History Final: East Africa Flashcards
In East Africa, a similar evolution takes place, what is it:
- The arrival of Islam (+ written culture)
- The exploitation of gold and the capture of slaves → Here also the gold and slaves transit to the muslim world → the middle east and beyond to India.
How does the exploitation of gold and slaves made possible (geographically)
This trade is possible thanks to the Monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean that blow from November to February from India to the coast of Africa, and from April to September, from Africa to India.
based on what are the two commodities able to be traded across the sahara desert for political/social elites?
based on the agricultural production of their mostly rural population, but complemented by the extraction of gold and by the capture of slaves - both “commodities” being traded across the Sahara desert - for the political/social elites.
what did the opportunity to travel across the Indian ocean lead to?
the development the trading city-states of the Swahili Coast
all the trading city-states have original cultures that mix what elements?
african elements mixed with islamic culture and elements of the arabic language
Africa in the Medieval period is connected to the rest of the world via what?
very extended trade networks
There is major influence of what culture?
Islam
What geographical advantages do they have against foreign empires
- The sahara desert
- The Oceans (with tricky currents and the west coast)
- The dense rainforest of Central Africa
- Many endemic diseases (malaria, sleeping sickness…)
African societies that engage in the gold and slave trade were still mostly dependant on what?
agriculture
what did this lucrative business make possible?
the elites to develop an even stranger grip on society. Wealth → power → wealth → power (repeating cycle).
