Chapter 15.1: North and Central African
Societies
 In varied regions of Africa, climate and
topography, influenced how each
community developed.
 Various adaptations to environments
I. Hunting-Gathering Societies
 Hunting-gathering (or hunting-foraging) are
the oldest forms of social organization in
the world- began in Africa
 Small percentage of the population of
modern Africa continue to live in huntingforaging societies (ex: around the Congo
River- the Efe People), but these societies
are not exactly how prehistoric peoples
lived
A.
Forest Dwellers
 Efe are one of several hunting-gathering
societies in Africa- live in Ituri Forest in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly
Zaire)
 Efe live in small groups of no more than 50
members…all related
 Each family has own grass-and-brush
shelter within a camp…but homes are rarely
permanent
 Efe collect few possessions and move to
new camps as they use up the resources in
the surrounding area
 Efe society- women are the gatherers and
Efe men and older boys are the hunters
o Use poison-tipped arrows
 Efe add to their diet by trading honey, wild
game, and other forest products for crops
grown by farmers in nearby villages
B. Social Structure
 Respected older male, such as a father,
uncle, or father-in-law, typically serves as
group leader
 Each family within the band makes its own
decisions and is free to come and go
 Arguments are settled with long
discussions…or if cannot be rectified, a
group member may move to another band
 Ethical code that determines how members
share food and possessions
II. Stateless Societies
 Family organization is central to African
society
 Families are organized into groups called
lineages
o Members of lineage claim a common
ancestor
o Lineage includes living members, past
members, and future generations
o “World of the living, world of the dead,
world of those yet to be born…”
 Some societies where lineage groups take
the place of rulers…called stateless societies
o Without centralized system of power
o Authority balanced among lineages of
equal power
o Usually stateless societies worked
through differences to cooperate and
share power
 Igbo (or Ibo) people of southern Nigerialived in stateless society
o When disputes arose, respected elders
from different lineages settled the
problem (ex: Things Fall Apart
egwugwu)
o Igbo later encountered challenges from
European colonizers who expected one
single leader to rule over the whole
society
A.
Tracing Family Descent
 Way a society traces lineage decides the
inheritance rights and what groups
individuals belong to
 Patrilineal society- trace ancestors through
father…inheritance passes from father to
son…when son marries, he, his wife, and
their children remain part of his father’s
extended family
 Matrilineal society- children trace their
ancestors through their mothers. Young
men from a matrilineal culture inherit land
and wealth from their mother’s
family…even though inheritance rights are
based through descent from women, men
usually hold the positions of authority
 “Mother-land” “Father-land”
B.
Age-Set System
 Age set consists of young people within a
region who are born during a certain time
period
 Each age get passes together through
clearly identified life stages, such as warrior
or elder
 Ceremonies mark the passage to each new
stage
 Men and women have different life stages
 Community building projects, herding
cattle, assisting in raising of children
 Age-set system meant to teach discipline,
community service, and leadership skills to
their young
III. Muslim States
 Many stateless societies developed south of
the Sahara
 Islam played a vital role in political history
of North Africa
 After Muhammad’s death in 632, Muslims
swept across the northwest part of the
continent
o Muslims converted by conquest, and
peaceful means
 By 670- Muslims ruled Egypt- joined
Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria as the
Maghrib
 As Islam spread, some African rulers
converted to Islam
o Eventually basing governments upon
Islamic law
o Religious scholars were often
government advisers
A.
Islamic Law
 In Islam, following the law is a religious
obligation
 Muslims do not separate their personal life
from religious life, and Islamic law regulates
almost all areas of human life
o Islamic law helped to bring order to
Muslim states
 Provided the state with a set of
values that shaped a common
identity
 Law also helped to unify the Muslim
world…North Africa is still politically and
socially influenced by Islamic law today
 Berbers- desert dwellers who converted to
Islam…nomads, some were Christians and
Jews until expansion of Muslim Arabs in the
600’s
 Two Berber groups, Almoravids and
Almohads, founded empires that united the
Maghrib under Muslim rule
A. Almoravid Reformers
 11th century- Muslim reformers founded the
Almoravid Dynasty
o Members were Berbers originally from
Mauritania in western Sahara
o Movement began after a devout Berber
Muslim made a hajj to Mecca
 Brought a Muslim scholar from
Morocco, named Abd Allah Ibn
Yasin, back home to teach about
Islam
 Ibn Yasin gained followers with his strict
interpretation of Islam, known as the
Almoravids
 1050’s, Ibn Yasin led the Almoravids in an
effort to spread Islam through conquest
o Ibn Yasin died in battle, but Almoravids
took Morocco and founded
Marrakech…used as capital
 Almoravids then overran the West African
empire of Ghana by 1076, and captured
parts of southern Spain (called Moors
there)
B. Almohads Take Over
 Mid-1100’s: Almohads- another group of
Berber Muslim reformers took power from
the Almoravids
 Almohads began as a militant religious
movement in the Atlas Mountains of
Morocco
 Almohads followed teachings of Ibn
Tumart…after making a pilgrimage to
Mecca, Ibn Tumart denounced the later
Almoravid rulers for moving away from the
traditional practice of Islam
o Urged his followers to strictly obey the
teachings of the Qu’ran and Islamic law
 Almohads, led by Abd al-Mumin, fought to
oust the Almoravids and remain true to
traditional Islamic beliefs
 1148-Almohads controlled most of Morocco
and ended Almoravid rule
o Kept Marrakech as their capital
o By end of 12th century, had conquered
much of southern Spain
o Empire stretched from Marrakech to
Tripoli and Tunis on the Mediterranean
o Almohid Dynasty gradually declined and
broke into individual Muslim dynasties
 Societies in West Africa were emergingboasting tremendous economic and
political power and strong links to
international trade routes.