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7C h a p t e r

1500 B.C.–A.D. 1500

Flowering of AfricanCivilizations

> Movement Migrations of Bantu-speaking people influence Africa’scultural development. Section 1

> Cultural Diffusion Africa’s tradecontacts with Europe and Asiaaffect African cultures. Section 2

> Innovation East African city-statesdevelop a new culture based onAfrican and Arab cultures.Section 3

SThetoryteller

The Yoruba—West Africans living by the Niger River—

gather each winter to hear storytellers recount a legend that tells

of how their ancestors struggled to clear their land with tools

made of wood and soft metal. Even orishas, or gods, could not

cut through vines or trees with these tools until the god Ogun

appeared, carrying his bush knife.

“He slashed through the heavy vines, felled the trees and

cleared the forest from the land.… So [the people] made [Ogun]

their ruler.… He built forges for them and showed them how to

make spears, knives, hoes, and swords.”

Legends such as this describe experiences that early people

valued most. Early Africans built civilizations that have left rich

traditions for today’s peoples.

How did early Africans use the natural resources oftheir environment to develop trade networks? What impactdid their cultures have on other lands?

Historical Significance

182

Chapter Themes

Chapter 7 Flowering of African Civilizations 183

Prehistoric cave art from Tassili N’Ajjer Plateau, AlgeriaArt&

History

Consult a historical atlas, and drawan outline map of Africa showing earlyAfrican kingdoms, the dates when theyexisted, and major trade routes. Writeand answer questions based on the map’sdata.

Your History Journal

Chapter Overview

Visit the World History: The Human ExperienceWeb site at worldhistory.ea.glencoe.com andclick on Chapter 7—Chapter Overview to preview the chapter.

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Africa’s earliest civilizations left fewwritten records of their existence. Itwas through oral traditions—leg-

ends and history passed by word of mouth fromone generation to another—that early African peo-ples communicated knowledge about their culture.Thus, archaeologists and historians have had torely on legends and artifacts to learn about the cul-ture of African civilizations between 1100 B.C. andA.D. 1500.

Archaeologists have discovered that earlyAfrican cultures developed technologies and tradebased on regional natural resources. Civilizationsrose and declined, and were influenced by themovement of people and by the way in which nat-ural resources were developed.

Geography and EnvironmentAfrica’s geography and climate are a study in

contrasts. Africa, the world’s second-largest conti-nent, is three times larger than the United States.Within its huge expanse lie desolate deserts, loftymountains, rolling grasslands, and fertile river valleys.

Regions of AfricaThe African continent can be divided into five

regions based on location and environment: NorthAfrica, East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, andSouthern Africa.

North Africa consists of a thin coastal plain,bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and an inlanddesert area. Coastal North Africa has mild temper-atures and frequent rainfall. In contrast, the areasouth of this green belt is a vast expanse of sand:the Sahara, the world’s largest desert. Extendingmore than 3,500 miles (5,630 km) across the conti-nent, the Sahara is a region of shifting dunes andjagged rock piles.

> Terms to Defineoral tradition, plateau, savanna, matrilineal, age set

> People to MeetPiankhi, Ezana, the Nok

> Places to LocateNubia, Kush, Axum

African oral tradition contained stories full ofwisdom, to be enjoyed by all. For example, wheredid death come from? A myth from Madagascargave this answer. One day God asked the first cou-ple what kind of death they wanted, one like that ofthe moon, or that of the banana? The couple waspuzzled. God explained: The banana creates youngplants to take its place, but the moon itself comesback to life every month. After consideration, thecouple prayed for children, because without chil-dren they would be lonely, would have to do all thework, and would have no one to provide for. Sincethat time, human life is short on this earth.

—freely adapted fromThe Humanistic Tradition,Gloria K. Fiero, 1992

S e c t i o n 1

Early Africa

SThetoryteller

Kilimanjaro

Read to Find Out Main Idea A variety of societies andcultures emerged in early Africa.

The SahelSouth of the Sahara, the continent of Africa is

dominated by a great central plateau—a relativelyhigh, flat area known as the Sahel. This regionreceives moderate rainfall to sustain the savannas,or treeless grasslands, that cover the plateau. Thesavannas south of the Sahara constitute about 40percent of Africa’s land area.

In East Africa, the Sahel descends into a deepcrack known as the Great Rift Valley. The valleyextends 40 miles (65 km) in width and 2,000 feet(610 m) in depth. It runs 3,000 miles (4,827 km) fromthe Red Sea in the north all the way to SouthernAfrica. Rising above the Sahel plateau east of thevalley are two mountain peaks—Mount Kenya andKilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest moun-tain, with an elevation of 19,340 feet (5,895 m).

