African Diaspora Midterm

historiography

history of history (how history was written, how facts are linked, what questions are asked, etc.)

diaspora

a community with a common origin that has been dispersed

pastoralist

not settled in one place

Ethiopian economy (network, traded goods)

trade across Red Sea; ivory, metals, turtle shells, slaves

Da’amat

preceded Axum

Time period Axum arose

300 BC - 100 AD

Sources of Axum information

architecture, traveler’s accounts, coins, oral tradition

Periplus of Erythrean Sea

Greek sailor’s guide, describes Adulis (Axum) and Azania (Swahili Coast)

Axum’s language

Ge’ez

Ethiopia’s religion

Christianity

syncretism

cultural blending

Zagwe dynasty - time period began and time period rose above Axum

900s, 1100s

Famous architecture from Zagwe dynasty

Lalibela rock churches

Prester John legend

Medieval European legend of Christian king of Christian Ethiopia

Solomonic Dynasty time period

1200s - 1900s

West African economy (trade networks, items traded, how)

Trans-Saharan trade, gold trade crucial, camels used

Jenne-Jeno time period

200 BC - 1400 AD 

Jenne-Jeno

in West Africa, earliest city in sub-Saharan Africa, great mosques, shows that city can develop on its own

Ghana empire time period

? - 1200 AD

Ghana empire inhabitants

Soninke

Mali Empire time period

1250 AD - 1500 AD

Mali empire people

Malinke

Timbuktu

Center for education/scholarship in Mali Empire and Songhay Empires

major leaders of Mali Empire

Sundiata, Abubakar II (dreamt of crossing Atlantic), Mansa Musa (Muslim ruler, made Mecca pilgrimage, oversaw architecture), Mansa Suleiman (renowned in Ibn Battuta account)

When did Islam begin to spread in West Africa

Mali Empire

Songhay Empire time period

800 AD - 1600 AD

five pillars of Islam

faith, prayer, charity, fasting, hajj

when did Islam emerge

7th century

sunnah

verbally transmitted records about how Prophet Muhammad lived

caliph

Islamic political/law-enforcing leader

ulama

scholars/legal experts who interpret law

qadi

Islamic judge

umma

Islamic community

madrasa

Islamic school

orthodoxy v. heterodoxy

adherence to traditional beliefs/doctrines v. differing from traditional beliefs

1st Phase of Islamic Spread

Muslim merchants living as minorities in African states

2nd Phase of Islamic Spread

rulers adopting Islam without converting subjects

3rd Phase of Islamic Spread

Islam spreads and becomes a majority religion

traditional African religion characteristics (4)

multiple deities, material and spiritual world interconnected, time is cyclical, key rites of passage

Al-Bakri (time period, place visited, phase, content)

11th century, Ghana, Phase 1, clothing showed long-distance imports, gold important export, large army

Ibn-Battuta (time period, place visited, phase, content) *West Africa

14th century, Mali Empire, Phase 2, “grotesque” traditional religion practices

Leo Africanus (time period, place visited, phase, content)

15th/16th century, Songhay Empire - Timbuktu, Phase 3, vibrant commercial area, large army, peaceful and cultured people with magnificent court

Indian Ocean region trade networks

East African Coast to Arabian Peninsula, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, China, Mediterranean, etc. through Red Sea, Persian Gulf, connections inland as well

sources that Swahili coastal states were already established

pottery found inland and on coast, linguistics of Swahili coming from Bantu language

Swahili Coast economy

lots of trade, ivory and gold important, pirated items, sewn boats, key import was textiles (cultural significance)

Ibn Battuta account of Kilwa

key site in coastal trade, Sultan very gracious and kind, raids inland frequently and with sucess

Race/hierarchy on Swahili Coast

coastal “elites”, powerful families came from inland to coast, hierarchy fluid, race as a different construct

Islam and slavery

enslavement of Muslims was illegal but continuously broken, conversion and manumission of slaves encouraged, concubines were free after masters’ death and mothers could not be sold and children were free, restrictions on converted slaves (ex. cannot make hajj alone), ethnic/religious identity followed father

Dar-al-Islam

land of believers

Dar-al-Kufr

land of non-believers

Bilad-al-Sudan

land of the Blacks (West/Central Africa - Sudan)

Zanj Rebellion time period

9th century

Zanj Rebellion location

Southern Iraq

kinship slavery

benign, social absorption, “outsiders” absorbed; over-emphasizes culture and leaves out human action

rational actor slavery

neutral economic transaction; issue is Western understanding of economy applied to Africa

Marxist approach to slavery

exploitative, oppressive, emphasis on power; doesn’t differentiate enough between types of slavery

wealth in people

true wealth comes from relationships, economic and social power in having slaves, slavery provides access to labor, security, etc., reciprocity

“Big Man”

lots of slaves, power over younger men (marriage)

pawnship

if you owe a debt you can pawn off a young person temporarily

patron/client relationship

reciprocity, slaves remain clients once manumitted

high v. low density slavery

plantation v. household work

open v. closed slavery

ability for mobility v. more exploitative

marginal v. centralized slavery

societies with slaves v. slave societies

Trans-Atlantic Slavery time period

16th-19th century

Africa’s incorporation into modern world system

arrival of Europeans as explorers/travelers/missionaries, rise of trans-Atlantic slave trade, direct commercial ties to Europe, fragmentation of African states (more firearms, conflict because of desire to capitalize on trade), growth of urban culture, change in agriculture (cash crops), spread of Christianity, new elite African intermediary class 

how Europe changes Africa (trans-Atlantic slave trade)

destruction via violence, wealth in people to wealth in things shift, Europeans had local power in colonial towns

African agency in trans-Atlantic slave trade

intermediaries benefitted, resistance, capitalized on European infighting for dominance

modern world system

core (US/Europe), periphery (Africa), Europe became core by exploiting Africa

mercantalism

empires should expand, seek more resources (especially precious metals), emphasis on exports over imports

triangular trade

Europe buys slaves from Africa to send to Americas to work on plantations/mines; Raw materials sent from Americas to Europe; Europe manufactures goods from materials to sell back to Africa for more slaves

Who capitalized on trans-Atlantic slave trade first/had the most impact in it?

Portuguese 

how did Portuguese start slave trade

interested in gold from Africa, used slaves as a commodity to trade for gold

sugar-slave complex

sugar plantations on African islands, eventually started on American islands

trans-Atlantic slave trade really picked up around this time period

after 1700

two branches of slaves moving from Africa → West

Northern system (dominated by English) Africa → Americas, Southern system (dominated by Portuguese) Africa → Brazil; Determined by wind currents

Other Europeans involved in Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

Dutch first to challenge Portuguese (dominant power in slave trade), then English and French

joint stock monopoly trading companies (definition)

government sponsored trade groups, all failed for various reasons, replaced by individual voyages funded by merchants

joint stock monopoly trading companies (examples)

East Indian Company (Dutch, attempt to take control of Portuguese Asian Spice trade), West Indian Company (Dutch, attempt to take control of Portuguese American and African possessions)

bulking

accumulating slaves in warehouses in Africa until there were enough to travel across Atlantic, eventually abandoned because it was costly to keep them there for so long

kebra negast

shows Solomonic lineage