Chapter 13: Medieval Africa – Flashcards

an area of high, flat land

an empire in the rain forest

East Africa's culture and language. This culture was somewhat influenced by Islam.

tracing descent through mothers

spread from Arabia into Africa beginning the the A.D. 600s.

storytellers, this is how many groups in Africa spread their history.

a group of people descended from the same ancestor

trade route connecting Western Africa to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It was given this name by Hans Vischer because it crossed 1,500 miles of the Sahara.

journeyed to Mecca in 1324. He also allowed the practice of different religions in Mali.

fishing groups that migrated throughout Africa around 3000 B.C. Spread pottery making and mining throughout Africa

promised to free all slaves in her kingdom

a city-state in Ethiopia.

Africa's longest river

grew powerful because it taxes traders and had a big army.

was the leader of Songhai

brought Christianity to Africa

was a great general who seized control of Ghana and put generals in Mali in charge of provinces.

slavery changed when Europeans arrived. The Portuguese in particular were interested in sugarcane.

food surpluses allowed people to start specializing in making items, which allowed for the growth of an artisan class.

believed in a single, supreme god.

Hot, steamy rain forests stretch on each side of the equator. Tropical grasslands, or savannas, cover most of Africa north and south of the rain forests. Savannas are hot and have uneven rainfall. The Sahara is in north Africa and the Kalahari Desert is in southwest Africa. land along the coasts are good areas for growing crops.

The savanna kingdoms made money on mining gold and taxing traders. Farmland in the savannas was not very rich. The rain forest kingdoms did have rich farmlands and produced a surplus of many foods like bananas and rice. Because of the surplus, the kingdoms supported a class of artisans. The rain forest kingdoms traded food and crafts for salt and copper from the savannas.