1. Africa’s Religion and Government
Daily Lesson and Discussion Notes: 3-2

2. Objectives:
Describe how traditional African religions provided a guide for living together
Identify the role of Islam in medieval Africa
Explain how the growth of West African empires led to the growth of governments ruled by kings

3. Objective 1:
Describe how traditional African religions provided a guide for living together

4. I. Traditional African Religions (page 223)
A. Many African groups believed in one supreme god.
For centuries, Europeans believed Africans did not have a religion. Olaudah Equiano, a member of the Igbo, disagreed. The Igbo, he wrote, “believe that there is one Creator of all things, and that he……governs events, especially our deaths and captivity.”
Most African groups shared the Igbo belief in one supreme god. They understood the Christian and Muslim idea of a single god, but many wanted to continue their own religious practices.

5. B. African religious practices vary from place to place, but their beliefs served similar purposes – to help people stay in touch with their history and provide rules for living.
These practices varied from place to place. Some groups, like the Nanti in East Africa, thought people could talk directly with their god. Others, like the Igbo, thought their creator could only be spoken to through less powerful gods and goddesses who worked for him.
Even though Africans practiced their religion differently in different places, their beliefs served similar purposes. They provided rules for living and helped people stay in touch with their history.

6. C. Many Africans believed the spirits of dead relatives stayed with them when they died and that the spirits could talk to the supreme god.
When relatives died, many Africans believed their spirits stayed with the community. They believed these spirits could talk to the supreme god or help solve problems. As a result, many Africans honored their ancestors.

7. Objective 1: Describe how traditional African religions provided a guide for living together
Many Africans believed in a single creator and honored the spirits of their ancestors

8. Objective 2:
Identify the role of Islam in medieval Africa

9. II. Islam in Africa (pages 224-227)
A. Islam was popular in West African cities where Africans traded with Muslim Arabs, but not all West Africans accepted Islam.
Ibn Battuta, a young Arab lawyer from Morocco, set out in 1325 to see the Muslim world. Since the AD 600s, the religion of Islam had spread from the Arabian Peninsula to Africa and elsewhere.
Ibn Battuta traveled throughout the lands of Islam for 30 years. He covered a distance of more than 73,000 miles. When Ibn Battuta arrived in West Africa in 1352, Islam had been practiced there for hundreds of years. Yet he soon realized that not all people in west Africa accepted Islam. Many people in the countryside still followed traditional African religions. Islam was popular in the cities where rulers and traders accepted it y choice or because it helped them trade with Muslim Arabs.

10. B. Some Muslims complained that the West African leaders Sunni Ali and Sundiata Keita did not do enough to promote Islam.
Some Muslims complained that Sundiata Keita and Sunni Ali – western Africa’s two great empire builders – did not do enough to win people over to Islam. The two leaders were more concerned about stopping rebellions than spreading religion.

11. C. Mansa Musa had worked to spread Islam, though he allowed different religions. He made a pilgrimage to Makkah, or Mecca, with a caravan of thousands of people.
The most memorable event in Musa’s reign was his pilgrimage to Makkah in Musa, a devout Muslim, followed in the footsteps of previous Malian leaders by making a pilgrimage to Makkah. Musa’s journey, however, was much grander and more influential in Mali’s development. According to historical accounts, Musa was accompanied by a retinue of 60,000 people – 500 slaves, each of whom carried a bar of gold weighing about four pounds, friends, family members, and doctors. In addition, 80 to 100 camels accompanied the travelers on the journey, each loaded with 100 pounds of gold dust. Hundreds of other camels carried food, clothing, and supplies. Musa’s pilgrimage caused a sensation. In Cairo, the value of the local dinar (gold coin) was depressed for over a decade due to Musa’s generosity with his gold. As word of Musa’s wealth spread to Europe, cartographers began to include Mali on maps of Africa.
So impressed was Mansa Musa by the achievements of Muslim civilization, that upon his return to Mali, he attempted to incorporate them into his empire. Musa returned with the renowned Muslim scholar and architect Es-Saheli to help him renovate the trade centers of the Malian empire. Es-Saheli designed impressive buildings in Timbuktu, Niani, and other cities of the Sudan. Musa himself also encouraged the building of Quranic schools in West Africa, especially in the cities of Jenne and Timbuktu.

