Chapter 8, Section 3 – Flashcards
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African society that emerged in the late 1100s along the East African coast and combined elements of African, Asian, and Islamic cultures
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Swahili
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People who emerged onto the plateau of what is known today as Zimbabwe
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Shona
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What were the large kingdoms that emerged on the coast of East Africa?
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Kush and Aksum
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Who dominated coastal trade in the Indian Ocean?
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Several city-states
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What were sailing ships powered by?
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The seasonal monsoon winds
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What did trade routes link?
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All shores of the Indian Ocean
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What items did Africans export?
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Gold, ivory, hides, and tortoise shells
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What items did Africans import?
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Porcelain and weapons
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How were slaves used in African tradition?
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They were also sold
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What spurred trade?
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The spread of the Islamic religion from Arabia to northeastern Africa
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What activity began in the A.D. 700s and lasted through the A.D. 1300s and possibly later?
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Strong trade
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What attracted merchant families and adventurers to Africa?
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The opportunity to make money
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Who began to move onto the East African coast of Africa?
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Groups of Muslim settlers from Arabia and Persia
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Who settled on the island of Madagascar, off the coast of East Africa, at the same time of groups of Muslim settlers from Arabia and Persia?
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People from Indonesia
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What were these groups of Muslim settlers from Arabia and Persia and people from Indonesia strongly influenced by and what did they form?
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Strongly influenced by the ideals of Islam Formed a new, trade-based society in coastal East Africa that combined elements of African, Asian, and Islamic cultures
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Over several generations, who developed in East Africa?
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A unique African culture, Swahili
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A Bantu language with Arabic and Persian influences
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Swahili Spoken by the people of the Swahili states
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Were Swahili speakers a single ethnic group?
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No, Swahili speakers were not a single ethnic group
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What were Swahili speakers bound together by?
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Both language and their association with trade
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What were among the earliest of the trading city- states along the Indian Ocean coast?
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Mogadishu, Pate, and Mombasa
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Where were the centers of Mogadishu, Pate, and Mombasa?
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In the north, but commerce gradually shifted southward
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By the late A.D. 1200s, who had become a leading port?
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The city-state of Kilwa
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What became of the East African coast under Kilwa's leadership?
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Flourished
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A famous Islamic traveler of the A.D. 1300s, who praised Kilwa
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Ibn Battūtah
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What did Ibn Battūtah call Kilwa?
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One of the most beautiful, well-built cities in the world
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What did a modern archaeological dig uncover in Kilwa?
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A massive trade center and a large mosque
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What did the uncover of a massive trade center and a large mosque reveal about Kilwa?
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Kilwa's great wealth and achievements
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What did Kilwa grow as?
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A trade port
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Where was gold shipped from?
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Mines along the Zambezi River in southcentral Africa
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What occurred no later than A.D. 947?
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Gold and other goods had moved from inland to the coast
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What was gold and other goods exchanged for?
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Needed goods as salt, tools, and cloth
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When did the demand for gold greatly increase?
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When Indian Ocean trade grew after the A.D. 900s
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When the demand for gold greatly increased, what did kingdoms compete for?
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Control over both mining and shipping gold
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Who were people who had migrated onto the plateau of what is today Zimbabwe?
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The Shona
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Over centuries, what did the Shona gain control over?
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Local peoples and, with it, over the gold that they mined and traded
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What did Historians believe regarding the Shona?
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Probably attained great wealth and power
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What did the Shona build?
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Fortified enclosures
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What was probably the largest and most important of the Shona fortresses?
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Great Zimbabwe
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What became the center of the Shona state?
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Great Zimbabwe
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What do Excavations made on its 60-acre site reveal of Great Zimbabwe?
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A hilltop fortification with many rooms and mazelike passageways. Below the hill was a thick stone-block wall, stone buildings, and a tower. The building stones were cut so finely that they stayed in place without mortar.
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What occurred in the A.D. 1400s?
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The decline of Great Zimbabwe for unknown reasons
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What was one explanation for the unknown decline of Great Zimbabwe?
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The population grew too fast. It may have outpaced dwindling supplies of food and water.
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Who flourished in West Africa?
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Several important societies
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Where did the several important societies that flourished in West Africa lay?
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Between Lake Chad and the Atlantic Ocean and included the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
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Where did knowledge of the several important societies that flourished in West Africa come from?
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Oral accounts and the writings of African scholars and Islamic traders
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What did the wealth and strength of the several important societies that flourished in West Africa depended on?
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Control of the trade routes across the Sahara
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What developed at the Sahara desert's southern edge?
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Commerce
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What was mined at the Sahel desert's southern edge and what was it traded for?
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Gold mined south of the Sahel was traded for salt mined in the desert
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What trade was mutually important?
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Gold mined south of the Sahel that was traded for salt mined in the desert
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What was the need for both salt and gold?
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The people of the Sahel needed salt to flavor and preserve their food, while the gold that they traded for salt had obvious value
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What did traders from the north want gold for?
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Coins and for buying goods from Europe
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What grew where this gold-for-salt exchange took place?
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Cities grew and flourished
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What did areas of West Africa became?
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Major centers of commerce
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What was an important part of West Africa's trade?
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The gold-for-salt exchange
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What did West Africa produce until about A.D. 1500?
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Large amounts of gold
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In time, what did traders also exchange in West Africa?
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Ivory and even slaves for textiles, jewels, and copper
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Who ruled the West African kingdoms?
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Monarchs
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What was the roles of monarchs in West Africa?
