1.5 Developments In Africa

Ibn Battuta’s commentary

Mali society sheds light on the cultural forces at

work in Sub-Saharan Africa during the 1th century. A scholar from Morocco

on the northwest coast of Africa, he was well versed in Islamic law, also known

as shariah. Islamic governments in Mogadishu

east Africa

and Delhi India Sought his advice and welcomed him to their lands. Ibn Battuta’s travelogue

demonstrated how Islam’s phenomenal growth increased connections among

cultures of Asia, Africa, and southern Europe. As Ibn Battuta’s account makes

clear, African societies that had adopted Islam kept many of their traditions.

Some parts of Africa resisted Islam. To better defend themselves against

attacks by Islamic forces, they built churches with labyrinths, reservoirs, and

tunnels. Other parts of the continent, especially in the south, had little contact

with Islam until later in history.

Political Structures in Inland Africa

The development of Sub-Saharan Africa was heavily shaped by the migrations

of Bantu-speaking people outward from west-central Africa. By the year

1000, most of the region had adopted agriculture. With the sedentary nature

of agriculture, people needed more complex political relationships to govern

themselves. In contrast to most Asian or European societies, those in Sub-

Saharan Africa did not centralize power under one leader or central government.

kin-based networks,

where families governed

themselves. A male head of the network, a chief, mediated conflicts and dealt

with neighboring groups. Groups of villages became districts, and a group of

chiefs decided among themselves how to solve the district’s problems.

Growth of kin based networks

became more difficult to govern.

Competition among neighbors increased, which in turn increased fighting

among villages and districts. Survival for small kin-based communities

became more challenging. Though many such communities continued to

exist in Sub-Saharan Africa until the 1th century, larger kingdoms grew in

prominence, particularly after 1000.

The Hausa Kingdoms

Sometime before 1000, in what is now Nigeria,

people of the Hausa ethnic group formed seven states, the Hausa Kingdoms.

The states were loosely connected through kinship ties, though they too had

no central authority. People established prospering city-states, each with a

speciality. For example, several were situated in plains where cotton grew

well.

Though the region lacked access to the sea, contact with people from

outside the region was important.

trans-Saharan trade,

a network of trading routes across the great desert.

A state on the western edge of the region specialized in military matters

and defended the states against attack. Because the states lacked a central

authority, however, they were frequently subject to domination from outside.

In the 14th century, missionaries introduced Islam to the region.

Political Structures of West and East Africa

Kingdoms on both the western and eastern sides of Africa benefited from

increased trade. The exchange of goods brought them wealth, political power,

and cultural diversity. The spread of Islam added to the religious diversity of

the continent, where animism and Christianity were already practiced. Four of

these kingdoms were Ghana, Mali, Zimbabwe, and EthiopiA

Ghana

Nestled between the Sahara and the tropical rain forests of the

West African coast, the kingdom of Ghana was not in the same location as

the modern nation of Ghana. Historians believe that the kingdom had been

founded during the 5th century, at least two centuries before the time of

Muhammad, but Ghana reached its peak of influence from the 8th to the 11th

centuries. Ghana’s rulers sold gold and ivory to Muslim traders in exchange

for salt, copper, cloth, and tools. From Ghana’s capital city, .oumbi Saleh, the

king ruled a centralized government aided by nobles and an army equipped

with iron weapons.

Mali

By the 12th century, wars with neighboring societies had permanently

weakened the Ghanaian state. In its place arose several new trading societies, the

The most powerful of which was Mali. Most scholars believe that Mali’s founding ruler, Sundiata, was a Muslim and

used his connections with others of his faith to establish trade relationships with

North African and Arab merchants. Sundiata cultivated a thriving gold trade

in Mali. Under his steady leadership, Mali’s wealth grew tremendously. His

nephew, Mansa Musa, made a pilgrimage to Mecca where his lavish displays of

gold left a lasting impression.

Zimbabwe

In East Africa, the architecture demonstrated the growing

wealth of one kingdom. Though most houses had traditionally been constructed

from wood, by the th century chiefs had begun to construct their “zimbabwe’s,”

the Bantu word for “dwellings,” with stone. This word became the name of

one of the most powerful of all the East African kingdoms between the 12th

and 15th centuries 2 Zimbabwe. It was situated between the =zambezi and

Limpopo rivers in modern-day =zimbabwe and Mozambique.

=zimbabwe built its prosperity on a mixture of agriculture, grazing, trade,

and, above all, gold. Like Ghana and Mali on the other side of the continent,

=zimbabwe had rich gold fields, and taxes on the transport of gold made the

kingdom wealthy. While Ghana and Mali relied on land-based trade across the

Sahara, =zimbabwe traded with the coastal city-states such as Mombasa, .ilwa,

and Mogadishu. Through these ports,

Indian

Ocean trade,

which connected East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and

East Asia. In East Africa, traders blended Bantu and Arabic to develop a new

language, Swahili.