In West Africa, the Sahel descends to a narrowcoastal plain that has a relatively unbroken coast-line. The major rivers that do flow through thecoastal plain—the Niger and the Zaire (Congo)—are navigable only for short distances. The few nat-ural harbors and limited river travel isolated earlyAfrican civilizations and made foreign invasionsdifficult in some areas.

Central Africa near the Equator has lush tropi-cal rain forests so thick that sunlight cannot reachthe forest floor. Although the rain forest climate ishot and humid, 1,500 miles (2,413 km) farther souththe land again turns into a desert—the Kalahari.Still farther south, the Kalahari gives way to a cool,

fertile highland in Southern Africa.The African continent has provided rich

resources for its people. Early cultures developedwhere rainfall was plentiful, or near lakes or alongrivers like the Nile.

Nubia and KushBy 3000 B.C., a people called the Nubians estab-

lished a kingdom called Nubia in the southern partof the Nile River valley in present-day Sudan. TheNubian people mastered the bow and arrow andbecame warriors. With their military skills, theyconquered smaller neighboring communities in theNile Valley.

The Nubians maintained close contacts withEgypt to the north. Archaeologists have uncoveredthe tombs of Nubian kings, which contained pre-cious stones, gold, jewelry, and pottery. These are asornate as those found in Egypt from the same peri-od. Some scholars believe that political ideas, suchas monarchy, and various objects, like boats andeating utensils, reveal the early beginnings of theclose cultural links between Nubia and Egypt.

By 2000 B.C., the Nubian river civilization haddeveloped into the kingdom of Kush. After defeatin warfare, Kush was under Egyptian rule for 500years. Egyptian pharaohs stationed soldiers in Kushto collect duties on goods moving through the region.

The people of Kush used their location alongthe Upper Nile River to develop a strong trade


Wall painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City,New York. Four late Bronze Age Nubian princes offer rings and gold

to an Egyptian ruler. In what ways did Nubian culture resemble Egyptian culture?

Art&History

economy. The Kushite cities of Napata and Meroëstood where trade caravans crossed the Nile, bring-ing gold, elephant tusks, and timber from theAfrican interior. This strategic location broughtwealth to the merchants and kings of Kush.

Around 1000 B.C. Kush broke away from Egyptand became politically independent. In time Kushgrew strong enough that a Kushite king namedPiankhi (pee•AHNK•hee) in 724 B.C. led a power-ful army from Kush into Egypt and defeated theEgyptians. After this victory, Kushite kings ruledover both Egypt and Kush from their capital atNapata. The city boasted white sandstone temples,monuments, and pyramids fashioned in styles sim-ilar to those of the Egyptians.

In 671 B.C. the Assyrians invaded Egypt, easilydefeating the Kushites, whose bronze weapons wereno match against Assyrian iron swords. The Kushiteswere forced to leave Egypt and return to their hometerritory at the bend of the Upper Nile. In spite oftheir defeat, the Kushites learned from their enemiesthe technology of making iron. They built a newcapital at Meroë that became a major center for ironproduction. Kush merchants traded iron, leopard

skins, and ebony for goods from the Mediterraneanand the Red Sea regions. They also conducted busi-ness throughout the Indian Ocean area. Meroë’smerchants used their wealth to construct fine hous-es built around a central courtyard and public bathsmodeled after ones they had seen in Rome.

For about 150 years, the Kushite kingdomthrived. Then a new power—Axum, a kingdomlocated near the Red Sea—invaded Kush andended Kushite domination of northeastern Africa.

AxumBecause of its location along the Red Sea, Axum

also emerged as a trading power. During the 200sB.C., merchants from Egypt, Greece, Rome, Persia,and India sent ships laden with cotton cloth, brass,copper, and olive oil to Axum’s main seaport atAdulis. Traders exchanged their goods for cargoesof ivory that the people of Axum hauled fromAfrica’s interior.

Through trade Axum absorbed many elementsof Roman culture, including a new religion:

186 Chapter 7 Flowering of African Civilizations

Church of St. Mary of Zion. According to tradition, this churchcontains the original tablets of Moses, brought by King Menelik I

to Axum. Menelik, the legendary founder of Axum’s monarchy, was reputed tobe the son of the Israelite king Solomon and the Arabian queen of Sheba. Howdid Christianity come to Axum?

