1. African Civilizations and the Spread of Islam
AP Chapter 8
African Civilizations and the Spread of Islam

2. African Societies: Diversity and Similarities
Differences in geography, language, religion, politics, and other aspects of life contributed to Africa’s lack of political unity over long periods of time
Neither universal states nor universal religions characterized the history of sub-Saharan Africa

3. Stateless Societies
Stateless societies were societies organized around kinship or other forms of obligation and lacking the concentration of political power and authority we normally associate with the State
Stateless societies had form of government, but the authority and power normally exercised by a ruler and his court in a kingdom could be held instead by a council of families or by the community, with no tax of the population to support the ruler, the bureaucrats, the army, or the nobles, as usually the case in state building societies
Little concentration of authority
Government was rarely full time occupation

4. West Africa utilized secret societies rather than formal government
Both men & women had secret societies that controlled customs and beliefs and were able to limit the authority of rulers
Members allegiances to these groups transcended the lineage ties
They settled village disputes
They acted to maintain stability within the community, and they served as an alternative to the authority of state institutions
Stateless societies found it difficult to resist external pressures, or create stable conditions for continuous long-distance trade

5. Common Elements in African Societies
Certain similarities in language, thought and religion provided some underlying unities
Spread of the Bantu language-languages differed but the root language was Bantu
Animistic religion characterized much of Africa

6. Belief in Witchcraft

7. African Religions
Above all African religion provided a cosmology-how the universe worked
Many believed in a creator deity along with spirits or lesser gods and through the founding ancestors of the group
Ancestors were “owners of the land”
Fertility of the land was given through them
Working the land took on religious significance

8. Religion, economics, and history were thus closely intertwined
The family, lineage or clan had important role in dealing with the gods
Deceased ancestors were a direct link between the living and the gods

9. North Africa, was fully involved in the Med., and Arab economic world

10. Sub-Saharan Africa varied greatly from one region to the next
Many areas, settled agriculture and skilled iron work had been established before or advanced rapidly during the post classical period
Specialization encouraged active local and regional trade
Professional merchants, in many cases in hereditary kinship groupings often controlled trade

11. Sub-Saharan Africa

12. Size & Dynamics of Population
By 1500, Africa may have had 30 to 60 million inhabitants

13. The Arrival of Islam in North Africa
North Africa (above the Sahara) had long been part of the world of classical antiquity

14. By 711 C.E. Arab & Berber armies reached into Spain but are defeated in 732 by Charles Martel at Poitiers (Tours)

15. Once the Abbasid Dynasty took control of North Africa the conversion rate increased
Eventually the Abbasid Dynasty’s unity and political unity broke down and North Africa divided into several separate states and competing groups
Some states were dominated by Arabs, the people of the desert, the Berbers, formed states of their own at places such as Fez in Morocco and at Sijilimasa, the old city of the Trans-Saharan caravan trade

16. By 11th Century a puritanical group called the Almoravids grew among the Berbers

17. Almoravids They call for a jihad-Holy War to spread the faith
They move south against African kingdoms of the savannah and west into Spain
By 1130 the Almohadis followed the same pattern
People were attracted to them because of their fundamental teachings all are equal
They had a tradition of uniting the power of the state and religion in the person of the Caliph
Social stratification remained important in Islamized societies and ethnic distinctions also divided believers

18. The Christian Kingdoms: Nubia and Ethiopia
The Coptic influence had already spread up the Nile into Nubia, the ancient land of Kush

19. Copts were recognized and protected as ‘Peoples of the Book”

20. The Ethiopian Kingdom that grew from Axum was perhaps the most important African Christian outposts
Eleven great churches are built under King Lalibela

21. King Lalibela

22. Ethiopia
In the 13th and 14th Centuries, an Ethiopian Christian state emerged under a dynasty that traced its origins back to the Biblical marriage of Solomon and Sheba

23. Kingdoms of the Grassland
Africa had three important “coast”: the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and the Savanna on the southern edge of the Sahara

24. The Sahel
It is the extensive grassland belt at the southern edge of the Sahara and became the point of exchange between the forest to the south and north Africa
It is an active “coast” where ideas, trade, and people from the Sahara and beyond arrived in increasing numbers
Along that coast, several African states developed between the trading cities, taking advantage of their positions as intermediaries in the trade

25. Ghana It was founded in 3rd Century C.E.
It rose to power by taxing the salt and gold exchanged within its border
By the 10th Century its rulers are Muslims
Almoravid armies invaded them and weakened them in 1076.

