Chp.

11 section 2
A new empire In SONGHAI 1460-1600
 In the 1400s disputes over succession weakened Mali and the empire declined.
 By the 1460s, the wealthy trading city of Gao had become the capital of the emerging west
African kingdom of SONGHAI.
Extending the empire
 The largest state in west Africa
 Their ruler, Sonni Ali, followed traditional religious beliefs and not Muslim beliefs unlike
the previous rulers of Mali
 Askia, his successor, set up a Muslim Dynasty after Ali’s Death
What did Askia achieve?
 Set up bureaucracy with separate departments lead by diff. ppl
 Departments: farming, military, treasury
 Built mosques and universities to encourage education (Mansa Musa also)
 Made a pilgrimage to Mecca to help keep ties with Muslim cities (similarity with Mansa
Musa)
 Extended territories of SONGHAI
Armies invade from the north
 Askia died in 1583 and instability led to attacks
 The Moroccans from north Africa attacked the city
 Because of the large land mass of the territory, the Moroccans could not control the area easily
 Songhai would never be the same after Askia’s death
Smaller societies of WEST AFRICA
 Although smaller than the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, other societies flourished
in West Africa in the period from 500 to 1500 (medieval period)
The forest kingdom of BENIN-1300S

 South of the Savannah

 They traded pepper and ivory. Later were involved in the slave trade.
 The city was decorated with Brass and Sculptures
 They learnt bronze-casting skills from interactions with neighboring communities
Walled city-states of the HAUSA-1300S
The HAUSA built a wall around their city to protect the city from invaders.
Kano was the most prosperous city
 12 miles in circumference with a 50 feet tall wall
 Population-30000ppl
 They had women rulers
 They dominated many trade routes
 King Muhammed Rumfa introduced:
-Arabic script
-Islamic law
Ghana, Kumbi Saleh, fertile V, gold-salt trade
Mali, Mansa Musa, hajj, universities in Timbuktu, disputes over succession causes decline
Songhai, Sonni Ali, Askia Muhammad, hajj, universities, mosques, Moroccans, decline
11.3 KINGDOMS AND TRADING STATES OF EAST AFRICA

Axum AD 300-700: Center of goods and ideas

 Southeast of Nubia, Axum extended from the mountains of present-day Ethiopia to the Red
Sea (Erithea)
 Axum people were descendants of African farmers and also ppl from Israel (Christianity)
 This merging of cultures (Jewish and Christianity) produced a unique written and spoken
language, GEEZ
Axum converts to Christianity
 Due to international trade, merchants blended religions, ideas and cultures
 At first Christianity strengthened ties in trade with N Africa and the Mediterranean
(Geographical proximity map)
 However, Islam was introduced in the 600’s to most of N Africa
 Axum didn’t cover like its neighbors and slowly became isolated in culture and trade-
leading to its decline
Trade brings wealth
by A.D. 400, the kingdom commanded a triangular trade network that connected AFRICA,
INDIA, and the MEDITERRANEAN WORLD
 A variety of goods
- From the interior of Africa, traders brought ivory and gold to the markets of Axum
- Goods from southern Africa came to the city of Adulis
- In ADULIS markets contained spices, precious stones, and cotton cloth from India
- Ships carried these goods up the Red Sea, where they collected goods from Europe and
countries along the Mediterranean
Ethiopia: A Christian outpost
 Through AXUM’s political and economic power faded, its cultural and religious influence
didn’t disappear
 Axum’s empire was only a portion of the present-day nation, but the Axumite kings frequently
used Ethiopia to describe their kingdom
 This legacy survived among the ppl of the interior uplands, in what is today northern
ETHIOPIA
AN ISOLLATED ETHIOPIA
 Medieval Ethiopia was protected by mountains, which isolated them, enabling them to be
unified by Christianity
 They kept ties with the Holy land (Jerusalem) and would make voyages to Jerusalem
 They adopted many traditional customs, music, and dances that they incorporated into their
church services
 Ethiopian Jews= The Falasha. They lived in the mountains of Ethiopia until the late 1900’s
when most left for Israel due to persecution and famine
East AFRICAN CITY-STATES
 While AXUM declined, a string of commercial cities- including Kilwa, arose along the East
African coast
 Port cities, as well as offshore islands such as Lamu and Zanzibar were ideally located for
trade with Asia
 As a result, Asian traders and immigrants from as far away as Indonesia soon added to the
rich cultural mix
Why were cities and islands off the East coast so suited to trade with ASIA?
Along the coast, near Asia, easy to trade
How did the successful trade system enable ruler build strong city-states?
Money, build school, mosques……
Trading centers flourish
 By 600s, sailors used Annual monsoon winds to sail between India and East Africa
 They arrived from China, Arabia, and Persia by ships, traders brought goods such as cotton,
silk, porcelain, and swords
 In return, they received ivory, animal skins, gold and enslaved ppl from the interior of Africa
Trade flourishes
 Trade brought great wealth for merchants, which in return strengthened local rulers
(taxation)
 Rulers were able to create strong, independent city-states
 There was competition for trade, but the city-states were mostly peaceful
Trade flourished in Kilwa
 The complex consists of courtyards, terraces and 100 rooms-built of coral and cut stone
Try and list two things that these ruins could tell us about the ppl of Kilwa?
Rich, well-constructed design> organized government
located along the sea, have coral
Trade shapes SWAHILI
 The successful East African international trade system led to the emergence of Swahili ‘of the
coast’- a vibrant culture and a new language (Bantu origins)
 1000 A.D traders from the Middle East and Asia began to settle permanently in flourishing
trading cities such as Kilwa
 As more settlers arrived, the local East African culture absorbed cultural and architectural
elements from these new residents
Great ZIMBABWE- Inland capital of trade- 900-1500 AD
 The world Zimbabwe comes from a Bantu based word that means ‘stone houses’
 In fact, Great ZIMBABWE was built by a succession of Bantu-speaking ppl
 These newcomers brought iron, mining methods, and improved farming skills
 The capital reached its height about 1300
Great Zimbabwe- Inland capital of trade-900-1500 AD
 Archaeologists have found beads from India and porcelain from China, showing that Great
Zimbabwe was part of a trade network that reached across the Indian ocean
 Little is known about the government structure, as archaeologists continue their research, we
are learning more about how the capital and empire developed
THE STONE HOUSES OF GREAT ZIMBABWE
 Inland from the coastal city-states, stone ruins can be seen
 Today, these impressive ruins are known as Great Zimbabwe
ZIMBABWE FALLS TO RUINS
 By 1500 Zimbabwe was in decline
 A big population, civil war and decreasing trade were thought to be the cause of its decline
 How did trade influence city-states of east Africa and how did this compare to west Africa?
 How did Christianity affect east Africa and how did this compare to Islam in West Africa?

