S2 History: Long Distance Trade in East Africa

These notes introduce long distance trade, also called caravan trade, as exchange linking East Africa’s interior with the coast. They identify participating communities and traders, including the Yao, Akamba, Nyamwezi, Baganda, Banyoro, Arabs and Swahili. The resource outlines factors associated with the trade’s growth, such as demand for goods, transport improvements, safe routes, cowrie shells, merchant finance and Kiswahili as a shared language. It also mentions prominent traders and leaders, coastal settlement and drought. The closing summary groups the reasons for development into political, social and economic factors.