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Tropical Africa and Asia12001500

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The Tropical Environment

The tropical zone falls between the Tropic

of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of

Capricorn in the south

The Afro-Asian tropics have a cycle of

rainy and dry seasons dictated by the

alternating winds known as monsoons

There are very wet and very dry regions of

Africa and Asia

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Altitude also affects climate

The high-altitude mountain ranges andplateaus have cooler weather and shorter

growing seasons than the low-altitudecoastal plains and river valleys

Major rivers bring water from these

mountains to other areas.There is a great variety of geographicalfeatures in Africa and Asia

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Human Ecosystems

Human societies adopted different means

of surviving in order to fit into the different

ecological zones found in the tropics

In areas such as central Africa, the upper

altitudes of the Himalayas, and some

seacoasts, wild food and fish was so

abundant that human societies thrivedwithout having developed agricultural or

herding economies.

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Human communities in the arid areas ofthe tropics relied on herding

They supplemented their diets with grain

and vegetables obtained through tradewith settled agriculturalists

The vast majority of the people of the

tropics were farmers who cultivatedvarious crops (rice, wheat, sorghum millet,etc.) depending on the conditions of soil,climate, and water

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In South and Southeast Asia people hadample water supplies

Intensive agriculture transformed theenvironment and supported dense

populationsIn most parts of sub-Saharan Africa andmany parts of Southeast Asia, farmersabandoned their fields every few yearsand cleared new areas by cutting andburning the natural vegetation. (Slash andBurn

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The tropics have an uneven distribution of

rainfall during the year

In order to have year-round access to

water for intensive agriculture, tropical

farming societies constructed dams,

irrigation canals, and reservoirs.

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In India, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka,governments mobilized vast resources toconstruct and maintain large irrigation and

water-control projectsSuch huge projects increased production,but they were highly vulnerable to naturaldisasters and political disruptions

In contrast, the smaller irrigation systemsconstructed at the village level were easierto reconstruct and provided greater long-

term stability

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Mineral Resources

Tropical peoples used iron for agricultural

implements, weapons, and needles

Copper, particularly important in Africa,

was used to make wire and decorative

objects

Africa was also known for its production of

gold.

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Metalworking and food-producing systems

mobilized the labor of ordinary people

This was in order to produce surpluses

that in places supported powerful states

and profitable commercial systems

Neither of those elite enterprises would

have been possible without the work of

ordinary people

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New Islamic Empires: Mali in the

Western Sudan

Islam spread to sub-Saharan Africa by a

gradual process of peaceful conversion.

Conversion was facilitated by commercial

contacts

In 1240 Sundiata (the Muslim leader of the

Malinke people) established the kingdom

of Mali

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Malis economy rested on agriculture

Mali was supplemented by control of

regional and trans-Saharan trading routes

and by control of the gold mines of the

Niger headwaters.

The Mali ruler Mansa Kankan Musa (r.

13121337) demonstrated his fabulous

wealth during a pilgrimage to Mecca

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When he returned to Mali, Mansa Musaestablished new mosques and Quranicschools.

The kingdom of Mali declined andcollapsed in the mid to late fifteenthcentury because of rebellions from withinand attacks from without

Intellectual life and trade moved to otherAfrican states, including the Hausa statesand Kanem-Bornu

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The Delhi Sultanate in India

Between 1206 and 1236 the divided statesof northwest India were defeated byviolent Muslim Turkish conquerors under

the leadership of Sultan IltutmishHe established the Delhi Sultanate as aMuslim state

Although the Muslim elite then settleddown to rule India relatively peacefully,their Hindu subjects never forgave theviolence of the conquest.

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Iltutmish passed his throne on to his

daughter, Raziya

Raziya was a talented ruler, but she was

driven from office by men unwilling to

accept a female monarch

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Under Ala-ud-din (r. 12961316) and

Muhammad ibn Tughluq (r. 13251351),

the Delhi Sultanate carried out a policy of

aggressive territorial expansion

It was accompanied (in the case of

Tughluq) by a policy of religious toleration

toward Hindusa policy that was reversedby Tughluqs successor.

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In general, the Delhi sultans ruled by terror

and were a burden on their subjects

In the mid-fourteenth century internal

rivalries and external threats undermined

the stability of the Sultanate

The Sultanate was destroyed when Timur

sacked Delhi in 1398

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Indian Ocean Trade: Monsoon

Mariners

The Indian Ocean trade increased

between 1200 and 1500

It was stimulated by the prosperity of Latin

Europe, Asian, and African states

It was also stimulated in the fourteenth

century, by the collapse of the overland

trade routes

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In the Red and Arabian Seas, trade was

carried on dhows. From India on to

Southeast Asia, junks dominated the trade

routes

Junks were technologically advanced

vessels, having watertight compartments,

up to twelve sails, and carrying cargoes ofup to 1,000 tons

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Junks were developed in China, but during

the fifteenth century, junks were also built

in Bengal and Southeast Asia and sailed

with crews from those places

The Indian Ocean trade was decentralized

and cooperative, with various regions

supplying particular goods

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In each region a certain port functioned as

the major emporium for trade in which

goods from smaller ports were

consolidated and shipped onward.