HistoryVisualizing

Christianity. A remarkable event led to the conversionof Axum’s King Ezana to Christianity. Shipwreckedoff the coast of Ethiopia, two Christians from Syriawere picked up and brought to King Ezana’s court.Over time they convinced Ezana that he shouldbecome a Christian. About A.D. 330 he madeChristianity Axum’s official religion. At this time,Christianity also became dominant in other areas ofnortheastern Africa—Kush and Egypt.

Axum declined after the rise of Islam duringthe A.D. 600s. Its Red Sea ports lost their importanceas links to the Mediterranean, and Axum’s rulers—confined to the remote interior of East Africa—setup the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia.

South of the SaharaBetween 700 B.C. and 200 B.C., during Axum’s

rise to power, a West African culture called the Nokhad already established itself in the fertile Nigerand Benue River valleys. In the 1930s archaeolo-gists working in present-day central Nigeria foundterra-cotta, or baked clay, figurines that providedevidence of the Nok culture. Working in the Noksites and other areas of West Africa, archaeologistsalso unearthed iron hoes and ax-heads. This latterdiscovery provided evidence that metal productionhad enabled African cultures south of the Sahara tofarm their land more effectively.

As West African farmers used their iron tools toproduce more food, the population increased. Arableland became scarce, causing widespread food short-ages. Small groups of Africans began to migratefrom West Africa to less populated areas. Over abouta thousand years a great migration took place.

Bantu MigrationsHistorians call this mass movement the Bantu

migrations because descendants of the people whomigrated throughout the continent share elementsof a language group known as Bantu. The Bantumigrations did not follow a single pattern. Somevillagers followed the Niger or other rivers, settlingin one spot to farm for a few years and moving on asthe soil became less fertile. Other groups penetratedthe rain forests and grew crops along the riverbanks.Still others moved to the highland savannas of EastAfrica and raised cattle. Groups that settled on theeastern coastal plain grew new crops, such asbananas and yams that had been brought to EastAfrica by traders from Southeast Asia.

As people pushed into new areas, they met otherAfrican groups that adopted their ways of life. Intime, Bantu-speaking peoples became the domi-nant group in Africa south of the Sahara.

Village LifeBantu-speaking Africans divided into hundreds

of ethnic groups, each with its own religious beliefs,marriage and family customs, and traditions.Close-knit communities formed in which most fam-ilies were organized into large households thatincluded descendants of one set of grandparents.

Many villages were matrilineal societies inwhich villagers traced their descent through mothersrather than through fathers. However, when a girlmarried, she joined her husband’s family. To com-pensate for the loss of a member, the bride’s familyreceived gifts of iron tools, goats, or cloth from thehusband’s family.


Arabia

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MapMapStudyStudy

Kingdoms of Kush and Axum

Kush and Axum developed along the Nile River and the Red Sea. Location Because of its location,

Axum was influenced by merchants and traders from what areas of the world?

Student Web Activity 7

Visit the World History: The Human Experience Web site at worldhistory.ea.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 7—Student Web Activities for an activity relating to Nubian women.

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Even before marriage, specific jobs wereassigned to groups of males and females of a similarage, called age sets. Boys younger than 10 or 12herded cattle; girls of that age helped their mothersplant, tend, and harvest crops. At about age 12,boys and girls took part in ceremonies initiatingthem into adulthood. A boy remained with his ageset throughout his life. After marriage, a girl joinedan age set in her husband’s village.

Religious BeliefsTo most Africans, all social laws and traditions

were made by a supreme god who created andruled the universe. The god rewarded those whofollowed social rules with abundant harvests andhealthy children, and punished those who violatedtradition with accidents, crop failures, or illness.

Beneath the supreme god, many lesser deitiesinfluenced the daily affairs of men and women.These deities were present in natural phenomena

such as storms, mountains, and trees. ManyAfricans also believed that spirits of dead ancestorslived with them and guided their destiny.

The religious beliefs and family loyalties ofmost Africans maintained village stability. Commu-nities expected their members to obey social rulesthey believed to have come from the supreme god.

Although African communities relied heavilyon religious and family traditions to maintain a sta-ble social structure, outside influences throughtrade and learning still affected them. NorthAfricans absorbed influences from the Arab world,whereas African people south of the Sahara adapt-ed to Persian, Indian, and later, European influ-ences. From these outsiders, African communitiesadopted many new customs, ideas, and languages.