12. D. Sunni Ali practiced the traditional religion of the Songhai but called himself a Muslim. His son refused to declare himself a Muslim.
Sunni Ali, the founder of Songhai, practiced the traditional religion of the Songhai people. However, he declared himself a Muslim to keep the support of townspeople. After Sunni Ali died, his son refused to follow his father’s example.

13. E. Muhammad Ture declared himself king and drove Sunni Ali’s family from Songhai. He then took the name Askia Muhammad. Under him, Songhai became the largest empire in West Africa. Timbuktu – its capital – was a center of Islamic learning and culture.
The Great Mosque
Djenne’s Great Mosque was made from baked bricks, and the walls were covered with mud. The Great Mosque is one of the largest buildings made from mud in western Africa
Marketplace
Djenne’s wealth was based on trade which included items such as gold, salt, and ivory.
Songhai reached its apogee under Askia Muhammad Touray, a devout Muslim and visionary politician of Soninke origin. Askia rose to power in the 1490s through the support of those who opposed Sunni Ali’s son and successor, Sunni Baare, who refused to convert to Islam and was intolerant of Muslims. Sunni Baare alienated influential Muslims, which led to his overthrow by Askia and his supporters. Once in power, Askia declared Islam the state religion of Songhai, and under his direction mosques were built throughout the Songhai kingdom.
Askia was an enlightened sovereign who encouraged the development of learning and scholarship in Songhai. Scholars from all over the world traveled to the University of Sankore in Timbuktu to study the numerous Arabic manuscripts that were housed there. The works of ancient writers like Aristotle and Plato were translated into Arabic and made available for study at Sankore. The city of Jenne was another center of learning in the Songhai realm. It, too, had a university with thousands of teachers who lectured and conducted research in medicine and more traditional academic subjects such as theology, law, grammar, rhetoric, logic, astronomy, history, and geography.
Homes
Homes were built from bricks made from clay out of the nearby river. The flat roofs had drains made from palm tree trunks.

14. F. Islam had a far-reaching impact on Africa.
Islam had a far-reaching impact on northern and eastern Africa. Africans who accepted Islam also adopted Islamic laws and ideas. Sometimes these changes were opposed by people who favored traditional African ways.

15. G. The Swahili culture and language are a blend of East African and Muslim elements.
The word Swahili comes from an Arabic word meaning “people of the coast.” By 1331, however, it had come to mean two things: the unique culture of East Africa’s coast and the language spoken there.
The Swahili culture and language are a blend of African and Muslim elements. African influences came from the cultures of Africa’s interior. Muslim influences came from Arab and Persian settlers. The Swahili culture still exists in Africa today.

16. H. Islam also encouraged learning. Muslim schools taught Arabic
H. Islam also encouraged learning. Muslim schools taught Arabic. Islam also influenced art and architecture.
Islam also advanced learning. Muslim schools drew students from many parts of Africa and introduced the Arabic language to many Africans. These helped pass along African culture and history. Arabic soon became an important language of government and education.
In addition, Islam also influenced African art and buildings. Muslim architects built beautiful mosques and palaces in Timbuktu and other cities.

17. Objective 2: Identify the role of Islam in medieval Africa
Islam became the dominant religion in the kingdoms of West and East Africa

18. Objective 3:
Explain how the growth of West African empires led to the growth of governments ruled by kings

19. III. Government and Society (pages 227-229)
A. Early African kings were powerful. They settled arguments, managed trade, and protected the empire. Merchants paid taxes to the king and received favors from him. Local rulers had some power and were loyal to the king. This system allowed empires to prosper and grow.
Kings settled arguments, managed trade, and protected the empire. But they expected complete obedience in return.
With the growth of empires, Africans invented new ways to govern themselves. The most successful states, like Ghana, formed some type of central authority. Power usually rested with a king – or, in a few cases, a queen.
Both rulers and people benefited. Merchants received favors from the kings, and the kings received taxes from the merchants. Local rulers kept some power, and the kings in turn received their loyalty. This allowed kingdoms to grow richer and to extend their control over a larger area.

