Thomas Vernet

Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne | UNiVPARIS1 · Department of History (UFR09)

Book review in Journal des Africanistes, 85(1-2), 2015.

In 1596 or 1597 Sultan Muhammad, king of Malindi and Mombasa, wrote to Philip II of Spain to ask him, among other things, for his ships to sail freely and tax free to the fortresses of the Portuguese Empire. He also asked the right to send a ship of pilgrims to Mecca (i.e. Jeddah), presumably each year, on the basis that this right had already been...

Resumen: En este artículo, evaluamos la hipótesis de que los pueblos Swahili de la costa oriental africana fueron una sociedad marítima a partir del primer milenio E.C. Basados en información histórica y arqueológica, proponemos que la asociación de la sociedad Swahili con el mar incrementó considerablemente con el tiempo y se manifestó de una for...

Dans les ouvrages de vulgarisation, les manuels d’histoire et, bien souvent, les publications académiques, l’Afrique de l’Ouest « médiévale » est invariablement convoquée pour démontrer la profondeur de l’histoire africaine et placer le continent sur la grande carte des civilisations anciennes du monde. Le Moyen Âge serait le temps des « grands emp...

East Africa and its Indian Ocean shore, comprising the region of present-day states of Kenya, Tanzania, southern Somalia, and Mozambique; the Lake Malawi region; the Great Lakes region (Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, eastern Congo [DRC]); and Comoros and Madagascar were the site of a large-scale slave trade from the 16th to early 20th century, effecting...

Cet article propose la publication du journal de bord de la première expédition négrière française au nord de la juridiction de Mozambique. Ce voyage pionnier est présenté dans le contexte des réseaux de traite est-africains et de l'essor de la traite française à destination des Mascareignes.

Apprehending, if not defining, Swahili identity is a constant concern of studies dealing with the Muslim communities settled on the shores of precolonial East Africa. Beyond the common - and sometimes redundant - questioning, it seems useful to deepen the analysis of the relationships between the main urban settlements and their mainland hinterland...

This paper offers a reappraisal of the slave trade networks linked to the Swahili Coast before the mid-eighteenth century. It is based on extensive research carried out in Portuguese archives and other material.

Roman Loimeier et Rüdiger Seesemann. (dir.) The global worlds of the Swahili: Interfaces of Islam, identity and space in 19th and 20th-century East Africa. Berlin, Lit, 2006, X-409 p. - Volume 64 Issue 4 - Thomas Vernet

The years 1585-1810 were a climax for the main Swahili city-state of the Lamu Archipelago, chiefly for Pate, which became a prominent centre of the East Africa coast. Through the study of the relationships between internal dynamics and external dynamics, this work surveys in a synoptic view their evolution at the edge of the African Continent and t...

This article, drawing on the example of the cities of the Lamu archipelago during the 17th and 18th centuries, tries to shed light on the question of the territory in Swahili city-states. Swahili identity and social hierarchy are centered around an urban agglomeration built of stone, conceived of as the heart of the territory and as an exclusive sp...

Les recherches scientifiques sur le commerce des esclaves se concentrent pour la plupart sur la periode d'apres 1800. Cet article prouve l'existence et l'importance du role joue par les Swahili dans ce commerce avant 1770. Les sources recentes a partir des archives et auteurs portugais demontrent qu'entre le debut du 16eme siecle et les annees 1750...

Entre 1650 et 1698 certaines cites, ou factions, swahili trouvent dans la jeune puissance omanaise un allie pour appuyer leur lutte contre l'imperialisme portugais, un partenaire commercial en plein essor et eventuellement un soutien politique. Cependant, apres 1698, lorsque la cote swahili passe sous le controle d'Oman, un fort ressentiment se gen...