The ArtsVarious arts developed throughout Bantu-

speaking Africa. African sculpture included figures,masks, decorated boxes, and objects for ceremonialand daily use. Most of these items were made ofwood, bronze, ivory, or baked clay. The wearing ofmasks at ceremonial dances symbolized the linkbetween the living and the dead. Those wearing themasks and performing the dances called uponancestral spirits to guide the community.

Music rich in rhythm was interwoven with thefabric of everyday African life. It included choralsinging, music performed at royal courts, andsongs and dances for ceremonies. In villages, wheremany activities were performed by groups, musicoften provided the motivation and rhythm for var-ious tasks, such as digging ditches or poundinggrain. African musicians used a variety of drums aswell as harps, flutes, pipes, horns, and xylophones.

Early Africa excelled in oral literature passeddown from one generation to another. The storiesincluded histories, fables, and proverbs. Oral litera-ture not only recorded the past but also taught tra-ditions and values.


Main Idea1. Use a diagram like the one

below to identify the majorearly African societies.

Recall2. Define oral tradition, plateau,

savanna, matrilineal, age set.3. Identify Sahel, Axum, Kush,

the Nok, Piankhi, Nubia, Ezana,Bantu.

Critical Thinking4. Applying Information

Explain how trade with the

Mediterranean world influ-enced the economy of thekingdom of Axum.

Understanding Themes5. Movement How do the

migrations of Bantu-speakingpeoples in early Africa comparewith the Aryan migrations inearly South Asia?

SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT

Early AfricanSocieties


Adiverse environment provided richnatural resources for the early king-doms of West Africa. Africans living

in this region between A.D. 300 and A.D. 1500 minedgold and other mineral resources. An active tradedeveloped between them and peoples outside WestAfrica who practiced a religion called Islam. Islampreached monotheism, or the belief in one God,and spread throughout the Middle East, NorthAfrica, and Spain during the A.D. 600s and A.D.700s. Through their trade contacts with Muslims,the followers of Islam, African cultures graduallyadopted Islamic cultural elements such as languageand religion.

Kingdom of GhanaThe kingdom of Ghana became one of the rich-

est trading civilizations in West Africa due to itslocation midway between Saharan salt mines andtropical gold mines. Between A.D. 300 and A.D. 1200the kings of Ghana controlled a trading empire thatstretched more than 100,000 square miles (260,000 sq.km). They prospered from the taxes they imposed ongoods that entered or left their kingdom. Becausethe ghana, or king, ruled such a vast region, the landbecame known by the name of its ruler—Ghana.

There was two-way traffic by caravan betweencities in North Africa and Ghana. Muslim tradersfrom North Africa sent caravans loaded with cloth,metalware, swords, and salt across the western Saharato northern settlements in Ghana. Large caravansfrom Ghana traveled north to Morocco, bringingkola nuts and farming produce. Ghanaian gold wastraded for Saharan salt brought by Muslim traders.

Salt was an important trade item for the peopleof Ghana. They needed salt to preserve and flavortheir foods. Using plentiful supplies of gold as a

> Terms to Definemonotheism, ghana, mosque

> People to MeetSundiata Keita, Mansa Musa, Askia Muhammad

> Places to LocateGhana, Mali, Timbuktu, Songhai

The poets of Mali preserved the history oftheir people. Hear one speak: ”I teach kings the

history of their ancestors so that thelives of the ancients might serve them asan example, for the world is old, but thefuture springs from the past. My word ispure and free of all untruth…. Listen to

my word, you who want toknow, by my mouth, you willlearn the history of Mali. Bymy mouth you will get toknow the story of the ances-tor of great Mali, the story ofhim who … surpassed evenAlexander the Great….Whoever knows the history ofa country can read its future.“

—from Sundiata: An Epic ofOld Mali in The HumanisticTradition, Gloria K. Fiero, 1992

S e c t i o n 2

Kingdoms inWest Africa

SThetoryteller

Horn player,Benin

Read to Find Out Main Idea Trade was an important aspect ofsociety in West Africa.

medium of exchange, Ghanaian merchants tradedthe precious metal for salt and other goods fromMorocco and Spain.

Masudi, a Muslim traveler, writing about A.D.950, described how trade was conducted:

The merchants … place their wares andcloth on the ground and then depart, andso the people of [Ghana] come bearinggold which they leave beside the merchandise and then depart. The own-ers of the merchandise then return, and ifthey are satisfied with what they havefound, they take it. If not, they go awayagain, and the people of [Ghana] returnand add to the price until the bargain isconcluded.

