The Swahili Coast by Christine Nicholls - 9781032819129

The Swahili CoastPolitics, Diplomacy and Trade on the East African Littoral, 1798-1856\nAuthor(s): Christine Nicholls\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9781032819129, 978-1032819129\nSynopsis\nFirst published in 1971, The Swahili Coast deals with a sixty-year period in which Arabs from Oman in Arabia extended their influence over the East African coast from Mogadishu in the north to Cape Delgado in the South. This region had a culture and a way of life quite distinct from that of the interior and had always been an area of great maritime activity. For hundreds of years, Arabs had come down on the monsoon winds to trade there, and for two centuries, the Portuguese had controlled the region.\n\nIn the course of the period covered by this book the ruler of the Omani Arabs transferred his seat of government from Arabia to Zanzibar. This involved him in delicate relationships with the Western powers who developed strategi.