11.4 Societies in medieval Africa

*Matriarchal Societies (woman has more respect than man)

Word bank:
Nuclear family- family unit, parents and children living and working together as a unit
Patrilineal/organization- parents, children and several generations such as grandparents lived and
worked together
Matrilineal- inheritance passed from the mother’s side
Lineage- group claiming a common ancestor
Consensus (political governance)- general agreement

Lo 1: identify the diff. ways that the family influenced medieval African cultures

Family patterns
 Patterns of family life varied greatly depending on the culture of the group
 In some small societies, for example, the basic family unit was the nuclear family
 In other communities, family unites included the extended family-who lived and worked
closely together to ensure the success of the group
Extended lineages
 Each family belonged to a lineage, group of households who claimed a common ancestor
 Several lineages formed a clan
 Belonging to a particular family, lineage, or clan gave ppl a sense of community with shared
responsibilities to that community
What could be some benefits (help together) and disadvantages (less likely to talk to ppl from
other clan) of the clan community set up? Why is community important?

Political patterns
 As communities grew, the need for a form of government arose and there was substantial
variety
 In some villages, a chief had a good deal of authority, but in many others, elders made the
major decisions
 In some places, especially in parts of West Africa, women took the dominant role in the
marketplace or acted as official peacemakers in the village
 Villages often made decisions by a process known as consensus, or general agreement but the
older you were, the more weight your view would generally have
List some benefits and disadvantages regarding making by consensus

Understand the role of religion in medieval African societies

 Religion played an important role in the development of medieval African societies
 Religious beliefs that existed before the arrival of Islam and Christianity were varied and
complex
 The identified the forced of nature with divine spirits and tried to influence those forces
through rituals and ceremonies

Religious beliefs
 Many African ppl believed that a single, unknowable supreme being stood above all the other
gods and goddesses
 This supreme being was the creator and ruler of universe and was helped by the lesser spirits,
who were closer to the ppl
 By AD 1000. Both Christianity and Islam had spread to many regions of Africa
 Those who adopted these religions often associated the god of Christians and Muslims with
their traditional supreme being
 In this way, Christianity and Islam in Africa absorbed many local practices and beliefs
 Islam had particular influence in North and West Africa and Christianity had some influence
in pockets of East Africa