Ghana reached the height of its economic andpolitical power as a trading kingdom in the A.D.800s and A.D. 900s. The salt and gold trade movingthrough Ghana brought Islamic ideas and customs

of theof the

Africa’s Religious HeritageReligion played a central role in the development

of African cultures. Islam became the dominant religion in the north.

The Great Mosque at TimbuktuFounded around A.D. 1100, the cityof Timbuktu became a major cen-ter of trade and site of an impor-tant Islamic school.

190

Altar of the Hand, BeninBeginning in the A.D. 1200s thekingdom of Benin emerged as awealthy trading state. The oba, orking, became the political, econom-ic, and spiritual leader of the people.

to the kingdom. Muslim influence increased andmany Ghanaians converted to Islam.

At the end of the A.D. 1000s, an attack on the Ghanaian trade centers by the Almoravids, aMuslim group from North Africa, led to the declineof Ghana as a prosperous kingdom. Groups ofGhanaians broke away to form many small Islamicstates.

Kingdom of MaliMali, one of the small states to break away from

Ghana, became a powerful kingdom that eventuallyruled much of West Africa. The word Mali means“where the king resides” and is an appropriate namefor a kingdom that gained much of its power andinfluence from its kings. Sundiata Keita, one of Mali’searly kings, defeated his leading rival in A.D. 1235and began to conquer surrounding territories. Bythe late A.D. 1200s, Mali’s territory included the oldkingdom of Ghana.

Sundiata worked to bring prosperity to his newempire. He restored the trans-Saharan trade in goldand salt that had been interrupted by the Almoravidattacks and he restored agricultural production.Sundiata ordered soldiers to clear large expanses ofsavanna and burn the grass that had been cleared toprovide fertilizer for crops of peanuts, rice, sorghum,yams, beans, onions, and grains. With the benefit ofrainfall, agriculture flourished in Mali. With largertracts of land under cultivation, farmers producedsurplus crops that Mali’s kings collected as taxes.

Mali’s greatest king was Mansa Musa, whoruled from A.D. 1312 to A.D. 1332. By opening traderoutes and protecting trade caravans with a power-ful standing army, Musa maintained the economicprosperity begun by Sundiata. He also introducedIslamic culture to Mali.

A Muslim himself, Musa enhanced the prestigeand power of Mali through a famous pilgrimage toMakkah in A.D. 1324. Arab writers report that Musatraveled in grand style. He took with him 12,000slaves, each dressed in silk or brocade and carrying

bars of gold. Musa gave away so much gold on hisjourney that the world price of gold fell. At Makkah,Musa persuaded a Spanish architect to return withhim to Mali. There the skilled architect built greatmosques—Muslim houses of worship—and otherfine buildings, including a palace for Musa in the cap-ital of Timbuktu (TIHM•BUHK•TOO). Timbuktubecame an important center of Muslim art and cul-ture mainly through the efforts of Mansa Musa, whoencouraged Muslim scholars to teach at his court.Two hundred years later, the North African scholarand traveler Hassan ibn Muhammad (known in theWest as Leo Africanus) described Timbuktu’s con-tinuing intellectual brilliance:

Here are great store of doctors, judges,priests, and other learned men that arebountifully maintained at the king’s costand charges. And hither are broughtdiverse manuscripts or written books outof [North Africa], which are sold for moremoney than any other merchandise.

REFLECTING ON THE TIMES

1. How did religion influence the arts and otheraspects of culture in Africa?

2. In what ways did Africans honor royalty?

191

Terra-cotta heads, c. early1600s, commemorate thedeceased members of the royalfamily among the Akan peoplesof southern Ghana.


This turreted mosque in Djenné, Mali, harksback to the A.D. 1300s, when the townthrived as a center of trade and Islamiclearning. A masterpiece of African-Muslim

architecture, the great mosque boasts massive mudramparts broken by patterns of protruding beams. Itstall spires are crowned not with the traditionalIslamic crescent but with ostrich eggs, symbol of fer-tility and fortune. Every year, after the rainy season,the town turns out 4,000 people to replaster the wallsof the mosque with their bare hands. The job is donein a day.

