Bantu peoples
Bantu peoples moved into the region between the Great Lakes and the Indian Ocean some time after 1000 BC and mingled with the local population. By the first century AD ships from the Arabian peninsula were trading along the East African coast. Muslim Arabs from Oman began to colonize the coast in the 8th century AD. The coastal Bantu peoples intermarried with the Arabs to form the Swahili people, with a language that combines Bantu, Arabic and Persian elements. The Swahili culture incorporated many Arabic and Islamic aspects, while remaining essentially Bantu in nature.