New research gives clarification and restores pride to millions of individuals who identify as Swahili by debunking erroneous myths and clarifying the ancestry of the Swahili ancestry civilization.
According to SciTech Daily, an anthropologist at the University of South Florida (USF) has discovered the first ancient DNA from the Swahili Civilization, a rich trade kingdom along the coast of East Africa that dates back to the 7th century.
First Ancient DNA From the Swahili Civilization Restores Heritage, Complicates Understanding of Its History
Professor's Life's Work
USF anthropology Professor Chapurukha Kusimba spent four decades researching the ancestors of people who constructed civilizations. It is a discussion that many Swahilis believe has deprived them of their legacy for generations.
Kusimba stated in a press release that his journey of studying Swahili history has been his life's work. Without disregarding the Persian and Indian connections, he added that the findings highlight African contributions and the Africanness of Swahili.
Their study, titled "Entwined African and Asian Genetic Roots of Medieval Peoples of the Swahili Coast" published in the journal Nature, examined the DNA of 80 individuals from 800 years ago, which makes it the first ancient DNA uncovered from the Swahili civilization.
Kusimba, a Kenya native, spent time with the Swahili people to gain their trust before receiving approval to complete cemetery excavations as part of his study. Also, Kusimba finished the sampling and re-burial process all in one season to respect the remains.
Kusimba identified the ancestry of the persons tested as both African and Asian while working with geneticists David Reich and Esther Brielle from Harvard University and corresponding authors Rice University's Jeff Fleisher and the University of York's Stephanie Wynne-Jones.
They found that the DNA indicated a pattern: the vast majority of male-line ancestors originated in Asia, whereas female-line ancestors originated in Africa.
Despite intermarrying, their progeny spoke an African language rather than an Asian one. As a result, experts concluded that African women had a significant impact on the evolution of culture; so much so that the communities were founded before Asian colonization, making women the dominant bearers of economic and social authority.
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Swahili Civilization and Their Asian Connection
According to the study, a considerable number of immigrants from Southwest Asia migrated to the Swahili coast in the medieval and early modern periods and had children with the locals. Yet, the research also demonstrates that characteristics of Swahili civilization predate those incursions.
As Kusimba pointed out, the study confirmed that even as newcomers arrived and Islam became the dominant regional religion the bedrock of Swahili culture remained unchanged. As per an article in Harvard Medical School, Swahili's primary language, tomb architecture, cuisine, material culture, matrilocal marriage residence, and matriarchal kinship all remained African and Bantu in nature.
The data challenges a generally known scholarly belief that outsiders made little contribution to Swahili peoples. The findings also debunk a diametrically different position widespread during colonial times, which thought that Blacks contributed nothing to Swahili communities.
Researchers said that analysis of the ancient DNA addressed the longstanding controversy that could not be tested without genetic data. They found that the initial waves of newcomers were mainly from Persia, which aligns with the oldest Swahili oral stories about Persian merchants or princes arriving on Swahili shores.
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