1. Tropical Africa and Asia, 1200-1500
Chapter 8

2. I. Tropical Lands and Peoples
A. The Tropical Environment
Warm year round
Tropics set between Cancer and Capricorn, equator at center
Africa, southern Arabia, most of India, SE Asian mainland and islands
Heavy rainfall on western coast of Africa all year, dry inland
Monsoons throughout Indian Ocean
Heavy rainfall produces rainforests.
Most people in this area live between the deserts and rainforests.
Many rivers assist in survival.

3. B. Human Ecosystems
Ecosystem: how people make use of the plants, animals, and other resources of their physical environments
Domestication existed, but some preferred to rely on “wild” food (hunting, fishing, plants)
Pastoralists used knowledge of local water and rain patterns to feed animals
Northeastern Africa and Arabia was home to world’s largest concentration of pastoralists
Most Africans made livelihood through agriculture
Farming even more dominant in South and Southeast Asia (dense populations as a result)

4. C. Water Systems and Irrigation
Basic form of cultivation had always been extensive
Farmers abandoned fields every few years after soil’s natural fertility was exhausted.
Cleared new fields, ashes from burned trees boosted soil fertility
Intensive agriculture: rice in Niger River delta
Farmers in SE Asia built special water-control systems to irrigate terraced rice paddies
Villagers in SE India built dams to slowly release water through canals.
Largest irrigation systems in the tropics were government public works projects
Vulnerable to attack, but could be rebuilt through local initiative, simpler technologies

5. D. Mineral Resources
Mining and metal work throughout the tropics
Copper and gold most valuable, important in long-distance trade
Iron most abundant and useful
Farming and hunting tools, needles and nails, weapons
African blacksmiths tied to magical powers
Indian gold and silver mines exhausted by this time period, imported lots of gold
E. Cities and empires rested on the food, labors, and taxes of the regular people of these lands.

6. II. New Islamic Empires
A. Largest and richest tropical states of the time period
B. Mali in the Western Sudan
Founded by an indigenous African dynasty
Replaced Ghana
Adopted Islam through peaceful influence of Muslim merchants and scholars
Takrur: location of first sub-Saharan African ruler to adopt Islam, about year 1030
Muslim rulers fostered the spread of Islam.
Wealth depended on participation in trans-Saharan trade

8. Mansa Musa (r. 1312-1337): made pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca
Depended on a well-developed agricultural base and control of trade routes
Larger than Ghana, controlled trading area and gold fields of upper Niger river; great prosperity as a result
Mansa Musa (r ): made pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca
Travelled with large entourage
Gave out gold for gifts, depressed value
Built new mosques and schools in Mali cities
Ibn Battuta (Muslim scholar from Morocco) praised Mali’s government.
Began to decline after 200 years
Central states (Hausa, Kanem) grew in importance

10. C. The Delhi Sultanate in India
Founded and ruled by invading Turkish and Afghan Muslims
Divided states of northwest India subject to raids since 11th century
Warlords motivated by desire to spread Islam and plunder for goods
Between 1206 and 1236, Muslim invaders extended rule over Hindu princes and chiefs
Muslim rulers eventually grew more benign, required Hindus to pay special tax
Hindus never forgot the intolerance and destruction of first contacts with invaders

12. Ruler Iltutmish designated daughter Raziya as his heir.
Good ruler, did her best to please subjects, imprisoned by Turkish chiefs, killed by a robber
Sultan Ala-ud-din Khalji (r ): ruthless but efficient, frontier raids and high taxes kept treasury full
Wage and price controls in Delhi, network of spies
Extended south and took Gujarat in 1298

13. Rulers mixed in terms of tolerance and success
Turkish rulers relied on terror more than toleration; harsh military and high taxes
Threats to Delhi Sultanate: personal and religious rivalries within Muslim elite, discontent of Hindus
Bahmani kingdom ( ) controlled Deccan Plateau
Hindu states of southern India united and formed Vijayanagar Empire
Bengal (east) became center of Sufi tradition of Islam

14. Gujarat (west) got independence in 1390.
Turko-Mongol leader Timur took Delhi
Delhi Sultanate important to in development of centralized political authority in India
Efforts to improve food production, promote trade and economic growth, est. common currency
Islam gradually acquired permanent place in South Asia

15. III. Indian Ocean Trade
A. The Indian Ocean region was the world’s richest maritime trading network and an area of rapid Muslim expansion.
B. Monsoon Mariners
Desire for luxury goods
Larger ships built
Greater strategic importance after collapse of Mongol Empire disrupted overland trade routes
Two legs: Middle East across Arabian Sea to India and India across bay of Bengal to SE Asia
Chinese junk the top ship
Networks tied together through commercial interests rather than political authority

16. C. Africa: The Swahili and Zimbabwe
30-40 separate city-states along East African coast by 1500
Swahili: “shores of the blacks,” mixture of African, Arabic, and Persian influences
Mogadishu the most important commercial center
Great Zimbabwe hit peak in 1400
Lots of gold
Unmortared stone structures built for upper class
Mixed farming, cattle herding, long-distance trade
Ecological crises hastened decline in 15th century

19. D. Arabia: Aden and the Red Sea
Aden at southern coast of Arabia
Monsoon winds brought enough rain to survive.
Convenient stopover for trade
Good relations among different cultures and religions of the area

20. E. India: Gujarat and the Malabar (southwestern) Coast
Prospered through trade, rich agricultural hinterland
Muslim rulers extended control over neighboring Hindu states
Exported cotton and indigo in return for gold and silver
Marco Polo wrote about leatherworks.

21. D. Southeast Asia: The Rise of Malacca
Principal passage from Indian Ocean to South China Sea
Between Malay Peninsula and island of Sumatra
Mainland kingdom of Siam and Java-based kingdom of Majapahit had control.
Malacca dominated the narrowest part of the strait
Meeting point for traders from India, China, and Southeast Asia
Cosmopolitan residents

22. IV. Social and Cultural Change
A. causes: state growth, commercial expansion, spread of Islam between 1200 and 1500
B. Architecture, Learning, and Religion
Wealthy merchants and ruling elites spent lots of money in cities.
Mansions, palaces, places of worship
Muslims promoted literacy in order to read religious texts.
Advanced Muslim scholars studied Islamic law, theology, administration, and math and science.
Muslim rulers did not impose their faith; merchants, missionaries more persuasive.
Islamic invasions reduced Buddhism to minor faith in India

23. C. Social and Gender Distinctions
Significant growth in slavery as the elite prospered
Status of Hindu women may have improved
Sati ritual now optional for widows
Marriages still arranged before puberty
Women expected to observe stricter rules than men, punished by lighter penalties than men for crimes against law and custom
Female status determined by male “master”
Roles for women: child rearing, food preparation, farming, making clay pots, making clothes, spinning yarn, marketing in Africa

24. V. Conclusion
Much of this chapter can be found in the travels of Ibn Battuta ( ).
Tropical Africa and Asia contained nearly 40% of world’s population
Commercial, political, and cultural expansion drew diverse people together
Delhi Sultanate brought South Asia its greatest political unity since the Guptas
Mali extended Ghana’s role in West Africa.
Empires and kingdoms rose and fell, but villages endured.