Great states arose in West, East, and South Africa as a result of the spread of Islamic trade and culture. In West Africa, Islam spread through cultural diffusion while East African port cities were colonized. This introduced new religions, literacy, trade practices, and arts to African kingdoms. Powerful states like Ghana, Mali, and Songhai emerged along the Niger River, benefiting from the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade with North Africa. Wealthy city-states also developed in East Africa along trade routes to India and China, introducing Arabic and African cultures. Eventually, European powers began colonizing the African coasts in the 15th-16th centuries to gain control of the lucrative trade networks.

1. READING IN THE BOOK?  Pages 222-242

2.  Great West, East, and South African states
arose as a result of the growth and spread of
Islamic trade and culture.
 In West Africa, Islam and its culture spread by
cultural diffusion, in East Africa by colonization
of port cities.

3.  With trade came a new culture, giving African
kingdoms not just a new religion but Islamic
literacy, trade, methods of statecraft, and art.
 Like Classical Greek civilization, Islamic
civilization illustrates culture and commercial
hegemony can wield power equal to that of
political hegemony.

4.  On the Niger River, the Nok peoples’ culture
flourished from 500 BCE to 200 CE.
 The Nok culture the first to create sculpture.

5.  By 700, Arabs establish
trade routes with Sub-
Saharan west Africa.

6.  The Africans traded
gold for salt to the
Islamic

7.  The trip across the desert took 3 months,
according to Ibn Battuta, the Arab Marco Polo.
The Berber tribes dominated the trip.

8.  The Arabs traded salt for
African gold and slaves.
 Slaves cut salt into slabs,
strapped it onto camels and
shipped it south.

9.  The South Sahara had gold deposits. Scholars
estimate that by the 11th Century, they exported
9 tons of gold annually to Europe alone.

10.  Slaves, the next biggest export, filled the homes of
Muslims everywhere.
 In Morocco and Egypt they filled the army (the
Marmaluks).
 At least 4 million people enslaved from 650-1500.

11.  Manumission freedom on conversion. Muslims
thought Northern Europeans the best slaves.
 Slav=Slaves.

12.  Three powerful
Kingdoms arose
Ghana, Mali and
Songhai.

13.  The “Kingdom of Gold” inhabited by the
Soninke people by the 5th C who traded with the
Berbers originally Phoenician colonists.

14.  The Soninke had iron weapons, horses, and
farming with the capital of Saleh.

15.  In 992, they captured Berber towns and took
over the trans Saharan trade routes, which led
to the spread of Muslim culture into Ghana.

16.  Al Bakri (muslim geographer) wrote the
Ghannise had 22 kings before the Muslim
arrival, and regularly traded 20,000 gold coins
in a single contract for salt.

17.  Social classes consisted
of the Gahanna
aristocracy, Muslim
administrators,
merchants, farmers,
craftsmen, and slaves.

18.  Ghana adopted the Muslim diwan for record
keeping, the king held all justice, and kept its
indigenous religion.

19.  By 1077, the Almoravids, Saharan tribesmen
converted to Islam, swept into Ghana and
imposed a Muslim King ending independence.

20.  The people of Ghana fled south to Mali, another
Mande speaking clans.
 From 1250-1460, Mali reigned as the most
powerful West African state, Timbuktu the trade
capital.

21.  Sundiata (1230-1255) founded the dynasty and
claimed to be both tribal and Muslim.

22.  Uli his son converted to Islam. This helped
trade relations with North Africa and spread
Muslim education throughout the empire.

23.  While Gold and Salt dominated international
trade, cowry shells were used for internal trade.

24.  Mansa Musa (1317-1337) expanded the
empire and controlled fabulous wealth.

25.  In 1324 he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, on
the way he visited the Egyptian sultan.

26.  On entrance into Cairo, 500 slaves each
carrying a 3 kilo staff of gold preceded
him, he was followed by a vast host of
retainers including 100 elephants each
carrying 50 kilos of gold.

27.  Timbuktu had 150
Islamic schools, its’
book trade the largest
in the world.

28.  In 1464, the Songhay people led by
Sonni Ali (1464-1492) conquered Mali.
 By 1591, Arab Morocco took control of
the gold and salt trade and Songhay
fragmented in to tribal kingdoms.

29.  In the 14th Century, the Portuguese set up forts
along the coast further dividing the tribal
kingdoms between Morocco and Europe.

30. BENIN ART
 In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the
Yoruba people at Ife (Nigeria) produced
wonderful bronze sculptures.
 These reached an artistic peak in the Benin
style of West Africa.

31. BENIN ART

32.  Axum had been founded by Arabs.
 330 Christian King Ezana of Axum (Ethiopia)
converts to Christianity, they had conquered
Kush.

33.  Axum (Ethiopia) people prosper
by trading frankincense, mer,
ivory and slaves to the Silk Road
and Rome.

34.  South of Axum (Ethiopia), Bantu (Language)
subsistent farmers and Muslim Arab
tradesmen set up ports along the coast of
east Africa.

35.  These ports became great
cities; Mogadishu,
Mombasa, Kilwa.

37.  Wealthy merchants’ Chinese style house in
Mogadishu.

38.  Coral Palace of Kilwa

39.  Coral Grande Mosque of Kilwa

40.  Swahili (a mix of Arabic and African culture)
became the dominate culture, the official
language of Kenya and Tanzineria today.

41.  Sheik (now same as
Sultan) lead rich
monopolistic mercantile
families rulings the port
cities.

42.  In the late 15th Century, the wealth of the area
astounded the Portuguese, huge amounts of
gold, ivory and slaves.

43.  By the late 16th Century, the Europeans had
started to take over the port cities.

44.  In South Africa, Islamic trad
causes the creation of Grea
Zimbabwe (1000-1400).
 In the 700s, the Bantu
speaking people brought
iron and farm skills to
Zimbabwe.

45.  They founded a great city, and exported huge
amounts of gold, which can be found in China
today.
 In 1450, they abandoned the city, no one knows
why as they did not write.

46.  Indonesians crossed
the Indian Ocean and
settled on the island of
Madagascar.

47.  15th-16th Centuries, the Portuguese then
Spanish set up forts all along the African coast
against Muslims to secure the trade route to
India.
 16th-19th Centuries, Europeans took 22 million
slaves taken out or die from Africa.
 Between 1880 and 1900, England and France
took all of Africa with a little going to Germany,
Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

49. HOME WORK
 Pg 234 1-2, 6