл бұрын

@@naikiadexa1123 wrong before contact of the outside world bantu are native to the east africa coast no one was inhabiting until the bantus stop being bitter

@hanschuma7734 3 жыл бұрын

Swahili mpoo tupeane bas like tujuane

@alom1807 4 жыл бұрын

Awesome content. Please use your name in the future just for credit purposes. Congratulations on this

@mbajuni 3 жыл бұрын

The name of the IS included... she says this is @swahiligal and the logo on the video is @hiistoriya

@alom1807 3 жыл бұрын

@@mbajuni Which name?

@mjewell743 10 ай бұрын

...can you share with me a little info on the "fish like" design which is part of your background...as I trust much of what we see today has an Afrikan/Alkebulan origin , sometimes with meaning while one can be led to think a design is original to the european...thank you...

@alikokani3781 3 жыл бұрын

Pls how can I get history of the Galla (Wagala) now referred as Ormas. Pls

@ymmusvosvi 4 жыл бұрын

This is so cool I recently also got interested in learning about my own Zimbabwean culture and was shocked. My life is a lie 😂😂😂

@urrraight2270 3 жыл бұрын

Were did you see that ndiri Zimbabwean too..I also want to learn

@ymmusvosvi 3 жыл бұрын

@@urrraight2270 its the name bro we Zimbabweans know each other 🤣

@urrraight2270 3 жыл бұрын

@@ymmusvosvi oh ya we do

@UcheOgbiti 4 жыл бұрын

This!!!

@andykaraba 4 жыл бұрын

Mine eyes have seen the light

@kurudimzizima7995 3 жыл бұрын

Wa-siwa-hili....

@mahinanama Жыл бұрын

What happened to the Swahili kingdom?? I would like to know if there's a research on the original Swahili people

@Daundergroundimam 4 ай бұрын

Thanks so much so the swahili people are not just mix african correct

@joeybboy3433 11 ай бұрын

Habari! Nikona sueli mbili! 1. I was thinking that the Kenyans who spoke Swahili as a lingua franca were Swahili people. Is this incorrect? My new understanding from this video is that Swahili people are from the coast. 2. Along with the Indians and Arabs, are the white foreigners who settle into and live in Swahili culture considered Swahili? Asante sana, mwalimu!

@SussucaSwahili-ll5yc 10 ай бұрын

Swahíli is my name😊

@finadia1 4 жыл бұрын

Have you considered doing or have done ancestry DNA for the swahili people? It would be interesting to know.

@firdausali8470 3 жыл бұрын

I did an ancestry test, I identify as being swahili too. Maybe a collaboration of other swahili people in one video sharing their ancestry results could be a great start.

@abdufatuma9420 2 жыл бұрын

@@firdausali8470 wow,..where did you take the DNA ancestry? I would like to. Am very anxious to know my roots. Am bajun from kiwayu( Simbambae) ..I really looking forward to take the DNA

@VIVIHESS 2 жыл бұрын

They are Bantu with a little bit of persian, arab and indian admixtures that came later in History through trade.

@gamerabossb1777 Жыл бұрын

I am Swahili and have arab decent, is it okay for me to call myself Afro-Arab?

@Bibirallie 7 ай бұрын

You are African, Arabs wouldn’t even consider you Arab.

@MenengaiCrater 4 жыл бұрын

You had 225 likes. Mine is 226

@gianfrancobenetti-longhini8192 Жыл бұрын

Strange that no mention of the Bantu influence in the language, since it is the biggest part of the Swahili language, with Arab at around 30%. The Bantu people originated in the area around present day Cameroun, and migrated around 1500 from there, and reached as far as south-east Africa, in what is known as the Transkei. Studies of the languages confirm the affinity from what is called a Bantu language. Islam did not go far from the coast. The main trade of value from the interior in the past. was of slaves and ivory.

@ludigomhagama4023 2 жыл бұрын

Swahili is Bantu language. 90 percentage of Swahili is Bantu. Original of that language is congo. Arab adopt this language.human started in east Africa. People are moving with language. Many people of Zanzibar are from mainland. When slave trade ends thus why remaining there. The first president of Zanzibar is from Malawi. His origin is from Malawi. All people of coastal are all Bantu. And they still speak they own language.

@Sisangof2 2 жыл бұрын

Swahili is originally from congo, it’s not for Muslim or Arabic people, Muslim tried to change some words to Arabic from luck of pronunciation. It’s Bantu language.

@hewittg.malone5973 2 жыл бұрын

"This is not Helpful": What is helpful is / A course of bringing all of the "People of Color" together: I am from North America, my associates of Central America, South America, Austraila, Asia, the Caribean and the Pacific Rim WISH to join with our Mother Continent, AFRICA: IF WE SET THIS AS GOAL ONE - We can share the pass history of how everyone have gotten to the "NEW AFRICA" of Today.:

@imanea.4018 4 жыл бұрын

Comorians where are you??

@Hara.0 3 жыл бұрын

Right here 🙃

@badaricolie696 Жыл бұрын

Here bro. But we are french speakers.

@imanea.4018 Жыл бұрын

@@badaricolie696 Gamdjouwo moinama cha lé vidéo giyo shingéréza yapvo tsi diwiza shizougou🤣

@badaricolie696 Жыл бұрын

@@imanea.4018 hihihi cha chi ngereza yi cho chi zungu tsena. Wa dari na Nairobi wo hamba mgereza wola mzungu.

