1. Chapter Eight: African Civilizations and the Spread of Islam

2. African Regions

4. African Civilizations and the Spread of Islam
Between 800 and 1500 C.E., Africa below the Sahara and civilizations in the Mediterranean and Asia had more and more contact with one another.
State building in Africa was influenced both by indigenous and Islamic inspiration.
Mali and Songhay = military power and dynastic alliances.
Western and eastern Africa= larger trading networks.
Parts of Africa south of the Sahara entered into the expanding world network; many others remained in isolation.

5. Pre-Islamic Africa Extremely diverse societies developed
Political unity was difficult because of terrain
Bantu is primary language spoken
Oral traditions; very few written records
Most communities are preliterate (lacking writing system)
Animistic and polytheistic religions common
Majority of Africa, even after introduction of Islam, will remain in isolation
Many who are exposed to Islam do not convert but remain practitioners of their indigenous religion

6. “Stateless” Societies
Many small communities are politically organized in this way
Authoritarian and centralized empires will exist, however.
Lack concentration of power and authority
Authority and power normally exercised by a ruler and court is held by a council or families or community
Typically controlled by lineages or kinships
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
Internal problems could be resolved by allowing dissidents to leave and establish new villages
Christianity and Islam sometimes influenced political and cultural development

7. African Economy Economies vary by region
N. Africa integrated into the world economy via Islamic trade routes and Mediterranean
Most participate in agriculture and ironworking
Encouraged regional trade and urbanization.
Africans exchanged abundant raw materials for manufactured goods.

8. Influence of Islam in Africa
7th century: Muslim armies moved west from Egypt across N. Africa
Spreads Islamic influence; rapid conversions
Traders and travelers brought Islam along pre-existing caravan routes.
Berbers (people of the Sahara) begin to convert to Islam
11th-12th centuries: Almoravids and Almohads (reforming Muslim Berbers) from western Sahara grow in power
Launch jihad (war to spread and protect faith)
Almohads defeat Almoravids
Almohad Caliphate:
These groups are essential to penetration of Islam throughout Africa.
Almoravids

9. 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
Most of their population did not convert
Arrival of Islam after the 10th century reinforced ruling power

10. Story Time “Sub-Saharan Africa” p. 123
Take notes on “Sub-Saharan Africa” -

11. Sudanic States
Islam reinforced ideas of kingship and power: “royal cult”
Joining Islam gives rulers prestige and associates them with other great Muslim leaders
Majority of population never converted but retain their polytheism/animism
Trade gold for salt from Berbers in North Africa
Mali, Ghana and Songhai
Combine Islamic religion/culture with local practices
Each incorporates the previous kingdom; bigger than last

12. 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

13. Story Time “Kingdom of Ghana” p. 123
Take notes on “The Kingdom of Ghana” -

14. Mali Broke away from Ghana in 13th c.
Economy: agriculture and gold trade
Traders spread beyond W Africa
Very wealthy empire
Islamized state in 13th c. when rulers convert
Founder: Sundiata (dies 1260)
Credited with Malinke expansion and creation of unified state with each tribe having a representative at court
Governing system based on clan structure
Mansa Musa is successor
Jenne and Timbuktu
Major cities of commercial exchange
Scholars, craft specialists, and foreign merchants
Timbuktu was famous for its library and university

15. Mansa Musa 1324: Hajj to Mecca
Aligns himself with elite Islamic rulers
Brings back scholars, architects
Inadvertently devastates economies he enters
Indicates wealthy, sophisticated empires existed in Africa
Estimated wealth: $400 billion

16. King Mansa Musa’s astounding wealth came from his country Mali’s production of more than half the world’s gold and salt, Celebrity Net Worth said. A photograph of Mansa Musa on a map of North Africa circa 1375.
Read more:

17. Quoted from http://www. nydailynews
King Mansa Musa wasn’t just the 1% of the 14th century — he may be the richest person of all time.
As the obscure ruler of West Africa’s Mali Empire, Musa amassed a jaw-dropping $400 billion during his reign from 1312 to 1337, according to a new inflation-adjusted list by celebritynetworth.com.
That outranks the Rothschild family, whose European banking dynasty landed them second on the list with $350 billion, and John D. Rockefeller, the American industrialist worth $340 billion.
Read more:

18. Songhay Independent from Mali in 1370s
Prospered as a trading state and military power.
Founded by Sunni Ali ( )
Great military leader; extended rule over the entire Niger River valley.
Sunni Ali’s successors were Muslim rulers with the title of askia
Songhay remained dominant until defeated by Moroccans in 1591 for not being “Muslim enough”

