Chapter 9 - African Societies And Kingdoms, ca. 400-1450

Question 0

The Kingdom of Mali

Answer 0

1. 13th- Mid 15th CE, West Africa
2. Found trans-Saharan trade more beneficial than Ghana; controlled and taxed almost all trade through West Africa; connected to North Africa through huge caravans
3. Important cities: Niani (capital set up by Sundiata), Timbuktu (Mansa Musa turned city into thriving entrepôt), Gao, and Jenne
4. Established religious schools with Arabian and North African teachers
5. CC: Mali contrast to Ghana since Mali was better-organized in military warfare and trade
6. COT: Changed in how education became more important especially in Timbuktu by Mansa Musa, Continued…?

Question 1

Trans-Saharan Trade

Answer 1

1. Early 7th- Mid 15th c.e., Africa
2. Kingdoms such as Ghana, Mali, and Songhai in western Africa were important in connecting the Mediterranean basin to sub-Sahara Africa
3. Gold, slaves, ivory from the south were exchanged from cloth, horses, salt, and manufactured wares from the north
4. Islamic merchants were an important part of the trans-Saharan trade and later introduced Islam to Mansa Musa (early 14th) in Mali spreading the dar al-Islam
5. CC:
6. COT: Changed by increasing the importance of slave labor, continued…?

Question 2

Mansa Musa

Answer 2

1. Early 14th CE, Mali (West Africa)
2. King Mansa Musa made a pilgrimage to Mecca (1324-1325) and brought with him a huge caravan of soldiers, attendants, subjects, slaves, and camels carrying gold
3. Built capital at Timbuktu where merchants would be attracted from all parts of the Mediterranean world
4. Built mosques to honor Islam and sent subjects to study under Muslim scholars
5. CC:
6. COT:

Question 3

Timbuktu

Answer 3

1. 14th-18th CE, Mali (West Africa)
2. Located Near the Niger River, one of the wealthiest cities in West Africa
3. Under the Songhay, reached its height, attracting merchants, traders, and Islamic scholars (mosques, schools, and libraries were built to encourage learning)
4. The collapse of the Songhay Empire and the establishment of European trading posts along the coast of West Africa led to the decline of the city
5. CC:
6. COT:

Question 4

Ethiopia

Answer 4

1. East Africa
2. Ethiopia’s acceptance of Christianity led to the production of the ecclesiastical documents and royal chronicles, making Ethiopia the first black African society that can be studied from written records
3. Ethiopia contained a kingdom in the north-west named Aksum which was a sizable trading state and the center of Christian culture
4. Queen Makeda of Ethiopia spread the Jewish religion as she converted to Judaism because she would seek advice from King Solomon ( 10th BCE) in Jerusalem
5. CC:
6. COT: Changed economic prosperity because of expansion of Islam in 8th century; continued…?

Question 5

Ibn Battuta

Answer 5

1. 13th CE, Africa
2. Most celebrated Muslim traveler in the postclassical world; an Islamic scholar who kept a record of his travels throughout the dar al-Islam
3. Supervised monetary affairs of the mosque and heard cases of law–strictly enforced Muslim standards of justice
4. Promoted the proper observance if Islam in societies new to the religion and it’s beliefs; unsuccessful in persuading island and African women to meet Islamic standards of modesty in dress
5. CC:
6. COT:

Question 6

Ghana

Answer 6

1. 900- 1100 CE, West Africa
2. Ghana became increasingly important as a result of increased trans-Saharan trade (especially gold, and in exchange Ghana received horses, cloth, manufactured good, and salt)
3. Strengthened empire through taxation and control of gold trade; also traded ivory and slaves; Islam spread to Ghana across trade routes
4. Ghana had a juridical system that derived from the king (al-Bakri), who heard cases at court in Kumbi or on his travels throughout his kingdom.
5. CC:
6. COT:

Question 7

Bantu Migrations

Answer 7

1. 3000 BCE- 500 CE, Africa
2. Movement of Africans across the continent of Africa
3. Possession of iron metallurgy; tools were used to clear land for agriculture and herding throughout Africa
4. Adopted mixed agriculture and learned iron working when migrating through Savanna
5. Intermarriage with indigenous population, considerable population increases and need to migrate further
6. CC:
7. COT:

