Africa Flashcards
Rainforests make up —- —- – of the land in Africa.
less than 5%
What is the biggest & most populated climate zone in Africa?
Savanna or grassy plains
How was the soil in Africa?
Soil is OK for farming
Will people living here develop from a culture into a civilization? Why or why not?
People living here are therefore subsistent, and will likely never develop from a culture into a civilization.
What agriculture technique was used in Africa?
Slash-and-burn agriculture used
What is a difficult environmental challenge in Africa?
Sometimes there are long droughts
The tsetse fly did what?
Transmits African sleeping sickness; which is a sickness gradually raises your temperature until you die.
Deserts-
Sahara in the north & Kalahari in the south
Where was the fertile land in Africa?
Fertile farmland in north & south coasts
Once people domesticated ——, they were able to traverse desert landscapes
camels
Camels store fat—for energy—in their humps
Africa has a regular coastline=
hard to find a good place to dock boats
Rivers-
Nile, Congo, Niger, Zambezi were the four main rivers
Dangers of African Rivers-
Their currents would collide and create whirlpools
They had cataracts consisting of rapids and waterfalls — made travel hard
Palisades-
Africa has palisades — large, steep insurmountable cliffs of land
Resources in Africa-
Ivory, salt, gold, copper, diamonds, iron, oil
People switched from Paleolithic →
Neolithic
Ideas spread from which major river?
The Nile
Desertification-
The spreading of the desert
Meaning people are forced to move
Contributors to the making of deserts-
Bad farming practices (i.e., slash and burn), overgrazing, and lack of rainfall are all contributors to the making of deserts.
Thousands of acres of land become desert every year
Deserts definition-
Deserts are places devoid of vegetation
Most important thing that The Bantu in West Africa did-
The Bantu in West Africa spread many ideas as they travelled and displaced native tribes
They spread all throughout Africa
They taught people how to farm and how to make iron
As the desert dried out, people-
moved and settled on the western Savanna
They became sedentary when they-
achieved surplus — this lead to the development of trade, conquest and cultural diffusion
The north had —-, and the west had —-
salt/gold
Salt value
Salt preserved and cured food — and helped people survive, so it was invaluable
The silent trade-
Literally just silently negotiated the amount of gold and salt traded
Gold and salt would be added in piles—not proportional, but fair—until both sides felt content
The vendors would never come in contact with each other, and they’d inspect the piles and add and subtract from their respective piles as negotiation.
Started with the Sonnike and other Central African tribes trading with northern tribes
What was a King linked to in Africa?
King was a semi-divine being who kept order
(Like how the egyptians linked themselves to Ra, or how the Qin had divine mandates)
After Ghana was attacked by the Ahmurabids,
the Kingdom of Mali rose to power (1100s)
What was the status of Women in the Kingdom of Mali?
Women had high status
Mali was founded by ———
Sundiatta
(he took the the title of Mansa — meaning king)
Who was greatest ruler of Mali? What did they contribute?
Mansa Musa was the greatest ruler of Mali
He converted to Islam & based his laws on the Quran (sometimes spelled as Koran)
Mansa Musa made a pilgrimage to —–
Mecca — In modern day Saudi Arabia
What did Mansa Musa take with him on his pilgrimage?
He took around 500 men, a camel per man, and a lot of gold
What did Mansa Musa do to Cairo?
During this journey, Mansa Musa went with “pocket gold” to Cairo, and paid everyone in large sums
This devalued gold and wrecked Cairo’s economy for around a decade
This is an incredible feat as Cairo is an incredibly developed city around this time
What was the global reaction to the Kingdom of Mali’s wealth?
After seeing the immense wealth of the Mali empire, all the best of the brainpower in the Islamic world moved to Timbuktu, the capital of Mali in hopes of great payment
This was the long term impact of Mansa Musa’s Hajj
Mansa Musa had a successor.
True or False?
False
Mali fell to disputes over Mansa Musa’s successor
Sonni Ali —
built the largest state in West Africa
Who usurped Sonni’s son?
Askia Muhammad usurped Sonni’s son
His name (Askia) literally means usurper
Askia also followed Sonni’s son and became Muslim
Timbuktu became a major center of Muslim learning because of —–
Askia
Songhai, The Grassland Peoples was located-
along the bend in the Niger River.
Two leaders of Songhai
Sonni Ali
Askia
What lead to the fall of Songhai?
Songhai fell in 1586 when it was attacked by forces from Morocco
Other Kingdoms of West Africa
Hausa —
Independent city states that never united
Benin —
A forest kingdom in the Guinea Coast
