Medieval Swahilis and Persians paired up 1,000 years ago in East Africa, ancient DNA reveals

[Judi Lynn]

By Joshua A. Krisch published about 5 hours ago

A new ancient DNA study help confirm, but also "contradict and complicate" the historical narrative that Swahilis paired up with Persians 1,000 years ago in East Africa.



Here we see a black and white image of two Swahili women, one standing and one sitting, in stylish clothing. Traditional Swahili culture had a matriarchal nature when Persian men married into the culture about 1,000 years ago. The Swahili retailed this matriarchal feature during colonial rule and modern times. Here we see two Swahili women in Zanzibar circa 1890. (Image credit: Photo by: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

About a millennium ago, long before the age of internet dating, Swahili women in eastern Africa paired up with a new type of suitor: men from Persia, a new study finds.

Researchers made the finding by studying the ancient DNA of 80 aristocrats buried in six medieval and early modern towns along the Swahili coast, they wrote in a new study published March 29 in the journal Nature(opens in new tab). These international hookups occurred just as Islam was spreading to the Swahili region, the researchers noted.

The study supports historical evidence that Swahili aristocrats are descendants of Persians who married Africans centuries ago.

"This picture is almost a perfect match to the Kilwa Chronicle, the oldest narrative told by the Swahili people themselves, and one almost all earlier scholars had dismissed as a kind of fairy tale," co-authors Chapurukha Kusimba(opens in new tab), professor of anthropology at University of South Florida, and David Reich(opens in new tab), professor of genetics and human evolutionary biology at Harvard University, wrote in The Conversation(opens in new tab).

. . .



This tomb site along the Swahili Coast in East Africa is one of the places where scientists uncovered ancient DNA from the Swahili elite. (Image credit: Chapurukha Kusimba, University of South Florida)

More
https://www.livescience.com/medieval-swahilis-and-persians-paired-up-1000-years-ago-in-east-africa-ancient-dna-reveals