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500-1500 CE

Chapter 19:. States and Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa. 500-1500 CE. Effects of Early African Migrations. Bantu-speaking peoples settle south of Equator Agriculture, herding spreads with Bantu migrations Iron metallurgy. African Religion. Great diversity of religious belief

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500-1500 CE

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  1. Chapter 19: States and Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa 500-1500 CE

  2. Effects of Early African Migrations • Bantu-speaking peoples settle south of Equator • Agriculture, herding spreads with Bantu migrations • Iron metallurgy

  3. African Religion • Great diversity of religious belief • Common element: single, male creator god • Lesser deities associated with natural phenomena • Ancestor worship • Diviners • Religious specialists, principally men • Oracle reading, spells, other rituals • Limited emphasis on theology • Morality, balance of nature important

  4. Cultivation of Bananas • Domesticated in south-east Asia • Malay sailors colonize Madagascar, 300-500 CE • Introduce bananas, yams, chickens • Well-adapted to African climate • Food supply increases with this key crop

  5. Population Growth

  6. Kin-Based Societies • Stateless, segmented societies • No elaborate hierarchies, bureaucracies • Average population of village: 100 • Ruled by elders • Network of villages resolve disputes in ad hoc manner • Higher government authorities rare

  7. Kinship Groups • Extended families, clans • Idea of private property less prevalent • Land held communally • Harvests distributed by elders

  8. Sex and Gender Relations • Men work with specialized skills • Tanning, iron work • Heavy labor • Both sexes work in agriculture • Male rule more common, but some expanded roles for women • Merchants, some military activity • Islamic norms slow to penetrate African society

  9. Female Genital Mutilation Appeared to start in Africa as part of West and East African indigenous religious ritual Became the accepted norm in some parts of Africa related to marriagability

  10. Female Genital Mutilation • Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. • The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women. • Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths. • FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.

  11. Female genital mutilation is classified into 4 major types. Type 1: Often referred to as clitoridectomy, this is the partial or total removal of the clitoris Type 2: Often referred to as excision, this is the partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora

  12. Type 3: Often referred to as infibulation, this is the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the labia minora, or labia majora, sometimes through stitching Type 4: This includes all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.

  13. Age grades • From early agricultural period, Sudan • Peer groups of single age cohort • Crosses lines of family and kinship

  14. Slavery • Practiced since ancient times • Most slaves captives of war • Debtors • Suspected witches • Criminals • Used principally in agricultural labor • Slave possession a status symbol

  15. Slave Trading • Increased trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean trade stimulates slave trade, 9th c. CE • Africa replaces eastern Europe as principal source of slaves • Creates internal African slave trade • More powerful states attack smaller kinship-based groups • 10,000-20,000 slaves per year

  16. Slave Trading • Slavery expanded after the ninth century as trade increased along trans-Saharan routes and Indian Ocean trade networks demand outstripped supply • Slave raiding became increasingly prominent to meet the demand • Smaller African tribes fell prey to larger ones as raiding became more demanding and better organized. • Slave trade continued and thrived because of expansion of slave trade into Americas as the Americas colonized

  17. Arabian Swahili Slave Trade

  18. The Zanj Revolt • Slaves from Swahili coast exported to work in Mesopotamia—harsh working conditions • Sugarcane plantations • Salt deposits • 869 CE, slave Ali bin Muhamad mounts revolt of 15,000 slaves Captures Basra • Later crushed by Abbasids

  19. Traditional Society & Culture • Village Government • Shared power with a male elder leader • Village “voice” • Elders arguments weighed prior to decisions • Family Patterns • Nuclear family among hunter gatherers • Extended families elsewhere • Family teaches and carries on tradition • Religious Beliefs • Ancestor worship • Animism—all objects have souls

  20. Trade • Trade contributed to the growth of West African societies. • As these societies grew, the empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai in turn dominated the region • These empires grew rich and powerful by controlling trade across the Sahara • Between the 8th and 9th centuries CE, Arab traders and travelers began to spread the religion and language along the western coast of Africa

  21. African Kingdoms • Trade led to the growth of towns • Gold (savanna) and salt (desert) dominated N. African trade • Control of valuable trade routed led to powerful kingdoms forming throughout the continent. • Over time, Islam became an important social & religious force.

