AFRICA
THE PHYSICAL SETTING

Africa has many different physical features.
 Plateau
– an area of land raised above the
surrounding land, with a flat surface
 Savanna – areas of dry grassland
 Tropical rain forest & jungle – tall trees, wide variety
of plants, usually gets about 100 inches of rain per
year
 Desert – extremely dry areas with less than 10
inches of rain per year
AFRICAN HISTORY
AFRICAN HISTORY
Early Africans did not have a written language.
 Much of what we know comes from stories,
poems, and songs passed from one generation
to another.
 In recent years, archaeologists have excavated
sites in Africa to learn more about the earliest
Africans.

THE PEOPLE OF
AFRICA
THE BANTU PEOPLE
Africa is a country with hundreds of different
cultures and ethnic groups.
 One of the most important groups are the
Bantu.

THE BANTU PEOPLE
“Bantu” is a term used to refer to the more
than 400 ethnic groups in Africa that have
similar language and customs.
 They were given the name “Bantu” because of
the similarities between their languages.

THE BANTU MIGRATION
 The
Bantu people
originally came from
the Middle East.
 They settle in West
Africa, but later
migrated over large
parts of the African
continent.

Migration – The systematic
movement of a group of
people.
THE BANTU MIGRATION
 Reasons
 Drying
for migration:
up of the Sahara grasslands hurt agriculture
– needed new farmland.
 Population increase – needed more space.
 Disputes over who should take over when a king
died – people would fight & some would leave to
start their own group.
 Tribal wars
 Adventure
 Expansion of territory
THE BANTU MIGRATION
 The migration
 1st phase –
 Around
happened in 3 phases
400 B.C.
 Passed through the Congo Forest
 Settled in the area near the Congo River
 Settled because of fertile land, good rainfall,
and good land for animals to graze on.
 Interacted with the Portuguese – were
introduced to maize, sweet potatoes, and
bananas.
THE BANTU MIGRATION
 2nd
phase –
 Around
1300 B.C.
 Settled on the western side of Lake Malawi
 Descendants include the Tumbuka, Kamanga, and
Tonga of Malawi
 Another group took a shortcut and settled near the
Zambezi River
THE BANTU MIGRATION
 3rd
phase –
 Between
1000 B.C. and the late 1300s B.C.
 Originally settled in Mashonland.
 Were forced out by groups like the Rozwi, Shona,
and Karanga.
 Finally settled in South Africa near the Kalahari
Desert.
WEST AFRICAN
KINGDOMS
WEST AFRICA

Many important societies started in West Africa.
 Ghana
 Mali
 Songhai
GHANA
Ghana was the earliest West African kingdom.
 Established by the Soninke people
 Participated in the gold-for-salt trade

 Extremely
profitable
Used iron tools to farm & clear land for grazing
animals.
 Developed agriculture along the Niger River

GHANA
Kings ruled Ghana
 Acted as war leaders and negotiated trade with
foreign merchants.
 Built large armies to conquer new territory.
 Most important ruler – Tunka Manin.

 Led
a huge army & gained new territory.
Empire began to decline when the kingdom lost
control of the salt trade.
 In 1234 the Malinke people overthrew Ghana
and established the empire of Mali.

MALI
Began after the fall of Ghana
 Took over the area where Ghana had been and
spread to the north and west.
 The greatest ruler was Mansa Musa.

 Developed

education, arts, and public building.
The city of Timbuktu became a center for
education.
 Had
a large university that attracted scholars from
Egypt and Arabia.
MALI
Disputes over who would rule when Mansa
Musa was gone weakened Mali.
 In 1468 the rebel leader Sonni Ali captured
Timbuktu and built the empire of Songhai.

SONGHAI



Started after the fall of
the Mali empire.
The kingdom centered
around the trading city
of Gao.
Stretched from the
Altantic Ocean to Lake
Chad.
SONGHAI

Sonni Ali kept tight control over the kingdom and
divided it into several provinces.
 Each
province had a governor and other government
officials who reported directly to him.
Built warships to patrol the Niger River.
 Mohammed Askia took control after Ali died.

 Made

Timbuktu and commercial center
Problems started when Askia died.
 People
fought among themselves and were
eventually defeated by the Moroccan army.