Societies, Religion, and History

Scholars often equate a Swahili presence with the moment history beganon the Tanzanian central coast. In this book, Rhonda M. Gonzales proposes analtogether different and more comprehensive narrative.Societies, Religion, and History is the first study to applyhistorical linguistic methods to the Bantu-speaking peoples of the coastal andinterior regions of central east Tanzania, individuals and communities who laterbecame part of the Swahili world. The Seuta and Ruvu Bantu societies were entrenchedalong the coast and interior of Tanzania for centuries before Swahili-speakingpopulations expanded their towns and settlements southward along the East Africancoastline.Making use of historical linguistics, the findingsof cutting-edge archaeologists, ethnographic sources, and her own extensive fieldresearch, Gonzales unfolds a historical panorama of thriving societies engaged invibrant cross-cultural exchange and prosperous regional and transoceanic networks.According to Gonzales, scholars need to integrate these communities into theirstories if they are to compose a full and satisfying history of central easternTanzania. Recovering this history requires close attention to the happenings of theinterior, often misleadingly referred to& -and treated-as hinterland. Toward that end, Gonzales combines a challenging range ofhistorical resources to build a long-term history of the social, cultural, andreligious beliefs and practices of the region as they have developed over the past2,000 years.