  22. Chiefdoms • Population pressures after 1000 increase competition, disputes • Small chiefdoms appear, overrule kin-based groups • Small kingdoms form • Ife, Benin

  23. Crash Course https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvnU0v6hcUo

  24. Kingdoms and empires of sub-Saharan Africa, 800-1500 CE

  25. Kingdom of Kongo • Basin of the Congo (Zaire) river • Conglomeration of several village alliances • Participated actively in trade networks • Most centralized rule of the early Bantu kingdoms • Royal currency: cowries-sea snail shells • Ruled 14th-17th century until undermined by Portuguese slave traders

  26. Islamic Kingdoms and Empires • Islam spreads to west Africa • Trans-Saharan caravans • Coastal east Africa through maritime trade • Profound influence after 8th century

  27. Trans-Saharan Trade and Islamic States in West Africa • Desiccation of Sahara begins c. 5000 BCE • Introduction of Arabian camels revolutionizes trade • 70-90 days to cross Sahara • Arabs establish trading communities • Gao

  28. Ghana Empire

  29. The Kingdom of Ghana • Not related to modern State of Ghana • Developed 4th-5th c. CE • Protection against camel-driving raiders • Center of African gold trade • Imported from south to Ghana • Also sold ivory, slaves

  30. Koumbi-Saleh • Capital of Kingdom of Ghana • Principal trading center • High point 9th-12th centuries • Population 15,000-20,000 • Military, cultural center

  31. Nok Sculpture of E. Africa

  32. Islam in West Africa • Kings of Ghana convert 10th c. • Positive impact on trade, relations with north Africa • Synthesized Islam with local traditions • Nearby Takrur aggressive missionaries

  33. The Larabanga Mosque, one of Ghana's oldest mosques

  34. Sundiata (r. 1230-1255) • Empire of Mali extends over Kingdom of Ghana • Neighboring kingdoms as well • Took greater advantage of trans-Saharan trade • Nominally Muslim, but did not force conversions

  35. Mansa Musa (r. 1312-1337) • Mali ruled by kings called mansas, the most powerful of which was Mansa Musa. • Grandson of Sundiata • Fervent Muslim • Performed Hajj in 1324-25 • Constructed numerous mosques • Supported Muslim scholars, Sharia law • Empire declines after his rule

  36. Mansa Musa

  37. Mansa Musa is mostly remembered for his extravagant hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca with, according to the Arab historian al-Umari, 100 camel-loads of gold, each weighing 300 lbs.; 500 slaves, each carrying a 4 lb. gold staff; thousands of his subjects; as well as his senior wife, with her 500 attendants. With his lavish spending and generosity in Cairo and Mecca, he ran out of money and had to borrow at usurious rates of interest for the return trip. Al-Umari also states that Mansa Musa and his retinue "gave out so much gold that they depressed its value in Egypt and caused its value to fall." • Mansa Musa brought back with him an Arabic library, religious scholars, and most importantly the Muslim architect al-Sahili, who built the great mosques at Gao and Timbuktu and a royal palace. • Mansa Musa strengthened Islam and promoted education, trade, and commerce in Mali. • Mali achieved the apex of its territorial expansion under the 25 year peaceful rule of Mansa Musa.

  38. Mansa Musa https://www.schooltube.com/video/9262bf0d550d4611a08f/Mansa%20Musa%20Rich%20King%20of%20Mali

  39. The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud brick or adobe building in the world

  40. The Indian Ocean Trade and Islamic States in East Africa • East coast maritime trade weak until 2nd century • Bantu peoples populate coast • Swahili (“coasters”) engage in trade with Arabs • Language a form of Bantu, influenced by Arabic • 10th century trade increases

  41. The Swahili City-States • Great wealth, 11th-12th centuries CE • Development of city-states • Architecture moved from wood/mud to coral, stone • Chinese silk, porcelain imported

  42. Kilwa • City-state on east African coast • Fishing, limited trade, 800-1000 CE • Turn to agriculture, increased trade in pottery and stoneware • Major trading center by 14th century • Exporting over a ton of gold per year by 15th century CE

  43. Zimbabwe • “dwelling of the chief” • Stone complex called “Great Zimbabwe” built early 13th century CE, capital • Population 18,000 in late 15th century • Managed trade between internal and coastal regions

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