Unit 6: Africa

Question 1

The Efe

Answer 1

• one of the hunting-gathering societies in Africa
• home: Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo
• modern day Efe: live in small groups of 10 to 100 ppl who are all related
• women are the gathers (get roots, yams,, mushrooms, and wild seeds from forest)
• men are the hunters (some go solo using poison tipped arrows, others hunt in groups)
• they hunt duikers, mammals (monkeys)
• trade honey, wild game, and other forest products for crops from nearby villages
• daily life is not governed by written laws

Question 2

lineage

Answer 2

• groups of families
• the members of a lineage believe they are from a common ancestor and feel strong loyalties to one another
• it includes past generations (spirits of ancestors) and future generations (children not yet born)

Question 3

stateless societies

Answer 3

• did not have centralized power

- authority was balanced among lineages of equal power so that no one family had too much control

Question 4

The Igbo

Answer 4

• stateless society

- ADD MORE

Question 5

patrilineal

Answer 5

• society that traces their ancestors through their fathers
• inheritance passes from father to son
• when a son marries, he, his wife, and their children remain part of his father’s extended family

Question 6

matrilineal

Answer 6

• society where children trace their ancestors through their mothers
• the young men inherit land and wealth from their mother’s family

Question 7

duikers

Answer 7

small antelope

Question 8

age-set system

Answer 8

• consists of young ppl within a region who are born during a certain time period
• each age-set passes through clearly identified life stages, such as warrior or elder
• men and women have diferent life stages and each stage has it’s own duties and importance
• societies (like Igbo)use the sgae-set system to teach discipline, community service, and leadership skills to their young

Question 9

Maghrib

Answer 9

• part of North Africa that is today the Mediterranean coast of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco
• northwestern and on the coast of Africa
• had contact with the rest of the world unlike the ppl in sahara and southern Africa

Question 10

Islamic Law

Answer 10

• following the law is a religious obligation
• Muslims do not separate their personal life from theri religious life
• Islamic law regulates almost all of area of human life and helped bring order to Muslim states

Question 11

the Almoravids

Answer 11

• strict religious brotherhood (originally a group of Berbers)
• founded by Abd Allah Ibn Yasin (religious scholar from Morocco)
• members came from a Berber group living in the western Sahara (modern day Mauritania)
• they were they first ppl who built a kingdom that tied together northern and southern parts of Africa
• they spread Islam (very devout Muslims)
• made up of ppl who followed Abd Allah Ibn Yasin’s teachings
• he led the Almoravids in an effort to spread Islam through conquest
• they took Morocco and found Marrakech (their capital)
• they overran Ghana (West African empire) in 1076 and captured parts of sourthern Spain, where they were called Moors (conquered southern Spain and conquered Ghana)

Question 12

ribat

Answer 12

fortified ministry

Question 13

the Almohads

Answer 13

• Berber Muslim reformers and very devout Muslims
• capital: Marrakech (ppl speak French and are Muslim)
• seized power from the Almoravids
• began as a religious movement in the Atlas Mts of Morocco
• they followed the teachings of Ibn Tumart, who criticized the later Almoravid rulers for moving away from the traditional practice of Islam
• he urged his followers to strictly obey the teachings of the Que’an and Islamic law
• led by Abd al-Mumin, the Almohads fought to overthrow the Almoravids and remain trure to their view of traditional Islamic beliefs
• 1148 = Almohads controlled most of Morocco and ended Almoravid rule; they kept Marrakech as their capital

Question 14

How might these characteristics of stateless societies have helped to endure for centuries?

Answer 14

• all families would have equal power
• no one family would have more power than the others
• this way their wouldn’t be any fighting over power/control

Question 15

How did the law help to unify Muslim society?

Answer 15

• it regulates all area fo human life

- LOOK AT HW

Question 16

Ghana

Answer 16

• West African empire
• 1st kingdom in sub saharan Africa
• upper class was attracted to Islam because they were educated (learned Arabic)
• common ppl didn’t convert but stayed animists
• kingdom by the 700s; rulers were growing rich by taxing the goods that traders carried through their territory
• major cities: Walata, koumbi, Saleh
• economy: gold-salt trade

Question 17

Gold-Salt Trade

Answer 17

• 2 most important trade items were gold and salt
• gold came from a forest region south of the savanna between the Niger ans Senegal Rivers (miners dug it up from shafts as deep as 100 feet ro sifted it from fast moving streams)
• West Africa’s savanna as rich in gold but lack salt, which was essential to human life
• Sahara contained deposits of salt
• Arab and Berber traders (salt) traded with African traders (gold)
• exchanged goods under the watchful eye of the king’s tax collector

Question 18

The Soninke

Answer 18

• called their ruler ghana (war chief)
• Mulsim traders began to used the word to refer to the Sonike region
• became known as Ghana

