Bellwork

• Name one of the previous African societies we discussed. What characteristic do you think helped these societies become more powerful?

• Be prepared to discuss this at the beginning of class.

World History

Section 4, Unit 2North and Central African

Societies

Objectives

• Identify the characteristics of hunter-gatherer societies in North and Central Africa

• Define and differentiate patrilineal and matrilineal societies

• Define stateless societies• Explain the role of Muslim growth in

North Africa

Where are we now

• In the last lesson, we finished by ending up in the post-classical era.

• We will continue to discuss human history in Africa during this time period.

Effects of Geography

• As we discussed in prior lessons, the geography of Africa has defined how Africans organize themselves. – Egyptians settled themselves near the

Nile, the Aksumites utilized terraces to make a mountainous region habitable, etc.

• Both Central and Northern Africa would be defined by their geography and location to other groups.

What’s Different?

Central Africa Northern Africa

What is the difference between these two areas? How do you think life would be different?

Central African Society• Central Africans during

this time tended to live in stateless, hunter-gatherer societies.

• They were able to live off the land provided, as they lived in areas far more tropical and– at least in comparison– hospitable than those in the North, where the desert defined the landscape.

Hunter-Gatherer Societies

• Hunter-gatherer societies- the world’s oldest form of social organization- began in Africa. – These societies continue to exist today, but

are a very small portion of the overall population.

• Most of these societies have distinct languages and use different hunting techniques depending on the area in which they live.

Forest Dwelling Peoples

• Many groups of people take up home in the Ituri rainforest in modern day Democratic Republic of Congo.

• Many of these groups are fully defined by the forest around them.

Life in the Forests• Homes in the forests are

rarely permanent, as search for food causes them to move to new areas within the forest.

• In their societies, women tend to be the gatherers and search for the forest looking for roots, yams, mushrooms, and more.

• Men tend to the hunting and will often use poison-dipped weapons, such as bows.

Some groups engaged in trade with other societies– they would trade resources found in the forests with other nomadic groups (like honey) or trade for goods produced by farmers in nearby villages.

Social Structure• In many cultures, a respected older male

often served as a group leader.–However, the leader wasn’t necessarily a

chief. Because Africans valued the familial unit, each family could make it’s own decisions in direct opposition to the elder male.

– If such decisions created too much conflict, the groups may separate.

• These groups had no written laws and worked by a logical code of conduct to determine how groups interact with one another.

Lineage• Because familial organization was so

important in African society, families were organized by lineage– the belief that the groups had a common ancestor.– A lineage included past generations

(represented as spirits) and future generations (unborn children). Lineages formed strong relationships within the family group.

Question: How do you think such family units would define their “government system”. In another words, would there be a central government where all the decisions are made?

Stateless Society• Because of family units, many

societies (governments) were formed around lineages, rather than being centralized.

• Authority was often balanced among different lineages with equal power so no one group could have too much control.

• Any dispute was often settled by the elders of the lineages.

This society would fall apart after European colonialism, due to the fact Europeans believed that one person should rule.

Family Descent

• Familial descent (and inheritance) was defined often by gender in these societies.

• Lineage was defined in two ways: – Patrilineal–Matrileal

Patrilineal• In a patrilineal

society, they would trace their ancestors through the fathers family, which passes from father to son. When a man marries, his wife and children remain part of this fathers family, but do not trace lineage through a mothers family.

Matrilineal• Unlike a patrilineal

society, a matrilineal society is one where children trace their ancestors through their mothers.

• In this case, young men inherit land and wealth from their mother’s family.– Despite the fact that

lineage is traced through women, men still tend to hold more power in these societies.

Islam

• While stateless societies developed south of a Sahara Desert, Islam began to grow in the Northern reaches of Africa.

• After Muhammad died, Muslims swept across the Northwestern part of Africa and converted many either by conquest or peacefully. – By 670, Muslims had control over Egypt

and influenced many African leaders.

Islamic Leaders

• When these African leaders converted to Islam, many began to center their laws around Islamic law.

• Many of these leaders began to rely on Muslim scholars as government advisors.

Effect of Islamic Law

• Islamic law (sharia; which we discussed in a previous lesson), unified individual states and the Muslim world.

• Despite cultural differences that might have existed between peoples, the law was standard and accepted. It brought many nations together.

Berbers• In the wake of spreading

Islam, a native group to northern Africa (who have made up past people including the Libyans), the Berbers, would have a profound affect on Islam in Africa.

• From them, two powerful empires would appear:– Almoravids– Almohads

Almoravid Dynasty

• In the 11th century, Muslim reformers founded the Almoravid Dynasty.

• The members came from the Berbers and were founded after a Berber Muslim- Ibn Ibrahim- took the pilgrimage to Mecca and returned.

Almoravids

• When he returned, the pilgrim convinced a Muslim scholar- Abd Allah Ibn Yasin- to return with him to spread his teachings of Islam.

• Ibn Yasin’s teachings attracted followers and he formed a strict religious brotherhood: the Almoravids.

Marrakech and further Conquest

• In the 1050’s, Ibn Yasin lead the Almoravids in an effort to spread Islam through conquest.

• During their conquest, the Almoravids conquered present-day Morocco in Northern Africa and founded their capital city, Marrakech.

Almoravid Empire

• After founding this city, the Almoravids eventually spread and conquered Ghana and southern Spain– after Ibn Yasin’s death.

Almohads

• In the mid-11oo’s, the Almohads- another group of Berber Muslims- wrestled power from the Almoravids.

• The Almohads were a militant religious movement who followed the teachings of Ibn Tumart, a former Almoravid who denounced their teachings and formed a new sect of Islam.

Beliefs

• Ibn Tumart believed that the Almoravids moved away from the traditional practices and urged his followers to instead obey the teachings of Qu’ran and Islamic Law.

Question: If Ibn Tumart disagrees with the Almoravids, what do think he’s going to do.

Abd Al-Mumin

• The Almohads, under Abd Al-Mumin, fought to oust the Almoravids and remain true to traditional Islamic beliefs.

• By 1148, the Almohads controlled most of Morocco and ended Almoravid rule.

Reform

• The new Muslim reformers decided to keep Marrakech as their capital and, by the 12th century, they conquered much of southern Spain.

• In Africa, their territory spread from Marrakech to Tripoli.

Almohad DynastyAs we can see, they controlled much of modern Spain and the southern tip of Portugal. Aside from their European holdings, the Almohads had control of much of Northern Africa.

Decline

• Despite such power, the Almohad Dynasty eventually declined and broke up into individual kingdoms.

Effect of the Berbers

• While the empire only lasted for about 100 years, it had a long lasting effect of uniting Northwestern Africa for the first time.

• Aside from unifying Northwestern Africa, the Almohad and Almoravid empires also helped spread both Islam and Arabic culture into Africa and into Europe.

Emerging Empires

• Despite the loss of the Almohad Empire, new empires would begin to form to the south and they would boast magnificent economic and political power.

Questions?

• If you have any questions, please ask now.

Next Lesson

• In the next lesson, we are going to discuss the Mongols

Review1. Why did the Almohad’s disagree with the Almoravids? 2. Describe the two ways African societies trace their

lineage. 3. How was the geography of Central Africa different

from Northern Africa?4. Define lineage. Why was defining lineage important

to people who lived in a “stateless society”?5. Where in Africa did Islam begin to spread? 6. What was the effect of the Almoravids and Almohads

on Northwestern Africa? 7. In previous lessons, we learned that Islam spread

because people within the empire (and outside of it) generally chose to assimilate into the new religion. However, how was the spread of Islam different under the Almoravids and Almohads?