6 Early African Societies Standard Describe the diverse

6. Early African Societies • Standard: Describe the diverse characteristics of early African societies before 1800 CE • Essential Question: What were the diverse characteristics of early African societies?

African Geography • Element: Analyze the role of geography and the distribution of resources played in the development of trans-Saharan trading networks. • Vocabulary: trans-Saharan

African Geography • • • the second largest continent stretches for almost five thousand miles surrounded by two seas and two oceans Africa has four distinct climate zones the four different climate zones have affected the way Africans live

African Climate Zones • a mild zone across the northern coast and the southern tip • deserts in the north (the Sahara) and the south (Kalahari) • rain forest along the equator • savannas (broad grasslands) that stretch across Africa both north and south of the rain forest

Trans-Saharan trade • trade across the Sahara • camel caravans used to transport goods

Distribution of Resources • Gold was mined in the western sub-Sahara • traders brought salt from the Sahara and manufactured goods from Europe and Islam in exchange for gold

Sudanic Empires • Element: Describe the development and decline of the Sudanic kingdoms (Ghana, Mali, Songhai); include the roles of Sundiata, and the pilgrimage of Mansa Musa to Mecca. • Vocabulary: Sudanic kingdoms, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Sundiata, Mansa Musa

Ghana Description: • AD 700 -1240 • rulers in the region gained wealth by taxing traders that crossed their area • through wealth, the region developed into a kingdom where salt and gold was traded and taxed • Islam spread throughout the kingdom

Ghana Decline: • Muslims eventually attacked the area disrupting trade and left the kingdom in ruins • by 1076 the leaders of Ghana lost the ability to keep the trade of the empire safe • when their power of the trade routes was gone, they also lost control of their people • by 1240 the empire of Ghana was gone

Mali Description: • AD 1235 – 1599 • Mali became established in the early 1200 s when several kingdoms were united after the fall of the Ghana Empire • Became wealthy through the salt and gold trade

Mali Decline: • Mali’s power began to weaken • succession to the throne was disrupted

Sundiata • the first great leader of Mali • established a strong government (finance, defense, and foreign affairs) • made travel through the kingdom safe • reestablished a strong gold/salt trade

Mansa Musa • Emperor of Mali who made a pilgrimage to Mecca • gave out vast amounts of gold along his way • brought back Muslim scholars and architects, who built mosques, libraries, and universities • Timbuktu became a center of Muslim culture

Songhai Description: • 1375 -1591 • largest and last West African Empire • formed by the descendants of fishermen along the Niger River • took over territories from the weakened • eventually replaced Mali • well governed empire with a large military

Songhai Decline: • Empire collapsed in 1591 • Moroccan invaders with gunpowder and cannons defeated Songhai warriors

Bantu Migrations • Element: Identify the Bantu migration patterns and contribution to settled agriculture. • Vocabulary: migration, Bantu-speaking peoples, ironworking, slash-and-burn farming, sub-Sahara, assimilation

Bantu • 500 BC – AD 1000 • different groups of people from West Africa • shared a common culture – migrant farmers – slash and burn method – Ironworkers – animistic belief

Slash and Burn Agriculture Patch of forest cut down and burned, ashes mixed into soil creating fertile garden area. Land loses fertility quickly and is abandoned for another plot

Bantu contribution • After hundreds of years the Bantu settled in southern Africa • introduced agriculture to areas they settled and passed through • passed knowledge of iron-working on to others

Religious Syncretism • Element: Analyze the process of religious syncretism as a blending of traditional beliefs with new ideas from Islam and Christianity • Vocabulary: syncretism

Religious Syncretism • blending of religions through conquest or trade • many Africans converted to either Islam or Christianity, but also retained their local religious beliefs

Trade Networks • Element: Describe the trading networks by examining trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and slaves; include the Swahili trading cities • Vocabulary: Swahili

Trans-Saharan Trade • Sub-sahara supplied about 66% of the world’s gold • Timbuktu will rise as a leading city in the exchange of goods

African Slave trade • Arab traders exported slaves from Africa to Arabia and India to be used as domestic servants and soldiers • The slave trade was minor compared to the later slave trade to the Americas

Swahili Trade cities • AD 1500 • Swahili regions develop on East African coast • mixing African and Asian cultures starting in the trade centers