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Dhows

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Junk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SongJunk.jpg

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Africa: The Swahili Coast and

Zimbabwe

By 1500, there were thirty or forty separate

city-states along the East African coast

participating in the Indian Ocean trade

The people of these coastal cities, the

Swahili people, all spoke an African

language enriched with Arabic and

Persian vocabulary.

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Swahili cities, including Kilwa, were

famous as exporters of gold that was

mined in or around the inland kingdom

whose capital was Great Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwes economy rested on

agriculture, cattle herding, and trade.

The city declined due to an ecological

crisis brought on by deforestation and

overgrazing

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Arabia: Aden and the Red Sea

Aden had enough rainfall to produce

wheat for export and a location that made

it a central transit point for trade from the

Persian Gulf, East Africa, and Egypt

Adens merchants prospered on this trade

and built what appeared to travelers to be

a wealthy and impressive city.

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In general, a common interest in trade

allowed the various peoples and religions

of the Indian Ocean basin to live in peace

Violence did sometimes break out,

however, as when Christian Ethiopia

fought with the Muslims of the Red Sea

coast over control of trade.

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India: Gujarat and the Malabar

Coast

The state of Gujarat prospered from theIndian Ocean trade, exporting cottontextiles and indigo in return for gold and

silverGujarat was not simply a commercialcenter; it was also a manufacturing centerthat produced textiles, leather goods,carpets, silk, and other commodities

Gujarats overseas trade was dominatedby Muslims, but Hindus also benefited.

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Calicut and other cities of the Malabar

Coast exported cotton textiles and spices

and served as clearing-houses for long-

distance trade

The cities of the Malabar Coast were

unified in a loose confederation whose

rulers were tolerant of other religious andethnic groups.

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Southeast Asia: the Rise of

Malacca

The Strait of Malacca is the principal

passage from the Indian Ocean to the

South China Sea

In the fourteenth century a gang of

Chinese pirates preyed upon the strait,

nominally under the control of the Java-

based kingdom of Majapahit

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In 1407, the forces of the Ming dynasty

crushed the Chinese pirates

The Muslim ruler of Malacca took

advantage of this to exert his domination

over the strait and to make Malacca into a

major port and a center of trade.

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Social and Cultural Change

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Architecture, Learning, and

Religion

Commercial contacts and the spread of Islam

led to a variety of social and cultural changes in

which local cultures incorporated and changed

ideas, customs and architectural styles fromother civilizations.

African and Indian mosques are good examples

of the synthesis of Middle Eastern and local

architectural styles; in Ethiopia, a native traditionof rock carving led to the construction of eleven

churches carved from solid rock.

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In the field of education, the spread ofIslam brought literacy to African peopleswho first learned Arabic and then used the

Arabic script to write their own languages.In India literacy was already established,but the spread of Islam brought thedevelopment of a new Persian-influencedlanguage (Urdu) and the papermakingtechnology.

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As it spread to Africa, India, and Southeast

Asia, Islam also brought with it the study of

Islamic law and administration and Greek

science, mathematics, and medicine.

Timbuktu, Delhi and Malacca were two

new centers of Islamic learning.

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Islam spread peacefully; forced conversionswere rare.

Muslim domination of trade contributed to thespread of Islam as merchants attracted by thecommon moral code and laws of Islamconverted and as Muslim merchants in foreignlands established households and convertedtheir local wives and servants.

The Islamic destruction of the last center ofBuddhism in India contributed to the spread ofIslam in that country.

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Islam brought social and cultural changes

to the communities that converted, but

Islam itself was changed, developing

differently in African, Indian, andIndonesian societies.

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Social and Gender Distinctions

The gap between elites and the common people

widened in tropical societies as the wealthy

urban elites prospered from the increased Indian

Ocean trade.Slavery increased in both Africa and in India. An

estimated 2.5 million African slaves were

exported across the Sahara and the Red Sea

between 1200 and 1500, while more wereshipped from the cities of the Swahili coast.

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Most slaves were trained in specific skills;in some cases, hereditary military slavescould become rich and powerful.

Other slaves worked at hard menial jobslike copper mining, while others,particularly women, were employed ashousehold servants and entertainers.

The large number of slaves meant that theprice of slaves was quite low.

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While there is not much information onpossible changes in the status of womenin the tropics, some scholars speculate

that restrictions on women were easedsomewhat in Hindu societies.

Nonetheless, early arranged marriage wasthe rule for Indian women, and they wereexpected to obey strict rules of fidelity andchastity.

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Womens status was generally determined

by the status of their male masters.

However, women did practice certain skills

other than child rearing.

These included cooking, brewing, farm

work, and spinning.

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It is difficult to tell what effect the spread of

Islam might have had on women.

It is clear that in some places, such as

Mali, Muslims did not adopt the Arab

practice of veiling and secluding women.