By: Naomi, Andi, Myhana, Keanu, Javier, Alan
History 10
WEST AFRICAN SOCITIES IN 1400’S
GEOGRAPHY

-

West Africa has three
distinct climate zones
- Desert
- Savanna
- Rain Forest
Within the climate
zones, numerous
diverse peoples lived in
societies; from simple
village communities to
wealthy kingdoms.
BACKGROUND


Its prehistory, in which the
first human settlers
arrived, agriculture
developed, and contact
made with the
Mediterranean
civilizations to the north.
In the Iron Age, the
Sahara Highway was
formed and became a
well-established trading
network that connected
all of West Africa to ports.

Ancient West Africa
included the Sahara, as
the Sahara only became a
desert in around 3000
BCE.
THE THREE EMPIRES
The
Songhai
Empire
The Benin
Empire
The Kongo
Empire
SONGHAI EMPIRE


It was a succession of
empires-first Ghana, then
Mali and finally Songhai,
located in western Africa.
It’s capital was the city
of Gao, where a Songhai
state had existed since the
11th century.


The Songhai state has
existed in one form or
another for over a thousand
years.
From the early 15th to the
late 16th century, Songhai
was one of the
largest Islamic empires in
history.
SONGHAI EMPIRE CONT’D


If one traces its rulers from the
first settlement in Gao to its semivassal status under the Mali
Empire through its continuation in
Niger as the Dendi Kingdom.
The Songhai are thought to have
settled at Gao as early as 800 CE,
but did not establish it as the
capital until the 11th century,
during the reign of Dia Kossoi.


However, the Dia dynasty
soon gave way to the
Sonni, proceeding the
ascension of SulaimanMar, who gained
independence and
hegemony over the city and
was a forbear of Sonni Ali.
Mar is often credited with
wresting power away from
the Mali Empire and
gaining independence for
the small Songhai kingdom
of the time.
BENIN EMPIRE


Benin was initially ruled by
the Ogisos dynasty until the 
dynasty ended and Eweka
changed the name of the
land to Edo and the dynasty
to Oba.

The leader of the dynasty
was called the Oba,
meaning king

In 1440 Oba Ewuare the
Great came to power and
changed the many citystates.
The center of the kingdom
was Ubinu, the royal
administrative city.
Ewuare started the first
Golden Age of the Benin
kingdom by turning Benin City
into a military capital
protected by moats and
walls. Using this military
center he started expanding
his empire.
BENIN CONT’D

The first Europeans to reach
Benin were the Portuguese. A
strong trading relationship
developed, Benin traded the
Portuguese ivory, peppers, and
palm oil for manila and guns.

Through the 1880s and 1890s
Benin did not sign a protective
treaty with Britain. Then eight
British representatives went to
Benin and were unknowingly
killed. This lead the British to
invade Benin and burn down
everything in the capital ending
the empire.
KONGO EMPIRE


The Kingdom of Kongo
(Wene wa Kongo) west
central Africa in what are
now northern
Angola, Cabinda, and
the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
The Kingdom consisted of
several provinces, ruled by
the Manikongo, a single
ruler (king or emperor) who
held the kingdom together
through royal marriages,
taxes, and war.





Capital: Mbanza-Kongo
Government: Monarchy
Area: 49, 962 sq. miles
Population: circa 1470 est. 4
million
Religion: Christianity (King
converted 1485 by
Portuguese.
KONG EMPIRE CONT’D

High concentration of
population
around M’BanzaKongo and its outskirts
played a critical role in the
centralization of Kongo.
The capital was densely
settled in an otherwise
sparsely populated area
where rural population
densities did not exceed
around 5 people per
square kilometer.

Early Portuguese travelers
described Mbanza Kongo
as a large city, the size of
the Portuguese town
of Évora as it was in 1491.
CULTURE
Religion
Family
Life
Roles of Women and Men
Lifestyle
Slave Labor
CULTURE: RELIGION


Political leaders claimed
authority over basis of
religion.
Rituals part of daily life
 Farmers
 Hunters
 Fishermen


Worshipped a variety of
ancestral spirits and lesser gods
Centered around one Single
Creator

Belief in the Supernatural

Practiced Religions:
- Christianity
- Islam
CULTURE: FAMILY LIFE




Bonds of Kinship
Matrilineal Traces
Marriage outside of
Lineage groups
Parents are
responsible for their
children

Age carries rank:
- Elders control
Family Members
- Council
Representative
- Makes economic
decisions
CULTURE: ROLES OF WOMEN AND MEN
•
•
•
Vital Roles in Communities
Major Food Producers
Given authority over land
cultivation and usage
• Seen as most powerful
spiritual figures
• Not all women allowed to
join in
• In charge of spiritual events
• Know as oracles, spirit
mediums, and advisors
•
Responsible for:
- Hunting
- Protecting family and
village
- Making final decisions
- Dominant Gender
CULTURE: LIFESTYLE



Daily lifestyle consisted of
being around family, the
community, and doing
traditions.
Around the year of 1492,
people of West Africa
supported themselves by
fishing, farming, herding,
hunting, mining, and by
trading.
People near the savanna
depended on rivers
(Niger) to help their crops.


On the western cost
(Senegal and Gambia
rivers) farmers converted
swamps into rice fields.
This skill would accompany
West Africans to the
Americas.
Almost all groups believed
in collective ownership of
property.
CULTURE: SLAVE LABOR



West Africans divided tasks
by age and social status
In some societies there
were slaves, although unlike
in the US people were not
born into slavery.
The slaves did not spend
their lifetime in slavery ->
adoption, marriage




The slaves did not spend their
Slave labor was brought from West
Africa to the Americas --> continued
through generations, race.
Slavery was the biggest
interaction between Africans
and Europeans.
After exploring Africa, a lot of
changes (political, social, and
even economic) in Europe,
persuaded sailors to travel to
other unexplored places beyond
the ocean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
7UZTAYWr4u0&feature=youtube_g
data_player
BIBLIOGRAPHY






http://lakeviewhs.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2009/9/22/5537805
6/Ch%201_3%20West%20African%20Societies%20Aroudn%201
492.pdf
www. africanwomenculture.blogspot.com/2011/04/africanwomens-role-in-society-and.htmlhttp://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/
http://www.classzone.com/books/americans/page_build.cfm?cont
ent=links7_ch1&ch=1#item
http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/
http://family.jrank.org/pages/58/African-American-FamiliesHistorical-Cultural-Influences-on-African-American-FamilyLife.html
http://930kmafricanodyssey.tumblr.com/post/1211193556/jasonflorios-award-winning-portraits-of-gambian