East African City States and Great Zimbabwe? Indian Ocean Trade

East African City States and Great

Zimbabwe?

Indian Ocean Trade

Can you locateNorth Africa, Sub-

Saharan Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and the

Sahel?

Ghana, Mali, Songhay

Zimbabwe

East African City States

Origins

• Bantu speaking peoples lived along the East Coast of Africa from 1st Century CE.

• Around 900CE Arabs, Shirazis (Persians) and even some Indians settled along the East Coast of Africa for commercial (business) reasons.

• By 1300CE Muslim Arabs and Shirazis controlled much of the East Coast of Africa.

Cities & City States• Mogadishu

• Mombasa• Malindi

• Zanzibar• Dar es Salaam

• Mozambique

• Angoche

• Sofala

• Inhambane

What does Zanzibar look more like?

This?

Traditional Zulu houses.

Or this?

Cairo Zanzibar

Why?

• Why do the East African city states resemble Middle Eastern towns?

• Who populated these communities?

• What role has trade played?

Trade• Ivory

• Sandalwood

• Ebony

• Gold

• Slavery

• Spices

Mombasa: Evidence of past exports.

Golden Rhino

Cultural Impact

• Swahili: is the language that formed from the combination of Arabic and local Bantu languages.

Cultural Diffusion

Decline

• Portuguese

• British

• Tanganyika

Great Zimbabwe (12th – 15th Century CE)

Sofala

Inhambane

What is the significance of this Chinese plate

being found in Ancient Zimbabwe?

BTW…

In terms of political

structure and culture, how

does Zimbabwe compare to the

east African City States?

How about in comparison to the

West African kingdoms?

So if you were to create a table

comparing the West African Kingdoms

with the East African City States and

ancient Zimbabwe…

And now for something different…

BTW

Fin

Aim : To what extent did East African City States and Great Zimbabwe have an impact on

Indian Ocean trade?