African Environments

• Continent is home to many different cultures

• Diversity of people was due to different environments

• Much of Africa lies in the tropical zone• Wet and dry seasons• Resulting cultures adopted

varied lifestyles

Islam in Africa

• Islam spread slowly across the Sahara• Came to dominate

most regions in Sub-Saharan Africa• Usually done

through trade rather than conquest

Trade• Economic interactions produced personal relationships among

traders leading towards opportunities for conversion

Syncretism

• Melding practices of various cultures or schools of thought• Seen in religion, literature, music, architecture, etc.• Ex. as Islam spread into Africa, Arabic culture blended with African culture

• Ex. gender roles, Swahili, mud mosques, etc.

Christianity in Africa• Spread in Africa

was limited• With the

exception of Ethiopia

• Again, diffusion of literary, artistic and cultural traditions spread with the religion

Mali• Empire of West Africa (c.

1230 – 1400)• Converted peacefully to

Islam• Took control of Trans-

Saharan caravan routes• Gained wealth by taxing

traders• Salt from north; Gold from

south• Timbuktu became most

prominent trading center

Sundiata – the Lion King• Founder of the Mali Empire• His story of banishment & then returning to claim his

throne inspired the Disney film• Originally his story was told via oral storytelling (griots)

Mansa Musa

• 1324, Mansa Musa made the Hajj to Mecca• Brought over 60,000

people with him and lots of gold

• In Cairo, he distributed so much gold, that it lost tremendous value for almost 10 years

• Returned to Mali and built mosques and Quranic (Islamic) schools

Decline of the Empire

• Incapable leaders led to rebellion• Other groups attacked from outside to obtain Mali’s wealth• Eventually Mali collapsed & the Songhai empire arose

Travels of Ibn Battuta• Much of what we know

of this time comes from the accounts of Ibn Battuta (interregional traveler)

• His journeys lasted for nearly thirty years and covered almost the entirety of the known Islamic world

• His writings illustrate both the extent and the limitations of intercultural knowledge

Indian Ocean Trade• Increased in the 1300s, due to collapse of overland trade routes• Dhows and Junks

• Trade was decentralized, but cooperative• Indian port cities became cosmopolitan clearinghouses of trade

• Ex. Silk, porcelain, spices, cotton, horses, gold, ivory & slaves

• In response to the increasing demand in Afro-Eurasia for foreign luxury goods, crops were transported from indigenous homelands to equivalent climates in other regions

Tropical Africa and Asia: Compare & Contrast the empires of Mali & New Delphi during the 1200-1500 era. Be sure to include slavery in your response.