Medieval West Africa Flashcards
What are the three main kingdoms of West Africa?
Ghana, Mali, Songhai
What is the large, hot desert in North Africa that covers about 3.5 million square miles?
Sahara Desert
What is the name of the river that runs through West Africa?
Niger River
Through which two kingdoms did the Niger River extend?
Mali and Songhai
Which of the three West African kingdoms was the largest?
Songhai
On what river is Timbuktu located?
Niger River
Timbuktu was part of which two West African kingdoms?
Mali and Songhai
When was mercator projection created?
1569
Who created mercator projections?
A Flemish cartographer
What was good about mercator projection?
Good for navigators and creating shipping routes
What was bad about mercator projection?
Inaccurate representation of the continents
What is implicit bias?
- Prejudice or negative attitudes against a specific social group
What is implicit bias thought to be shaped by and based on?
Shaped by experience and based on learned associations between particular qualities and social categories
When people first started to settle in West Africa, where did they settle?
South of the Sahara
What kinds of groups did people live in when they first started to settle in West Africa?
Family-communities
When people first started to settle in West Africa, how many people would a typical family-community have?
15-20 people
When people first started to settle in West Africa, how did people get their food?
Farming
Some time after people first started to settle in West Africa, what happened to family-communities?
They joined together to villages
Why were villages formed in West Africa?
For protection, to get needed help
What caused specialization within villiages?
Ironworking
Why did ironworking cause specialization?
Iron tools helped farmers clear land and cultivate crops more easily, which lead to a surplus. The excess of food led to larger villages, where more people were free to pursue other trades. Farmers could trade food for goods they could not produce themselves.
As trading across West African villages started, what did villages start to do?
Try to control trading
How did West African villages control trade?
Villages located along rivers or important trading routes gave some villages a head start. Some cities built walls around their city, and some induced tax.
How did cities expand into kingdoms in medieval West Africa?
They conquered smaller villages and forced those villages to pay tribute
Who is the richest person ever?
Mansa Musa
Who is Mansa Musa?
Ruler of Mali Empire from 1280-1337
What religion was Musa?
Muslim
What did Musa do in 1324?
He made his hajj/pilgrimage to Mecca
Who did Musa return from his pilgrimage with?
An architect (Ishaq El Teudjin)
What was the Trans-Saharan Trade route for?
Trading salt for gold
What was the first stop on the Trans-Saharan Trade route?
Taghaza
What was Taghaza?
A desert village where salt mines were located - travelers mined and carried the salt the rest of the way
What was the second stop on the Trans-Saharan Trade route?
Ghana
What was the purpose of Ghana along the Trans-Saharan Trade route?
For travelers to buy materials and restock on food and water - sometimes to rest
What was the third stop on the Trans-Saharan Trade route?
Walata
What was Walata?
The city at the edge of the desert where people transferred salt and other goods for gold
How long did traveling across the Trans-Saharan Trade route take?
About 2 months
What animal helped with travel on the Trans Saharan Trade route?
Camels
When were camels brought to the Sahara?
300 CE
Why did the spread of Islam contribute to the growth of the Trans Saharan Trade route?
More interconnectedness
Why would someone want to control the Trans-Saharan Trade route?
Mainly to tax travelers
Where was the city of Ghana?
At the crossroads of major trade routes south of the Sahara and along the rivers
What did traders from North Africa bring when they crossed the Sahara?
Salt, copper, & cowrie shells (currency)
What did the North African traders trade for in Ghana?
Kola nuts, leather goods, ivory, slaves, & gold from southern forests of West Africa
In the 4th century CE, where was large amounts of West African gold found?
Rome
What happened to Ghana in the 7th century CE?
Muslims tried to invade
What happened to the Muslims that tried to invade Ghana?
Ghana turned back the invaders, but many Muslims settled in West African towns and became merchants
For centuries, how were the beliefs, values, and knowledge of West Africans transmitted from one generation to the next?
Orally
What kind of traditions also became important in medieval West Africa?
Written tradiontions
What is a griot?
A poet-musician who tells stories, sing songs of praise, and recite poems, often while playing a drum or a stringed instrument
What did griots do?
Preserved the memory of the past
What did rulers use griots for?
Trusted advisors
Why did rulers use griots as their advisors?
They used the griots’ knowledge to shed light on their current problems
When did written tradition get more important in West Africa?
After the spread of Islam
Where does most of our information about West African history, legends, and culture come from?
Arabic writing preserved in mosques and Qur’anic schools (probably also oral tradition, but the notes packet doesn’t say that)
What is the n’goni instrument similar to?
Banjo
What is the balafon instrument similar to?
Xylophone
What do West African proverbs do?
They use images from everyday life to express ideas or give advice
What do West African proverbs reveal?
A great deal about the wisdom and values of West Africans