26. Ghana

27. Sudanic States
The Sudanic states often had a patriarch or council of elders of a particular family or group of lineages as leaders
Usually these states had a territorial core area in which the people were of the same linguistic or ethnic background, but their power extended over subordinate communities
These were the states of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay
Rulers of these states were considered sacred and were surrounded by rituals that separated them from their subjects

28. The Empire of Mali and Sundiata, the “Lion Prince’

29. Sundiata-The Lion Prince

30. Mali
The Empire of Mali, centered between the Senegal and Niger River, was the creation of the Malinke peoples, where in the 13th Century broke away from the control of Ghana, which was by then in steady decline
In Mali the old forms of kingship were reinforced by Islam
Mali became a model of these Islamized Sudanic Kingdoms

31. Mali Continued
The economic basis of society in the Mali Empire was agriculture. This was combined with an active tradition of trade in many products, although like Ghana, Mali also depended on its access to gold producing areas to the south

32. Sandiata
In the beginning a Malinke expansion began with Sundiata, “Lion Prince”
He is considered the originator of customs and basic rules
He dies about 1260
His successors expanded the borders until it controlled most of the Niger Valley

33. Mansa Musa
Sundiata’s most famous successor was Mansa Kakan Musa and his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324

34. City Dwellers and Villagers
The towns were commercial and often included craft specialists and a resident foreign merchant community
Military expansion contributed to commercial success because the power of the state protected traders
A cosmopolitan court life developed
Port cities flourished (Jenne & Timbuktu)
For most people of the Mali & other Sudanic states life centered on the agricultural cycle & the village

35. The Songhai Kingdom

36. The Songhai Kingdom
The people of Songhai dominated the middle areas of the Niger Valley
They succeeded the Mali
Traditionally, the society of Songhai was made-up of the “Masters of the Soil” (farmers), herders and “Masters of the Water” (fishermen)
It began circa 7th Century
By 1010, their capital of Gao on the Niger River is established & rulers were Muslims though their population remained pagan

37. Songhai By the 1370 Songhai was independent of Mali
Rich sources of gold began passing through it
Sunni Ali ( ) forged a strong Empire
By the 16th Century Songhai dominated the Central Sudan
Songhai remained the dominate power in the region until the end of the 16th Century
Other states that combined Muslim and Pagan traditions rose among the Hausa peoples of northern Nigeria, based on cities as Kano and Katsino

38. Political and Social Life in the Sudanic States
The development of unified states provided an overarching structure that allowed the various groups and communities to coexist
The large states usually represented the political aims and power of a particular group often of a dominant family
Islam provided a universalistic faith that served the interests of many groups
Common religion & law provided solidarity & trust to the merchants who lived in the cities & whose caravans brought goods to & from the Savannah

39. Continued
To reinforce their authority, ruling families surrounded themselves with literate Muslim advisors and scribes, who aided in governmental administration
The Muslim concept of a ruler who united civil and religious authority reinforced traditional ideas of kingship
These societies became more hierarchal

40. Continued
Ruler ship and authority were still based on the ability to intercede with local spirits, and although Sundiata and Sunni Ali were nominally Muslim, they did not ignore the traditional basis of their rule
Several Sudanic societies were matrilineal
Slavery and the slave trade between black Africa and the rest of the Islamic world had a major impact on women & children in these societies

41. The Swahili Coast of East Africa
A string of Islamized African ports tied the trade across the Indian Ocean dotted the east African coast

42. The Coastal Trading Ports
By the 8th Century the Land of Zenj was founded on the east coast of Africa and trade was already occurring there

