Hamzza
VIP
If the Arabo-Persian and, to a lesser degree, the Indian colonization of the Somali coast are relatively well-known to us in their broad outline, of the relations between East Africa and the Far East we know fairly little. The Chinese influences on the east african culture is usually not reckoned with, but this does not mean that it must be waived aside. The Chinese are known to have imported zang(N*gro) slaves as early as the beginning of the 9th century,
what points of the Indian Ocean coast the slave trade centres were, we shall probably never know. Coins found at Mogadishu, Kilwa and Mafia were identified with the K'ai Yuan from A. D. 713—742, and others from 845, and from the three following centuries. It was only at a later epoch, apparently, that the Chinese entered in trade relations with what was then the Somali country, i. e. present north and central Somaliland: Chinese pottery fragments found near Zeila were dated from the Sung and Ming dynasties (12—16th century). The records of the Ming dynasty, extracts of which were published by Bretschneider, contain an interesting and fairly accurate description of the Somali coast, in the course of which the name of Mogadishu (Mu ku tu su) is mentioned. But even if we are to credit the record of a whole Chinese fleet visiting this town in the 15th century, it still remains probable that trade between China and Africa was mainly carried on by seamen of countries geographically situated between the two areas.
what points of the Indian Ocean coast the slave trade centres were, we shall probably never know. Coins found at Mogadishu, Kilwa and Mafia were identified with the K'ai Yuan from A. D. 713—742, and others from 845, and from the three following centuries. It was only at a later epoch, apparently, that the Chinese entered in trade relations with what was then the Somali country, i. e. present north and central Somaliland: Chinese pottery fragments found near Zeila were dated from the Sung and Ming dynasties (12—16th century). The records of the Ming dynasty, extracts of which were published by Bretschneider, contain an interesting and fairly accurate description of the Somali coast, in the course of which the name of Mogadishu (Mu ku tu su) is mentioned. But even if we are to credit the record of a whole Chinese fleet visiting this town in the 15th century, it still remains probable that trade between China and Africa was mainly carried on by seamen of countries geographically situated between the two areas.
