1. Chapter Eight: African Civilizations and the Spread of Islam
Mr. Toma AP World History Midwest City High School

2. Background: African Civilizations and the Spread of Islam
Extremely diverse
Wide variety of societies developed
Political unity was difficult
Universal states and religions do not develop in Africa
Universal religions from elsewhere impact region
Christianity and Islam sometimes influenced political and cultural development.

3. Background: African Civilizations and the Spread of Islam
C.E.: Increasing contact between Africa (esp. lower) and Mediterranean and Asian civilizations.
State building in Africa influenced by a variety of things
West Africa: mix cultural influence from Islam with indigenous culture
Mali and Songhay = depend on military power and dynastic alliances more than cultural unity
Parts of Africa south of the Sahara entered into expanding world network
Western and Eastern Africa connected by coasts
Still, many remained in isolation.

6. African Societies: Diversity and Similarities
Political forms
Hierarchical states
Rulers who exercised control through a hierarchy of officials in states
“Stateless" societies
organized on lineage or kinship principles
lacking concentration of power and authority
Authority and power normally exercised by a ruler and court is held by a council or families or community

7. African Societies: Diversity and Similarities
Weakness of stateless societies
No tax collection so no military
Difficult to resist external pressures
Hard to mobilize for war
No undertaking of large building projects
Hard to create stability for long-distance trade
Still, many stateless societies thrived
Internal social pressures could be resolved by allowing dissidents to leave and establish new villages

8. African Societies: Diversity and Similarities
Bantu = common language
Animistic religion was common.
Belief in natural forces personified as gods
Concepts of good and evil
African economies vary by region
N. Africa was already integrated into the world economy via Islamic trade routes
Settled agriculture and ironworking
W and E Africa are becoming more involved in regional trade and urbanization.
Africans exchanged raw materials for manufactured goods.

9. African Societies: Diversity and Similarities
Mid-7th c. = Muslim armies moved west from Egypt across N. Africa
Spreads Islamic influence; rapid conversions
Berbers (people of the Sahara) begin conversion
11th century = reforming Muslim Berbers called Almoravids from western Sahara grow
launch jihad (war to spread and protect faith)
move south against African kingdoms and west into Spain.
12th century = the Almohadis defeat Almoravids
Almoravids and Almohadis are essential to penetration of Islam into sub-Saharan Africa

10. Almoravids

11. African Societies: Diversity and Similarities
Christian states are present in North Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia before the arrival of Islam
Egyptian Christians, the Copts, had a rich and independent tradition (Coptic Christianity)
Oppression by Byzantine Christians caused them to welcome Muslim invaders
The Nubians resisted Muslim incursions from 9th until 13th century.
Ethiopia continues to retain Christianity

12. Kingdoms of the Grasslands
Sahel Grasslands: zone of transition between Sahara Desert and Sudanic savannahs to the south
Point of exchange between North and South; important regions of trade

13. Kingdoms of the Grasslands
Ghana:
- Rose to power by taxing salt and gold
- Almoravid armies invaded Ghana in 1076
- By 13th c., new states would rise to take place

14. Kingdoms of the Grasslands
Sudanic States
Often led by a patriarch or council of elders from a family or lineage.
Control of subordinate societies
Arrival of Islam after the 10th century reinforced ideas of kingship and ruling power: “royal cult”
Majority of pop. never converted
Mali, Ghana and Songhay
Combine Islamic religion/culture with local practices

17. Kingdoms of the Grasslands
Mali was formed by Malinke peoples
broke away from Ghana in 13th c.
Economy: agriculture and gold trade
Traders spread beyond W Africa
Islamicized state
The ruler/mansa: Sundiata (Sunjata)
Credited with Malinke expansion and unified state
a governing system based on clan structure
Died 1260; Mansa Musa is successor

