The Swahili Corridor Revisited

Abstract

Sharma. Un entrepôt de commerce medieval sur la côte du Ḥaḍramawt (Yémen, ca 980-1180). Edited by Axelle Rougeulle. xxii + 559 pages; illustrated throughout in colour and black & white. French text throughout. British Foundation for the Study of Arabia Monographs (formerly Society for Arabian Studies Monographs) 17. 2015. ISBN 9781784911942 (printed book), ISBN 9781784911959 (e-book). £19.00. The idea of the Swahili corridor has become familiar to those working along the East African coast. In its original conception (Horton 1987), it was the idea that indigenous Swahili merchants sailed along the coast, from Mozambique to Somalia, using the monsoon winds, thus establishing a degree of cultural unity along this coastal zone, visible both linguistically and in the material culture, especially locally produced ceramics, termed Tana/TIW. While early writers on the Swahili Coast pointed to connections with the Gulf (Chittick 1977), the hypothesis was mooted that the Swahili also connected with the coast of southern Arabia, and thus the Red Sea, and ultimately the Mediterranean world. High-value precious commodities, such as ivory, gold and crystal found their way found its way into Europe from the Fatimid period (late tenth century) onwards, from as far afield as Southern Africa.

The Gulf in World History

“…The manuscript contains much of importance, with both annotated maps and texts, on celestial and geographical matters, and five chapters on curiosities. Among this material is an important map of the Indian Ocean (A Folio 29B-30A), and in particular references to the East African coast (Horton 2018).…”