Question 8

Traditional African Religious Beliefs

Answer 8

1. 7th- mid 15th CE, Africa
2. No unified religious beliefs; many were monotheistic but some believed in lesser gods and spirits associated with the sun, wind, rain, trees, rivers, and other forces of nature (animism)
3. Belief that the souls of the dead ancestors had the power to intervene in a person’s life
4. Religious specialist were believed to have the ability to meditate between humans and the spirit world; Rituals: animal sacrifices, and ceremonies making birth, marriage, and death
5. CC:
6. COT:

Question 9

East African Cultures

Answer 9

1. 7th- mid 15th CE, East Africa
2. Bantus migrated to the eastern coast of Africa–bringing agriculture, cattle herding, and iron metallurgy–and developed complex societies governed by small, local states
3. Eastern coast Africa attracted attention from Islamic merchants, who brought wares (pottery, glass, and textiles) from Persia, India, and China in exchange for local products (tortoise shells, leopard skins)
4. Important cities for trade: Mogadishu, Luma, Malindi, Mombasa, Kilwa, Mozambique, and Sofala
5. CC:
6. COT:

Question 10

Sudan

Answer 10

1. 1000 BCE- 16th CE, Africa
2. African region surrounded by Sahara, Gulf of Guinea, Atlantic Ocean, and mountains of Ethiopia
3. Peoples of western Sudan made momentous shift from nomadic hunting to settles agriculture
4. Chiefs and their families formed aristocracy, kingship in Sudan emerged from priesthood
5. CC: Sudan’s kingship was similar to Germanic kingship of the same period because of the king’s authority in part on ruler’s ability to negotiate with outside powers, such as gods; different…?
6. COT:

Question 11

Stateless Society

Answer 11

1. 9th- 15th CE, Africa
2. African societies bound together by ethnic or blood ties rather than being political states (Ghana, Mali, Ethiopia)
3. Culturally homogeneous ethnic societies, smallest ones were nomadic hunting groups
4. Im larger stateless societies, several thousand people lived a settled and often agricultural or herding life
5. CC:
6. COT:

Question 13

Great Zimbabwe

Answer 13

1. Late 12th- 15th CE, Southern Africa
2. Great Zimbabwe’s wealth rested on a gold trade where traders shipped gold to Sofala.
3. Great Zimbabwe was the political and religious capital of a vast empire as shown from its ruins
4. Settled crop cultivation, cattle raising, and work in metal led to a steady buildup in population in the Zambezi-Limpopo region.
5. CC:
6. COT: Great Zimbabwe changed in becoming agriculturally exhausted

Question 14

Berbers

Answer 14

1. 5th- ? CE, North Africa
2. Fashioned a saddle for use on the camel which resulted in a political and military advantage because it was easier to dominate the dessert with maneuverability
3. The Berbers determined who could enter the dessert and extracted large sums of protection money from caravans in exchange for a safe trip
4. Between 700 and 900 CE, the Berbers developed a network of caravan routes between the Mediterranean coast and Sudan.
5. CC:
6. COT: The Berbers changed in how their authority grew so they began to pose threats among others such as the Tuaregs, continuity…?

Question 15

Kilwa

Answer 15

1. Late 13th- ? CE, East Africa
2. Kilwa became one of the most influential cities on the east coast
3. Mosques were built between the 13th and 15th centuries to serve Muslim commercial aristocracy of Kilwa
4. Kilwa’s geography was rich with crops for agriculture and was isolated by tidal currents giving an advantage when it came to warfare
5. CC:
6. COT:

Question 16

Egypt

Answer 16

1. North Africa
2. Consisted of a pharaoh, leader of religious and political life in old kingdom, commanded wealth, resources, and people of Egypt
3. Polytheistic, beliefs were rooted in environment and human ecology
4. Commerce from the east arrived in Egypt
5. CC: The Egyptians and Hittites included Babylonians in their diplomacy
6. COT:

Question 17

Mogadishu

Answer 17

1. 8th- ? CE, Africa
2. Developed into Muslim sultanate in 12th CE, a monarchy that employed slave military corps against foreign and domestic enemies
3. 13th CE Muslim mosque at Mogadishu attest to strong Muslim influence
4. Produced cloth for Egyptian market in 15th CE
5. CC:
6. COT: