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.