19. Influence of Islam in 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.
Hesitancy over conversion to Islam since it restricts women more than these societies did
Slavery and slave trade was prevalent from Muslim influence

20. Swahili Coast of East Africa
Coasts enable East Africa to be connected to India Ocean trade
Islamized trading ports along coast by 13th c.
Kilwa, Mogadishu, Mombasa: large city-state centers of Islam
Ibn Battuta: Islamic scholar/writer who visits these cities
Exported raw materials in return for Indian, Islamic and Chinese luxuries
Swahili language (Bantu + Arabic) emerged in urbanized trading ports
More than 30 coastal trading towns flourished.
Rulers and merchants were often Muslim.
Most of the population retained African beliefs and few converted to Islam
Culture = Swahili as language and fused African and Islamic practices
Islam built a common bond between rulers and trading families.

22. Central Africa Luba (Near Southern tip)
Across central Africa, agrarian societies thrived and kingdoms developed
Yoruba
Non Bantu-speaking
Highly urbanized agriculturalists
Small city states
Benin
Forms in 14th century under ruler/oba Ewuare the Great
Ruled from the Niger River to the coast near Lagos
Artists worked in ivory and cast bronze
Luba (Near Southern tip)
Divine kingship
Hereditary bureaucracy

23. Central Africa without Islam
Both develop free of Islamic contact
Kongo (lower Congo River)
Agricultural society, flourishes by 15th
Gender division of labor and family-based villages
Largest site: Mbanza Kongo = 60, ,000 people
Zimbabwe (east, central Africa)
Great Zimbabwe, largest site
Dominated gold sources and trade with coastal ports
Internal divisions split during 16th century)

24. 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).
Oppressed by Byzantine Christians caused them to welcome Muslim invaders
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.

25. Global Connections
Spread of Islam brought large areas of Africa into the global community through increasing contact from CE between Africa and Mediterranean and Asian civilizations.
South of the Sahara were Sudanic states and in East Africa
However, most of Africa evolved in regions free of Islamic contact (Central + Southern Africa).
Organized their lives in stateless societies.
While no universal empires and religions develop in Africa, Christianity and Islam impact the region through political, economic, and cultural development.
Many Africans organized their lives in stateless societies.

26. Africa Story time p. 122 Take notes on “The Nubian Civilization”-
Take notes on “The Axumite Civilization”

27. Let’s Practice
Which of the following statements concerning universal religions in Africa is most accurate?
Islam after 1200 swept throughout African society and established a universal cultural foundation
There was no universal religion in Africa, but both Christianity and Islam found adherents
Despite the temporary influence of Islam, Christianity was the universal religion of Africa by 1500
Indigenous African animist religions were too powerful for either Islam or Christianity to win any adherents
During the postclassical period, African was politically united under a single government but remained religiously diverse.

28. Let’s Practice
Which of the following statements concerning universal religions in Africa is most accurate?
Islam after 1200 swept throughout African society and established a universal cultural foundation
There was no universal religion in Africa, but both Christianity and Islam found adherents
Despite the temporary influence of Islam, Christianity was the universal religion of Africa by 1500
Indigenous African animist religions were too powerful for either Islam or Christianity to win any adherents
During the postclassical period, African was politically united under a single government but remained religiously diverse.

29. How was the institution of slavery viewed in Muslim society?
Islam expanded to India and southeast Asia, providing a religious bond of trust between those regions and the converted rulers of the cities of east Africa
Because Islam regarded Christians as “people of the book”, Muslim merchants came to trade at the Christian ports of east Africa
The connection with the Islamic states of north Africa permitted the urbanized ports of east Africa to trade widely with northern Europe
The direct trade routes between the states of west African and the coast of east Africa stimulated commerce between the cities of the East and the Atlantic Ocean
Trade routes were established in connection with the travels of Muslim missionaries.

30. How was the institution of slavery viewed in Muslim society?
Islam expanded to India and southeast Asia, providing a religious bond of trust between those regions and the converted rulers of the cities of east Africa
Because Islam regarded Christians as “people of the book”, Muslim merchants came to trade at the Christian ports of east Africa
The connection with the Islamic states of north Africa permitted the urbanized ports of east Africa to trade widely with northern Europe
The direct trade routes between the states of west African and the coast of east Africa stimulated commerce between the cities of the East and the Atlantic Ocean
Trade routes were established in connection with the travels of Muslim missionaries.