African Civilizations and the
spread of Islam
African Societies: Diversity &
Similarities
• Stateless Societies: organized around
kinship, lacked political power & authority
• Did not need rulers or bureaucracies
• Sometimes larger & more extensive than
actual African states
• Families, communities held power; no need
to tax to support government
Other Alternatives
• Secret societies: found in west Africa
forests, men and women could join societies
through initiation ceremony
• Settled village disputes, enforced by
masked members
• Large space of Africa and frontier mentality
enabled stateless societies to thrive
Common Elements
• Bantu Language: provided linguistic ties
among Africans
• Animalism & Ancestor worship: provided
need for priests, gave guide for ethics and
behavior
Economy
• Economies of Africa far more diverse
• North: had always been integrated into
world markets due to proximity of the great
empires (Rome, Greece)
• Sub-Sahara: varied from region to region,
mostly local and regional trade; integrated
more into world markets when Islam
arrived
Islam Arrives: AD 640-700
• By 711, Islam had spread from Arabia, into
N. Africa, up into Spain
• Secret to Success: Equality under the law;
uniting state & religion attractive to African
kings
• Arabs = Berbers = Africans; at least under
the law, but not in practice
• Ex: Fine for killing a man 2x more thank
killing a woman
Early Reform Movements
• Almoravids: Berbers of the western Sahara,
Islamic puritans
• Almohadis: same as above
• “The disparity between law & practice between equality before God and inequality
within the world – led to these reform
movements.” (175)
The Christian Kingdoms
• Egypt & Nubia: arrived
here even before Rome;
Egyptian Christians called
Copts; allowed to keep faith
after Islamic conquests
• Ethiopian Kingdom:
remained a fiercely
independent Christian
kingdom to this day;
resisted all outside
influences from Islam,
Turks and other Christian
kingdoms
Kingdoms of the Grasslands
• 3 “Coasts”: Atlantic, Indian, & the sahel
• Sahel: belt of grassland between Sahara desert and jungles
to the south; became point of exchange for North & South
Africans
• Kingdom of Ghana: 3rd c. to 11th c., rose to power by
controlling salt & gold trade; converted to Islam in 10th c.,
invaded by Almoravids in 1076
Sudanic States
• Led by patriarch /
council of elders
• Subordinated
neighboring states
through taxes, tribute,
and/or military support
• Rulers considered
sacred, even after they
converted to Islam;
took on cultish status
Mali, Sundiata, Lion Princes, Oh
My!
• Mali: broke away from Ghana in 13th c.;
model Islamic Sudanic kingdom
• Diverse economy: agriculturally based, but
also depended on trade, especially gold
• Juula: Mali traders, spread throughout west
Africa
• Sundiata: legendary “Lion Prince”;
organized political structure of Mali; died in
1260, but Mali remained strong
Mister Mansa Musa
• Mansa Musa: made hajj in
1324, brought attention to
the wealth of Mali; caused
sensation across N. Africa
(179);
• Brought back Muslim
architect to build mosques
in the Sudan (example of
cross-regional ties)
City vs. Country
• Wealth of Sudan trade spawned great cities,
like Jenne and Timbuktu, which had a pop.
of 50,000 by the 1300s
• 80% of villagers were famers, NOT traders
• Hard to farm in the Sudan, sandy soil, most
farms less than 10 acres
• Polygamy common: more wives = more
kids = more farmers
+
+
•Replaced Mali, formed around Niger River Valley beginning
in 7th c.; completely independent by 1370s
•Rulers were Islam, commoners remained pagan (COMMON
THEME FOR SUDANIC STATES)
•Sunni Ali: fierce leader & military commander; expanded
borders, conquering Jenne & Timbuktu; Muslim, but opposed
anyone in his way (even fellow Muslims); used cavalry to
dominate enemies WHY CAVALRY?
•Empire broke apart at the end of 16th c.
Sorghum-grain or livestock food
Millet
Wheat
Political & Social Themes
Among Sudanic States
• Village clans & ethnic groups very important; development
of states provided larger framework, but small groups still
important
• Movement & fusion of populations
• Ruling families used religious titles to enforce authority
• Formation of states heightened social differences
• Islam provided religious unity, but was fused with other
beliefs; Sudanic states accommodated pagan beliefs
• Ex: differences in status of women (181)
• Slave Trade: escalated with Islamic contact; viewed as
stage in conversion process; C. Africans sent to E. African
coast
The Swahili Coast of East Africa
•1st – 10th c., Swahili Coast
becomes melting pot of
Arabs, Africans, and
immigrants from Malaysia
•Zanj: Arabic term for coast
•By 13th c., string of trading
ports had developed
•Governed by different
Muslim rulers
•Ivory, gold, iron, slaves,
exotic animals brought to
coast, traded for silks &
porcelain from the East
Coast Culture
• Rulers & merchants were often Muslim,
majority of population was not (ALERT!
COMMON AFRICAN THEME!)
• Swahili = Bantu language mixed with
Arabic
• Fused Islam with traditional beliefs
• A true “melting pot” of cultures
Peoples of the Forest and Plains
• Sub-Saharan Central Africa:
preliterate, used oral traditions
• Nok: village in C. Nigeria,
created highly complex artistic
objects
• Yoruba: non-Bantu speaking
people, ag. society ruled by
royal family & aristocracy;
organized in small city-states,
highly urbanized
• Benin: large city-state on W.
African coast
• Yoruban & Benin societies
highly artistic, and considered
rulers divine
Central African Kingdoms
• Beyond the rule & influence of Islam, settled around
Congo River
• Began state formation around AD 1000
• Kongo: flourishing kingdom by 15th c.; based on ag., also
developed weaving, pottery, blacksmithing; pop. Of 60k –
100k by early 1500s
• Sharp division of labor between men & women in Kongo
• King was hereditary, chiefs were not; allowed king to
better controls subordinates
• Kongo became essentially a confederation of smaller states
under the rule of the king
Greater Zimbabwe
• Zimbabwe literally means stone house;
these housed the local rulers
• Bantu-speakers, believed in bird of God,
built stone houses partially in bird’s honor
• 19th C. Europeans first suspected Arabs or
Phoenicians built stone houses, due to their
complexity
• King Mwene Mutapa: dominated interior
gold trade, allowed Zimbabwe to flourish