kingdoms, diffusion, and change. not just physically, but also culturally and politically, africa...
TRANSCRIPT
Not just physically, but also culturally and politically, Africa is divided by the Sahara desert
The Sahara is the world’s largest desert During the Post-Classical age, almost all of
Saharan Africa and the northern continent had fallen into the orbit of the Islamic world
But the story of sub-Saharan Africa is much more complex
The Sahel is the
semidesert southern fringe of
the Sahara
In sub-Saharan Africa, the development of strong, sizable political units occurred later and more slowly than in many other parts of the world
Much of this had to do with the tremendous varieties of ethnicity and language in sub-Saharan Africa
For example, more than 2,000 languages and dialects are spoken in the region
One of the few common threads shared by many – but not all – peoples of sub-Saharan Africa is descent from the Bantu tribes
Around 1000 B.C.E., the Bantu began to move out of their homelands in west central Africa
By 1000 C.E., descendants of the Bantu tribes had settled in almost all parts of the continent south of the Sahara
With the passage of time, however, each smaller group developed its own distinct language and cultural tradition
Another factor limiting the growth of major states was environmental
The fluctuating climate of sub-Saharan Africa and human susceptibility to various insect- and animal-borne diseases in sub-Saharan regions were both obstacles to increasing the size of local populations and the number of workers available to cultivate the land
Most sub-Saharan communities were small
Social life revolved around the village Food was provided by means of a
combination of hunting, herding, and limited agriculture
It appears that most African societies gained the skill of metalworking on their own, rather than having it taught to them by outsiders, as was commonly thought until recently
Women in sub-Saharan Africa tended to be treated as subservient to men
However, women were often valued for their labor as fieldworkers (while men tended cattle) and for producing heirs
Women were also respected for their storytelling abilities and their role in educating young people about moral values and religious beliefs
Interestingly, unlike in most other societies, in Africa, lineage was sometimes matrilinear, rather than patrilinear
Women often inherited property and the husband was required to move into his wife’s house
African tribes possess a high degree of skill in carving and sculpture, especially in wood and ivory
Metal sculptures became more common over time
By the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, West African artists were creating masterpieces out of bronze and ivory
In Ife, in present-day Nigeria, metal workers formed bronze and iron statues by designing molds with melted wax
These sculptures may have influenced the work of metalworkers from the West African state of Benin
Such artists are famous for their sophisticated and detailed bronze, brass, and copper sculptures of heads, ornaments, animal figures, and reliefs depicting court life
Architecture in Africa varied across regions due to diverse cultural influences
In sub-Saharan Africa, Greater Zimbabwe stood out for its impressive stone buildings and walls
The stones had been carefully cut and then set in place without mortar
In Mali, fourteenth-century builders used timber as skeletons in reinforcing mud mosques that still stand today
African literature of this period was preserved less by the written language than by oral tradition
In their narratives, professional storytellers chronicled history and social custom
They also acted as entertainers and served as advisers to kings
The most famous epic of sub-Saharan Africa from these years is Son-Jara (or Sundiata) from Mali
A griot was a West African storyteller A griot perpetuated the oral traditions of a
family or village The griot carries the cultural knowledge and
identity of each people The griot legacy stretches back for hundreds,
and in some cases, thousands of years The griot is a chronicler of history – keeping
track of the history and developments of his people over time
The griot is also guardian of the knowledge of his people’s ancestry, or genealogy
As time passed, there was increased interaction between North Africa and the sub-Saharan part of the continent
This included trade Unfortunately, it also included slavery: for
hundreds of years, Arab slavers from the Middle East penetrated to the south, capturing Africans and forcing them into bondage
To a good extent, Islam became part of sub-Saharan life
In West Africa, the state of Mali, with its great city of Timbuktu, was an important part of the Islamic world
Muslims also brought their religion to the cities of the eastern coast
The spread of Islam brought trade to previously isolated parts of southern Africa
Still, in comparison to North Africa, which became almost completely Muslim, Islam’s presence in sub-Saharan Africa was not as extensive
The greatest of early Sudanic (a region in North Africa, South of the Sahara and Libyan deserts, extending from the Atlantic to the Red Sea) civilizations was Ghana
Ghana was founded in the fourth century C.E. on the main caravan route to north Africa
At its height in the tenth century, Ghana controlled an area extending from the Atlantic Ocean almost to Timbuktu
Ghana controlled the prosperous salt for gold trade
This trade connected North Africa and West Africa
North African salt was exchanged for West African gold
While Ghana did not control the salt or gold deposits, its location allowed it to tax traders entering the region
As such, Ghana was called “the land of gold” though it owned no gold fields
Ghana’s capital of Koumbi Saleh hosted a prosperous Muslim community of merchants linked to the Trans-Saharan trade routes
