7.2.1 WHAP: Spread of Islam (Africa)

1324-1325

Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca

Trans-Saharan trade

Route across the Sahara desert. Major trade route that traded for gold and salt, created caravan routes, economic benefit for controlling dessert, camels played a huge role in the trading

Ibn Battuta

[1304-1369 CE] Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan. His writings gave a glimpse into the world of that time period.

Ghana

First known kingdom in sub-Saharan West Africa between the sixth and thirteenth centuries C.E. Also the modern West African country once known as the Gold Coast due to it's large gold and salt trade.

Sundiata

The "Lion Prince"; a member of the Keita clan; created a unified state that became the Mali Empire; died about 1260

Mali

The kingdom in West Africa that followed the Kingdom of Ghana; its wealth is also based on trans-Saharan trade; this kingdom encouraged the spread of Islam.

Mansa Musa

Ruler of Mali (r. 1312-1337). His extravagant pilgrimage through Egypt to Mecca in 1324-1325 established the empire's reputation for wealth in the Mediterranean world.

Songhai

A West African empire that conquered Mali and controlled trade from the 1400s to 1591

Bantu Migrations

Farmers and herders who migrated to southern Africa and spread language and skills - 1000 BCE to 1000 CE

Indian Ocean Trade

World's richest maritime trading network that was essential for the prosperity of East Africa

Swahili city-states

City coasts that actively participated in Indian Ocean trade along the East coast of the African continent

Dhows

Arab sailing vessels with triangular or lateen sails; strongly influenced European ship design

Lateen sails

A triangular sail attached to a short mast

Junk

A very large flatbottom sailing ship produced in the Tang and Song Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful state in the African interior that apparently emerged from the growing trade in gold to the East African coast; flourished between 1250 and 1350 C.E.

Monsoon winds

The seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia, blowing from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter. (in India and nearby lands) the season during which the southwest monsoon blows, commonly marked by heavy rains; rainy season. any wind that changes directions with the seasons