AFRICA SOCIETIES AND EMPIRES OF AFRICA 500 1500

AFRICA SOCIETIES AND EMPIRES OF AFRICA 500 -1500 A. D. Sankore mosque in Mali Hausa intelligent mask

SOCIAL/POLITICAL FEATURES OF EARLY GROUPS

DEFINED GENDER ROLES

Ashanti god akwaba

THE EFE SOCIETY

MUSLIM EXPANSION

IN THE 11 TH CENTURY, THE MOVEMENT BEGAN AFTER DEVOUT BERBER MUSLIMS MADE A PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA THEIR LEADER WAS IBN YASIN. HE FOUNDED A STRICT RELIGIOUS BROTHERHOOD THE ALMORAVIDS CONQUERED PARTS OF WEST AFRICA AND SOUTHERN SPAIN, WHERE THEY WERE CALLED MOORS.

Minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque

GHANA: RELIGION AND DOWNFALL

MALI’S MANSA MUSA

BY THE MID 14 TH CENTURY, THE EMPIRE HAD INTERNATIONAL RENOWN. ONE WORLD TRAVELER, IBN BATTUTA SPREAD TIMBUKTU’S GREATNESS. YET DESPITE THE PUBLICITY, WITHIN 50 YEARS, THE EMPIRE BEGAN TO WEAKEN. MOST OF MANSA MUSA’S SUCCESSORS LACKED HIS ABILITY TO GOVERN WELL. IN ADDITION, THE GOLD TRADE SHIFTED EASTWARD AS NEW GOLDFIELDS WERE DEVELOPED ELSEWHERE.

OTHER WEST AFRICAN KINGDOMS AS MALI DECLINED IN THE 1400 S, PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN UNDER ITS CONTROL BEGAN TO BREAK AWAY. AMONG THEM THE SONGHAI BUILT UP AN ARMY AND EXTENDED THEIR TERRITORY. THEY GAINED CONTROL OF THE ALL-IMPORTANT TRADE ROUTES. GAO WAS THE CAPITAL.

AKSUM EAST AFRICAN KINGDOMS King Ezana

EAST COAST TRADE CITIES AS THE AKSUM MOVED SOUTH, BANTU SPEAKING GROUPS FROM WEST AFRICA MOVED EAST.

THE BLING AND THE BEAUTY OF KILWA

PORTUGUESE CONQUEST

THE MUTAPA EMPIRE ORIGINS

RISE AND FALL OF MUTAPA BY 1480, THEMUTAPA EMPIRE HAD CONQUERED MOST OF ZIMBABWE. MUTAPA RULERS FORCED PEOPLE IN CONQUERED AREAS TO MINE GOLD. UNHAPPY WITH MUTAPA RULE, THE SOUTH BROKE AWAY. LATER, THE PORTUGUESE BECAME INVOLVED IN MANIPULATING AND CONTROLLING MUTAPA POLITICS THIS SIGNALED INCREASING EUROPEAN INTERFERENCE IN AFRICA IN CENTURIES TO COME.

AFRICAN KINGDOMS