6. Early African Societies
• Standard: Describe the diverse
characteristics of early African societies
before 1800 CE
• Essential Question: What were the
diverse characteristics of early African
societies?
African Geography
• Element: Analyze the role of geography
and the distribution of resources played in
the development of trans-Saharan trading
networks.
• Vocabulary: trans-Saharan
African Geography
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the second largest continent
stretches for almost five thousand miles
surrounded by two seas and two oceans
Africa has four distinct climate zones
the four different climate zones have
affected the way Africans live
African Climate Zones
• a mild zone across the northern coast and
the southern tip
• deserts in the north (the Sahara) and the
south (Kalahari)
• rain forest along the equator
• savannas (broad grasslands) that stretch
across Africa both north and south of the
rain forest
Trans-Saharan trade
• trade across the Sahara
• camel caravans used to transport goods
Distribution of Resources
• Gold was mined in
the western subSahara
• traders brought salt
from the Sahara and
manufactured goods
from Europe and
Islam in exchange for
gold
Sudanic Empires
• Element: Describe the development and
decline of the Sudanic kingdoms (Ghana,
Mali, Songhai); include the roles of
Sundiata, and the pilgrimage of Mansa
Musa to Mecca.
• Vocabulary: Sudanic kingdoms, Ghana,
Mali, Songhai, Sundiata, Mansa Musa
Ghana
Description:
• AD 700-1240
• rulers in the region gained
wealth by taxing traders
that crossed their area
• through wealth, the region
developed into a kingdom
where salt and gold was
traded and taxed
• Islam spread throughout
the kingdom
Ghana
Decline:
• Muslims eventually attacked the area disrupting trade
and left the kingdom in ruins
• by 1076 the leaders of Ghana lost the ability to keep the
trade of the empire safe
• when their power of the trade routes was gone, they also
lost control of their people
• by 1240 the empire of Ghana was gone
Mali
Description:
• AD 1235 – 1599
• Mali became
established in the
early 1200s when
several kingdoms
were united after the
fall of the Ghana
Empire
• Became wealthy
through the salt and
gold trade
Mali
Decline:
• Mali’s power began to weaken
• succession to the throne was disrupted
Sundiata
• the first great leader
of Mali
• established a strong
government (finance,
defense, and foreign
affairs)
• made travel through
the kingdom safe
• reestablished a strong
gold/salt trade
Mansa Musa
• Emperor of Mali who
made a pilgrimage to
Mecca
• gave out vast amounts
of gold along his way
• brought back Muslim
scholars and architects,
who built mosques,
libraries, and universities
• Timbuktu became a
center of Muslim culture
Songhai
Description:
• 1375-1591
• largest and last West
African Empire
• formed by the
descendants of fishermen
along the Niger River
• took over territories from
the weakened
• eventually replaced Mali
• well governed empire with
a large military
Songhai
Decline:
• Empire collapsed in 1591
• Moroccan invaders with gunpowder and cannons
defeated Songhai warriors
Bantu Migrations
• Element: Identify the Bantu migration
patterns and contribution to settled
agriculture.
• Vocabulary: migration, Bantu-speaking
peoples, ironworking, slash-and-burn
farming, sub-Sahara, assimilation
Bantu
• 500 BC – AD 1000
• different groups of
people from West
Africa
• shared a common
culture
– migrant farmers
– slash and burn
method
– Ironworkers
– animistic belief
Slash and Burn Agriculture
Patch of forest cut down and burned, ashes mixed into soil creating fertile
garden area. Land loses fertility quickly and is abandoned for another plot
Bantu contribution
• After hundreds of years the Bantu settled in
southern Africa
• introduced agriculture to areas they settled and
passed through
• passed knowledge of iron-working on to others
Religious Syncretism
• Element: Analyze the process of religious
syncretism as a blending of traditional
beliefs with new ideas from Islam and
Christianity
• Vocabulary: syncretism
Religious Syncretism
• blending of religions
through conquest or
trade
• many Africans
converted to either
Islam or Christianity,
but also retained their
local religious beliefs
Trade Networks
• Element: Describe the trading networks
by examining trans-Saharan trade in gold,
salt and slaves; include the Swahili trading
cities
• Vocabulary: Swahili
Trans-Saharan Trade
• Sub-sahara supplied about 66% of the
world’s gold
• Timbuktu will rise as a leading city in the
exchange of goods
African Slave trade
• Arab traders exported
slaves from Africa to
Arabia and India to be
used as domestic
servants and soldiers
• The slave trade was
minor compared to
the later slave trade
to the Americas
Swahili Trade cities
• AD 1500
• Swahili regions
develop on East
African coast
• mixing African and
Asian cultures starting
in the trade centers