African civilizations were typically organized around kinship groups with decentralized political authority. Common elements included use of Bantu languages, animistic religions, and veneration of ancestors. North Africa was influenced by Mediterranean traders and later the Romans, and Christianity spread. The arrival of camels enabled trans-Saharan trade networks, through which Islam spread south, replacing Latin and Christianity as dominant. Major West African kingdoms like Ghana, Mali, and Songhai controlled gold and salt trade routes across the Sahara and grew wealthy. Other notable states included the Christian kingdoms of Nubia, Axum, the Hausa city-states, and the Benin Kingdom known for its bronze art.

1. Chapter 8:
African Civilizations and the
Spread of Islam

2. • Stateless Societies
▫ Organized around kinship, little centralization of authority
 Gvt rarely a full time occupation
• Common Elements of African Societies
▫ Bantu language base
▫ Animistic religions
▫ Cosmology to explain the universe
▫ Superstitious
▫ Ancestors were first settlers of their land, therefore they have
ownership of the land, resources, etc.
 Venerated ancestors, link to the spiritual world

3. Recap: North Africa
• North Africa is tied to
Mediterranean world, founded
by Phoenician traders
(Carthage is its main trading
port)
• N. African trading network
spreads through Tunisia,
Algeria, Morocco, S. Spain,
and Sicily
• Carthaginian outposts as far as
France and England
• But As Rome expands, they
encroach on N. African
territory – Punic Wars, etc.

4. Recap: Roman Rule in N. Africa
• Romans build dams,
aqueducts, roads, and
cities across N. Africa
• Christianity spreads
across N. Africa
• St. Augustine was
born in Algeria, later
serves as Bishop of
Hippo (near
Carthage’s ruins)

5. Camels and Trade
• By 200 CE
Camels are
brought to North
Africa from Asia
• “Ships of the
desert”
• 20-30 miles per
day, carrying up
to 500 lbs, need
very little water

6. • Between 640-700 CE Arab
Spread of Islam armies brought Islam to N.
Africa
▫ Islam replaced
Christianity as the
dominant religion in N.
Africa
▫ Thus, Arabic replaced
Latin as the language of
N. Africa.
• Muslim traders from N.
Africa spread Islam into
West Africa
http://media.maps.com/magellan/Images/WRLH003-H.gif

7. • Almoravids – 11th c. - puritanical
reformist Muslims in W. Sahara
who launch a jihad to purify,
spread and protect the faith
▫ Push South against the savannah
kingdoms
▫ Push North towards Spain
http://image.absoluteastronomy.com/images/encyclopediai
mages/a/al/almoravid-empire-en.svg.png
• Almohadis 1130 – reformists
who follow similar pattern

8. The Nile Kingdom of Nubia
• Present day Sudan
• Christian kingdoms
flourished in Nubia and
Egypt
• The Christians of Egypt
created their own Coptic
branch (convert literature
from Grk to Coptic)
• Muslim rulers tended to
tolerate them

9. • Christian kingdom of
Axum also flourished
• Ethiopian kingdom
grew from Axum and
became the most
important African
Christian outpost
• Isolation and
preservation of
Christianity
• King Lalibela (d. 1221)
created the great
churches of rock
• Ethiopian Christianity

11. Kingdoms of West Africa
• Also known as the Sudanic
States:
▫ Ghana
▫ Mali
▫ Songhai
▫ Commonalities:
 Patriarch/council of
elders w/ lineage of
leaders
 Territorial core +
conquest areas
 Drew taxes, tribute
and military support http://www.blackstudies.ucsb.edu/antillians/images/w.afr.king.jpg
from conquored areas
 Rulers sacred and
separate from their
subjects

12. Sahara Desert

13. Trading Gold and Salt
• Trade network stretches across the Sahara to
reach civilizations along the Mediterranean and
Middle East
• Gold is plentiful in Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal
• Men dig soil up from pits and women wash the
soil to extract the gold dust and pieces
• Used hollow feather quills to transport gold dust
safely to N. Africa and Europe

14. Salt!
• Salt essential aspect of diet to prevent
dehydration
• Sahara has an abundance of salt
▫ in Taghaza people even built houses out of salt
blocks
• Salt is scarce in the savanna
▫ Block of salt easily worth its weight in gold

16. Gold Wealth of Ghana
• Ghana – “land of gold”
• Soninke people
• Ideal for trade – between
http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/0099-kingdom-ghana.php Niger and Senegal rivers
• King taxes all trade
• Capital: Kumbi Saleh
▫ Comprised of two walled
towns

