Historical

Context:
Pre-colonial
Africa

INT4113316 CONTEMPORARY POLITICS IN

AFRICA 
Dr. Z. Asli Elitsoy
Why study the Traditions, customs, institutions and social
relationships will survive and adapt from one
era to another

historical There are lines of continuity that run from the

context? pre-colonial period, through the colonial era,

right into the modern age

Different circumstances produced different

societies with different traditions, customs and
politics, and these societies rose, fell and
adapted as the centuries passed

Africa’s past still influences the politics of the

continent today
Political Organizations in
Pre-Colonial Africa
Decentralized or Stateless Societies
• Low population densities and the production
of small economic surpluses, hindered the
formation of states
• Did not lack political organizations
• Sophisticated forms of representation, justice
and accountability  •States could also be built around monarchical
• Confederations of villages provided security
and a community
Centralized Kingdoms and City-States
• Several of larger stateless societies developed
institutions and hierarchies that evolved into
states over time
• The state formation was stimulated by the
production of an economic surplus
authority, religious affiliation or, in the case of
the Zulu nation, military skills.
•Some of these grand civilizations were in
advance, technically and socially, of their
European contemporaries
Pre-Colonial African States
Non-Hegemonic States:
• Absence of permanent, precisely defined boundaries and borders
• Overlapping of authority with a community owing allegiance to more than one political leader
• The source of inter-community conflict was not about borders, but winning booty 
• Along tradition of population flow with groups of people creating new polities, moving their
community, or choosing to join other states
• As a consequence, pre-colonial African states were not all-powerful political entities, but non-
hegemonic states
• The non-hegemonic state was reinforced by the nature of colonial rule
Pre-Colonial African States
Lineage:
• Coming from the same ancestor as a bond of origin binding communities together
• Ancestor worship is at the heart of many African spiritualist traditions
• Individuals obey life-determining customs regarding marriage, inheritance, justice and the
allocation of land
• Lineage groups provide solidarity, offering security and welfare to their members
• The sense of community influenced the state ideologies of post-colonial Africa, especially
"African socialism" 
Selected
Pre-Colonial
African States
 Ancient African History to the 1400s
Bantu Expansion (1000 BCE to 1500 CE): 
• Major series of migrations of the Bantu-speaking groups from West-Central
Africa to eastern and southern parts of Africa for finding new lands. 
• They brought farming, herding, and iron tools with them to Eastern and Southern
Africa, and absorbed hunter-gatherer groups they encountered
Christianity:
• Christianity traveled to Egypt and was introduced to Aksum civilization in
present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea along trade routes. Aksum civilization had a
trade network that stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to India. Christianity
travelled to Aksum along these routes, and it became the center of the early
Ethiopian Coptic Christian Church.
Islam:
• Islam was brought to Africa in 7th and 8th centuries with a group of Muslims,
who escaped persecution in Mecca and came to Ethiopia. Islam spread among the
Berbers along the coast of North Africa. The Islamization of West Africa began
when the ancient kingdom of Ghana expanded north into the Sahara Desert.
Trade:
•  Trade routes in and between West and North Africa have existed for nearly 2000
years. West Africans had no salt, but they did have gold. North Africans had no
gold, but plenty of salt. Important kingdoms developed in West Africa around
trade with North Africa in salt and gold.
African Kingdoms
 • Pharaohs were kings of Egypt, also considered
gods
• It started along the Nile River
• The first great African kingdom and one of the
earliest civilizations in the world
• The first pharaoh was Menes
• 30 dynasties, a series of rulers from the same line
of descent.
• During the Archaic period, two different dynasties
ruled Egypt.

Ancient Egypt
 The Nile River
• The Nile provided the daily necessities of life
• Egyptians depended upon the annual flooding of the Nile
• The Nile provided rich soil and water, producing three to four times
more crops than regular rain-fed soil, which made farming very
productive and created a surplus
• The Egyptians invented the shadoof to help distribute water to the
fields
• The Egyptians invented the plow
• The Egyptians domesticated animals to assist in farming
• Egyptians built boats and traveled the Nile
• The Nile linked all Egyptians, encouraging community life and trade
 Ancient Egypt - The Old Kingdom (2900-2280 BCE)
• Political unity throughout the kingdom
• A distinctly Egyptian identity
• Four dynasties ruled during this time
• Pharaoh appointed powerful local leaders called governors
• Governors collected taxes, served as local judges, and made sure local flood waters were shared equally
• Pharaoh was the center of economy that was based on agriculture
• Pharaoh collected a portion of crops for taxes
• Polytheistic religion (worshiping in many gods)
• Much of the religion focused on the afterlife
• The Pharaohs built the pyramids for the afterlife

