Important Geographical Features of Africa Mediterranean Sea Nile

Important Geographical Features of Africa Mediterranean Sea Nile River Sahara Desert Red Sea African rainforest Great Rift Valley Atlantic Ocean Kalahari Desert Indian Ocean

Human Migration from the Great Rift Valley

Migration • Migration is the permanent movement of people from one place to another. • Push Pull Factors – Pull Factors attract people to another location – Push Factors cause people to leave a region • What are some factors that have pushed people from their native regions? • What are some factors that have pulled people to the United States?

Read, Write, Rotate Empire of Ghana pages 413 – 415 Bantu Migrations pages 222 – 224 Early African Migrations & Civilizations Empire of Songhai page 417 Empire of Mali pages 415 – 417

What should I write? Bantu Migration • • • Time period & location? Who are the Bantu? Describe their lifestyle. Where did they live? Where did they migrate? Why did they migrate? How did the migration impact Africa? (then & now) Empires • • Rules: EACH group member should write 4 things for EACH topic (16 total pieces of information person) NO duplicates allowed! Time period & location? Type of government NO talking during Key people & why they are important the reading! Role of trade & products traded Religion (What was it? How did religion impact them? ) Why did the empire collapse? Anything else you find interesting, familiar, or noteworthy

Review As a group, discuss the key ideas your group wrote down for each topic – You may want to take notes on your own during the group discussions. – What is the connection between the Bantu migrations & the African empires that develop later? – What characteristics did each empire have in common? – What characteristics were different in each empire? – Who were the key people in each empire? – What do you think are the top five most important facts for each topic?

Remember As a group, complete the Early African Kingdoms notes web. Include in your web everything you remember about each topic.

African Trade Routes SALT GOLD

Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu vs. other Niger-Congo languages. Bantu-speaking people migrated south from modern day Nigeria throughout the southern half of Africa Today, nearly 1/3 of Africans speak a Bantu-based language. Bantu means “the people”

Bantu Migration • Slash-and-Burn Agriculture

Kingdom of Ghana Empire at its greatest extent. • 700 -1076 AD • Power from gold and salt trade • Moved away from Ghana because of invasions • Moved east looking for gold • Ghana’s rulers convert to Islam by the end of 11 th century. Islam’s growth encouraged literacy. • In 1076 Ghana is conquered by the Almoravids, & loses its power.

Kingdom of Mali • Mali means “where the king lives” • 1235 -1400 AD • Moved east looking for gold Mali empire at its greatest extent

• After fall of Ghana, Mali rises to power b/c of wealth in gold. • Sundiata becomes mansa (emperor) & conquers Ghana’s territory & other local trade cities - conquers in war but kingdom flourishes in peace. • Mansa Musa, a Muslim leader, came to power & expanded empire to twice it’s size. – Made hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca & Kingdom of Mali built mosques. – Mansa divided Mali into provinces and assigned a governor to each, making rule more efficient & fair. – Timbuktu became Mali’s most important trading city. • Ibn Battuta, famous Muslim scholar, visited Mali. Mansa Musa holding a golden nugget.

Sankore mosque Terracotta Archer figure and horseman figure from Mali (13 th-15 th century). Tuaregs were and still are an integral part of the salt trade across the Sahara

Mosque of Djenne

Kingdom of Songhai The Songhai Empire at its greatest extent. The tomb of Askia • Gold discovered farther east, causing people to migrate. • Songhai Empire established between 1400 & 1500 AD. • Two important rulers (both Muslim) – Sunni Ali – built empire through military conquest, ruled for 30 years. – Askia Muhammad – overthrew son of Sunni Ali who was not a faithful Muslim; ruled 37 years & set up a bureaucracy to govern the empire. Under him the empire thrived. • The Songhai fell to the Morrocans who had modern weapons • Ended 1, 000 year period where African kingdoms ruled West Africa.

Islam and Christianity in Africa • After Christianity spread through Roman empire it came to Africa & won many converts; eventually becomes the official religion of Aksum. (The reason there are millions of Christians in Ethiopia today. ) • Between 632 - 750 AD Islamic invaders conquer much of north Africa. • Islam spreads through the rest of Africa by trade.