Unit II: Early African Civilizations Ghana Mali Axum Zimbabwe

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Unit II Early African CivilizationsGhanaMali
AxumZimbabwe
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Bantu Migration

• About 1500 b.c.e. an extraordinary cultural
  migration began to transform sub-Saharan Africa.
  From their homeland near the Niger delta, groups
  of Bantu-speaking (Swahili) farmers began to move
  east and south, spreading cattle domestication,
  crop cultivation, and iron-working.
• By about 500 c.e. southern Africa had been
  reached, the original hunter-gatherers having
  been marginalized to remote regions such as the
  Kalahari Desert. (last phase to about 1000 CE)

Environment - Migration caused by overuse of
soil and loss of its fertility
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• Trade Iron Smelting
• It was at Meroe that iron working was perhaps
  developed (either introduced indigenously or
  brought by the Phoenicians to Egypt). From the
  Nile, iron smelting spread west and was present
  in West Africa by 250 B.C.E. and sub-Saharan
  Africa by 600 C.E. Some evidence, however,
  suggests iron smelting took place as early as 500
  B.C.E. in the regions of the Niger River (NOK
  peoples).

• Bracketing the Sahara and other deserts of Africa
  is the sahel, a dry, treeless semi-arid
  grass-covered plain

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• Many states appeared in 1000-1500 CE in northern
  and western Africa, their power based on control
  over long-distance trade

African Kingdoms
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East Africa

• (Egpyt, Nubia covered previously)
• Kush,
• Axum,
• Zanj

Zanj
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Kingdom of Kush (760 BCE to 350 CE)

• About 750 B.C.E. the Kushites took advantage of
  Egyptian decay and conquered Thebes, the capital
  of Upper Egypt. The Kushites, however, soon
  withdrew back to their homeland as the Assyrians
  burst into Egypt in 670 B.C.E. Their rule
  centered on the important trading center of Meroe
  from which the Kushites served as the conduit for
  goods from Central and East Africa as well as the
  Red Sea to Rome and its tributaries. The zenith
  of Kush was from 250 B.C.E to 200 C.E.
• Women important role in ruling dynasty
• Decline slow, eventually captured by Axum (350
  CE)

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Kush Culture Trade

• While Kushite culture was influenced by the
  Egyptians and the other African cultures that
  surrounded them (began using Egyptian
  hieroglyphics but morphed to own syncretism of
  Egyptian and Kushite gods, used pyramids for
  burial of dead), they maintained their own art
  and traditions.

• Economy agriculture, trade of emeralds, gold
  (Nubian means gold), ebony, incense, ivory,
  leopard skins, oils, and ostrich feathers.

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An Ancient Testimonial

• In the third century CE, the Persian religious
  leader Mani is said to have identified the four
  most important kingdoms of the world Persia,
  Rome, Sileos (possibly China), and Aksum (also
  called Axum)

Wow Pretty important company! Must be HUGE (as
Fuccillos would say)
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Kingdom of Axum

• Began as a trade colony about 500 B.C.E. by the
  kingdom of Saba (Sheba) across the Red Sea on the
  southern tip of the Arab Peninsula (Yemen). When
  Saba declined, Axum became independent.

Trade in ivory, resin, and slaves
Sheba

• Trade based on Red Sea and port of Adulis. Among
  the items exported were ivory, frankincense,
  myrrh, and slaves while imports included textile,
  metal goods, wine, and olive oil.
• In about 330 C.E. Kush was eliminated as a rival
  when it was conquered by Axum.
• In the eighth century the Muslims cut off Axum's
  commercial contacts with the Byzantine Empire.
  Soon, Ethiopia lost its control of the Red Sea
  trade routes. Now landlocked and primarily
  agricultural society.

Stele to mark location of royal tombs, not like
Ashokas for laws
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Axum Christianity

• In the sixth and seventh centuries the kingdom
  was Christianized via Coptic Egypt (under Emperor
  Justinian) and the church became Monophysite in
  doctrine (the single, unitary nature of Jesus).
  Christianity became the tool for unifying the
  various chieftains of Axum into the kingdom of
  Ethiopia.
• By the tenth century the Axumite Kingdom had
  disappeared, replaced by Christian Ethiopia. In
  relative seclusion due to mountainous and almost
  inaccessible highlands, a stable monarchy and
  distinctive Christian culture were created.

Axum overthrown by Jewish Queen, Judith in 960 CE
Coin of Ousanas, king of Aksum in the fourth
century A.D., reverse has the symbol of the
cross to show conversion
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Ethiopia

• Christian community of Axum moved inland into
  highlands of Ethiopia Abyssinian period.
• Increasingly feudal and militarized in resistant
  to encroachment of Islamic Africans.
• Military strength of Ethiopians combined with
  assistance from Portuguese allowed for Ethiopia
  to remain an isolated Christian state until 1974
  when military coup.

