chapter 18 Flashcards
states and societies of sub-saharan africa
In Africa, professional singers and storytellers are known as what?
Griots
What physical disability did Sundiata have?
Congenitally defective leg left him partially crippled
Where was the Kingdom of Ghana situated?
Between the Senegal and Niger rivers in a region straddling the border between Mali and Mauritania
According to legends preserved by Arab travelers as many as how many kings ruled in Ghana before Muhammad and his followers embarked on the hijra?
22
Where did the kings of Ghana get the gold that they sold?
The kings procured nuggets from lands to the south, probably from the region around the headwaters of the Niger, Gambia, and Senegal rivers
What was the capital of the kingdom of Ghana?
Koumbi-Saleh
By the tenth century, the kings of Ghana had converted to what religion?
Islam
Islam spread to Africa through what two main routes?
To west Africa via camel caravan routes across the Sahara desert
To east Africa across the Indian Ocean basin
The kingdom of Kongo was one of the more prosperous Congolese states that developed in along the basin of what major river?
Congo River
What was the primary currency of the kingdom of Kongo?
cowries, seashells that came from the Indian ocean
Did the kings of Ghana impose Islam forcibly on their subjects?
No
What empire did the kingdom of Ghana fall to?
Mali empire?
Who built the Mali empire during the first half of the thirteenth century?
(lion prince) Sundiata
What was the capital of the Mali empire?
Niani
How is Mansa Musa related to Sundiata?
He was his grand-nephew
What was Mansa Musa famous for?
His famous pilgrimage to Mecca in which he distributed A LOT of gold and lavish gifts to the lands he passed
“Swahili” is an Arabic term meaning what?
“coasters”
Villages in east Africa had buildings made of what?
Wood, dried mud, also larger buildings made of coral, by 15th cent had buildings and mosques made of stone
What in the world in Kilwa???
One of the busiest city-states on the east African coast
What does the term ZImbabwe refer to?
The dwelling of a chief
Where was the Great Zimbabwe?
Near Nyanda in the modern state of Zimbabwe
What were the clearly defined classes that African peoples developed?
ruling elites, military nobles, administrative officials, relgious authorities, wealthy merchants, artisans, business entrepreneurs, common people, peasants, and slaves
What did the kings residing at Great Zimbabwe do?
- controlled and taxed trade between interior and coastal region
- organized flow of gold, ivory, slaves, and local products from sources of supply to the coast
How did sub-Saharan African peoples distribute and use land?
Did not recognize private ownership of land, male heads of families allocated portions of communal lands for relatives to cultivate and responsible for distributing harvests equitably among all members of their groups
—-functioned in society first as members of a family or a clan
What did diviners do?
Consulted oracles when people came to them with their issues, identified causes of trouble, and prescribed “cure”
What did African religions mainly revolve around?
Concerned more with explaining, predicting, and controlling the experiences of individuals and groups in the world–strongly emphasized morality and proper behavior as essential to maintenance of orderly world vs matters of theology
What was one of the most prominent centers of early Christian thought?
Alexandria in Egypt
