African Civilizations and the spread of Islam

African Societies: Diversity & Similarities

• Stateless Societies: organized around kinship, lacked political power & authority

• Did not need rulers or bureaucracies

• Sometimes larger & more extensive than actual African states

• Families, communities held power; no need to tax to support government

Other Alternatives

• Secret societies: found in west Africa forests, men and women could join societies through initiation ceremony

• Settled village disputes, enforced by masked members

• Large space of Africa and frontier mentality enabled stateless societies to thrive

Common Elements

• Bantu Language: provided linguistic ties among Africans

• Animalism & Ancestor worship: provided need for priests, gave guide for ethics and behavior

Economy

• Economies of Africa far more diverse

• North: had always been integrated into world markets due to proximity of the great empires (Rome, Greece)

• Sub-Sahara: varied from region to region, mostly local and regional trade; integrated more into world markets when Islam arrived

Islam Arrives: AD 640-700

• By 711, Islam had spread from Arabia, into N. Africa, up into Spain

• Secret to Success: Equality under the law; uniting state & religion attractive to African kings

• Arabs = Berbers = Africans; at least under the law, but not in practice

• Ex: Fine for killing a man 2x more thank killing a woman

Early Reform Movements

• Almoravids: Berbers of the western Sahara, Islamic puritans

• Almohadis: same as above

• “The disparity between law & practice - between equality before God and inequality within the world – led to these reform movements.” (175)

The Christian Kingdoms• Egypt & Nubia: arrived here

even before Rome; Egyptian Christians called Copts; allowed to keep faith after Islamic conquests

• Ethiopian Kingdom: remained a fiercely independent Christian kingdom to this day; resisted all outside influences from Islam, Turks and other Christian kingdoms

Kingdoms of the Grasslands

• 3 “Coasts”: Atlantic, Indian, & the sahel

• Sahel: belt of grassland between Sahara desert and jungles to the south; became point of exchange for North & South Africans

• Kingdom of Ghana: 3rd c. to 11th c., rose to power by controlling salt & gold trade; converted to Islam in 10th c., invaded by Almoravids in 1076

Sudanic States• Led by patriarch /

council of elders

• Subordinated neighboring states through taxes, tribute, and/or military support

• Rulers considered sacred, even after they converted to Islam; took on cultish status

Mali, Sundiata, Lion Princes, Oh My!

• Mali: broke away from Ghana in 13th c.; model Islamic Sudanic kingdom

• Diverse economy: agriculturally based, but also depended on trade, especially gold

• Juula: Mali traders, spread throughout west Africa

• Sundiata: legendary “Lion Prince”; organized political structure of Mali; died in 1260, but Mali remained strong

Mister Mansa Musa

• Mansa Musa: made hajj in 1324, brought attention to the wealth of Mali; caused sensation across N. Africa (179);

• Brought back Muslim architect to build mosques in the Sudan (example of cross-regional ties)

City vs. Country

• Wealth of Sudan trade spawned great cities, like Jenne and Timbuktu, which had a pop. of 50,000 by the 1300s

• 80% of villagers were famers, NOT traders

• Hard to farm in the Sudan, sandy soil, most farms less than 10 acres

• Polygamy common: more wives = more kids = more farmers

+ +

•Replaced Mali, formed around Niger River Valley beginning in 7th c.; completely independent by 1370s•Rulers were Islam, commoners remained pagan (COMMON THEME FOR SUDANIC STATES)•Sunni Ali: fierce leader & military commander; expanded borders, conquering Jenne & Timbuktu; Muslim, but opposed anyone in his way (even fellow Muslims); used cavalry to dominate enemies WHY CAVALRY?•Empire broke apart at the end of 16th c.

Sorghum-grain or livestock food

Millet

Wheat

Political & Social Themes Among Sudanic States

• Village clans & ethnic groups very important; development of states provided larger framework, but small groups still important

• Movement & fusion of populations• Ruling families used religious titles to enforce authority• Formation of states heightened social differences• Islam provided religious unity, but was fused with other beliefs;

Sudanic states accommodated pagan beliefs• Ex: differences in status of women (181)• Slave Trade: escalated with Islamic contact; viewed as stage in

conversion process; C. Africans sent to E. African coast

The Swahili Coast of East Africa•1st – 10th c., Swahili Coast becomes melting pot of Arabs, Africans, and immigrants from Malaysia•Zanj: Arabic term for coast•By 13th c., string of trading ports had developed•Governed by different Muslim rulers•Ivory, gold, iron, slaves, exotic animals brought to coast, traded for silks & porcelain from the East

Coast Culture

• Rulers & merchants were often Muslim, majority of population was not (ALERT! COMMON AFRICAN THEME!)

• Swahili = Bantu language mixed with Arabic

• Fused Islam with traditional beliefs

• A true “melting pot” of cultures

Peoples of the Forest and Plains• Sub-Saharan Central Africa:

preliterate, used oral traditions

• Nok: village in C. Nigeria, created highly complex artistic objects

• Yoruba: non-Bantu speaking people, ag. society ruled by royal family & aristocracy; organized in small city-states, highly urbanized

• Benin: large city-state on W. African coast

• Yoruban & Benin societies highly artistic, and considered rulers divine

Central African Kingdoms• Beyond the rule & influence of Islam, settled around Congo

River• Began state formation around AD 1000• Kongo: flourishing kingdom by 15th c.; based on ag., also

developed weaving, pottery, blacksmithing; pop. Of 60k – 100k by early 1500s

• Sharp division of labor between men & women in Kongo• King was hereditary, chiefs were not; allowed king to better

controls subordinates• Kongo became essentially a confederation of smaller states

under the rule of the king

Greater Zimbabwe• Zimbabwe literally means stone house; these

housed the local rulers

• Bantu-speakers, believed in bird of God, built stone houses partially in bird’s honor

• 19th C. Europeans first suspected Arabs or Phoenicians built stone houses, due to their complexity

• King Mwene Mutapa: dominated interior gold trade, allowed Zimbabwe to flourish