Key Terms
What is the sahel?
African region along the Southern border of the Sahara desert with a semi-dry, semi-wet climate. Transitional region between desert and savanna
List the three major West African empires in order from earliest to latest
Ghana, Mali, Songhai
What was the name of the African group who migrated south from West Africa in waves due to overpopulation and depletion of resources?
Bantu
Who was Ezana and what was his legacy?
King of Aksum who destroyed Meroe and Kush and was known for bringing Christianity to the kingdom- still worshipped in Ethiopia today!
What were the three most traded commodities in Africa?
Gold, salt, slaves
What was a sistrum and how was it used to aid cultural blending?
handheld percussion instrument used for religious worship. Once Aksum became Christian, they blended Christian worship with traditional African rituals using the sistrum and dance.
How and why did the Ghana emperor limit the gold supply?
Forbade citizens from owning gold nuggets so only the emperor could possess them. This kept the value of gold high ensuring the market would stay high and preventing inflation.
Great Zimbabwe, left after it was abandoned due to depletion of resources- he was in search of salt source
What was the main resource people from other civilizations were travelling to Aksum for?
ivory and other resources from exotic animals
What technological advancement were the Nok people known for?
the process of iron smelting
Who ruled in a stateless society?
cultural group in which authority is shared by lineage of equal power instead of a centralized power or government.
Mansa Musa was a powerful emperor of the Mali empire. Besides being recognized as the richest man in history, what was one achievement he made as emperor?
doubled the size of the empire - divided into provinces and appointed governors.
established Timbuktu and Gao as intellectual and religious centers (built mosques) as well as trade centers
What was the effect of the Bantu migration into South Africa?
interaction with hunter-gatherer groups led to the development of diverse, unique blended cultures and the development of new languages like Swahili
List two advancements of the kingdom of Aksum that most African kingdoms and empires did NOT have.
minted coins
written language
Architecture - pillars, aqueducts
terrace-farming - developed in Aksum
How did both the Yoruba and Benin kings legitimize their power?
They both claimed descent from the first king of Ife who was supposedly a god sent from the heavens
What was Swahili and how was it an example of cultural blending?
Language prominent in South Africa. It was a blend between Arabic and Bantu languages and was developed after the Bantu migration south- their interaction with Arabic Muslims as well as other African groups led to the creation of Swahili as well as many other languages.
In all three Western Empires, where did their power and wealth come from?
the gold-salt trade
How did the Portuguese attempt to intervene in East Africa and how is this foreshadowing of what was to come in African history?
They began conquering trade cities on the Indian Ocean coast in attempt to control the market.
After they failed to conquer the Mutapa empire, they began interfering in their politics hoping for control
This foreshadows Europe's increasing intervention in Africa - they will continue to buy slaves from Africa at a higher rate and will begin colonizing Africa
East African trade was marketed primarily towards what region/ trade route and what items were being exchanged?
Indian Ocean- primarily India, Arabian Peninsula, other parts of Asia
From Asia: silks and other dyed fabrics, spices
From Africa: gold, slaves, ivory
What was the common reason for the fall of both the Ghana and Mali empires?
gold-salt trade was shifting further east
Who was Sundiata and what was his legacy?
founder and first emperor of Mali Empire
He re-established the gold salt trade after it was disrupted during the Ghana empire
Why did other active groups like the Hausa city-states not develop powerful empires like Ghana, Mali, and Songhai during this period?
they were not unified and their was a lot of fighting between the city-states. The Hausa city-states were also conquered by the Songhai- the presence and strength of the Songhai also prevented the Hausa from developing their own strong empire.
What were the causes for the Bantu migration south? Describe at least two. (Think push-pull factors!)
Stable food source from agriculture led to increased population that needed more food to support it. There wasn’t enough land to sustain this growing population or to grow enough food for them
Slash and burn farming damaged fertile farmland forcing continued migration in search of fertile land
Sahara Desert was growing (land was getting dryer) --> starts slow migration south
What contributed to the fall of Aksum?
Islamic invaders destroyed their port of Adulis, forcing them to relocate their capital in the mountains to defend themselves and avoid conversion to Islam
In many Muslim African states, the upper and ruling class were practicing Muslims, but the rest of the people were not. Why was this so often the case?
Had to be literate and able to read Arabic to read the Qur'an -- much more accessible to upper class citizens than farmers and craftsmen.