Essay from the year 2022 in the subject History - Africa, grade: A, Arizona State University, language: English, abstract: The development of Swahili maritime trade culture and their place in the old world web has been the topic of debate and discussion for centuries. In the most recent decades of the study of their history, emphasis has been placed on the Swahili's African origins over their Islamic origins, and how this position is more fundamental in understanding their culture and individual societies. The composition of the Swahili’s African origins with their Islamic, Arab, Indian, and Austronesian roots and influences, as well as their impact on community building and economic development have been the subject of monographs by Derek Nurse and Thomas Spear, Michael Pearson, and Mark Horton and John Middleton.