20. B. Ghana’s government included a council of ministers, who advised the king. The empire was divided into provinces, ruled by lesser kings or conquered leaders. Below them, local leaders ruled over a district that included the leader’s clan – a group of people descended from the same ancestor. The throne of Ghana was passed on to the son of the king’s sister.
The kings of Ghana relied on help from a council of ministers, or group of close advisers. As the empire grew, rulers divided it into provinces. Lesser kings, often conquered leaders, governed each of these areas. Beneath them, district chiefs oversaw smaller districts. Each district usually included a chief’s clan – a group of people descended from the same ancestor.
Kings held tightly to their power. They insisted that local rulers send their sons to the royal court. They rode through the countryside seeking reports of rebellion. Most important, they controlled trade.
Nobody could trade without the king’s permission. Also, nobody could own gold nuggets except the king. People traded only in gold dust. One policy of Ghana’s government, however, confused outsiders. “It is their custom,” exclaimed an Arab writer, “that the kingdom is inherited only by the son of the king’s sister.” In Arab states, property passed through a man’s sons, not the sons of his sister. In Ghana, the throne went to the king’s nephew.

21. C. Mali’s royal officials had more responsibility than Ghana’s officials did. Mali’s empire was also divided into provinces, and generals governed the provinces. The generals protected the people from invaders and often came from the province they ruled.
Mali followed Ghana’s example but on a larger scale. It had more territory, people, and trade, so royal officials had more responsibilities than in Ghana. One supervised fishing on the Niger. Another looked after the empire’s forests. A third oversaw farming, and a fourth managed money.
Most kings divided their kingdoms into provinces, like Ghana. However, Sundiata, the founder of Mali, put his generals in charge of them. People accepted this policy because the generals protected them from invaders. Also, the generals often came from the provinces they ruled.

22. D. Although Sunni Ali began dividing Songhai into provinces for government, he died before he could finish. In 1493, Muhammad Ture seized control of Songhai. He was a faithful Muslim, and his religious ideas affected the Songhai government.
Songhai built on the traditions of Ghana and Mali. Its founder, Sunni Ali, divided his empire into provinces. However, he never finished setting up his empire. Sunni continually moved, fighting one battle or another.
In 1492 Sunni Ali died mysteriously on a return trip home. Some say he drowned while crossing a stream. Others say his enemies killed him. The next year, general Muhammad Touray seized control of the government. Unlike Sunni Ali, Touray was a loyal Muslim. His religious ideas affected Songhai’s government.
To promote unity throughout his empire, Askia organized a strong central government. As king he established an order of precedence and protocol within the government and distributed palace duties among a group of ministers. A key member in the ministry commanded a large flotilla of canoes. A strong navy allowed Songhai to control the Niger River and tax the various kingdoms of the Western Sudan for nearly two hundred years. Other officials in Askia’s ministry included chiefs of tax collectors, foresters, woodcutters, and fishermen. Even business matters were kept in order by means of a large staff of market inspectors.
The hierarchy of Askia’s political system was reinforced by its social structure, which had many aspects of a caste system. At the top of this social system were the descendants of the original Songhai people of Kukya. They shared political power with the king, enjoyed special privileges, and were kept apart from the general population. They were not allowed to marry outside of their own caste. Below the Kukya in caste were the free people (called “freemen”) of the cities and towns and the members of the army. At the bottom of the social system were war captives and slaves, who were not placed in the army but were put to work on farms.
Despite his remarkable achievements, the final years of Askia Muhammad’s reign were marked by family in-fighting. When he was ninety years old and blind, several of his thirty-four sons who were not directly in line to inherit the throne conspired to exile their father from the kingdom. Eventually, Askia Musa, who was Askia’s eldest son, emerged as king of Songhai in Seven different leaders attempted and failed to assert their control over the Songhai empire. These kings kept Gao under their immediate surveillance and tried to rule the more remote regions through governors appointed from the ranks of their kinsmen or court favorites. These governors, who were more often interested in aggrandizing personal power than in protecting the interests of their subjects, were ineffective, and the stability of the Songhai monarchy remained precarious. Songhai’s monarchy was eventually toppled by an invasion from Morocco in the 1580s.

23. Objective 3: Explain how the growth of West African empires led to the growth of governments ruled by kings
The empires of West Africa were ruled by kings who closely controlled trade and divided their lands among lesser chiefs to aid in governing