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Entwined African and Asian genetic roots of medieval peoples of the Swahili coast.

ABSTRACT: The urban peoples of the Swahili coast traded across eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean and were among the first practitioners of Islam among sub-Saharan people^1,2. The extent to which these early interactions between Africans and non-Africans were accompanied by genetic exchange remains unknown. Here we report ancient DNA data for 80 individuals from 6 medieval and early modern (AD 1250-1800) coastal towns and an inland town after AD 1650. More than half of the DNA of many of the individuals from coastal towns originates from primarily female ancestors from Africa, with a large proportion-and occasionally more than half-of the DNA coming from Asian ancestors. The Asian ancestry includes components associated with Persia and India, with 80-90% of the Asian DNA originating from Persian men. Peoples of African and Asian origins began to mix by about AD 1000, coinciding with the large-scale adoption of Islam. Before about AD 1500, the Southwest Asian ancestry was mainly Persian-related, consistent with the narrative of the Kilwa Chronicle, the oldest history told by people of the Swahili coast³. After this time, the sources of DNA became increasingly Arabian, consistent with evidence of growing interactions with southern Arabia⁴. Subsequent interactions with Asian and African people further changed the ancestry of present-day people of the Swahili coast in relation to the medieval individuals whose DNA we sequenced.

SUBMITTER: Brielle ES

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10060156 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Entwined African and Asian genetic roots of medieval peoples of the Swahili coast.

Brielle Esther S ES Fleisher Jeffrey J Wynne-Jones Stephanie S Sirak Kendra K Broomandkhoshbacht Nasreen N Callan Kim K Curtis Elizabeth E Iliev Lora L Lawson Ann Marie AM Oppenheimer Jonas J Qiu Lijun L Stewardson Kristin K Workman J Noah JN Zalzala Fatma F Ayodo George G Gidna Agness O AO Kabiru Angela A Kwekason Amandus A Mabulla Audax Z P AZP Manthi Fredrick K FK Ndiema Emmanuel E Ogola Christine C Sawchuk Elizabeth E Al-Gazali Lihadh L Ali Bassam R BR Ben-Salem Salma S Letellier Thierry T Pierron Denis D Radimilahy Chantal C Rakotoarisoa Jean-Aimé JA Raaum Ryan L RL Culleton Brendan J BJ Mallick Swapan S Rohland Nadin N Patterson Nick N Mwenje Mohammed Ali MA Ahmed Khalfan Bini KB Mohamed Mohamed Mchulla MM Williams Sloan R SR Monge Janet J Kusimba Sibel S Prendergast Mary E ME Reich David D Kusimba Chapurukha M CM

Nature 20230329 7954

The urban peoples of the Swahili coast traded across eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean and were among the first practitioners of Islam among sub-Saharan people<sup>1,2</sup>. The extent to which these early interactions between Africans and non-Africans were accompanied by genetic exchange remains unknown. Here we report ancient DNA data for 80 individuals from 6 medieval and early modern (AD 1250-1800) coastal towns and an inland town after AD 1650. More than half of the DNA of many of the in ...[more]

PMID: 36991187

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Entwined African and Asian genetic roots of medieval peoples of the Swahili coast.

Publications

Entwined African and Asian genetic roots of medieval peoples of the Swahili coast.

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