Question 19

Mali

Answer 19

• emerged by 1235 to 1400’s
• founders = Mande-speaking ppl, who lived south of Ghana
• it’s wealth was built on gold (like Ghana)
• major cities: Timbuktu
• major rulers: sundiata, mansa musa

Question 20

Sundiata

Answer 20

• Mali’s first great leader
• crushed a cruel, unpopular leader
• became Mali’s mansa
• took over the kingdom of Ghana and trading cities of Kumbi and Walata (military victories)—> peace and prosperity followed
• put able administrators in charge of Mali’s finances, defense, and foreign affairs
• new capital = Niani—> Sundiata promoted agriculture and reestablished the gold-salt trade
• Niani became an inportant center for commerce and trade
• ppl began to call Sundiata’s empire Mali, meaning “where the king lives”
• died in 1255

Question 21

mansa

Answer 21

emperor

Question 22

Mansa Musa

Answer 22

• one of the African Muslim rulers after Sundiata
• ruled from 1312-1332
• skilled military leader
• put down every rebelllion and exercised control over the gold-salt trade
• had a 100,000 man army, which kept orderand protected Mali from attack
• expanded Mali to wice the size of Ghana
• divided Mali into provinces and apppinted governors, who ruled fairly and efficiently
• 1324-1325 = he went on the hajj, took gold with him (80 camels each with 300 lbs of gold dust) and gave it away
• he passed through Egypt and have away gold but this dropped the value of gold for 12 years
• when he returned, he ordered the building of new mosques at Timbuktu and Gao

Question 23

Timbuktu

Answer 23

• became one of the most important cities of the empire (Mali)
• attracted Muslim doctors, religious leaders, and scholars, who attended it’s outstanding mosques and universities

Question 24

Ibn Battuta

Answer 24

• Muslim
• native of Tangier North Africa
• traveled for 27 yrs, visiting most of the countries in the Islamic world including Timbuktu and other cities in Mali
• criticized the ppl in Mali for not strictly practicing Islam’s moral code
• left Mali in 1353
• 1331 = visited Kilwa; he admired the way tha its Muslim rulers and merchants lived

Question 25

Songhai

Answer 25

• 1400’s - 1591
• religion: Muslim
• ppl in the east of Mali
• capital = Gao
• lacked modern weapons
• only armed with swords and spears
• major cites: Gao, Djenne
• major rulers: Sunni Ali, Askia Muhammad
• the collapse of the Songhai empire ended a 1,000 yr period in which powerful kingdoms and empires ruled the central region of West Africa

Question 26

Sunni Ali

Answer 26

• Muslim
• one of the rulers in the Songhai empire
• rule = 1464; lasted almost 30 yrs
• military commander w/ aggresive leadership
• built a pro army with riverboat fleet of war canoes and a horseback mobile fighting force
• 1468 = captured Timbuktu
• 5 yrs later (1473) = took Djenne (trade city woth university)
• married Djenne’s queen
• died 1492
• his son succeeded him as a ruler but was replaced by Askia Muhammad after he failed to put down a revolt

Question 27

Askia Muhammad

Answer 27

• 37 yr rule
• set up a excellent tax system and chose able officials
• appointed officials to serve as ministers of the treasury, army, navy, and, agriculture
• under him, the empire thrived

Question 28

Hausa

Answer 28

• group of ppl named after the language they spoke
• group of city-states
• emerged in between 1000 and 1200 in the area east of Mali and Songhai (modern day Nigeria)
• briefly ruled by Songhai but gained their independence
• religion: depends on the rulers religion
• Kano = noted for its woven and dyed cloth and leather goods
• Zazzau (aka: Zaria)= southernmost state; conducted slave trade
• all had similar for of government and each had its own army of mounted horsemen
• rulers held great power over their subjects abut ministers and other officials acted to check this power
• constant fighting
• economy: agriculture and trade (art, pepper, ivory, slaves, cotton, cloth); no gold

Question 29

Yoruba

Answer 29

• started 1100’s
• religion: animist
• ppl all spoke common language
• belonged to a number of small city-states in the forests on the southern edge of the savanna (modern day Benin and southwestern NIgeria)
• most ppl farmed
• Yoruba kings served as the most important religious and political leaders in their kingdoms

Question 30

the Ife and the Oyo

Answer 30

• 2 of the largest Yoruba kingdoms
• Ife = ancestors of the Yoruba ppl; developed by 1100; gifted artists who carved wood and ivory and produced terra cotta sculptures and cast in metal
• many clay and metal casts portray Ife rulers in an idealistic way
• Oyo = developed in 1600; became more prrosperous than the Ife
• both had high walls surrounding them

Question 31

Benin

Answer 31

• south and west of Ife, near the Delta of the Niger River
• ppl made their homes in the forest like the Ife and Oyo
• religion: animist
• first kings = 1200s
• major rulers: Ewuare
• huge palace had many courtyards and works of art
• artists = learned from an Ife artist; worked for the oba, created brass heads of the royal family and copper figurines
• brass plaques on walls and columns of the palace showed legends, historical scences, and the deeds of the oba and hos nobles
• economy: agriculture and trade
• 1480s = the Portuguese trade with them for pepper, leopard skins, ivory, and enslaved ppl