Almost two centuries before Columbus set off forthe Americas, an Arab traveler and author named IbnBattuta began his travels in A.D. 1325 to the far

corners of the Islamic world—from North Africa toChina and back. He returned home three decades lateras one of history’s great travelers and travel writers.His journeys totaled 75,000 miles (121,000 km)—three times the distance logged by his European pre-decessor, Marco Polo. Ibn Battuta’s final journeybrought him here to the West African empire of Maliwhere he praised the piety of the Muslims. Battutasought out the ruler, Mansa Sulayman, at his capitalbut was not impressed with the king’s generosity.Mansa Sulayman, he wrote, “is a miserly king.”Battuta also traveled to Timbuktu—about a hundredyears before the city really started to prosper. At itsheight, in the A.D. 1500s, the city could boast threeuniversities and perhaps 50,000 residents. �

West African Empire�

PICTURING HISTORY

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After Mansa Musa died in A.D. 1332, theempire came under attack by Berbers, a people living in the Sahara region to the north. They raided Mali and captured Timbuktu. From thesouth, warriors from the rain forest also attackedMali. Inside the kingdom, people living in theSonghai region of the Niger River valley resentedlosing control over their region and rebelled againstthe empire. By the middle of the A.D. 1500s, Malihad split into several independent states.

Kingdom of SonghaiThe rebellious Songhai, who were skilled

traders, farmers, and fishers, were led by strongleaders. During the late A.D. 1400s their ruler,Sunni Ali, fought many territorial wars and man-aged to conquer the cities of Timbuktu andDjenné, expanding his empire to include most ofthe West African savanna. Sunni Ali was Muslim,but when he died, rule fell to his non-Muslim son.Songhai’s Muslim population overthrew Ali’s sonand brought a Muslim ruler to the throne.

Under the new ruler, Askia Muhammad, theSonghai Empire reached the height of its glory.Ruling from A.D. 1493 to A.D. 1528, AskiaMuhammad divided Songhai into five hugeprovinces, each with a governor, a tax collector, acourt of judges, and a trade inspector—very muchlike the government structure of China in the A.D.1400s. The king maintained the peace and securityof his realm with a cavalry and a navy. Timbuktuwas a center of Muslim learning.

Devoted to Islam, Muhammad introduced lawsbased on the teachings of the holy book of Islam, theQuran (kuh•RAHN). Lesser crimes were sometimesoverlooked, but those who committed major crimessuch as robbery or idolatry received harsh punish-ments. Askia Muhammad appointed Muslim

judges, assuring that Islamic laws would be upheld.In A.D. 1528 Askia Muhammad was over-

thrown by his son. A series of struggles for thethrone followed, leading to a weakened centralgovernment. Around A.D. 1589 the rulers ofMorocco sent an army across the Sahara to attackSonghai gold-trading centers. Moroccan soldiers,armed with guns and cannons, easily defeated theSonghai forces fighting with only swords, spears,and bows and arrows. By A.D. 1600 the SonghaiEmpire had come to an end.


Main Idea1. Use a diagram like the one

below to list items traded inWest Africa.

Recall2. Define monotheism, ghana,

mosque.3. Identify the Almoravids,

Sundiata Keita, Mansa Musa,Askia Muhammad.

Critical Thinking4. Analyzing Information

Why was trade vital to the

economies of the West Africankingdoms?

Understanding Themes5. Cultural Diffusion How

did trade with other parts ofthe world influence the devel-opment of West African cultures between A.D. 900 and A.D. 1500?

��

GhanaMaliSonghaiZimbabweBenin

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CairoTripoli

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MapMapStudyStudy

Kingdoms of Africa A.D. 1000–1500

Mali traded with cities of northern Africa. Movement What two obstacles

had to be overcome to carry out this trade?


Trade inWest Africa

During the same time that West Africankings ruled their empires, importanttrading communities developed along

the coast of East Africa and in the interior of Centraland Southern Africa. Inland African kingdomsmined copper and iron ore and traded these miner-als and ivory with city-states that had developedalong the East African coast. There Muslim tradersbrought cotton, silk, and Chinese porcelain fromIndia and Southeast Asia to exchange for the prod-ucts from Africa’s interior. As in West Africa, tradecontacts with the Muslim world enabled EastAfrican coastal areas to adopt the religion of Islamand Islamic cultural practices.

East AfricaAs early as 500 B.C., coastal areas of East Africa

were trading with the Arabian Peninsula and SouthAsia. Using dhows (Arab sailboats), East Africanssailed with the monsoon winds across the stretch ofIndian Ocean separating Africa from India. By theA.D. 900s Arab and Persian merchants had settled onthe East African coast and controlled the trade there.Traders from the interior of Africa brought ivory, gold,iron, and rhinoceros horn to the east coast to trade forIndian cloth and Chinese porcelain.