17. Kumbi Saleh
• First Town: home of the
royal palace and the king
▫ King is seen as a semi-
divine figure who dispensed
justice and kept order
• Second Town: home of
the Muslim merchants
who lived in luxurious
stone buildings

18. Influence of Islam
• Muslim merchants brought the Islamic faith to
Ghana
• Ghana adopted Muslim counselors, government
officials, military technology, ideas about
government, written language, coinage, business
methods, and styles of architecture.
• Most Soninke people continue to support their
traditional customs and beliefs

19. Ghana’s Decline
• c. 1050 AD Almoravids – pious Muslims of N.
Africa launch a campaign to spread Islam
• Almoravids overwhelm and take Ghana, but
cannot consistently rule Ghana across the
Sahara
• Kingdom of Mali expands and takes over Ghana
instead

20. II. The Kingdom of Mali
• Mandinka people
• Mandinka word “Mali” means
“where the king dwells”
• Mansas -- kings expanded their
influence over the gold mining
regions and salt supplies of
Taghaza
• Camel Caravan routes caused http://home.intekom.com/southafricanhistoryonline/pages/classroom/pages/projects/grade7/lesso
n5/Images/westafrica.jpg
towns like Timbuktu to
mushroom into great trading
cities.

21. The Mali Empire flourished in the 13th century, with the city of Timbuktu on the banks of the Niger
River as an intellectual, artistic and religious center. (The Republic of Mali).

22. Sundiata
Ibn Batuta said:
• Brilliant leader • Arab traveler
• Celebrated by the griots • “Of all peoples, the Blacks are
(professional oral historians) those who most hate injustice,
• He divided up the world (16 and their emperor pardons
clans – bear arms and carry none who is guilty of it”
the box and arrow; five clans –
devoted to religious duties;
four clans – specialists like
blacksmiths and griots)
• Even though very diverse,
safety and loyalty were
emphasized
• Crime was severely punished

23. Ibn Batuta & Marco Polo late 1200’s early 1300’s
http://www.sangam.org/taraki/articles/2006/images/mpibvoya.jpg

24. Mansa Musa

25. Mansa Musa
• Greatest Emperor of
Mali
• Expanded the empire
to Atlantic Ocean and
up to North Africa
• 25 year reign
• Converts to Islam and
based his system of
justice on the Quran

26. Mansa Musa’s greatness cont…
• 1324 AD Mansa Musa fulfilled
one of the five pillars: the Hajj
• Created economic and
diplomatic ties with other
Muslim states along his
journey
• Still did not force women to
veil, women were not secluded
within the home
• By 1400s Timbuktu becomes a http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/0100-kingdom-mali.php
leading center of learning,
drew Muslim scholars from all
over the world
• Mali falls into decline after
disputes over succession arise
in 1400s
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1582406-Timbuktu_mosque-Mali.jpg

27. A New Empire in Songhai
• 1450 –
wealthy
trading city
of Gao
emerged as
capital of
West African
kingdom of
Songhai

28. Sonni Ali
• Soldier king who uses his
army to create the largest
state that had ever
existed
• Brought trade routes and
wealthy cities (like
Timbuktu) under his
control
• Chooses not to adopt
Islam and follows
traditional religious
beliefs instead

29. Aski Muhammad
• Expanded the territory of Songhai
• Improved government beauracracy
• As a Muslim, he made his hajj and met with
different Islamic states along the way to increase
his ties to the Muslim world.
• Built temples and schools to study the Quran
• Scholars and poets flock to Gao

30. Invaders from the North!
• 1586 – succession disputes (surprise, surprise)
lead to civil war
• Ruler of Morocco uses an army armed with
gunpowder weapons to seize gold mines
• Morocco is unable to control Songhai across the
Sahara, the kingdoms of West Africa end up
splintered and fragmented

31. IV. Other Kingdoms of West Africa
• Hausa people
▫ Modern day Nigeria
▫ 500-1500
▫ 1300 AD Hausa build
many clay-walled cities
that function
independently
▫ Kano – most
prosperous city-state
with a population of
over 30,000 people

32. Benin Forest Kingdom
• South of the savanna
• 1300s
• “Oba” – king who serves
as a political and
religious leader; spreads
power among other
groups (Queen mother
and hereditary chiefs)
• Benin bronzeworks –
depict warriors armed for
battle, queen mother’s
updo’s, and the oba
himself

33. Benin Bronzeworks
• Ife artisans

34. Great Zimbabwe