African Kingdoms and Cultures: Unit 1 Review

This set of flashcards covers key African cultures, kingdoms, religions, and economic practices discussed in Unit 1, including the Bantu, Hausa, Benin, and Mali empires, focusing on their unique characteristics, innovations, and interactions.

What characterized the Bantu people's settlement across Africa?

They were a cultural group that established farming, used iron tools, developed a common language base, and settled down rather than remaining hunter-gatherers.

What was the traditional belief system of the Bantu people, often referred to as witchcraft by Europeans?

Shamanism.

In shamanism, what is the role of a shaman?

A person who carries out shamanism, believed to access spirituality, heal illnesses, curse others, and potentially travel to the spirit world through trance dances.

In Kalahari San Bushmen rituals, what energy is activated during a trance dance, enabling shamans to reach altered states and perform extraordinary feats?

Noon energy, believed to open a portal to the spirit world and grant abilities like putting hands in fire without burning.

How does shamanism differ from religions with a single, distant deity?

Shamanism believes in a vague spirituality in the universe that certain people (shamans) can access, rather than a single distant god.

What new religions emerged in the Caribbean as a blend of African shamanistic beliefs and European Catholicism?

Syncretic religions like Voodoo, which is a distorted version of shamanism.

What was the nature of the first political entities to emerge in the Sudanic area, like the Hausa Kingdoms?

They were small, kinship-based kingdoms.

What innovation gave the Hausa Kingdoms a military advantage over their enemies?

The use of horses, allowing them to fight battles on horseback.

Besides agriculture, what was a significant source of profit for the Hausa Kingdoms?

The slave trade, where they captured and sold neighboring Africans.

Before the arrival of Europeans, what was the state of the slave trade in Africa?

An existing slave trade where Africans bought enslaved people from other Africans, which Europeans later intensified.

What was a common characteristic of African political and social structures regarding gender, prior to European influence?

A high degree of gender equality, with women often holding high status, including serving as queens.

For what artistic innovation was the Kingdom of Benin particularly known?

Their skill in working with metals, molding intricate bronze masks and figurines.

What distinguished the Mali Empire from other African kingdoms in Unit 1?

It was the biggest and wealthiest empire in Sub-Saharan Africa.

What three primary goods did the Mali Empire trade across the Sahara Desert with the Middle East?

Gold, salt, and enslaved people.

What was the capital city of the Mali Empire and its importance?

Timbuktu, which became a major hub of trade, wealth, Muslim religion, and scholarship in Sub-Saharan Africa.

What religion did the wealthy ruling class and merchants of Mali adopt, and why?

Islam, to facilitate trade with Muslim merchants from across the Sahara, accumulating wealth and political power.

Who was Mansa Musa and what was his historical significance?

The wealthy Muslim ruler of Mali, whose legendary Hajj to Mecca revealed the existence of a rich African empire to Europeans.

What characterized the Swahili Coast cities?

They were city-states engaged in extensive maritime trade with India and the Middle East.