The history of coastal culture outlined in this work differs significantly from past interpretations. Prior to the nineteenth century, at least, coastal urban culture and religion were uniquely local phenomena essentially dominated by their African physical and intellectual ambience, while remaining open and responsive to transoceanic intellectual stimuli. This, of course, implies certain things about coastal Africans and Islam. It means, for one thing, that their intellectual and cultural traditions were substantial enough to continue having ‘meaning’ for them even when and where pressures for change were greatest. It means that these people and their traditions were sufficiently strong and supple to respond positively to new opportunities while maintaining control over potentially destabilizing changes they brought with them. It means that monotheism (in the form of Islam) presented supplementary doctrines and symbols to which local traditions could be adapted and which were suitably representative of this changing intellectual environment to an extent that cannot be ignored. In the end, it also implies that ‘Arabs’ were rarely, if ever, in a position to impose change so much that local peoples more frequently adapted to it.

Exactly what were the ‘origins’ of coastal culture and when they emerged are contentious issues among scholars. It is admittedly a matter of definition, for example, to say just when coastal towns were ‘founded’. One obvious approach is to note when and under what conditions various features usually associated with this culture can be said to have manifested themselves.