The African Kingdoms

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The African Kingdoms

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The African Kingdoms. Starting Points. Africa is the second largest continent in the world Has a wide variety of climates and environments, from desert to grassland to rainforest Africa also has a huge amount of natural resources (minerals, gems, iron, etc.) - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of The African Kingdoms

The African Kingdoms

Starting Points Africa is the second largest

continent in the world Has a wide variety of

climates and environments, from desert to grassland to rainforest

Africa also has a huge amount of natural resources (minerals, gems, iron, etc.)

The continent’s geography dramatically shaped the way Africa developed

More on Geography low, wide plains run

across the northern and the western interior

High plains on top of plateaus run across the central and southern interior

The Great Rift Valley is in the east, where many narrow lakes and rivers are located

Several mountain ranges are located toward the outer part of the continent

Climate/Vegetation The Sahara Desert makes up most

of northern Africa, though there are oases scattered throughout the region

The Sahel, a strip of plains just south of the Sahara, is fairly dry but has not as hot as the desert

The Savanna, a tropical grassland, is even farther south and contains many herds of animals – the majority of Africans live here

Tropical rain forests are located near the Equator

Learning to Adapt Farmers had to learn how

to grow crops with little water and poor soil

Rainfall was very unpredictable – too little and there wouldn’t be enough land for livestock to graze on – too much and the grasslands would flood, washing away any good soil

Harmful parasites thrive in the tropical areas and spread diseases like malaria and sleeping sickness

Early African Societies The earliest farming

societies in Africa settled in the Sahara region – it was much wetter then

Over time, the climate changed and these people had to migrate – many went west and others moved the Mediterranean coast

As they migrated to different areas, a variety of diverse cultures developed

Social Structure Many African societies

shared common features even though they were separated from one another

Many societies developed cultures around clans – families with common ancestors

Extended families were very common

Everyone had a specific role in society, and members of a village were extremely loyal

Religion and Culture Many Africans believed that the spirits of their ancestors were

always nearby, so they needed to honor the spirits by making sacred spaces

These spaces were marked with statues and family members would gather there to share news and food – they believed this would convince the spirits to protect them

Africans also believed in animism Not very many early societies developed a writing system – most of

their identity came from oral traditions (songs, stories, poems, etc.) Griots – the storytellers – they had the responsibility of memorizing

and sharing a society’s oral tradition with the next generation. They were highly respected

Music, dance, and art were very important in most kingdoms – these were seen in religious ceremonies and many daily activities

Africa’s Iron Age When Africans learned how to produce high-

quality iron, it allowed them to make new tools and weapons that advanced their societies

Nok – one of the first societies that learned iron working – they became better farmers, hunters, and warriors – their power increased as well

Learning how to use iron also allowed Africans to move to new places – they could clear the land for more space to grow food

The Bantu Bantu refers to a group of languages

that are related to one another As the Africans began to migrate

around the continent, Bantu languages spread and so did knowledge of farming and ironworking technology

Bantu-speaking groups used their language and information to gain power and soon became the dominant groups throughout much of Africa

Bantu societies became more complex – leadership revolved around food and social status was measured by the size of your cattle herd

East Africa

Aksum Aksum was a state made up of

descendents of farmers and migrants from Arabia

Became wealthy through trade – its location made land and sea trade very easy and Aksum gained access to rare items

King Ezana helped make Aksum strong by having the military attack nearby kingdoms

Eventually Aksum defeated Kush and became the greatest power in East Africa

Aksum Culture Trade brought Aksum new

products and new ideas Traders eventually brought

Christianity to the region – King Ezana became a convert and made Christianity the official religion of his kingdom

Ge-ez – the written and spoken language of Aksum, it is still used in the region today

Aksum also used coins to regulate its economy

The Decline of Aksum Muslim invaders gradually

conquered lands all around Aksum and the kingdom became isolated from other Christian societies

Muslims destroyed Aksum’s main port city and crippled their sea trade

While Aksum wasn’t ever conquered, the kingdom’s people moved into what is now Ethiopia

