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Question: What evidence proves that the Swahili people traded with the Arab world and with China!?
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Coins found on Pemba (an island off the coast of Kenya) come from all over the Arab world!. Chinese prints record a picture of a giraffe that the Sultan of Malindi gave to the emperor of China!. Pieces of Chinese pottery and other good have been found up and down the Swahili coast!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

the Swahili language is "pidgin arabic" (actually a mix of Arabic and some Bantu words)

Zanzibar used to be a part of the Sultanate of Oman- and is considered a "capital" of the "swahili culture"

Swahili is used in all the areas where arab slave traders operated- it is their language (or the one they used to talk to their servants and slaves)

as to china- there are plenty of wrecks with chinese porcelain and silver!. China was also a major market for slaves - though they only took castrated males (due to Chinese laws)

Tons of historical evidence for all of the aboveWww@QuestionHome@Com

There is an abundance of linguistic evidence!. The Swahili language is a trade language in the same linguistic family as Arabic and Aramaic, indicating that there was heavy interaction with the Arabic world!. The President-elect's name, "Barack," is Swahili for "blessed," which shares roots with the Hebrew "Baruch!." The Swahili word for "father" is "baba," which it derives from those same Semitic roots: the Aramaic word was "abba!."

Then we have the geographical evidence!. Two chief cities of the Swahili-speaking region carry names from Middle Eastern languages: Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, is derived from the Persian "moqad shah" meaning "seat of the king!." Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, is Arabic for "House of Peace," a reference to a point of Islamic theology which divided the world into places ruled by Muslims and non-Muslims!.

Then there is cultural evidence: the original Arabic legend of Aladdin (not the Disney take) is about a Chinese boy who, at one point in his adventures, faces off against a Swahili sorcerer!. To this day, the Arabic racial slur for people of African extraction translates into English as "slaves"-which was one of the main trade goods Africa sent to the Arabic world (indeed, the Arab slave trade was slightly larger in volume than the trans-Atlantic one)!. The Christian Old Testament recounts a story of a visit paid to King Solomon of Israel by the Queen of Sheba (an area that would correspond to modern-day Ethiopia or Somalia)!.

Then there is the historical evidence!. A Roman citizen in Alexandria wrote the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea around 100 AD, which accurately described Europe, Africa, India and even parts of China!. The writings of the Arab Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta accurately describe the Swahili region, as well as India, China and the bulk of the Arabic world!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

History itself!?Www@QuestionHome@Com