The Swahili were the traders of East African coast, very influential and rich.
Explanation:
The Swahili people have Bantu roots and they eventually settled the Swahili coast and their language was also called Swahili.
They were famous traders and dominated the trade of African east coast for a long time from the 8th century onward.
They were trading with great powers like East Asians, China, India Iran and other middle eastern powers and thus became very rich and powerful.
They took over Islam and by the 10th century they were in smaller city states that were cosmopolitan and dependent on trade until the 15th century when the sultanate took them over.
