Swahili literature -- Encyclopædia Britannica Swahili also called kiSwahili , or Kiswahili that body of creative writing done in Swahili, a Bantu language of Africa. The earliest preserved Swahili writing, from the early 18th century, is written in Arabic script, and subsequent writings were primarily in three main dialects: kiUnjuga, kiMvita, and kiAmu. [eng]