We stayed one night in this island [Mombasa], and then pursued our journey to Kilwa, which is a large town on the coast. The majority of its inhabitants are Zanj, jet-black in colour, and with tattoo marks on their faces. Kilwa is a very fine and substantially built town, and all its buildings are of wood...The sultan at the time of my visit was Abu'l-Muzaffar Hasan, who was noted for his gifts and generosity. He used to devote the fifth part of the booty made on his expeditions to pious and charitable purposes, as is prescribed in the Koran, and I have seen him give the clothes off his back to a mendicant (beggar) who asked him for them. -Ibn Batutta
We came to Mombasa, a large island two days' journey by sea from the Sawihil [Swahili] country... Their food consists chiefly of bananas and fish.The inhabitants are pious, honourable, and upright, and they have well-built wooden mosques.-Ibn Batutta
We stayed there [in Mogadishu] three days, food being brought to us three times a day, and on the fourth, a Friday, the qadi and one of the wazirs brought me a set of garments. We then went to the mosque and prayed…-Ibn Batutta
Find textual evidence of cultural diffusion in Post-Classical East Africa