African Trading States

Swahili States, Great

Zimbabwe, Mali, and Songhay

Geography

Savannas-vast stretches of grasslands

Tropical rain forests- receive over 100 inches of rain a year and include areas of jungle

Jungles- dense tangles of plants and trees that grow wherever sunlight reaches

Lakes Lake Chad Lake Victoria-

the source of the Nile in southern Uganda

Lake Victoria

Victoria Falls

Bantu Bantu originated

in west-central Sub-Saharan Africa

Linguists have determined the migration of Sub-Saharan people by following the growth of Bantu

Sub-Saharan Africa

The Power

of Words The history and

culture of Africa has been discovered through oral traditions.

Storytelling, poems, and songs passed by word of mouth.

• End of Aksum kingdom, 700s A.D.

• Major African trading states emerged 700s A.D.

• Gold, ivory, hides, tortoise shells, and imported porcelain and weapons and sold slaves

Where we left off…

The Price of Ivory

Poaching as seen from the air

Swahili• Muslim settlers

from Persia and Arabia

• Swahili emerged in East Africa

• Spoke a Bantu language with Persian and Arabic influences

• Cities: Mogadishu, Pate and MombasaLadysmith Black Mambazo

Trade Emerges• Gold trade went from central Africa to the coast

• Tribes competed for control of the mining and trade of gold

• Shona gained control of trade and mines

• Great Zimbabwe- Shona fortress

African Woman Adorned in Gold

Shona Medici

ne Man

Great Enclosure in Zimbabwe

West Africa• Important to control

trade routes in Sahara (gold, salt)

• Gold-for-salt exchange prominent in West Africa

• Rulers led elaborate ceremonies and administered justice

Salt Caravan

Modest vs. Elaborate

African Christian Kingdoms• Christian

kingdoms of Nubia and Ethiopia resisted Muslim encroachment

• Practiced Coptic version of Christianity

Ghana• Est. 300s A.D. in

Sahel grasslands of Africa

• Converted to Islam in the 10th century

• First great west African empire

• Took part in gold-for-salt trade and developed agriculture on the Niger River

Ghanaian Kings• Powerful and

wealthy• Ghana peaked

around A.D. 1050• Most powerful kings,

Tunka Manin, ruled 1067 A.D.

• Manin led 200,000 warriors

• 1076 Berbers launched jihad into African grasslands (Mali)

Sudanic States

• Effective control of subordinate societies and control of their sovereignty defines an empire

• Ghana, Mali, and Songhay fit that

Mali• Mali, created by Malinke

in 13th century• Agricultural, Islamicized,

and depended on gold reserves

• Juula- Malinke merchants• Sundiata, founder of

Mali’s empire was celebrated by griots, Malian story tellers and Ibn Battuta

Mali• Region was once Ghana

and upper Niger River• Peaked under Mansa

Mūsā in early 1300s• Mansa Mūsā took

pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324

• Mūsā favored education and built a university in Timbuktu => succession dispute

• 1468 A.D. Sonni ‘Alī took over and set up Songhai kingdom

Mansa Mūsā

Sonni ‘Alī

Jenne Mosque in Timbuktu

Present-day Timbuktu

Ancient Mali

Songhai• Sonni ‘Alī expanded the

kingdom extensively• Military, territory,

education, and buildings

• Mohammed I Askia- heir

• Under Askia, Timbuktu became major trading center

• Declined after Askia’s death due to tribal warfare

Niger River