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Often adorned in gold, these monarchs oversaw elaborate ceremonies They also administered justice
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Islamic historian who traveled throughout the area and who left accurate eyewitness accounts
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Al-Bakri
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"When a man is accused of denying a debt or having shed blood or some other crime, a headman takes a thin piece of wood, which is sour and bitter to taste, and pours upon it some water which he then gives to the defendant to drink. If the man vomits, his innocence is recognized and he is congratulated. If he does not vomit and the drink remains in his stomach, the accusation is accepted as justified."
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Al-Bakri
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Who were below the royal family on the social scale in West Africa?
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Government officials Merchants, farmers, fishers, and cattle breeders Slaves ranked among the last
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What was the earliest of the West African kingdoms?
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Ghana
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In Ghana, what did long-range trade networks encourage?
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Higher levels of political organization
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Who was the kingdom of Ghana established by?
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The Soninke people sometime after the A.D. 300s
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Where did the Soninke live?
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In the western Sahel, northwest of the present-day nation of Ghana
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Where did the Soninke kingdom begin?
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Around the old trading village of Kumbi, or Kumbi Saleh, in what is now Mauritania
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In Kumbi, what did the Soninke participate in and profit from?
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The gold-for-salt exchange between North and West Africa
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What purposes did the Soninke use iron tools?
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To farm and to clear more land for farming and grazing
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What did the Soninke also probably develop?
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Agriculture along the upper Niger River
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Who arose as the Soninke settled in larger communities?
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Kings arose to act as war leaders and to negotiate with foreign merchants
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How did Ghanaian kings become powerful and wealthy?
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From the gold trade
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What were Ghanaian kings able to build?
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Large armies to conquer new territory
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Who was one of the most powerful Ghanaian rulers, ruling in about A.D. 1067?
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Tunka Manin
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What did Tunka Manin command?
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An army of 200,000 warriors, well equipped with bows, arrows, and iron- pointed spears
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Who invaded Kumbi Saleh?
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In A.D. 1076 the Berbers—who had once controlled the salt trade—invaded from the north, destroying Kumbi Saleh
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Had once controlled the salt trade and destroyed Kumbi Saleh
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The Berbers
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Who began to lose control of the salt trade to neighboring peoples?
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The Soninke
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Who overthrew Ghana and established the empire of Mali?
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The neighboring Malinke people
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What followed the fall of Ghana?
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The rise of a successor kingdom—Mali
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Where did the kingdom of Mali come to power?
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In the area that had been Ghana
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Where also did the kingdom of Mali spread?
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Over large areas to the north and west along the upper Niger River
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Under which great ruler did Mali's power reach its peak?
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Mansa Mūsā
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What was Mansa Mūsā a supporter of?
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Education, the arts, and public building
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Under the rule of Mansa Mūsā, what city became a leading center of learning?
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Timbuktu
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What did Timbuktu's large university attract?
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Scholars from Egypt and Arabia
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What is Mansa Mūsā famous for?
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His historic pilgrimage to Mecca
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An Islamic holy place in Arabia
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Mecca
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Who was Mansa Mūsā accompanied by on his historic pilgrimage to Mecca?
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Thousands of other pilgrims
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What did Mansa Mūsā most notably do?
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He brought large amounts of gold with him in a great display of West African power and wealth
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Islamic traveler who visited Mali
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Ibn Battūtah
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"[The people of Mali] are seldom unjust and have a greater abhorrence [hatred] of injustice than any other people. Their Sultan [leader] shows no mercy to any one guilty of the least act of it. There is complete security in their country. Neither traveler nor inhabitant in it has anything to fear from robbers or men of violence."
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Ibn Battūtah
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What weakened Mali?
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Disputes over Mansa Mūsā's successor
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Who fought for leadership of the Mali empire?
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Rival members of the royal court
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What did the Mali kingdom keep control of until the A.D. 1400s?
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The desert trade routes
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Who captured Timbuktu and built up the kingdom of Songhai?
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Rebel leader Sonni 'Alī
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During the Songhai period, what city became one of West Africa's busiest commercial centers?
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Gao
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What was the kingdom of Songhai centered on?
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The important trading city of Gao, on the Niger River
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What did the kingdom of Songhai stretch from?
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The Atlantic Ocean almost to Lake Chad
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Which kingdom covered a larger area, Mali or Songhai?
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Songhai
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How can Sonni 'Alī be best described?
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As both a skilled soldier and an able administrator
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How did Sonni 'Alī act towards his kingdom?
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He kept tight control over the kingdom, dividing it into several provinces
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How was each of Songhai's provinces governed?
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Each province had a governor and officials who reported directly to him
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What did Sonni 'Alī build a fleet of?
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Warships to patrol the Niger River
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What had become of the Niger River
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Had become a major shipping route
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Who built Songhai into a strong kingdom?
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Sonni 'Alī and his successor, Mohammed I Askia
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Under Askia's rule, what became of Timbuktu?
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A great commercial center
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Where did good come from under Askia's rule of Timbuktu?
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Europe, India, and China
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What did the growing number of merchants under Askia's rule of Timbuktu include?
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Arabs, Jews, Italians, and many others
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Additionally, what was Timbuktu?
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A thriving cultural center
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As Mansa Mu ̄ sa ̄ had done, what had Askia also done?
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Supported a revival of Islamic scholarship based around the university there
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What did travelers report of the market of Timbuktu?
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That books and manuscripts imported to the markets of Timbuktu were sold for higher prices than any other merchandise
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When did the Songhai Empire began to experience a steady decline?
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After the reign of Mohammed I Askia
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Who fought among themselves ultimately declining the Songhai Empire?
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The Tuareg, Fulani, Malinke, and other subject peoples
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What was a second aspects which led to the decline of the Songhai Empire?
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The empire also had many powerful neighbors
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In 1591, who defeated Songhai troops, spelling the end of the empire?
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A Moroccan army equipped with firearms