18. Kingdoms of the Grasslands
Jenne and Timbuktu, cities of W Sudan
residents = scholars, craft specialists, and foreign merchants
Timbuktu was famous for its library and university; book trade
Cities of commercial exchange
Military expansion of Mali and Songhay contributed to their strength.
Mali's population lived in villages and were agriculturists (80%)
Poor soils, primitive technology, droughts, insect pests, and storage problems

19. Kingdoms of the Grasslands
The Songhay Kingdom
Became an independent state in the 7th century.
Capital city at Gao.
Prospered as a trading state.
Dominated by Mali, then in 1370s independent
Empire founded by Sunni Ali ( )
great military leader
extended rule over the entire middle Niger valley.
Sunni Ali’s successors were Muslim military rulers, askia
Muhammad the Great extends borders
Songhay remained dominant until defeated by Moroccans in 1591.

20. Kingdoms of the Grasslands
Islam provided universal faith and fixed law.
Rulers reinforced authority through Muslim ideology.
Many Sudanic societies were matrilineal and did not seclude women.
Slavery and slave trade was prevalent from Muslim influence
Viewed as stage in conversion process
Development of unified states/empires provided structure that allowed various groups and communities to coexist

21. The Swahili Coast of East Africa
Islamicized trading ports along Africa’s Indian Ocean coast
Increases contact with other regions
Bantu speaking migrants
Bantu Swahili language emerged in a string of urbanized trading ports
Immigrants from Southeast Asia
Exported raw materials in return for Indian, Islamic and Chinese luxuries
30 coastal trading towns flourished
13th-15th Century= Kilwa was the most important.

23. The Swahili Coast of East Africa
Islam built a common bond between rulers and trading families.
Allowed them to operate under common culture.
Rulers and merchants were often Muslim.
Most of the population retained African beliefs.
Culture = Swahili as language and incorporated African and Islamic practices.
Fused Islam and Swahili culture

24. Peoples of the Forest and Plains
Across central Africa, agrarian societies thrived and kingdoms developed
The Yoruba city-states
Non Bantu speaking peoples
Highly urbanized agriculturalists
Ile-Ife was the holiest Yoruba city; “place of their birth”
Remarkable terra-cotta and bronze portrait heads produced of rulers
Also work in ivory and wood

25. Peoples of the Forest and Plains

26. Peoples of the Forest and Plains
Benin
Forms in 14th century under ruler/oba Ewuare the Great
Ruled from the Niger River to the coast near Lagos
Peoples of east Yoruba
Artists worked in ivory and cast bronze to produce art celebrating royal authority

27. People of the Forest and Plains
13th century, Bantu speakers approached the southern tip of Africa
The Luba peoples, in Katanga, created a form of divine kingship
Divine kingship; ruler has power to ensure fertility of people and crops
Hereditary bureaucracy formed to administer the state
Allowed the integration of many people into one political unit

28. People of the Forest and Plains
Kingdom of Kongo (lower Congo River, 13th c.)
Agricultural society, flourishes by 15th
Gender division of labor and family-based villages
Mbanza Kongo = 60, ,000 people
Zimbabwe, 15th c. - the east, in central Africa
Shona-speaking peoples
Great Zimbabwe, largest site
Ruler = Mwene Mutapa
Dominated gold sources and trade with coastal ports
Internal divisions split Zimbabwe during the 16th century

29. Global Connections: Internal Development and External Contacts
The spread of Islam had brought large areas of Africa into the global community.
The most pronounced contacts
south of the Sahara were in the Sudanic states and
East Africa
Most of Africa evolved in regions free of Islamic contact.
Many other Africans organized their lives in stateless societies.

30. Chapter 8 Homework Questions
What is the difference between a state and stateless society? Where did stateless and state societies develop in Africa?
In what ways did Islam influence sub-Saharan African culture?
Who are the Almoravids and Almohadis? Why are they important?
Where did Islamicized African ports develop? Why? What are the items traded?
Describe the process of developing kingdoms in Central Africa.