Kingdoms of Africa

Anthropologists believe humanity originated in East Africa (Lucy)

Read more about skeletons found in East Africa here...

Rise of Egyptian Society affected other African Cultures along the NileKush

Iron producersAlso sold ivory, ebony, wood, slaves

AxumEthiopia later adopted its own Christianity

Kingdoms of Africa

North Africa is mainly Sahara desert

South of the Sahara are grasslands known as the savanna

The savanna is home to large groups of pastoral peoples that herd cattle and sheep

The Gold-Salt Trade

• These peoples also smelted iron, grew crops and had complex communities with craftspersons, warriors and traders.

Sahara Desert acted as a barrier between people of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean World

Trade was, however, never cut off completely

Sahara contains oases with fresh water

Camels helped merchants cross the desert once they knew where the oases were located

Muslim merchants from Mediterranean also made this journey

The Gold-Salt Trade

Merchants were motivated to make the journey across the Sahara because of the gold and other riches they could obtain from West Africa

Parts of West Africa lacked Salt Salt is vital for human survival

Merchants in camel caravans picked up salt on their journey to trade for gold

Ideas, Islamic Beliefs and various goods were exchanged in this way

The Gold-Salt Trade

Compare the African Gold-Salt Trade with that of the Silk Road?

Why was the Sahara a trade barrier?

How was that barrier conquered?

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West Africa saw the rise of many powerful kingdoms based on the control of trade routes

Civilizations dominated West Africa for the next thousand years

This lead to an exchange of ideas, rise of cities and increased wealth

The Rise of West African Kingdoms

Developed in West Africa between the Senegal and Niger Rivers

People of Ghana made iron swords, spears and lances to subdue neighboring peoples and gain control of major trade routes

Needed Salt…trade it for Gold (which they had)

Kingdom of Ghana 750-1200

Kings of Ghana taxed trade passing through the regions

With this revenue, they raised a large army with a cavalry

Rulers built a capital city and governed a wide area with officials and nobles

Kingdom of Ghana

Kings appointed nobles to govern the provinces in return for paying taxes to the central government

System had similarities to European Feudalism

Rulers and nobles were further enriched by using captives of war as slaves

Ghana was invaded by Muslims from North Africa.Muslims brought Islam to the area

Ghana never recovered from this invasion and dissolved into smaller states

Kingdom of Ghana

How did Ghana benefit from the trade in the area?

How is the political system of Ghana similar to that of Medieval Europe?

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In 1240, the people of Mali conquered the old capital of Ghana and established a new empire

The rulers brought gold and salt mines under their control.

Mali’s rulers converted to IslamBut most people stayed loyal to traditional

beliefs and rejected Islam

Kingdom of Mali 1240-1400

Kingdom of Mali

Mali’s most famous ruler was Mansa Musa (click) Mansa Musa was the main Muslim man of Mali who went many miles to the main

Muslim mosque in Mecca with a magnificent menagerie and meaded out much money to many men, maybe millions and brought back many Muslim scholars for much

learning.

Expanded the kingdom greatly

Took religious pilgrimage to Mecca Also visited Cairo

Observers were impressed with his wealth

He brought back Muslim scholars and architects to Mali

Kingdom of Mali

Mansa Musa commissioned a palace and giant mosque to be built in Timbuktu, a thriving trade center on the Niger River

Kingdom of Mali

•Muslim scholarship in Mali flourished

•Timbuktu became an important center of universities and attracted students from Europe, Asia and Africa

•Many of his subjects studied the Qur’an and learned to read and write

Ibn Battuta was an arab traveler

Impressed by Mali’s wealth, respect for law and power of it’s ruler

Ibn Battuta traveled extensively and wrote about the various kingdoms of the area

It is through his writings that scholars know much about the life in Africa and the Middle East

Kingdom of Mali

In 1465, Sultan Sunni Ali, ruler of the Songhai, captured Timbuktu and brought the Upper Niger River under his control

Kingdom of Songhai 1464-1600

• Kingdom of Songhai became the largest of West Africa’s three trading kingdoms

• Like Ghana and Mali, Songhai grew rich from trade across the Sahara Desert

• Expanded trade routes as far as Europe and Asia

The Songhai established a system of taxation and communications

Timbuktu flourished as a center of Muslim scholarship

Despite its riches and power the Kingdom of Songhai lasted only 130 years

Kingdom of Songhai

In 1591, the ruler of Morocco, hearing of Songhai’s wealth, invaded West Africa

Although Songhai army was larger, Moroccans used gunpowder and muskets to defeat the Songhai who fought only with arrows and spears

Despite their military success, Moroccans were unable to govern from a distance

West Africa split into large number of independent areas

The fall of the Songhai marked the end of the great West African Kingdoms

Kingdom of Songhai

What parallel can you see when looking at both the control of Songhai by Morocco and subsequent fall and that of the American colonies?

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Ife and BeninThese Kingdoms developed in the rainforests of

West AfricaFamous for the copper and bronze scultputresBenin became involved in the slave trade

Took captured persons from other tribes and exchanged them with Europeans for guns and iron goods

Other African States

Was the slave trade a European invention?

Why or why not?

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Zimbabwe

Gold deposits near Zimbabwe was crucial to the rise of this state

Zimbabwe traded gold, copper and ivory with Muslim traders along the east coast

Other African States

Coastal Cities of East Africa

A number of independent city-states arose around the 10th Century

Gold from the African interior was sent down the Zambia River to these cities where it was sold to merchants from Arabia and India

Other African States

What did all the trade in Africa inevitably lead to?

How do the Kingdoms of Africa compare to Classical and Post Classical societies we’ve already discussed?

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In traditional African Societies, both boys and girls were separated from the community and underwent special ceremonies at puberty

Marriages were arranged Groom paid a dowry to his bride’s family

Under Islam, women were limited to running the household while the husband represented the family outside it

“A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband is the fence around it.”

Family Roles in Africa

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