HISTORY OF KISWAHILI


Based on writings by ancient travelers from China, it appears that Kiswahili, which is a Bantu language, was spoken along the East African coast even before the first century AD. A Greek sailor wrote in 45 AD that this coast was inhabited by Black people who spoke their own language. (Anonymous, n.d.) People who came to this coast included the Chinese, Persians, Indians, Shirazis, and Arabs—especially those from Oman.

 

The Swahili people are said to have first settled in Kismayu, Somalia, and then gradually moved southward. Every area where they settled had its own dialect of Kiswahili. However, these dialects were very similar. As transportation improved, people interacted more linguistically, expanding their vocabulary. Gradually, the distinct antiquity of each dialect began to disappear.

 

It is believed that in the seventh and eighth centuries, the Swahili community also developed centers of trade and culture in Kismayu and on Lamu Island, where the Kingozi dialect of Kiswahili was used. From the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, Mombasa and Kilwa served as major trading centers. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, Zanzibar became the main trade center. In the nineteenth century, Kiswahili spread further inland, especially the Kiunguja dialect, which was widely used by the rulers of that time. (Swahili language | African Lingua Franca, Bantu Language, 2025)

 

There were also Egyptians who came to these regions, and they are said to have given the coast its name, calling it Runt-Pwani. A person named Tuan Diang Thih wrote about Kiswahili in 863, before the birth of Christ. A scholar named Al-Idrisi from Sicily recorded Kiswahili names for bananas around 1300 in his travel records of East Africa. Letters were also written in Kiswahili and translated into Portuguese in 1728. Many people came for various reasons, especially trade. Arabs also came to spread Islam, to trade in ivory and slaves, and later sought political power. They interacted with local people and traveled inland, which greatly influenced Kiswahili. Initially, they influenced those living along the coast. People of different dialects used the language—with its many dialects—as it spread into the interior.

 

All areas along the slave caravan routes were the first to adopt Kiswahili. Later, everyone wanted to learn it because it was used in trade, and people communicated in Kiswahili during these activities. Arabs penetrated as far as Katanga through Umani (Umani traders). As a result, Kiswahili spread to those regions, though it differed greatly from the variety spoken on the coast. (Recreating a Language: a socio-historical approach to the study of Shaba Swahili, 2023) Kiswahili became increasingly weakened as it moved inland, because the way inland communities spoke it was less standardized than the Kiswahili spoken by people from Tanga or Mombasa. However, the situation gradually improved through religious interactions, as coastal people traveled inland and inland people came to the coast.

 

The slave caravan routes were as follows:

 

1. From Bagamoyo to Tabora, where they established camps near Kapalapala. Even today, there is evidence such as writings and huts where slaves lived; the place served as a resting station.

2. Before reaching Kigoma toward Katanga, or before going from Mwanza to Uganda (see map).

3. From Tanga through the Usambara Mountains and Pare Mountains to the Kilimanjaro highlands, passing west of Lake Victoria to Lake Turkana.

4. From Tabora to Mwanza and onwards to Uganda.

 

 

References

 

(2025). Swahili language | African Lingua Franca, Bantu Language. Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Swahili-language

 

Anonymous. (n.d.). Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea

 

(2023). Recreating a Language: a socio-historical approach to the study of Shaba Swahili. Cultural Survival Quarterly. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/recreating-language-socio-historical-approach-study-shaba

The history of Swahili

By Odilia Okanga • January 26, 2026
The History of Swahili

The Elephant people of Tsavo

By Brenda Okumu • June 29, 2025
The Elephant People of Tsavo On a hot day in Tsavo, Galgalo sits among his peers while the simmering hours pass. The top agenda of their discussion this afternoon is the number of elephants each has slain in their lifetime. Galgalo’s toll supersedes everyone else’s. Hunting elephants for game meat has, sadly, been the way of life for the Watha community, known by another name: The Elephant People. Things have, however, not been usual this past decade, as concerns have arisen over the rapid decline in elephant numbers with each passing day. The Watha is an indigenous Cushitic group that has lived near the wild for centuries. They are found in the biodiversity-rich, forested hills of Kilibasi in Kwale County, as well as in Coastal forests including the Arabuko Sokoke, parts of Kilifi, Marsabit, Lamu, and Tana River in Kenya. Their story began in the 1950s, when the area they called home was set aside to create the current Tsavo East National Park. Although the government’s need for conservation was met, the Watha community was left in limbo, as their dependence on bushmeat, honey, and firewood was significantly impacted. The struggle to adapt to new ways of survival, therefore, began in earnest, a journey that took a toll on them because of a deeply ingrained belief that the life of elephants in Tsavo was inextricably linked to their fate. According to the Watha story of God’s creation, elephant dung is a partial fulfillment of the sacred covenant between their society and the elephant. This, they posit, explains their intimate knowledge of the bush, from the ability to describe the peculiar behavior of individual elephants to navigate both their paths and those of other animals with ease. One of the traditional Watha practices includes cultural dances performed after every successful elephant hunt, accompanied by triumphal songs to praise the elephant for providing food for their community. For the sake of herd continuity, hunters like Galgalo were only allowed to prey on bull elephants, as it was an abomination to kill female elephants for food. Apart from the meat, elephant tusks were used for a bride price or for barter trade in exchange for cloth, tools, and ornaments. Things are different now as the government continues to implement measures aimed at conserving natural resources. What was initially a source of community pride and nourishment is now synonymous with arrests, detainment, and imprisonment. Left without alternative means of livelihood, the Watha have been struggling to adapt to a new way of life through subsistence farming on small tracts of land. This has led to the population of the once-robust community dropping exponentially as climate change, poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment ravage the Elephant People. But all is not lost. Their one-time vast knowledge of the bush is slowly being replaced with formal education, and the pen has overtaken their prowess with the spear. It has been a journey of discovery, opening new frontiers and broadening eyes to a new world; it is expected to bring forth a new generation that will protect rather than harm or kill game animals. With each new dawn, Galgalo and his ilk will have to slowly but surely find new topics to discuss at their under-the-rock meetings, as keeping lists of elephants killed will no longer be something to boast about.

Tribute to Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o

By Odilia Okonga • June 29, 2025
Tribute to Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o