The Unsung African Pioneers

The Unsung African Pioneers: The Nairobi Swahili-Speaking Community, 1885-1970 explores the social history of the Swahili-speaking community in Nairobi, Kenya, from the inception of British rule to seven years after independence. The Swahili-speaking community in Nairobi has a rich social history tracing its roots not only in Kenya but also in many parts of eastern and Central Africa. Through survival, social interaction, and religious practices, men and women from diverse ethnic backgrounds gradually shaped a common Swahili culture and embraced Islam as their religion. The influences were many and varied, but those of the Barawa, Bajuni, and Digo from the Mrima coast of Tanganyika, as well as the Nyamwezi, Manyema, Kamba, Kalenjin, and Kikuyu, were dominant. Each group contributed to the new Swahili culture that emerged in Nairobi over the last two centuries.Islam became the main pillar around which life revolved; it established bonds and provided a shared sense of communal culture and values.