AAfrican Knowledge Atlas

Comoros

Capital: Moroni · East Africa & Horn

Indian Ocean 'islands of the moon' where Swahili, Arab, Malagasy and African currents produced sultanates, grand marriages and scented plantations.

Ethnic communities

  • ComoriansSwahili-related island society organized around the ãda grand marriage

More communities of Comoros

  • Ngazidja communities Grande Comore's anda great-marriage society
  • Ndzuwani communities Anjouan's perfume-plantation valleys
  • Mwali communities Mohéli's fisher-farmer villages
  • Shirazi lineages Persian-linked founding families of the sultanates
  • Sharifian houses Prophet-descended lineages of religious rank
  • Makua-descended folk African-mainland heritage communities
  • Malagasy-descended folk Cross-channel kin of the great island
  • Fisher lineages Galawa outrigger masters of the reefs
  • Matrilineal great houses Property and marriage flow through women
  • Sufi brotherhoods Shadhili and Qadiri zikr communities
  • Indian merchant families Gujarati trading houses of the ports
  • Mayotte-linked Bushi folk Kin communities across the disputed channel

Languages

Major languages: Shikomori (Comorian), Arabic, French

Language families: Niger-Congo (Bantu, Sabaki)

Historical kingdoms & states

  • Sultanates of Ndzuwani (Anjouan), Bambao and others

Heritage sites

  • Medina of Moroni
  • Old Friday Mosque

Cultural highlights

Anda grand marriage ceremoniesTwarab musicYlang-ylang perfume heritage

Deep-dive community profiles