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Africa to the 1400s

Moving East W hile some people were forming empires in the west, others were migrating to other parts of Africa. These people spoke several languages called Bantu, and they started migrating over four thousand years ago. The Bantus moved into the forests of Central Africa, continuing until they reached the east African coast around 400 ce . Across the Indian Ocean The Bantu-speaking Africans who settled along the coast were farmers who kept cattle and grew crops. In due course they also traded across the Indian Ocean with Arabia, Persia and India. Merchants from these countries had learned how to sail on the monsoon winds, which blew from India towards East Africa between November and March. They brought goods such as beads, plates and silk from China and India to sell at east African ports. The Africans sold ivory and gold, which they bought from people living in the interior . When the monsoon winds blew eastwards between April and October, the foreign merchants sailed home in their dhows .

A detail from a nineteenth century European engraving of an Arab caravan traveling across the desert to sell their wares.

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