Africa Study Guide
C39 Africa is the world’s _____2nd___________ largest continent.
C39 ________Nile_________ River is located in Northeast Africa & is the longest river in the world
C39 ________Niger__________ River is located in West Africa
C38-39The Sahara Desert isolated _____North Africa__from the rest of the continent and is the _____largest__desert in Africa
3000 B.C. -Bantu
T141 Who were the Bantus? Migrants from West Africa
T141 What did they spread throughout Africa? Farming & Iron Working Skills
400 B.C. Berbers cross the Sahara Desert
T129/CB40 The Berbers an African tribe, lived in _______North Africa_______. In 400 B.C. the Berber people of North Africa
found ways to cross the Sahara to West Africa
T129/CB40 How did the Sahara trade develop?
1.
2.
The Romans introduced the camel
Berber traders formed caravans of camels to cross the Sahara Desert to trade with West Africa
CB42 What was the benefit of using a camel to cross the desert?
Camels can travel for 4-5 days without water and can carry very heavy loads
400s-1200s Empire of Ghana
CB40 Located in _____West ___Africa along the ____Niger_______ River
CB40 Advantage of location Located between the Salt & Gold mines/ crossroads of trade
CB40 What were the two primary items traded? Where did each item come from?
Salt-Northern Africa/ Sahara Desert
Gold- Western Africa / South of the Sahara Desert
CB40 How did Ghana gain wealth & power? Traders had to pass through Ghana – Ghana taxed the traders
CB41 Why did traders have no choice but to pay taxes to Ghana’s kings?
Ghana had iron ore & new how to make iron weapons
Ghana had a strong army/ controlled the West Africans that owned the gold mines
Salt & Gold were very high in demand so traders were willing to pay any price
CB40 Explain how trade along the Niger River worked
North Africa: sends salt south and trades for gold
West Africa: sends gold north and trades for salt
*Silent Bartering process
T130 Who brought Islam to Ghana/Africa? Berbers and Arab Traders
1200s-1450s Empire of Mali
T132 Located in _______West Africa____________ Africa along the _______Niger________ River
CB43 Mali took control of the _____Gold Mines_______
CB43 Major Rulers ______Sundiata_________ & _____Mansa Musa__________
Sundiata conquers an Empire
T131 What did Sundiata do for the people of Mali? United them
T131 Sundiata took control of ____Timbuktu________& ____Jenne________. Mali built its wealth & power on the gold and
salt trade
Mansa Musa expands Mali
T138 Mansa Musa was a devout ____Muslim_______. However, he allowed his subjects to ___practice their own religion____
Mansa Musa attracted the attention of many nations with his famous pilgrimage, or trip, to Mecca/Makkah.
T138 Describe Mansa Musa’s journey to and from Mecca:
- Answers will vary
C43 What did Mansa Musa do when he returned from his journey? How did this effect Timbuktu?
He ordered the building of new mosques at the trading cities of Timbuktu.
Timbuktu became one of the most important cities of the empire and attracted Muslim judges, doctors,
scholars…esc
T137 Who is Ibn Battuta? What did he spend most of his life doing?
Young Arab lawyer from Morocco – spent most of his life traveling to different Muslim cities.
T131 What was the primary reason Mali declined?
Mali weakened after the death of king Mansa Musa
T134 What was similar about the governments of Mali & Ghana?
They both had strong central governments
1000-1600 Empire of Songhai
C45 Location: Along the Niger River in West Africa- extended into the Sahara Desert
C45/T131-132 Achievements of Sunni Ali:
-Extended his territory
-Seized Timbuktu and the salt mines of North Africa
C45/T139 Achievements of Askia Muhammad (particularly for the religion of Islam):
-Made Timbuktu an important center of Islamic learning
-Set up a famous university & opened schools to teach the Quran
700-1450 Empire of Zimbabwe
C45 Location: Southeast Africa- near the Indian Ocean
T132chart Goods Traded: gold, ivory, copper
C45 Key facts: 900s started trading with inland states- Zimbabwe became the region’s biggest empire
Islam in Africa – Read over the information on pg 47 in your comp book!
A Muslim place of worship is known as a ______mosque_______
Timbuktu was a very important city to each empire that gained control of it. Overtime, Timbuktu became both an
important city for trade and of___Islamic_____ learning. (which religion)
The Slave Trade
C48 What caused the slave trade to increase in Africa? Contact with the Muslim world
T143European Slave Trade
Portugal’s use of the slave trade-
Portuguese began purchasing and selling enslaved Africans and forcing them to work on sugarcane plantations
Europeans use of the slave trade-
Europeans began using enslaved workers on plantations in the Americas
There will be several document based questions such as maps, charts, and excerpts like the one below