Medieval Swahilis had mixed Asian and African roots — study

A study  of centuries-old DNA has revealed the complex ancestry of coastal East Africa's Swahili people, showing that Africans and Asians were intermingling along the East African coast more than a thousand years ago. 

The researchers, who published the study in the Nature journal, said that it confirms the oral history of the mixed roots of the Swahili people.

Besides revealing how a cosmopolitan and prosperous medieval civilization arose thanks in large part to women from Africa and men arriving from Persia, the authors said, the study also settles the "longstanding controversy"  from colonial times about how much Africans contributed to the civilization.

What did they find out?

The scientists examined the DNA of 80 people who lived in different Swahili regions dating from 1250 to 1800 AD.

Starting from the 7th century AD, the Swahili civilization included the coastal regions of modern-day Kenya , Tanzania, southern Somalia, northern Mozambique, Madagascar and the Comoros and Zanzibar archipelagoes. 

The analysis revealed that half of the DNA originated primarily from female African ancestors, while the other half of the DNA was from overwhelmingly male migrants from Southwest Asia — around 90% from Persia (modern-day Iran) and 10% from India. 

The genetic findings reflected the Swahili people's cosmopolitan nature. Their Swahili language is of African origin, the predominant religion of Islam was imported from the Middle East and the cuisine shows Indian and the Middle Eastern influences.

What is the significance of the study?

The timeline suggested by the DNA tests aligns with the Kilwa Chronicle, a centuries-old collection of Swahili oral histories that tells of Persian migrants arriving in the region from around 1000 AD.

According to the authors, it was also around this time that Islam was introduced to the African coasts from the Middle East, and it later became a dominant religion in the region.

The researchers emphasized that the study also showed that the hallmarks of Swahili civilization predated the arrivals from abroad.

Although the DNA evidence shows that the intermingling was mostly Persian men having children with African women, it does not necessarily indicate "sexual exploitation" because of the matriarchal nature of Swahili societies, the authors said.

David Reich, the co-author of the study and geneticist at Harvard University, stated that chances are that "Persian men allied with and married into local trading families and adopted local customs to enable them to be more successful traders."

aa/sri (AFP, Reuters)