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The Land of Zanj

• 7th-8th c CE Arabian (and later Persian)
  merchants began settling on east coast.Created
  string of 37 ports Mombasa, Pemba, Zanzibar and
  Kilwa (southern limit a ship could go in one
  season)
• Trade with the Indian Ocean and as far away as
  China. (rhinocerous horns, ivory and gold
  exchanged for Chinese porcelain and Indian
  textiles)
• Mixed African-Arab culture (Bantu, Persian and
  Arab)
• Self-governing cities

• Swahili develops w/loans words from Arabia, India
  and even China becomes the lingua franca of
  East Africa

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Trading ports and cities, Indian Ocean, 618-1500
c.e.

• The Indian Ocean was the pivot of long-distance
  seaborne trade from the Mediterranean to the
  South China Sea. Each of its port cities housed a
  rich diversity of merchants of many ethnicities
  and cultures.

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Kilwa 1200s CE

• Ibn Battuta (Muslim travelor in 1352 CE)
  describes it as amongst the most beautiful of
  cities and most elegantly built.

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West Africa

• Ghana, Mali, Songhai

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Ghana (800-1200)

• Capital at Saleh, a city of 15,000-20,000 by the
  twelfth century. Emerging in the fifth century
  C.E. north of the Senegal and Niger Rivers, it
  was located near one of the richest gold
  producing areas in Africa.
• The gold was procured from neighboring people and
  transported to Marrakech and Morocco where it was
  distributed to the northern world.
• Ghana also exported to the Mediterranean ivory,
  ostrich feathers, hides, leather goods, and
  ultimately slaves.

• It also had substantial agricultural land that
  supported a population of about 200,000.
• Divine right monarchy assisted by hereditary
  aristocracy

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Decline of Ghana

• 13th century Islamic attack by the nomadic
  Almoravids from the Sahara had devastated Ghana's
  main trading centers, and tribes previously under
  Ghana's dominance (such as Mali, Songhai,
  Kanem-Bornu, and the Hausa) began to exert their
  independence

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Mali (13th 15th c.)

• The Malinke tribe were originally pagan, but they
  saw the economic potential of Islam. Embracing
  the faith would not only give them equality with
  Arabic traders, but it would also lessen the
  chance of being attacked by the Almoravids. Thus,
  Malian traders spread Islam in their travels.

• Timbuktu was not only a main trading center for
  the gold that was used to build the power of Mali
  but also by the fifteenth century it had
  developed into a center of scholarship and
  learning. Songhai, at the eastern end of the
  Niger

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Sundiata (1210 CE 1255 CE)

• Founder of the Mali Empire.
• Uniting his society and eliminate his enemies,
  Sundiata was able to establish the framework for
  Mali's eventual economic and political leadership
  of the region.

Alexander of Africa

• There are many oral traditions (by griots) about
  Sundiata but little in the way of written
  evidence about his early life.
• Under Sundiata, Mali thrived economically. The
  merchants of Mali were particularly fond of the
  stability brought by Sundiata. The people of Mali
  became very rich by supplying the trans-Saharan
  caravans with ebony, fish, gold, iron, ivory,
  kola nuts, palm oil, salt, and woods. Due to the
  success of its diverse economy, Mali at its
  height was the envy of many leaders throughout
  the world.
• Although a Muslim who created bonds with
  Trans-Saharan Arab merchants, he was beloved by
  his people for his respect of native traditions
  and animism.

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Mansa Musa (1312-1337)

• Mansa Musa made a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324.
  He took 12,000 slaves each holding a golden staff
  weighing 5-6 pounds. He had 60,000 followers
  with 80-100 camel-loads of dust, each load
  weighing 300 lbs.

• Legends arose about his wealth Spanish record
  him on a map (Catalan Atlas) calling him the
  richest and most noble king in all the lands
• Builds his palace and mosque in capital city of
  Timbuktu in style of Arabic buildings.

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Songhai (1375-1591)

• Songhai was under Mali's control until 1375. By
  the late fifteenth century Songhai dominated the
  entire upper Niger and had captured Timbuktu.
• Under Songhai trans-Saharan trade reached its
  height focusing on gold, slaves, and ivory.
  Extended trade with Arabs and Europeans
• 16th century, the country fell into civil war
  (animist vs. Muslims) and chaos. Songhai's rule
  waned because of European traders from Portugal
  who diverted gold resources from the more
  traditional trading relationship with the Arab
  empires. (also price of gold dropped due to New
  World Aztec gold)
• Moroccan forces invaded the vulnerable empire in
  1591 using muskets, and a fractured Songhai soon
  fell to the Moroccans and the preying forces of
  the increasing Atlantic slave trade. (Breaks into
  competing Slave Trade States)

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Southern Africa

• Khoisan People Zimbabwe
• San Bushmen of Kalahari
• Kongo

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Khoisan

• One of the most ancient population groups in the
  world. They have inhabited regions of southern
  Africa for around 30,000 years.
• the primary population group in southern Africa
  prior to the Bantu migration into the region
  approximately 2,000 years ago.
• The Khoikhoi maintained hunter-gatherer and
  pastoral herding lifestyles until very recently
  the economic limitations of those lifestyles are
  one of the main reasons that the Bantus with
  their more productive agricultural methods, were
  able to displace and assimilate many of the
  Khoikhoi populations.