Coastal City-StatesBy A.D. 1200 small East African trading settle-

ments had become thriving city-states taxing thegoods that passed through their ports. The port ofKilwa had a virtual monopoly, or sole control orownership, of the gold trade with the interior.Malindi and Mombasa, both ports farther north onthe coast, were also important centers, as wasSofala, a port in what is present-day Mozambique.The iron mined in the surroundings of these three


> Terms to Definemonopoly, multicultural

> Places to LocateKilwa, Malindi, Mombasa, Sofala, Zanzibar, Karanga, Great Zimbabwe

The first trained engineer ever to see theruins of the Great Zimbabwe reported: “For fiftymiles I saw the ruins…. The ruins are principallyterraces, which rise up continually from the baseto the apex of all the hills…. The terraces are all

made very flat and ofdry masonry…. Theway the ancients seemto have levelled off thecontours of the varioushills around which thewater courses are laidis very astonishing, asthey seem to have beenlevelled with as muchexactitude as we canaccomplish with ourbest mathematicalinstruments.”

—from The Mystery ofthe Great Zimbabwe,Wilfrid Mallows, 1984

S e c t i o n 3

African Trading Cities and States

SThetoryteller

Ruins of the Great Zimbabwe

Read to Find Out Main Idea Areas in East, Central, andSouthern Africa developed as a result of inlandand overseas trade.

CON

NECTIONS

CO

NNECTIONS

city-states was widely used in the ArabianPeninsula and South Asia.

The island of Zanzibar was also an important cen-ter of trade. Sailors from the islands of Southeast Asiaas well as India and China came to Zanzibar in searchof ivory and gold, which was brought to Zanzibarports from the coastal city-states of East Africa.

Blending of CulturesBy the A.D. 1300s, the city-states of East Africa

had reached the height of their prosperity. They hadbecome truly multicultural centers—populated bya variety of cultural groups. Within each city-state,Islamic and African cultures blended. For the mostpart, Arab and Persian merchants ruled the tradingstates. They converted many Africans to Islam.

Arab merchants married local women who hadconverted to Islam. Families having members withAfrican and Islamic cultural backgrounds beganspeaking Swahili, a Bantu language that includedArabic and Persian words. The people of the EastAfrican coastal city-states also developed an Arabicform of writing that enabled them to record theirhistory.

East African rulers were either Arab governors

or African chieftains. They used coral from IndianOcean reefs to build mosques, palaces, and forts.

The Bantu KingdomsThe Indian Ocean trade was not limited to the

coastal trading states. It reached far inland, con-tributing to the rise of wealthy Bantu kingdoms inCentral and Southern Africa. The inland kingdomsmined rich deposits of copper and gold. During theA.D. 900s, traders from the East African coast madetheir way to the inland mining communities inCentral Africa and began an active trade among thepeople living there. The traders brought silk andporcelain from China, glass beads from India, carpetsfrom Arab lands, and fine pottery from Persia. Theytraded these goods for minerals, ivory, and coconutoil. They also acquired enslaved Africans for export.

Great ZimbabweThe people of Karanga, a Bantu kingdom locat-

ed on a high plateau between the Zambezi andLimpopo Rivers, built nearly 300 stone-walledfortresses throughout their territory between A.D.


Compare and contrastMombasa’s trade in the A.D. 1200swith that of the city today. Whatfactors have contributed to anychanges?

In the A.D. 700s Arab immigrantsarrived on East Africa’s coast to set up aflourishing trade in gold, ivory, and tortoiseshells. Descendants of the Arab immigrantsand the local African inhabitants becameknown as the Swahili (an Arabic word for“people of the coast”). By the late A.D. 1100s,thriving Swahili port cities, such as Kilwa,Malindi, and Mombasa, served as tradinglinks between the gold and ivory producersof East Africa’s interior and traders fromIndia, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and China. Cotton,

porcelain, and pottery were themajor imports. By the 1500sChina’s withdrawal from foreigntrade and the coming of Euro-pean rule to East Africa con-tributed to a serious decline inEast Africa’s international trade.

Today, the East African coasthas become an important link inthe global trading network. While

preserving its old town and traditions, themodern city of Mombasa ranks as one ofAfrica’s busiest seaports and the second-largest city in the nation of Kenya. It handlesmost of the international shipping of Kenyaas well as that of the neighboring, land-locked nations of Uganda, Rwanda, andBurundi, to which it is linked by rail. EastAfrican agricultural products, such as coffee,tea, sisal (a plant fiber used for twine), cot-ton, sugar, and coconuts are exported fromMombasa, as well as petroleum productsproduced from the foreign oil refined atMombasa’s refinery.