43. Coastal Ports
By the 13th Century a string of urbanized east African ports had developed along the coast
They shared the Bantu based language and Arabic influenced Swahili (which means coastal) language and other cultural traits, although they were governed by separate Muslim ruling families

44. The Mixture of Cultures on the Swahili Coast
The Islamic influence in these towns promoted long-distance commerce
The majority of the population on the east African coast, and perhaps even in the towns themselves, retained their previous beliefs and culture
African culture remained strong throughout the area
The Swahili language was essentially a Bantu language containing a large number of Arabic words
Islamization was to some extent class based

45. Mixture of Cultures Continued
A culture was developed that fused Islamic and traditional elements
Swahili culture was a dynamic hybrid, and the Swahili people spread their language and culture along the coast of east Africa

46. Peoples of the Forest and Plains
By 1000 C.E., most of these societies were based on a varied agriculture. Sometimes combined with herding, and most societies used iron tools and weapons
Many were still organized in small village communities
In various places, however; states had formed

47. Artists and Kings: Yoruba and Benin
Nok
They had realistic and highly stylized terra-cotta objects found dated from about 500 B.C.E. to 200 C.E.

48. The inhabitants practiced agriculture and used iron tools
Nok
The inhabitants practiced agriculture and used iron tools

49. Yoruba

50. City of Ife-Ife in Yoruba
It was also part of Nigeria
It had remarkable terra cotta and bronze portrait heads of past rulers that were produced in the period after 1200 C.E.

51. Yoruba Artist also did woodwork and worked in ivory
Art seems to be associated with rulers

52. Yoruba
It was an agricultural society supported by peasants and dominated by a ruling family and aristocracy
Ife-Ife is considered their original cultural center
Ife-Ife is the holy city
The people spoke a non-Bantu language of the West African Kwa family

53. Yoruba Continued
The Yoruba feel they are related to the Hausa who spoke a Afro-Asian language
They were organized into small city-states each covering about 50 miles
They had a regional king who they considered divine
They had vast royal courts
The kings rule was not absolute

54. Benin

55. Edo, Benin
Benin was the largest city state in Benin and was formed in the 14th Century
It was a magnificent artistic output in ivory and cast bronze
Art forms are less naturalistic
Art celebrated the kingship

56. Art of Benin

57. Central African Kingdoms-Luba
It was founded in Katanga

58. Luba
It had divine kinship in which the ruler and his relatives were thought to have a special power that ensured fertility of people and crops; thus, only royal lineage was fit to rule
A sort of bureaucracy grew to administer the state, but was hereditary, so that brothers, or male children succeeded to the position

59. Luba Art

60. The Kingdom of Kongo

61. The Kingdom of Kongo
It was formed along the Congo River about the 15th Century
It was agriculturally based
Its people developed skills of weaving, pottery, blacksmithing and carving
Its artist worked with wood, copper and iron
There was a sharp division of labor between men and women

62. Kongo
Men cleared forest and scrub, produced palm oil, palm wine, built houses, hunted & did long distance trade
Women took charge of cultivation in all aspects, cared for domestic animals & house hold duties
On the sea coast women made salt from sea water, and they collected sea shells that served as currency in the Kongo Kingdom

63. Kongo Kingship was hereditary but local chieftainships were not
The kingdom was a confederation of smaller states

64. Great Zimbabwe

65. Great Zimbabwe It was between the Zimbabwe and Limpopo Rivers
Zimbabwe means stone house
Great Zimbabwe was the center of the kingdom and was associated with the bird God or eagle
It is thought a Bantu Kingdom started this around the 11th Century C.E.
The most sophisticated structure dates to the 14th & 15th Centuries
By the 15th Century a centralized state existed all the way to the Indian Ocean

66. Great Zimbabwe

67. Mwene Mutapa
They controlled the gold sources of the interior of Africa
An internal rebellion brought about its collapse
The soil was exhausted and may have been due to the emphasis on cattle as a symbol of wealth

68. Mwene Mutapa