• European colonists began settling South Africa in
  the 17th century, they referred to the Khoikhoi
  as "Hottentots" (derived from a Dutch word
  meaning "stutterer," referring to the
  characteristic clicks of the Khoisan language) or
  "Bushmen." In modern times, those terms are
  considered offensive.

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Kingdom of Zimbabwe

• Founded by eleventh century Bantu speakers called
  the Shona and flourished until the sixteenth
  century.
• The area consisted of at least 150 settlements
  that were apparently involved in the trade of
  East Africa.
• Among its products was gold found to the west and
  north and traded to coast.
• Great Zimbabwe palace complex
• Decline shift in trade due to Portuguese,
  environmental degradation due to overutilization
  of agricultural resources

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Kingdom of Kongo

• Located near the mouth of the Kongo River, was
  formed in the fourteenth century by a Bantu
  prince. Ultimately, six states were brought
  under the Mani Kongo ("lord of the Kongo"). By
  the 1400s, Kongo was a bureaucratic monarchy.
• Alfonso I (1506-1543) converted to Christianity
  by Portuguese missionaries.
• Exploitive policies by Portuguese, however, ended
  further conversions.

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World Trade

• Between 1100 and 1500 a relay system of trade by
  land and sea connected almost all populous
  regions of Eurasia, as well as north and east
  Africa. Long-distance traders carried goods along
  their own segments of these routes, and then
  turned them over to traders in the next sector.
  The western hemisphere was still separate, and
  had two major trade networks of its own.

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• The pattern of emporia trade in the Indian Ocean,
  c. 1000-1500
• Trade goods did not travel on a single ship the
  whole length of this region. Rather, they would
  be loaded at a port in one of the three regions,
  off-loaded and reloaded in the next for shipment
  to the third region.

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Trans-Saharan Trade

• Ivory, gold, hardwoods, and slaves were the
  magnets which drew trading caravans south across
  the arid Saharan wastes, often following routes
  established before the desert had formed. These
  routes linked the classical cultures of the
  Mediterranean and southwest Asia with an array of
  rich trading states strung along the Sahel/Sudan
  axis.

Camel introduced in 1st c. BCE
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Zheng-He

• Chinese expeditions of 1417-1419 1421-1422
  traded with Swahili coast. Ming emperor finally
  decided not worth effort.

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African Kingdoms - Religion

• Animism
• Christianity
• Islam

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Native African Religion

• Animism
• Single creator god
• Sometimes accompanied by a pantheon of gods
• Reason why easily accepted monotheistic
  Christianity and Islam
• Divine Kingship divine status of kings was seen
  through practices like secluding king from
  commoners, sacrifices and taboos
• Shamans medium and prophet who through animal
  sacrifice could obtain power over or from the
  spirits
• Challenged by Islam but not always replaced

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Christianity

• Disciples and early missionaries established
  Christian communities in southwest Asia, Greece,
  Italy, north Africa, and India. On the other
  hand, Roman persecution, the decline of western
  Rome, and the rise of Islam hindered its
  dissemination.

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• Islam entered sub-Saharan Africa as a result of
  trade. Trans-Saharan caravans from Egypt, Libya,
  and Morocco gradually introduced the faith
  overland among the trading kingdoms of west
  Africa, while the Arab traders of the Indian
  Ocean carried the message south by sea along the
  east coast of the continent.

Islam in Africa
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African Kingdoms - Social

• African Society
• Urban life
• Fortified villages
• Government
• Clans lived in own compounds
• Relationship between the king and merchant class
• Village Life
• Most people lived in small villages
• Nuclear families and larger kinship communities

• Village was usually composed of a single lineage
  group
• Role of women
• Usually subordinate to men
• Polygamy not uncommon
• Many societies had matrilinear lineage
• Could be warriors or leaders in certain tribes
• Could own property and trade

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Slavery

• Practiced in Africa since ancient times, probably
  originating in prisoners of war
• Common in ancient Egypt
• Berbers raided agricultural villages and the
  slaves were sold throughout the Mediterranean
• Could gain freedom
• Living conditions often decent
• Pre-modern slavery not as impacting because
  smaller quantities
• Muslims could not enslave other muslims
  frequently trained slaves as soldiers creating
  warrior slave caste known as mamluks (would
  sometimes become so strong could usurp power)

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African Kingdoms Art/Literature

• Painting and Sculpture
• Rock paintings, wood carving,
• Nok pottery, Benin bronzes
• Music and Dance
• Architecture (pyramids, stone bldgs.)
• Mostly Preliterate - Professional storytellers
  (griots)

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African Kingdoms - Ethnology

• Continent of very complex and diverse mixture of
  ethnic groups.
• North Semitic, now largely Arabic, but
  originally Phoenician and Jews.
• Sahara Berbers and Egyptians
• South of Sahara Black Africans w/enclaves of
  Khoisan and Malaysians who migrated from SE Asia
  in 5th c. CE