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Introduction
The Shirazi is a group of Swahili-speaking people found along the coast of East Africa. The Swahili people have been known variety of diversified traditions and some very confusing history. A lot of research has been done on these people mainly from the fact that they seem to have an Arab origin and yet speak Bantu, a native African language. This paper is a critique of The Shirazi in Swahili Traditions, Culture, and History by Thomas Spear. The paper starts with an insight into the thesis and the conclusion of the author followed by a deep critique of his work in accordance with the Swahili culture and traditions and how he has portrayed their history in his paper (Spear, 291).
Discussion
According to the author of this paper, there have been misconceptions about the real history and the origin of the Swahili people. The main reason that the historians have seemed to be confusing is claiming that Swahili has an Arab origin and might even be members of the larger Arab population. The reasoning behind this statement is the way the Swahili lead their lives unlike other fellow countrymen on the mainland. Swahili is known to possess Arabic artwork and a language that closely resembles the Arabic scripts. The urban setup in which they live, their stonework, the building of the mosques, teaching, and belief in Islam are some of the factors that historians have made people believe this fact. It has been further cemented in the essay through the phrase Strange foreign jewels on a mournful silent shore . In this phrase, the Swahili are as the jewels brought by the foreign Arabs into the mournful east African shores. The author of the article has however rebelled against these assumptions claiming that the Swahili had some African influence on them due to the nature of their language. He has gone ahead to claim that all this confusion is due to top a culture that is not blending well with the rest of the mainland Africans.
In arguing out this idea the author has brought out various sources which seek to justify his argument. The history of the Swahili has been brought out from the perspective of other historians. The main claim is that the Swahili is a language and a group of people that grew out of a mixture of traditions and assimilations. This is something that helped the people grow from their old way of life to a life that was mixed with assimilations that led to a change in dialect and growth in other economic sources of a livelihood like trade leading to the development of a particular group of people (Spear, 293).
Looking at the evidence placed on the table by the author. There is a conflict in the way the previous historians took the issue and how the author has presented his research. This article seems foolproof in that it brings out the evidence in terms of the oral changes in traditions to traditions that still do exist within the people.
A good example of this is the insight into the traditions of the Shirazi. This group has been portrayed to have emanated from the Persians from Shiraz. The stories which have been presented, though might be twisted seek to explain how their relationship came to be. It is obvious that the presence of Arabs at the coast of East Africa was due to trade interests. The narratives seem to explain this point in depth by bringing out the single visitor and the initial occupant of the islands. As much as this might seem to be a theory, it supports the argument of the author as the intermarriages that occurred as the Arabs settled on the coast must have brought up some changes (Spear, 294).
One supporting factor to this evidence is the assimilation of culture. The natives were dependent on fishing and farming which means that the visitors were much wealthier. In exchange for a place to stay the visitors gave the natives gifts that were from their culture. This slowly got into the people and the more the visitors increased, the more their products proliferated on the coast thus slowly building up to be their culture. The narratives add that they offered the natives a hand in marriage which is expected in any situation. As much as this would not have changed the older generation, the children who were as a result of the intermarriages brought in more cultural mix-up and thus the assimilation got enhanced.
Articulation
It is not substantial for the historians to claim as in the thesis that the Swahili has an Arab origin due to the town structures. Considering the small size of the East African coastal stretch, it is wiser to imagine that the Arabs who started getting into the coast a long time back would have brought in the culture of the stone building which was better than the grass thatched houses that the Swahili existed in. I can therefore strongly articulate that the position of the Swahili within the coastal strip and their mode of culture is out of the Arabic assimilation and not from an Arabic origin. The Swahili can therefore be said to be a mix-up of both cultures.
Work cited
Spear, T. The Shirazi in Swahili Traditions, Culture, and History History in Africa 11(1984): 291-305
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