chiefdom
Chiefdoms are societies headed by
individuals with unusual ritual,
political, or entrepreneurial skills.
The society is kin-based but more
along hierarchical lines than a
tribe.
principality
A principality (or princedom) is a
monarchical sovereign state, ruled
or reigned over by a monarch with
the title of prince or princess.
kingdom
A Kingdom is a sovereign state
instituting a monarchy, or having
a monarch as its head.
City state
Urban areas that controlled
surrounding agricultural regions
and that were often loosely
connected in a broader political
structure with other city-states.
state
Sovereign state, a sovereign
political entity in international
public law
empire
Empire is a state that extends
dominion over populations
distinct culturally and ethnically
from the culture/ethnicity at the
center of power.
Characterized by kingdoms, empires, city-states with well defined
Social classes (ruling elites, merchant class, peasant class) AND
Traditional kin based groups (ie: “stateless societies”)
300-500 CE
400 BCE
Bantu Migrations
2000 BCE -1000 CE
500 BCE
400 BCE = 3.5 million
1000 CE = 22 million
300-500 CE
Early Political and Social organization?
(Pre 1000 CE)
v  “Stateless” societies
v  Governed through family and kin ties
v  Patriarchal/ councils = male heads of family
v  Gender determined work role
v  Chief, Villages formed districts
v  Small scale cultivation (bananas,
Millet, yams, sorghum)
By 11th C = 800
distinct languages
Problems?
v  Population increased = population pressure on
natural resources/ increased conflict
v  some villages developed military forces
v  kingdoms formed with centralized power led by
strong leaders who overrode the kin systems
v  kin networks did not disappear
v Chiefdoms of Ife, Benin (West Africa coast) strong until mid 17th C
Social organization:
Age grades?
Griots?
Gender roles?
Land ownership?
Religion?
In societies dominated by oral tradition, art replaces written language
Benin = “lost wax” process of sculpture
What does the existence of these bronze plaques indicate about Benin culture
c. 1000 CE?
600-1450 CE
Kingdoms and Empires
of Sub-Saharan Africa
800 – 1500 CE
Ghana =
Center of 4-5th C
African Gold Trade
(converted to Islam by 10th C)
Offered protection
for merchants
Impact of
Islam on trade?
Nature of Islam in
West Africa?
Islam as merchant
“social glue”?
(from Arabia
By 7th C)
70-90 days
to cross the Sahara
Mansa Musa’s Hajj 1324-1325
•  entourage of 60,000
•  500 men each carrying a
6 lb gold staff
•  80 camels each carrying
300 lbs of gold dust
•  500 slaves distributed along the way
as gifts
•  gifts of gold led to devaluing of
gold on global market by 25%
•  market didn’t recover for 25 yrs
•  brought back Arab scholars,
artists and architects = built
libraries, mosques, schools
Empire of Mali
Sundiata (r. 1230-1255 CE)
Mansa Musa (r. 1312-1337 CE)
1375 Catalan Map
Kingdom of
Kongo: 1000CE
(Congo River)
Centralized authority
royal currency system
Slaves = war captives,
Debtors, suspected witches,
Criminals,
SLAVES status symbols (NOT land),
Used as agricultural labor to increase
productivity of their land = wealth
(Chattal slavery??)
Internal slave trade =
10,000-20,000 slaves/ year
(With increased demand) =
10 million slaves to Islamic world
(750-1500 CE)
Cowry shells
as
standardized
currency
(Zanj Revolt 869 CE in Mesopotamia
15,000 slaves revolt/ controlled Basra)
Mosque at Djenne, Mali
What were the positive and negative
effects of Mansa Musa’s Mali Empire
on politics, economy, religion?
Songhay Empire
Sunni Ali (1464-1492)
African City States: East Coast
•  Swahili “coasters” engage in
trade with Arabs
•  Swahili = language (Arab influence)
•  10th C Arab trade increased to East Africa
•  Swahili city states =
great wealth 11-12th C
•  stone architecture/ Chinese porcelain
•  Kilwa exported over a ton of gold/yr
By 15th C
•  Axum: Christian Kingdom (4th C )
Merchants, kings converted
Christian influence very strong by 12th C
Great Zimbabwe: 12th C, 18,000 people
Christianity arrives by
1st century CE
Ethiopian Christianity
Different: HOW and WHY?
Lalibela, Ethiopia
12-13th centuries
13 churches
Contextualization= the historical circumstances surrounding a particular event