African states 600-1450
Africa and the Arrival of Islam
Mr. Millhouse
AP World History
Fall 2008
The Swahili States
• Founded by Bantu settlers
in 1st millennium CE
• Islamic merchants settle in
coastal villages
• Swahili culture emerges by
13th century
• Major role in Indian Ocean
trade network
• Trade raw materials for
Indian, Islamic, & Chinese
luxuries
Trans-Saharan Trade
• 300 C.E. camels replaced horses and donkeys as
transport animals
• Speeds travel across the Sahara
• Trade in gold, salt, and ivory flourishes
• Islam arrives in 7th century
Great Zimbabwe
• Dominates central Africa
from 9th-16th centuries
• Built massive stone
enclosures (zimbabwe)
• Supplied gold to the
Swahili coast
• Declined due to internal
divisions by the 16th
century
Rise of Sudanic States
• Trans-Saharan trade led to
the rise of the kingdoms in
the Sudan
• Common characteristics
• Led by patriarch or council
of elders
• Based upon ethnic core
• Rulers were considered
sacred
• Islam reinforced kingship
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Kingdom of Ghana (750-1076)
• Used territorial expansion
to control Trans-Saharan
trade routes
Salt Mines
• Trade led urbanization
• Malinke people created
an empire in the early 13th
century
• Sundiata “the Lion Prince”
• Kings converted to Islam
by the 10th century
• Did not force upon others
Kingdom of Mali (1230-1620)
Gold Mines
• Nomadic raids from the
Sahara weakened Ghana
in the early 13th century
Mansa Musa’s Pilgrimage
• Agriculture, with the gold
trade, was the base of the
economy
• Mansa Musa’s hajj in the
14th century became
legendary
Malinke Economy
• Most of the people were rural farmers
• Small farms owned by families
• A special merchant class, called the juula,
controlled trade
• Slave trade became common after the
Islamic conquest of North Africa
• High demand for women and children
• Estimated 4.8 million slaves over 700 years
Malinke Society & Culture
• Formation of the kingdom heightened social
differences
• Society was organized according to clans
• Many societies were matrilineal
• Women enjoyed more freedom than most
Eurasian cultures
Malinke Culture
• Large portions of the
population did not convert
to Islam
• Many converts maintained
some of their old beliefs
• History maintained by oral
historian called griots
• Polygamy was common
Drawing of a Malinke Griot
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Djenne & Timbuktu
• Timbuktu was famous
for its library and
university
Songhai Empire (1340-1591)
• From the early 15th to
the late 16th century,
Songhai was one of
the largest African
empires in history
• Founded by Sunni Ali
and expanded by Askia
Muhammad the Great
• Djenne was famous
for The Great Mosque
• Conquered by
Moroccans, with
muskets, in 1591
• Largest adobe building
in the world
Madrasa Sankore in Timbuktu
Kingdom of Benin
• City-state established
by the Edo peoples in
the 15th century
• Known for its bronze
and ivory sculptures
• Portuguese were
impressed by Benin
City and the quality of
Benin’s artwork
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