on Swahili identity

The Swahili people historically occupied a strip of the coast of East Africa, extending through Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, and Mozambique.  The etymology of the word Swahili, from an arabic term for coastal, not-so-subtly hints at both the importance of the shore, and the influence of non-African forces. Indeed, the position and geography of this place have shaped the language, ethnicity, faith, and population living here, but Swahili identity is wonderfully, at times mystifyingly, more complex than an address. 

The language is rooted in Bantu, as are the vast majority of African languages, and heavily influenced by Arabic.  Along with some archeological evidence of Persian colonies dating back to the  first century BCE, the ties of language bolster Swahili origin lore as a people linked as much to the Middle East as to Africa.  Impacting faith along with language, ties to the Arabian Peninsula brought Islam to the Swahili coast, though the movement of both language and religion is not as immediate as the beaching of a ship of newcomers. Each process was slow, yet pervasive, and has far reaching implications in the identity of the Swahili people.  

This section of the coast, while favored with reliable wind patterns that enable trade, lacks the navigable coastal rivers of West Africa.  As trade grew across the Indian Ocean, so did the port cities of the Swahili Coast and the role of the Swahili people in international trade. The Swahili adroitly functioned as brokers and negotiators, positioned between the hinterlands of the interior, and the exotic ports of India, the Arabian Peninsula, China, and beyond.  The economic ties of trade between these nationalities and ethnic groups were often strategically strengthened through absorption into familial groups by way of marriage.  Adding to multiple colonizations, these tactical unions contributed to the cosmopolitan ethnic makeup of the Swahili.  It is worth noting that not all people participated in or benefitted equally from trade, nor were all families interwoven with brides from abroad.  In large part, the role of the trader was played by more recent Arab immigrants, with the native population fulfilling subsidiary roles.  The Swahili people were concurrently ethnically mixing, and racially divided.  In the places where these divides exist most starkly (which people own land or slaves, who holds authority in governance, faith, or economy?) the question of Swahili identity becomes muddled and incredibly complex.      

The identity of the Swahili people seems to be marked by liminality.  Geographically, the population exists on a perch of land between the continent and the sea, where the role as trader means negotiations between each without membership in either.  The perceived importance of Shirazi ancestry points to an uneasy balance of Africanness and non-Africanness  (this locus of identity made only thornier by the slave trade).  John Middleton further characterizes the people as marked by the consistency of change.  Rulers, linguistics, economics, and ethos have been quite fluid.  These historical complexities manifest as real and present ambiguities for those who self-identify as Waswahili.