The coasts of Tanzania, Kenya and Northern Mozambique have been ruled by foreign lands for centuries, from the Portuguese to the Omani Arabs. What if an Independent Empire emerged from the Swahili Coast, that would be able to resist colonization, That would expand into the Indian Ocean, conquering the Comoros and Northern Madagascar. I'm still undecided on the Capital, it could be Kilwa, Mombasa, Zanzibar, any large city. What do you think? Can it work?
Swahili Empire
- Thread starter Nabongo Mumia II
- Start date
Kilwa is most likely, given their extensive trade empire and maritime power. I think the best POD would likely be killing off Emir Muhammad Kiwabi, as he really established a trend of ambitious emirs competing with the Sultan; a trend the Portuguese later exploited. If Kiwabi dies early and the sultans are able to establish absolute authority, then they can easily survive the Portuguese and remain strong and wealthy.
ben0628
Banned
Two problems with a United Swahili state.
1) It was heavily divided otl between numerous city states. The chances are that even the most powerful city states (Kilwa, Zanzibar) would be able to unify the region.
2) If I'm not mistaken, the Swahili weren't really war mongers in otl. War disrupted trade, and they really liked trade.
You're best bet is the faction of the Ottoman court that favored expansion into the Indian Ocean instead of Europe gains power and goes on a full blown crusade/jihad to drive the Portuguese out of the Indian Ocean in the 16th century, leading to a unified Swahili state that acts as a antonomous vassal to the Ottomans, similar to the Barbary pirates in North Africa.
1) It was heavily divided otl between numerous city states. The chances are that even the most powerful city states (Kilwa, Zanzibar) would be able to unify the region.
2) If I'm not mistaken, the Swahili weren't really war mongers in otl. War disrupted trade, and they really liked trade.
You're best bet is the faction of the Ottoman court that favored expansion into the Indian Ocean instead of Europe gains power and goes on a full blown crusade/jihad to drive the Portuguese out of the Indian Ocean in the 16th century, leading to a unified Swahili state that acts as a antonomous vassal to the Ottomans, similar to the Barbary pirates in North Africa.
Strengthen the 19th c Ottomans so they can support the Zanzibaris. In OTL the Zanzibaris were expanding inland until Britain had to divide them up with Germany, since Britain's occupation of Egypt caused diplomatic weakness.
ben0628
Banned
The op wants a native Swahili nation. Zanzibar was part of Oman during the time you are talking about
No. Zanzibar was ruled by Arabs that originally came from Oman post-1856. But Oman was its own country.
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Zachariah
Banned
Might the early introduction of gunpowder to Africa via the Swahili region and the Indian Ocean trade network help? It did wonders for the Arabs (Ottomans and Safavid) and the Majapahit, after all; and the Swahili Bantu had pretty good steel.
Definitely against Europe, but I think you'd need to keep it a closely-held secret for it to allow a single Swahili power, so the various armies don't equalize. I don't see that happening if Kilwa gets it first; they'd want to make money with it, not hoard it.
Swahilis had steel? I just learnt something new. When I did a little research, I found out that Guns and Gunpowder were some of the major imports of the Swahili coast, leading to inland peoples like the Wanyamwezi of Tanzania and the Baganda of Uganda acquiring them.
One thing that I also found out is that during the early 2nd Millenium there was a Sultanate centered at Kilwa that spanned the entire Swahili coast at its zenith, but it doesn't count because it was founded by Persians.
I think that if you could get a large influx of trade during the Pre-Mohammedean times into a specific city with a King or something, then that city will have incentive to expand and conquer other city states. Let's say this city is Kilwa. With more trade, they will want to expand up the Coast of Tanzania. They will eventually meet up with more cities, and conquer them. By the time we're getting to the rise of Islam, you have a unified Swahili state capable of defending itself against foreign powers. Either that or a local Swahili person leads his people in a crusade against a foreign power, like the Portuguese, but that would require weapons the same level as the foreigners to be effective.
Was it ruled by the Persians, or exilic Persians? If there was substantial Swahili involvement and only the ruling family and some of the elite was Persian, it counts as a Swahili empire.
What do you think about Indian Ocean expansion? Do you think that a Swahili Empire could conquer the northern coast of Madagascar and the Comoros islands?
OTL Somalia ruled Maldives for a time and an Ethiopian dynasty formed on an island off the coast of India.
A Swahili empire seems unlikely, a confederation maybe with political marriages and population redistribution may work though.
Swahili did "rule" Madagascar but it's more of a Swahili-Sakalava nation arose. Comoros was a Swahili-Malagasy collection of island states as well.