It’s Wednesday!, 10/24 “D” day
GOAL: To review
Islam in Africa.
Have out your
review sheets and
your chapter 8
notes.
Question #20
•Describe the
“common
elements” of
African society.
Common Elements
• Bantu-based language
• Stateless Societies
– Common in Africa
– Governed by family & obligation
– No tax, bureaucracy, army
Disadvantage:
Bantu
• Organizing public project
• Animistic religion
– Creator deity
– Personified natural forces
– Witchcraft
– Ancestors
• Economies
– Increasing settled ag & specialized trade
Question #21
•Trace how Islam
entered Africa.
N Africa: Arrival of Islam
• Long part of
Mediterranean world
• Islam quickly spread
– Berbers
• N. Africa splintered as
Abbasid weakened
– Puritanical movements
Question #22
• Describe the Sudanic states and
how they were organized.
–Sudanic States= kingdoms that
developed in the grasslands (so
grassland kingdoms of Ghana,
Mali & Songhai are also
considered Sudanic states).
W Africa: Grassland
Kingdoms/Sudanic States
• Merchants brought
Islam from N. Africa
• Powerful trade states:
Strategically located
b/t gold-rich forests
on coast & salt-rich
deserts & markets to
north
• 300-1200: Ghana
• 1240-1500 Mali
• 700s-1591 Songhai
Question #23
•How did Islam &
indigenous African
beliefs fuse?
Political & Social Life
• Consistently blended:
– Tradition =
• Clans
• Animism
• Women
– Islamic influence =
• Rulers political/religious authority
• Merchants
• Slave trade
• Islamization was class-based
– Rulers
– Merchants
– Peasants maintain native traditions
• Blending of cultures common
– Swahili
– Tracing lineage
Question #24
•Describe the
connection
between East
Africa & Islam.
E Africa: Swahili Coast
• Islam further
brings Africa into
fold w/ Indian
Ocean trade
• 1200s: City-states
develop
– Led by Arab elites
– Traded ivory, gold,
slaves from
interior for foreign
silk & porcelain
to
Arabia
to S
Asia
to SE Asia
Question #25
•Where did cultures
develop in Africa
that were not
affected by Islam?
NE Africa: Christian Societies
• Three persistent societies preceded Islam
– Egyptian Copts
– Nubia/Kush
– Ethiopia/Axum