Question 32

oba

Answer 32

ruler

Question 33

Ewuare

Answer 33

• Benin oba in 1400s
• mde Benin a major West African state
• built a powerful army and used it to control an area that by 1500 stretched from the Niger River delt in the east (modern day Lagos, Nigeria)
• built walls around Benin, which strengthened it
• lined the streets (inside the city) with neat rows of houses

Question 34

Swahili

Answer 34

-a blend of Arabic and the Bantu language

Question 35

the Horn of Africa

Answer 35

-a triangular peninsula near Arabia

Question 36

Kilwa

Answer 36

• coastal city-state
• rich families lived in fine houses of coral and stone and slep in beds inlaid with ivory and thier meals were served on porcelain
• wealthy Mulsim women wore silk robes and gold and silver bracelets
• it grew rich beacause trade goods from southerly regions had to funnnel into Kilwa, so Asian merchants could buy them
• Kilwa seized the port of Sofala, which is the trading center for gold mined inland
• by controling Sofala, Kilwa was able to control the overseas trade of gold from southern Africa
• As a result, it became the wealthiest, most powerful coastal city-state

Question 37

Portuguese Conquest

Answer 37

• 1488 = first Portuguese ships rounded the southern tip of Aftica and sailed north, looking for a sea route to India
• wanted to gain wealth/profits from Asia trade in spices, perfumes, and silks
• wanted to conquer the East African city-states because they gained wealth through trade (wanted to take control of the trade)
• they took Kilwa, Sofala, and Mombasa
• they kept their portrs ans citeson the East African coast for the next 2 centuries

Question 38

How was Islam introduced in Eat Africa?

Answer 38

-Muslim traders introduced ISlam to the Easten coast, and the growth of commerce caused trhe religion to spread

Question 39

sultan

Answer 39

ruler

Question 40

Enslavement of Africans

Answer 40

• Arab Muslim traders exported enslaved ppl from East African coast
• Wealthy = bought slaves to do domestic tasks
• Muslim traders shipped them off to India (across the Indian Ocean) where Indian rulers hired them as soldiers
• Eslaved Africans also worked on docks and ships ar Muslim-controlled ports
• they also worked as household servants in China
• 1,000 slaves sold/traded a year

Question 41

Great Zimbabwe

Answer 41

• city established by the Shona ppl in southeastern Africa
• zimbabwe = Shona phrase meaning “stone houses”
• covered many acres
• population = 10,000
• walls = 900,000 stome blocks
• the Great Enclosure = curing wall up to 36 ft high and 15 ft thick
• grew into an empire built in the gold trade
• fertile, well watered plateau
• good for farming and cattle raising
• had an economic advantage
• stood near an important trade route linking the goldfields with the coastal trasing city of Sofala
• after 1000, it contolled these trade routes
• 1200s-1400s = it became the capital of a thriving state
• leaders taxed the traders who traveled these routes and demended payments from less powerful chiefs
• growing wealth = economic, political, ans rligious center of its empire
• 1450 = abandoned; no one knows why

Question 42

Mutota

Answer 42

• man who left Great Zimbabwe in 1420 to find a new source of salt
• founded a new state to replace Great Zimbabwe and became its leader
• he used his army to dominate the northern Shona ppl living in the area and forced them to make payment to support him and his army

Question 43

mwene mutapa

Answer 43

• what the conqured ppl called Mutota
• means conquerer or master pillager
• Portuguese (1500s) believed it was a title of respect for the ruler
• origin of the name of the Mutapa Empire

Question 44

the Mutapa Empire

Answer 44

• able to mine gold deposited in nearby rivers and streams
• Mutapa rulers forced conquered ppl to mine fold for them and sent gold to the coastal city-states in exchange for luxuries
• 1500s = Portuguese tried to conquer the empire but failed; They helped overthrow one ruler and replaced him with someone they could control (this signaled the increasing European interference in African centuries to come
• by the time of Mutota’s death, the Mutapa Empire had conquered all of modern day Zimbabwe except for the eastern portion
• 1480 = Matope (Mutota’s son) claimed control fo the area along the Zombezi River to the Indian Ocean coast

Question 45

Animist

Answer 45

• believe that spirits in nature (living plants, animals, and natural forces) play an important role in daily life
• poly theistic

Question 46

Askum

Answer 46

• in northeast? Africa
• modern day Ethiopia
• Askumites believes in one god (Mahrem) and that their king was descended from him
• most were animists
• similar to culture in Maghrib because of the culture
• port city is Adulis
• Adulis was cosmopolitan (diverse culture )

Question 47

Ezana

Answer 47

• ruler in Askum (AD 325-360)
• converted to Christianity
• conquered Kush
• Yemen
• his activities had a long impact on African history and influenced Ethiopians to become Christian