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Chapter Eight AP World History Ms. Tully. African Civilizations and the Spread of Islam in Africa. African Regions. Pre-Islamic Africa. Extremely diverse societies developed No political or religious unity Bantu migration primary spoken language - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS AND THE SPREAD OF ISLAM IN AFRICA
Chapter EightAP World HistoryMs. Tully
AFRICAN REGIONS
PRE-ISLAMIC AFRICA
Extremely diverse societies developed
No political or religious unity
Bantu migration primary spoken language
Animistic/polytheistic belief systems
“STATELESS” SOCIETIES
Varied in size & influence – organized around kinship
Political power shared with councils & secret societies
Weakness of “stateless” societies No organization to collect taxes no effective
militaries No consensus Difficult to resist external pressures No undertaking of large building projects Hard to create stability for long-distance trade
These goals contributed to the formation of states
AFRICAN ECONOMY
N. Africa connected to Mediterranean & Arab economic world
Sub-Saharan African economies varied greatly Focus on iron working & agriculture Specialization encouraged trade
INFLUENCE OF ISLAM IN AFRICA
7th C – Muslim armies moved west from Egypt thru N. Africa
11th-12th C - Almoravids and Almohadis (reforming Muslim Berbers) from western Sahara grow in power
Almohad Caliphate: 1121-1269 Islamic tradition of
political/religious ruler attractive to Africans
Introduced social stratification of Islamicized societies
GRASSLANDS KINGDOMS Sahel Grasslands: transition zone between
Sahara Desert and savannahs to the south Point of exchange between North and Sub-
Saharan Africa; important region of trade Grasslands Kingdoms = Sudanic States = Ghana,
Mali, Songhai
SUDANIC STATES
Islam reinforced ideas of kingship and power: “royal cult”
Trade gold for salt from Berbers in North Africa
Mali, Ghana and Songhai
GHANA 4TH – 11TH C
1st great West African empire
Rose to power by taxing salt and gold
10th c: rulers convert to Islam while common people remain loyal to polytheism
Reaches 11th c. height Almoravid armies
invaded Ghana in 1076
MALI
Broke away from Ghana in 13th C
Islamicized in 13th Economy:
Agriculture & Gold Trade – Juula
Founder: Sundiata Mansa Musa
successor to Sundiata – Greatest Mali ruler
MALI
Great mosque of Jenne
Major cities – Jenne and Timbuktu
80% of pop. villagers who lived by farming
SONGHAY
Independent from Mali in 1370s – capital at Gao
Prospered as a trading state and military power
Sunni Ali (1464-1492) Songhai remained
dominant until defeated by Moroccans in 1591 for not being “Muslim enough”
INFLUENCE OF ISLAM ON GRASSLANDS KINGDOMS
Islam provided universal faith and fixed law.
Rulers reinforced authority through Muslim ideology.
Many Sudanic societies were matrilineal and did not seclude women
Slavery and slave trade was prevalent from Muslim influence
SWAHILI COAST OF EAST AFRICA
Islamized trading ports along coast by 13th c.
Kilwa, Mogadishu, Mombasa: large city-state centers of Islam
Rulers and merchants were often Muslim
Culture = Swahili as language and fused African and Islamic practices.
CENTRAL AFRICA
Across central Africa, agrarian societies thrived and kingdoms developed
Preliterate – knowledge passed orally, rich artistic tradition
Yoruba people & Ile-Ife
CENTRAL AFRICA
Edo peoples & Benin
Kongo Great Zimbabwe
CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA
Christian states are present in North Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia before the arrival of Islam.
Egyptian Christians, the Copts, had a rich and independent tradition (Coptic Christianity).
The Nubians resisted Muslim incursions from 9th until 13th century.
Ethiopia continues to retain Christianity. Christianity will come later to the rest of the
continent with the presence of Europeans.
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
Spread of Islam brought large areas of Africa into the global community through increasing contact from 700-1500 CE between Africa and Mediterranean and Asian civilizations.
However, most of Africa evolved in regions free of Islamic contact (Central + Southern Africa).
While no universal empires and religions develop in Africa, Christianity and Islam impact the region through political, economic, and cultural development.
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