The End of the Old Kingdom:

• The economy began to be strained by huge government building projects
• People became unhappy with the pharaoh's demands for taxes to pay for these projects
• Pharaoh Pepy III lost control over the central government and local governors took over
• This period without any pharaohs lasted about 150 years
• There were foreign invasions and disorder during this time
 Ancient Egypt - The Middle Kingdom (2060-1785 BCE)
• Order was restored by a strong military leader,  Mentohotep
• Training and military explorers were sent out to expand Egypt's
boundaries
• Egypt took control of Nubia. Nubian gold brought increased
prosperity, economy improved
• Egypt's contact with other parts of the world increased, bringing
foreign goods and foreign ideas to the Egyptian civilization
• Egyptian trade increased with Western Asia, creating a new
wealthy class of "common people" (Middle Class)
• Hyksos invasion of Egypt for 150 years
• The Egyptians learned how to build chariots from the Hyksos
• Within 50 years, they had managed to take control of the
important Egyptian city of Memphis
 Ancient Egypt - The New Kingdom (1580-1085 BCE)
• The pharaoh Ahmose defeated the Hyksos and started the New Kingdom
• During the New Kingdom, Egypt became an empire
• Egypt’s economy now included goods from other lands
• The conquer of Lebanon and Syria brought Egypt silver, timber, wine
• Greece (across the Mediterranean): olive oil
• Egypt also gained gold, copper, and other precious Stones
• The period of decline began with a dynasty from Libya taking power for
about 200 years
• Their fiercest enemy was the Hittites
• In 525 BC the Persian army invaded and conquered Ancient Egypt
• Alexander the Great and his army of Greeks invaded Egypt and defeated
the Persian
• The New Kingdom ended with Queen Cleopatra losing her land to
Augustus Caesar and Rome
 The Kingdom of Ghana (800-1235)
• First of West Africa's empires
• Gained wealth through trade of gold and salt
• Skilled in using iron for agriculture and warfare
• The Kingdom of Ghana became rich and powerful when the camel
began to be used for transportation
Decline:
• Outside attacks by those who wanted to gain control of their trade
routes
• Spread of Islam in the 11th century over northern Africa
• Internal conflict; conflicts for power
• Declining agricultural productivity
 The Kingdom of Mali (1235-1610)
• Gained wealth through the gold trade
• Empire peaked under King Mansa Musa
• Several great centers of Islamic learning were established
• Islam became well established throughout the kingdom

Decline:
• When Mansa Musa died there were no kings as powerful as he
was to follow
• Berbers came into the area and other people came up from the
south to claim territory
• The kingdom fell because of internal conflicts and civil wars
The Kingdom of Zimbabwe
(1220-1450)
• Zimbabwe means "houses of stone"
• Gained wealth through gold trade and cattle
production
• Estimated 18 – 20.000 people lived there
• A move from village level organization to a
larger, broader social and political organization
Decline:
• Climate changes and decrease in gold
 The Kingdom of Songhay (1350-1600)
• When the Kingdom of Mali was weakening Songhay
leader Sunni Ali conquered the area and started the
Kingdom of Songhay
• He also set up a complex government to rule all the
lands he conquered
• Relied on trade for his strength and wealth
• Mohammed Askia expanded the kingdom even further
and set up an even more advanced and strongly
centralized government
• Islam became the religion of the kingdom as a unifying
force for the people and an important factor for
maintaining state power
Decline:
• After the death of Mohammed Askia Moroccans
invaded the Kingdom of Songhay
Backcountry of the Congo Forest

• Did not have a highly centralized state, rather small

states or no states at all
• Small chieftains which were made up of villages ruled
by a council of elders
• Scarcely inhabited because of the density of the
tropical rainforest
• Both agricultural and hunting/gathering activities
• Through the interaction of pastoralists and
agriculturalists they began to organize themselves into
institutionalized states, including the Luba, Lunda, and
Congo kingdoms
 Islam in the Maghrib
• The Maghrib lies in North Africa, in what are now the countries of
Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia
• Arabs brought Islam to the Maghrib as they moved into the area
• Islam became the dominant religion starting in the 7th century as Arabs
gained more and more power in the region
• By the 8th century, Berbers adopted Islam as well as Arabic culture
• An influx of Muslim merchants who became involved in the trans-
Saharan gold trade with the Great Kingdoms of West Africa
• Kharidjism: Emphasized equality among Muslims and criticized the
ruling authority of the Arabs. It became the Berber's ideology of struggle
against Arab domination
• Beginning in the late 8th century, the Idrisid dynasty strengthened the
presence of Islam in the region through measures to convert the
remainder of the non-Islamic population to Islam.