There are Arab , Persian , and other migrants who reached the coast some believe as early as the 7th-8th c. CE , and mixed with the local people there , that are regarded as Swahili now . Because of this influence the Swahili language contains many loan words from Arabic and Persian . This also extends to Arab , Persian , and other migrants who reached the coast some believe as early as the 7th-8th c. CE , and mixed with the local people there , providing considerable cultural infusion and numerous loan words from Arabic and Persian .