@TheKadonye 4 жыл бұрын

A lot of referencing to Islam as part of being/becoming Swahili, yet many Swahilis one encounters in Kenyan coastal towns are not Muslim but are assimilated Swahili people who have retained their 'otherness' as you call it. Think Kikuyus, Luos & Kambas in Mpeketoni and Lamu. And the Giriama (Kilifi county largely) etc. You have described it well when talking about Tanzania. Great video!!

@mbajuni 4 жыл бұрын

Assimilation means you take on not just the language, but the way of life. Yet the people you reference here still refer to themselves as their tribe during census and whenever asked. I am from Lamu and have never met a Kikuyu there who introduces themselves as Mswahili. Islam comes with the territory. Assimilation means you need to call yourself Mswahili and live like one. They don’t. Islam is in essence part of the assimilation for all Swahili’s except in Tanzania where there was forced political assimilation.

@a.a.nassir8832 4 жыл бұрын

@@mbajuni Swahilis have not always been Muslim.

@HisFinEco 3 жыл бұрын

@@a.a.nassir8832 no one has always been any religion, so I don't understand the meaning of this statement. What is true the vast majority of swahili people are Muslim and the religion is intertwined with the culture

@VIVIHESS 2 жыл бұрын

@@a.a.nassir8832 Swahili tribes existed way before Islam.

@VIVIHESS 2 жыл бұрын

@@HisFinEco Most of them are muslim but not all. The swahili tribes and their culture existed way before Islam.

@eastzooadmin6416 2 жыл бұрын

Prove that kiswahili is a mijikenda language from the coastal people of Kenya Ushahidi kua kiswahili kinatokana na lugha za kimijenda, kabila tisa zinazopatikana mwambao wa pwani mwa Kenya kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ecBlbLmZnLLXhqs.html

@mohamedabsi9874 4 жыл бұрын

swahili ati siwa hili?sawahili ni people of the coast

@Sisangof2 2 жыл бұрын

But no one is Swahili. Each one has is language before Swahili but no one is Swahili

@pilimusa3217 2 жыл бұрын

Kabisa

@sidvicious647 Жыл бұрын

It is Said that The Swahili language is actually Ancient Hebrew....

@matteosposato9448 2 жыл бұрын

00:10 "The Swahili identity [...] covers [...] a homogeneous yet diverse community". I think it can be either homogeneous or diverse, not both

@omarAhmed-re3ms 2 жыл бұрын

Not really bantus,

@KingOfAfrica90 2 жыл бұрын

What do u mean

@omarAhmed-re3ms 2 жыл бұрын

We have not been classified and mind you bantus are from the hinterlands and our locations had always been at the ocean even the great migration. So as a fisherman my ancestors cant be farmers. History has been corrupted and not all coastal people are swahilis,we know our history from arabic sources since swahili was written in arabic till late 19th century. History can be faked just like any discipline.

@KingOfAfrica90 2 жыл бұрын

@@omarAhmed-re3ms what is race and where are u from? Swahili is a Bantu language

@omarAhmed-re3ms 2 жыл бұрын

Swahili comes from arabic saahil meaning coastal people, the origin of name . kiswahili is the later version standardized for the british to easy relate to. Dont confuse swahili and kiswahili.

@KingOfAfrica90 2 жыл бұрын

@@omarAhmed-re3ms it seems u r the one who is confused.

@Muriuki218 7 ай бұрын

Swahili is just a Language in East Africa…there’s no tribe as Swahili

@abbakarkheiry 4 ай бұрын

Any spoken language has an origin. So Swahili was born within coastal tribes

@mohamedasaid7910 2 жыл бұрын

Wa siwa hili is a made up theory.Just throw it in the dust bin

@aceneunice6840 2 ай бұрын

bouring

@kreativeforce532 8 ай бұрын

you champion detribalization and arabization (vis a vi islam) simultaneously. this is a double standard smh. arabs kept their identity because they've succeeded in forcing their identity on east Africans over centuries (to the arab benefit). Now they can easily slip in when they wish without detribalizing. but any Bantu has such a requirement, what madness is this?

@DumeJeusi 3 жыл бұрын

Good start. Next time avoid delving into too much religious fantasy. Too much reference to the Middle Eastern religion detract from culture lovers interested in this unique East African language. Also, I am very surprised you did Not mention the Coastal Bantu sister languages to Kiswahili - Pokomo, Mijikenda etc. There can be NO discussion of Swahili language or origin without reference to these languages. Don't look down upon your closest relatives culturally, linguistically and DNA-wise. There is a tendency for Swahilis to go look for Asians and assign them too much importance or overstate their role in the formation of Kiswahili (Kingozi) which is a pure Bantu language. Even Arab contribution to Kiswahili is sketchy and counts for a mere 15% vocabulary in specific areas. In short, Kingozi /Kiswahili, is just Chonyi, Giriama or Pokomo - it's closest relatives. The so-called Swahili ethnicity(esp in Kenya and Zanzibar) has to de-colonize & emancipate themselves from Arab mental slavery by fully embracing their Bantu roots. Swahili just like Mijikenda languages has no linguistic difference whatsoever from the Bantu spoken in Malawi, Zimbabwe and parts of South Africa.

@VIVIHESS 2 жыл бұрын

Yes.

@user-vw6bk4pb4l Жыл бұрын

I'm from Zambia and Kiswahili sounds so much like Chichewa/Chinyanja, which are also spoken in Malawi and Mozambique. Chibemba and Chinsenga are similar too. Anyone fluent in those languages can understand it. I've read that most Arabic vocabulary in Kiswahili is directly from Omani Arabic dialect. Omanis colonised coastal region from the 17th century, and encouraged Arab immigration in the 19th century. Yet so called Swahili culture is far older, almost 2000 years old. Clearly, the deep Bantu roots are undermined and Arab overstated.