Swahili.

Today, Swahili is spoken by various groups in the African

Great Lakes region as well as other parts of Southeast Africa.

The rise and decline of =zimbabwe

was reflected in the defensive walls

used to protect cities. By the end of the 1th century, a massive wall of stone,

0 feet tall by 15 feet thick, surrounded the capital city,

the Great Zimbabwe.

The stone wall was the first large one on the continent

that people built without mortar. Inside the wall, most of the royal city’s

buildings were made of stone. In the late 15th century, nearly 20,000 people

resided within the Great =imbabwe. However, overgrazing so damaged the

surrounding environment that residents of the bustling capital city abandoned

it by the end of the 100s. The wall still stands in the modern country of

Zimbabwe.

Ethiopia

Christianity had spread from its origins along the east coast of

the Mediterranean Sea south into Egypt and beyond. In what is today Ethiopia,

the kingdom of Axum developed. It prospered by trading goods obtained from

India, Arabia, the Roman Empire, and the interior of Africa. Beginning in the

th century, the spread of Islam made the region more diverse religiously.

In the 12th century, a new Christian-led kingdom in Ethiopia emerged. Its

rulers, like those of other countries, expressed their power through architecture.

They ordered the creation of 11 massive churches made entirely of rock.

Social Structures of Sub-Saharan Africa

In Sub-Saharan Africa, strong central governments ruling over large territories

were uncommon. Instead, Sub-Saharan Africa’s small communities were

organized around several structures: kinship, age, and gender. .inship

connections allowed people to identify first as members of a clan or family.

Age was another significant social marker. An 18-year-old could do more hard

labor than a 60-year-old, but younger people often relied on the advice of their

elders. Thus, communities divided work according to age, creating age grades

or age sets. Finally, gender had an influential role in social organization.

• Men dominated most activities that required a specialized skill. For

example, leather tanners and blacksmiths were typically men.

• Women generally engaged in agriculture and food gathering. They also

took the primary responsibilities for carrying out domestic chores and

raising their family’s children.

Slavery in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southwest Asia

Slavery had a long

history in Africa. Prisoners of war, debtors, and criminals were often enslaved.

Most men and some women did agricultural work. Most women and some

men served in households. In many kin-based societies, people could not own

land privately, but they could own other people. Owning a large number of

enslaved people increased one’s social status. Slavery existed in many forms.

strong demand in the Middle East

for enslaved workers resulted in an

Indian Ocean slave trade between East Africa and the Middle East. This

trade started several centuries before the Atlantic Ocean slave trade between

West Africa and the Americas. In some places, it lasted into the 20th century.

Zanj

Rebellion.

About 15,000 enslaved people successfully captured the city of

Basra and held it for ten years before being defeated. The large size and long

length of time before it was defeated make the =anj Rebellion one of the most

successful slave revolts in history.

Cultural Life in Sub-Saharan Africa

Playing music, creating visual arts, and telling stories were and continue to be

important aspects of cultures everywhere because they provided enjoyment

and mark rituals such as weddings and funerals. In Africa, these activities

carried additional significance. Because traditional African religions included

ancestor veneration, song lyrics provided a means of communicating with the

spirit world. African music usually had a distinctive rhythmic pattern, and

vocals were interspersed with percussive elements such as handclaps, bells,

pots, or gourds.

9isual arts also commonly served a religious purpose. For example,

metalworkers created busts of past rulers so that ruling royalty could look to

them for guidance. Artists in Benin, West Africa, were famous for their intricate

sculptures in iron and bronze. In the late 1th century, the sophistication of

these pieces of art would cause some Europeans to increase their respect for

West African cultures.

Griots and Griottes

Literature, as it existed in Sub-Saharan Africa, was

oral. Griots, or storytellers, were the conduits of history for a community.

Griots possessed encyclopedic knowledge of family lineages and the lives and

deeds of great leaders. In general, griots were also adept at music, singing their

stories and accompanying themselves on instruments, such as the drums and a

12-string harp called the kora.

The griots were both venerated and feared as they held both the power of

language and of story. People said that a griot could sing your success or sing

your downfall. By telling and retelling their stories and histories, the griots

preserved a people’s history and passed that history on from generation to

generation. .ings often sought their counsel regarding political matters. When

a griot died, it was as though a library had burned.

Just as men served as griots, women served as griottes. They would sing

at special occasions, such as before a wedding. For example, the griotte would

counsel the bride to not talk back if her mother-in-law abused her or reassure

the bride that if things got too bad, she could return home. Griottes provided

women with a sense of empowerment in a patriarchal society.