Chapter 15.3: Eastern City-States
and Southern Empires
 As early as the 3rd century, the kingdom of
Axum as part of an extensive trade
network…Red Sea port- traded with Arabia,
Persia, India, and Rome
 With spread of Islam in 7th century,
Aksumites were cut off from their Red Sea
port…moved capital to Roha (later named
Lalibela in Ethiopia)
I. East Coast Trade Cities
 By 1100, waves of Bantu-speaking people
had migrated across central Africa to the
east coast.
o Established farming and fishing villages
 Traders took advantage of monsoons to
make way across Indian Ocean to East
Africa
o Coastal villages grew into bustling
seaports
o Trade between East Africa and Arabia,
Persia, and India
 Swahili Language- blend of Bantu and
Arabic
o “Swahili” from Arabic meaning “people
of the coast”
Persian traders- brought Asian
manufactured goods to Africa and
African raw materials to Asia
Arab traders- in coastal markets sold
porcelain bowls from China and jewels
and cotton cloth from India…bought
African ivory, gold, tortoiseshell,
ambergris, leopard skins and rhinoceros
horns to carry to Arabia…
 By 1300, more than 35 trading cities dotted
the coast from Mogadishu in the north to
Kilwa and Sofala in the south
o Grew wealthy by controlling all
incoming and outgoing trade
A. The City-State of Kilwa
 1331- Ibn Battua visited Kilwa
o Commented on rich material culture
 Kilwa was as far south on the coast as a ship
from India could sail in one monsoon
season…trade goods from southerly regions
had to funnel into Kilwa, so Asian
merchants could buy them
 Kilwa also seized the port of Sofala…control
of overseas gold trade…made Kilwa the
wealthiest, most powerful coastal city-state
B.
Portuguese Conquest
 1488, the first Portuguese ships rounded
the southern tip of Africa and sailed north,
looking for a sea route to India
o Portuguese saw the wealth of the
Swahili coast and wanted to conquer it
for themselves
o Using heavy ships’ guns…Portuguese
took Sofala, Kilwa, and Mombasa
 Burned parts of Kilwa and built forts
on the sites of Kilwa and Mombasa
 Portuguese in East Africa for next
200 years
II. Islamic Influences
 Muslim traders introduced Islam to the East
African coast
o Growth of commerce caused Islam to
spread
 Every town had a mosque
 Muslim sultan governed most cities
 Most government officials and wealthy
merchants were Muslims
A.
Islamic Law
 1331- Ibn Battuta visited Mogadishu
 “Questions of religious law are decided by
the Qadi, other cases are judged by the
…wazirs and amirs. If a case requires the
views of the (Shaikh), it is put in writing for
him. He sends back an immediate reply”
 While most rulers, government officials,
and merchants were Muslim…the masses
still tended to hold traditional beliefs
B.
Enslavement of Africans
 Arab Muslims exported luxury goods and
enslaved persons from East African coast
 Africans were acquired through kidnapping
and raids and sent to slave markets in
Arabia, Persia, and Iraq
o Enslaved Africans were also used as
soldiers in India
o And worked on docks and ships at
Muslim-controlled ports
o And as household servants in China
 East African slave trade began around
900CE…greatly increased in volume in the
1700’s
III. Southern Africa and Great Zimbabwe
 Gold and Ivory that was exported from
coastal city-states, came from interior of
southern Africa
 Southeastern Africa, Shona people are
believed to have established a city called
Great Zimbabwe…grew into an empire built
on the gold trade
A. Great Zimbabwe
 1000, Shona people settled on plateau
between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers in
modern Zimbabwe
o Farming and cattle-raising
 Located on trade route between inland
goldfields and coastal trading city of Sofala
 1200’s to 1400’s- Great Zimbabwe became
the capital of a thriving state…taxed
traders, and demanded tribute
 City of Great Zimbabwe was the economic,
political, and religious center of its empire
 By 1450, Great Zimbabwe was abandoned,
not sure why?
o Overgrazing of cattle?
o Over-farming?
o Resources like salt and timber
exhausted?
B. Ruins of Great Zimbabwe
 60 acres of ruins
 Portuguese knew about Great Zimbabwe in
the 1500’s
 Karl Mauch, German explorer, one of first
Europeans to physically “rediscover” the
remains in 1871
o Shallow theory of “cedar”
wood…believed left by a lost white tribe
from Queen of Sheba
 Zimbabwe, from Shona phrase meaning,
“stone enclosure.”
 The Great Enclosure
o Large soapstone birds
o Build without mortar
C. Mutapa Empire
 Shona oral tradition, Mutota left Great
Zimbabwe about 1420 to find a new source
of salt
 Eventually, Mutota forced northern Shona
people to pay tribute to him
 Conquered peoples called him mwene
mutapa (conqueror or “master pillager”)
 Became origin of the Mutapa Empire
 Mutota was succeeded by his son, Matope
 Mutapa Empire mined gold deposited in
nearby rivers and streams
o Rulers also forced people in conquered
areas to mine gold for them
o Rulers sent gold to coastal city-states in
exchange for luxuries
 1500’s- Portuguese tried to conquer the
empire…failed at first, then resorted to
interfering in Mutapa
politics…foreshadowed European
intervention in Africa in the future.
Notes: Video Clips- Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe:
Karl Mauch
Gertrude Caton-Thompson