Shirazi era

The "Shirazi era" refers to a mythic origin in the history of Southeast Africa (and especially Tanzania), between the 13th century and 15th century, as recorded in the 15th century Kilwa Chronicle, where many towns were founded by Persians from the Shiraz region "between the eighth and fifteenth centuries".

Population genetics has identified the maternal heritage of the present and pre-modern population is principally of Sub-Saharan lineages, primarily Bantu and Pastoral Neolithic, while the majority of the male heritage, in the coastal settlements, is of Asian origin, with Y-DNA haplogroups common to West Asia: J2, G2, and R1a most frequent in the samples, partially supporting the mythology.