AP World History
Chapter 18 Study Guide
Name: ________________________________
Per.: _________
Important Terms, People, and Ideas
Age grades
Christianity
Diviners
Ghana
Griot
Islam
Kilwa
Kingdom of Kongo
Kongo
Koumbi-Saleh
Mali
Mansa Musa
Mecca
Muslim
Niani
Solomonic Dynasty
Songhay
Stateless societies
Sundiata
Swahili
Zimbabwe
Study Questions
1. What was the function of the griot in sub-Saharan African culture?
2. Why were bananas and camels so significant in early African history? What do they represent? How did
they change the way people lived?
3. How are kin-based societies structured? How are they organized politically?
4. Compare and contrast the Kingdom of Kongo with the Kingdom of Ghana.
5. Where and how did Islam spread to sub-Saharan Africa? How was it different from north African and
southwest Asian Islam? Why?
6. What was the role of the Mali empire in the Eurasian trade network? How did Mansa Musa influence its
development?
7. In what ways was Kilwa a good example of a Swahili city-state?
AP World History
Chapter 18 Study Guide
Name: ________________________________
Per.: _________
8. What was the important of gender and age grades in sub-Saharan African societies?
9. Discuss the history of slavery in Africa. How did the developments in the slave trade from 1000 to 1500
set the stage for the Atlantic slave trade to come?
10. How did Christianity and Islam supplement native African religions in this period?
Inquiry Questions
11. Why do you think we have so few names to associate with sub-Saharan African history in this period? How did
the nature of the societies contribute to this phenomenon? How did their cultural traditions contribute?
12. List and explain at least five reasons why Islam became such a prevalent religion in sub-Saharan Africa in this
period. Use examples to justify each point.
13. Compare and contrast the development of the Swahili city-states with the West African empires in the years from
the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries.