Sub-Saharan African Society, Trade, and Social Structures Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering sub-Saharan African trade networks, slavery, age grades, gender roles, kinship groups, and the social impact of Islam based on the lecture text.

Trans-Saharan Trade Network Expansion

The growth of trade routes across the Sahara after about the ninth century C.E. that stimulated increased traffic in African slaves to northern markets.

Indian Ocean Trade Network Expansion

The expansion of maritime trade routes after the ninth century C.E. that, along with trans-Saharan trade, increased the demand and transport of African slaves.

Muslim Merchants

Traders who facilitated access to slave markets in India, Persia, southwest Asia, and the Mediterranean basin.

Eastern Europe

The region that served as the primary main source of slaves prior to the expansion of the sub-Saharan African slave trade.

Slave Raiding

An internal African activity where rulers of large states waged war on smaller states and kin-based societies to capture slaves for northern markets.

Annual Trans-Saharan Slave Traffic

An outflow where, in some years, ten thousand to twenty thousand Africans left their homes as slaves.

Ibn Battuta

A Moroccan traveler who crossed the Sahara desert in a caravan that included six hundred slaves bound for north Africa and the Mediterranean basin during the mid-fourteenth century.

Mansa Musa

The ruler of Mali who set out on his pilgrimage to Mecca with five hundred slaves, distributing many along the way as gifts to his hosts.

East African Coastal Cities

Port cities from which slaves departed for trading destinations in Persia and India.

Age Grades

Social groups in African society that included all individuals within a given community born within a few years of one another.

Origin of Age Grades

Historical linguistic evidence indicating that the recognition of age grades arose in the early days of agricultural society in the Sudan.

Social Functions of Age Grades

Community practices including providing labor for projects, looking after village elders, aiding members in adversity, and establishing ties across kinship lines.

Primary Source of Slaves

Captives of war, who constituted the majority of individuals forced into slavery in Africa.

Secondary Sources of Slaves

Social categories including debtors, suspected witches, and criminals who were forced into slavery.

Slave Labor Roles in Africa

Occupations where most slaves worked as agricultural laborers, while many also worked as construction laborers, miners, or porters.

Personal Wealth in Sub-Saharan Africa

Economic status achieved primarily through slave holding and agricultural production, as private land ownership did not exist.

Sub-Saharan Land Ownership

A property structure where private ownership of land was generally not recognized, preventing wealth accumulation through landholdings.

Early Converts to Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa

Social groups south of the Sahara who adopted Islam first, coming mostly from the ranks of ruling elites and merchant classes.

Popularity of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa

The status of Islam as a faith that did not become popular for several centuries after its introduction, leaving traditional customs largely intact.

Social Freedom of Sub-Saharan Muslim Women

The custom where most sub-Saharan Muslim women socialized freely with men outside their immediate families and worked openly in society.

Secluded Upper-Class Muslim Women

A small minority of upper-class Muslim women in a few sub-Saharan societies who wore veils and led secluded lives.

Male Skilled Crafts

Specialized economic roles mostly performed by men who guarded their techniques, such as leather tanning and iron working.

Leather Tanning

A skilled male occupation where workers guarded knowledge of their techniques and tanning compounds and passed them down to their heirs.

Iron Working

A highly prestigious male craft whose blacksmiths turned ores into useful objects and often served as community leaders.

Iron Working Products

Useful metal objects manufactured by blacksmiths, including knives, hoes, spearheads, and swords.

Potters in Blacksmith Families

Women in ironworking families who enjoyed special prestige for their ability to transform earth ingredients into pottery vessels.

Male Agricultural Duties

Heavy farm labor usually undertaken by men, specifically clearing land and preparing it for cultivation.

Shared Agricultural Duties

Farm activities in which both men and women participated, specifically the planting and harvesting of crops.

Primary Female Domestic Responsibilities

Everyday duties assigned primarily to women, consisting of domestic chores and taking primary responsibility for child rearing.

Public Authority Monopolization

The general social rule in sub-Saharan Africa where men largely monopolized public authority.

Honor of Women as Sources of Life

The high cultural esteem enjoyed by sub-Saharan African women as the sources of life.

Aristocratic Women's Influence

The means by which elite women influenced public affairs, leveraging their prominence within their families.

Women Merchants

Sub-Saharan women who commonly traded at markets and participated actively in both local and long-distance trade.

All-Female Military Units

Combat groups that women occasionally organized and engaged in within certain sub-Saharan African societies.

Social Structure of Small States

Small political units in sub-Saharan Africa that generated an aristocratic or ruling elite and recognized a class of religious authorities.

Determinants of Social Position Outside Large Empires

Principal considerations determining social status in small states, including kinship, sex and gender expectations, and age groupings.

Kinship Groups

Extended families and clans that served as the main foundation of social and economic organization in small-scale agricultural societies.

Communal Land Use

A tenure system where sub-Saharan communities claimed rights to land and utilized it in common.

Village Organization

The predominant settlement arrangement in sub-Saharan Africa, generally consisting of several extended family groups.

Roles of Male Heads of Families

Duties including jointly governing the village, organizing work, allocating communal land to relatives, and distributing harvests equitably.

Equitable Harvest Distribution

The responsibility of male family heads to distribute agricultural yields fairly among all members of their groups.

Primary Social Identity of Villagers

The fundamental role of most villagers in society, functioning first as members of a family or a clan.

Ninth Century C.E.

The century after which trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean trade networks expanded, stimulating increased traffic in African slaves.

Mid-Fourteenth Century

The historical era in which the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta crossed the Sahara with six hundred slaves bound for north Africa.

Sudan (Agricultural Origins)

The geographic region where historical linguistic analysis suggests age grades first arose in early agricultural society.

Captives of War

The primary group of individuals who supplied the institution of slavery in Africa since remote antiquity.

Agricultural Laborers

The primary form of work assigned to the majority of slaves within sub-Saharan Africa.

Slaves as Social Status Enhancers

The social function of slave holding in bringing enhanced status and prestige to slave owners.

Smaller States and Kin-based Societies

Societies targeted by slave raiders from large-scale states because they could not defend themselves effectively.

Status of Sub-Saharan Women under Islam

The circumstance where Islam did relatively little to curtail opportunities or compromise status for women in sub-Saharan Africa.