Abstract
This article is the first focused attempt to explore India–East Africa relationships in the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, approximately two to three millennia before the Common Era (3000–300 BCE) from a puranic perspective. While extensive scholarship exists on medieval and later Indo–African exchanges, the pre-Common Era period has remained underexplored. Drawing on Purāṇic cosmographies, Greco-Roman geographical accounts, African archaeology, and Indian Ocean trade studies, this research reconstructs possible networks of contact facilitated by monsoon navigation and long-distance exchange. Methodologically, the article integrates textual exegesis, comparative cosmography, and archaeological correlation. The findings suggest that Indian conceptions of Śaṅkha-dvīpa reflect not only symbolic geography but also dimly perceived realities of the East African littoral and Rift Valley. Archaeological evidence of shell economies, bead distribution, and ritual landscapes further strengthens the plausibility of early Indian awareness of East Africa. While direct artefactual proof of Indian presence before first century CE is scarce, converging testimonies and indirect evidence point to long-standing commercial and cultural familiarity. This early layer of interaction laid the foundation for the robust Indian Ocean exchanges before first millennium BCE. The article proposes that in their pūjā saṅkalpa, East African Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains may meaningfully substitute Jambū-dvīpa with Śaṅkha-dvīpa to reflect their sacred geography in continuity with classical Indic cosmology
Recommended Citation
Vijayasimha, Narendra
(2026)
"Śaṅkha-dvīpa and the Swahili Littoral: Reconstructing India–East Africa Contacts Before the Common Era,"
Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies: Vol. 2:
Iss.
2, Article 6.
DOI: 10.56279/ZJAHS1227
Available at:
https://commons.udsm.ac.tz/zjahs/vol2/iss2/6
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