Portuguese map of the east coast of Africa, 1630.
Joao Teixeira Albernaz/Buyenlarge/Getty Images
The history of the coastal communities of east Africa shows how ethnic groups and their languages were shaped.
Jasmin Merdan/Getty Images
By the 1950s a standard version of the language emerged, today spoken by an estimated 200 million people.
Detail from the cover of the children’s book Kayo’s House by Ugandan author Barbara Kimenye.
Macmillan/Mactracks Series
At independence, adults were reading decolonial classics - but children were reading Enid Blyton. A generation of unsung women writers changed that.
How are people today related to those who lived centuries ago in the Swahili civilization?
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs/Flickr
The first ancient DNA sequences from peoples of the medieval Swahili civilization push aside colonialist stories and reveal genetic connections from the past.
Siddi children performing Dance Dhamaal in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India.
Courtesy Sayan Dey
Dhamaal music and dance reveals a rich and complex mixing of cultures that is shaped by history.