Ethiopia Name refers to the region

around Aksum, began to develop under the Zagwe dynasty

King Lalibela, the most famous Zagwe ruler, helped spread Christianity in the area

Christianity became a unifying force in Ethiopia because the area was surrounded by Muslms

Christianity in Ethiopia incorporated many African religious traditions as well

The Solomonid Dynasty Second dynasty of Christian

kings, the rulers claimed to be descendents of King Solomon, ruled for 700 years

The first kings fought many religious wars, especially against Jews who lived in the area

While they couldn’t make the Jews leave their land, the Solomonid leaders heavily persecuted them

Muslim kingdoms formed around Ethiopia and tried to take them over, but Ethiopia was strong enough to remain independent

Rise of the City-States City-states developed along

Africa’s east coast partially due to monsoon winds

The winds made trade with India and Asia much easier and a strong trade network developed

The city-states linked the coast with traders from Africa’s interior

Merchants in the city-states would trade Asian luxury items for African raw resources (porcelain, silk, and cotton was traded for ivory, gold, and SLAVES)

Kilwa became the most powerful city-state because of its location

Swahili Many Arabs migrated to

the coastal city-states and began to blend African and Muslim traditions

Some Bantu-speaking kingdoms began to adopt Arabic words and phrases

The new language that developed was called Swahili and quickly spread along the coast

Great Zimbabwe Developed between

the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers, in the eastern interior if Africa

Great Zimbabwe was built on a major trade route linking interior gold mines with the eastern city-states

The Great Enclosure Zimbabwe means “stone

houses” – the biggest structure is known as the G.E.

We don’t know exactly what it was used for – display of rulers’ power, observatory, something else

Great Zimbabwe was abandoned, possibly because the land was overgrazed

The Mutapa Empire When Great

Zimbabwe fell apart, one of the empire’s former residents moved north and founded Mutapa

The empire grew wealthy by controlling all trade in the region and by exporting gold

Kingdoms of West Africa

Ghana Land had many resources, but

it had no sea access and was blocked by the Sahara, it took centuries before they formed a trade route across the desert

Once trade routes were built, the area became a trading powerhouse and kings became rich by taxing trade goods – except gold

Ghana did not have a permanent army, but the kings would call up the military when needed to protect the region

The military conquered other groups in the area, and captives were sold into slavery

Ghana’s Decline When kings tried to

expand their empire to the north, they encountered a Muslim empire and war broke out

The Muslims won and briefly took over Ghana, but they did not stay

When the Muslims left, the people of Ghana began to rebel against their king and the empire fell apart

The Mali Empire Formed about 150 years after

Ghana collapsed – controlled the same territory but also expanded out to the Pacific coast

Sundiata – a Mali king who made his kingdom powerful by conquering his neighbors

Mansa Musa – helped expand Mali and made it very wealthy through taxation on trade, he kept the area peaceful by building a large army to protect trade routes

Mali’s population grew to about 40 million under Mansa Musa

Decline of Mali Mansa Musa was a devout

Muslim and had schools, mosques, libraries, and other public structures built to help his people – Timbuktu became the cultural center of West Africa

Unfortunately, rulers after Mansa Musa were very weak and people began to break away form the empire – at the same time, the empire was attacked by foreigners

Songhai A small kingdom that existed next to Ghana and

Mali – paid them money and remained independent Sunni Ali – a Songhai military leader who took over

Timbuktu and conquered many Songhai neighbors After conquering other groups, he replaced their

leaders with his own loyal followers Askia Muhammad – Songhai’s first Muslim ruler

who ruled during its Golden Age, reformed the government and expanded its territory

Askia was overthrown by his son – the son was a weak ruler and the empire soon lost power and was conquered

Other West African States Hausa City-States:

independent city-states that cooperated and traded with each other, used slave labor to increase trade and wealth

Yoruba Kingdoms: built many small but strong kingdoms, were great and respected artists

Benin: made a living by trading with Europeans – at first they traded slaves but later switched to trading art and natural resources – helped make Portugal major world power