West African Socities in 1400’s

1. By: Naomi, Andi, Myhana, Keanu, Javier, Alan History 10 West African Socities in 1400’s

2. Geography • West Africa has three distinct climate zones • - Desert • - Savanna • - Rain Forest • Within the climate zones, numerous diverse peoples lived in societies; from simple village communities to wealthy kingdoms.

3. Background • Its prehistory, in which the first human settlers arrived, agriculture developed, and contact made with the Mediterranean civilizations to the north. • In the Iron Age, the Sahara Highway was formed and became a well-established trading network that connected all of West Africa to ports. • Ancient West Africa included the Sahara, as the Sahara only became a desert in around 3000 BCE.

4. The Songhai Empire The Benin Empire The Kongo Empire The Three Empires

5. Songhai Empire • It was a succession of empires-first Ghana, then Mali and finally Songhai, located in western Africa. • It’s capital was the city of Gao, where a Songhai state had existed since the 11th century. • The Songhai state has existed in one form or another for over a thousand years. • From the early 15th to the late 16th century, Songhai was one of the largest Islamic empires in history.

6. Songhai Empire Cont’d • If one traces its rulers from the first settlement in Gao to its semi-vassal status under the Mali Empire through its continuation in Niger as the Dendi Kingdom. • The Songhai are thought to have settled at Gao as early as 800 CE, but did not establish it as the capital until the 11th century, during the reign of DiaKossoi. • However, the Dia dynasty soon gave way to the Sonni, proceeding the ascension of Sulaiman-Mar, who gained independence and hegemony over the city and was a forbear of Sonni Ali. • Mar is often credited with wresting power away from the Mali Empire and gaining independence for the small Songhai kingdom of the time.

7. Benin Empire • Benin was initially ruled by the Ogisos dynasty until the dynasty ended and Eweka changed the name of the land to Edo and the dynasty to Oba. • The leader of the dynasty was called the Oba, meaning king • In 1440 Oba Ewuare the Great came to power and changed the many city-states. • The center of the kingdom was Ubinu, the royal administrative city. • Ewuare started the first Golden Age of the Benin kingdom by turning Benin City into a military capital protected by moats and walls. Using this military center he started expanding his empire.

8. Benin Cont’d • The first Europeans to reach Benin were the Portuguese. A strong trading relationship developed, Benin traded the Portuguese ivory, peppers, and palm oil for manila and guns. • Through the 1880s and 1890s Benin did not sign a protective treaty with Britain. Then eight British representatives went to Benin and were unknowingly killed. This lead the British to invade Benin and burn down everything in the capital ending the empire.

9. Kongo Empire • The Kingdom of Kongo (WenewaKongo) west central Africa in what are now northern Angola, Cabinda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. • The Kingdom consisted of several provinces, ruled by the Manikongo, a single ruler (king or emperor) who held the kingdom together through royal marriages, taxes, and war. • Capital: Mbanza-Kongo • Government: Monarchy • Area: 49, 962 sq. miles • Population: circa 1470 est. 4 million • Religion: Christianity (King converted 1485 by Portuguese.

10. Kong Empire Cont’d • High concentration of population around M’Banza-Kongo and its outskirts played a critical role in the centralization of Kongo. The capital was densely settled in an otherwise sparsely populated area where rural population densities did not exceed around 5 people per square kilometer. • Early Portuguese travelers described MbanzaKongo as a large city, the size of the Portuguese town of Évora as it was in 1491. 

11. Religion Family Life Roles of Women and Men Lifestyle Slave Labor CULTURE

12. Culture: Religion • Political leaders claimed authority over basis of religion. • Rituals part of daily life • Farmers • Hunters • Fishermen • Worshipped a variety of ancestral spirits and lesser gods • Centered around one Single Creator • Belief in the Supernatural • Practiced Religions: - Christianity - Islam

13. Culture: Family Life • Bonds of Kinship • Matrilineal Traces • Marriage outside of Lineage groups • Parents are responsible for their children • Age carries rank: - Elders control Family Members - Council Representative - Makes economic decisions

14. Culture: Roles of Women and Men • Vital Roles in Communities • Major Food Producers • Given authority over land cultivation and usage • Seen as most powerful spiritual figures • Not all women allowed to join in • In charge of spiritual events • Know as oracles, spirit mediums, and advisors • Responsible for: - Hunting - Protecting family and village - Making final decisions - Dominant Gender

15. Culture: Lifestyle • Daily lifestyle consisted of being around family, the community, and doing traditions. • Around the year of 1492, people of West Africa supported themselves by fishing, farming, herding, hunting, mining, and by trading. • People near the savanna depended on rivers (Niger) to help their crops. • On the western cost (Senegal and Gambia rivers) farmers converted swamps into rice fields. This skill would accompany West Africans to the Americas. • Almost all groups believed in collective ownership of property.

16. Culture: Slave Labor • West Africans divided tasks by age and social status • In some societies there were slaves, although unlike in the US people were not born into slavery. • The slaves did not spend their lifetime in slavery -> adoption, marriage  • The slaves did not spend their Slave labor was brought from West Africa to the Americas --> continued through generations, race. • Slavery was the biggest interaction between Africans and Europeans. • After exploring Africa, a lot of changes (political, social, and even economic) in Europe, persuaded sailors to travel to other unexplored places beyond the ocean. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UZTAYWr4u0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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