Over time, Ghana’s ecological and demographic conditions weakened its society
As its population grew, its food production failed to meet demand in what was by then an extremely arid environment
All of this left Ghana vulnerable to Muslim conquest, the immediate cause of Ghana’s downfall
Berbers from the desert moved against Ghana in 1062, but not until 1076 were they able to capture the capital
Yet the nomads were unable to benefit from their conquest, for they soon began fighting among themselves, and Ghana became independent once again
However, the kingdom was never able to recover its trade or repair the damage done to its agriculture, and the empire began to break up into tribal units
With the decline of Ghana, Mali (which probably had been a subject nation) grew, and the Mali empire was firmly established in the upper Niger River valley by Sundiata (1230-1255)
Sundiata adopted Islam and Mali became a Muslim kingdom
By the fourteenth century Mali controlled the upper Niger west to the Atlantic and all the land north of the forest and east along the Niger to Hausaland
Sundiata Keita rose to power by defeating the king of the Sosso - Soumaoro (Sumanguru), known as the Sorcerer King, in 1235
He then brought all the Mandinke clans rulers (or Mansas) under his leadership, declaring himself overall Mansa
He took Timbuktu from the Tuareg, transforming it into a substantial city, a focus for trade and scholarship
A significant portion of the wealth of the Empire derived from the Bure goldfields
The first capital, Niani, was built close to this mining area
Gold was not its only mainstay Mali also acquired control over the salt
trade The capital of Niani was situated on the
agriculturally rich floodplain of upper Niger, with good grazing land further north
A class of professional traders emerged in Mali
In the 14th century, cowrie shells were established as a form of currency for trading and taxation purposes
Mali reached its peak in the 14th century
Mansa Musa was a significant king of Mali during its height
Mansa Musa (1312-1337) was immortalized in the descriptions of Arab writers, when he made his magnificent pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324
“It is said that he brought with him 14,000 slave girls for his personal service. The members of his entourage proceeded to buy Turkish and Ethiopia slave girls, singing girls and garments, so that the rate of the gold dinar fell by six dirhams. Having presented his gift he set off with the caravan." - Cairo born historian al- Maqurizi
Mansa Musa also spent his wealth to more permanent effect
He commissioned the design and construction of a number of stunning buildings, for example, the building of the mosques at Gao and Jenne
Timbuktu became a place of great learning with young men linked to Fez in the north
The court of Mali converted to Islam after Sundiata
As in Ghana, Muslim scribes played an important role in government and administration
But traditional religion persisted Arab historians make much of the
Islamic influence in Mali, whereas oral historians place little emphasis on Islam in their histories
Ibn Battuta visited Mali This great medieval writer of
travel literature rivals the significance of his contemporary Marco Polo
Setting out from his native Morocco in the 14th century he travelled – or claims to have travelled – the important regions of the medieval world stretching from west Africa to China
A combination of weak and ineffective rulers and increasingly aggressive raids by Mossi neighbors and Tuareg Berbers gradually reduced the power of Mali
In the east, Gao began its ascendancy while remaining part of the Mali Empire
In the early 1400's, Tuareg launched a number of successful raids on Timbuktu
They did not disrupt scholastic life or commercial activity, but fatally undermined the government by appropriating taxes for themselves
Mali collapsed when one of its vassals, the King of Songhai, broke away in the fifteenth century and eventually captured Mali territory, ending up with an empire even greater than Mali
The capital of Songhai was Goa, and its wealth was based on control of the salt mines
King Mohammed Askia’s reign (1493-1528) was exceptional
The city of Timbuktu became his center of learning, a university was built, and clerics, judges, and scholars flourished under his patronage
Songhai fell to the Moroccans in1591
Muslims had little influence in east Africa until the thirteenth century
Although they occupied the coastline and most of the land along the eastern frontier of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and although by the tenth century a series of Muslim trading states had been built, Christian Abyssinia was able to dominate them and force them to pay tribute
Ethiopia became Christian during the fourth century A.D.
This domination eventually led, in the fifteenth century, to religious wars between Abyssinia and the Muslims
From the 1250s to the 1450s, the most powerful of the central African states was the one that emerged around the cities of Mutapa and Great Zimbabwe
Politically linked, Mutapa and Great Zimbabwe controlled seven hundred miles of the Zambezi river basin
The larger and more important of the two cities was Great Zimbabwe (ca. 1000-1400)
Its name means “sacred graves of the chiefs”
Great Zimbabwe was crucial as both a political and religious center
Zimbabwe was a great walled city, encircling 193 acres
It is clear that the people of Great Zimbabwe were skilled builders
Great Zimbabwe was reputed to be immensely wealthy, thanks to large deposits of gold and diamonds
The city gained its wealth from the gold trade
Gold was shipped east to Sofala, where it became part of the East African-Indian Ocean coastal trade complex