Port of Mombasa, Kenya

East African Trading Cities

1000 and A.D. 1500. The largest was called the GreatZimbabwe—meaning “stone house”—and servedas the political and religious center of the kingdom.The oval stone wall of the Zimbabwe enclosure was30 feet (9.15 m) high. Within the wall was a maze ofinterior walls and hidden passages that protectedthe circular house of the Zimbabwe chief. Near thehouse, archaeologists have uncovered a platformwith several upright stones that may have been theplace where the chief held court.

Territorial DivisionsFor nearly five centuries, Karanga and the

other Bantu states grew wealthy from their controlof the chief routes between the gold mines and thesea. However, during the A.D. 1400s, Bantu states inSouthern Africa struggled in civil wars that broughtdisorder to the kingdoms and disrupted trade.

The Changamire Empire became stronger thanthe Monomotapa Empire. Changamire rulers tookover Great Zimbabwe and built the fortress’slargest structures. At the same time, Europeanexplorers arrived along the African coasts. Eager tocontrol the sources of gold, ivory, and copper, theEuropeans posed challenges to the survival of theAfrican civilizations in the continent’s interior.


Main Idea1. Use a chart like the one below

to show how inland and over-seas trade affected areas in East,Central, and Southern Africa.

Recall2. Define monopoly,

multicultural.3. Identify Kilwa, Malindi, Mom-

basa, Sofala, Zanzibar, Karanga,Great Zimbabwe.

Critical Thinking4. Synthesizing Information

If you were an Arab merchant visiting an East African coastal

city-state in the A.D. 1300s,what aspects of the culturewould be familiar or unfamiliarto you?

Understanding Themes5. Innovation What new aspect

of cultural life developed in thecity-states of East Africa as aresult of African and MiddleEastern contact?

This view shows the circular stone ruins of the Great Zimbabwe with an exteriorwall more than 800 feet in circumference. What functions did this “stone house” serve?History

Visualizing

CentralAfrica

EastAfrica

SouthernAfrica



Suppose you are interested in seeing a newscience fiction movie, but you are hearingmixed reviews from your friends. People

often have different opinions about the same people, events, or issues because they look atthem from different points of view.

Learning the SkillA point of view is a set of beliefs and values

that affects a person’s opinion. Many factors affectan individual’s point of view, including age, sex,racial or ethnic background, economic class, andreligion. In order to determine the accuracy of adescription or the objectivity of an argument, firstyou must identify the speaker’s point of view.

To interpret point of view in written material,read the material to identify the general subject.Then gather background information on thatauthor that might reveal his or her point of view.Identify aspects of the topic that the authorchooses to emphasize or exclude. Look for emo-tionally charged words such as cruel, vicious,heartrending, drastic.

If you are uncertain of an author’s point ofview, read a selection on the same topic by anoth-er author with a different background. Comparisonmay make both points of view clear.

Practicing the SkillRead the following excerpt from Ross E.

Dunn’s book The Adventures of Ibn Battuta and thenanswer these questions.1. What is the general subject of the excerpt?2. What do you know about Ibn Battuta that

might reveal his point of view?3. What emotionally charged words and phrases

indicate his point of view?4. Which aspects of Islamic leadership are praised

and which are not?

Sulayman came close to matching hisbrother’s [Mansa Musa’s] reputation forIslamic leadership and piety. Moreover,he ruled Mali in prosperity and peace.

He was the sort of king from whom IbnBattuta had come to expect an honor-able and large-hearted reception. . . .Later, when Ibn Battuta had returned tohis house, one of the scholars called totell him that the sultan [Sulayman] hadsent along the requisite welcoming gift.

’I got up, thinking that it would berobes of honor and money, but behold!It was three loaves of bread and a pieceof beef fried in gharti [shea butter] anda gourd containing yoghurt. When Isaw it I laughed, and was long aston-ished at their feeble intellect and theirrespect for mean things.’

According to Dunn, Ibn Battuta foundSulayman to be “a miserly king from whom nogreat donation is to be expected,” while MansaMusa had been “generous and virtuous.”

Applying the SkillIn a newspaper, find an editorial, column, or

a letter to the editor that expresses a point of viewthat conflicts with your own. Write a brief para-graph analyzingthe author’s pointof view and com-pare it to yourpoint of view.Explain why youagree or disagreewith the viewpoint of the author.

For More PracticeTurn to the Skill Practice in the Chapter

Assessment on page 199.

Interpreting Point of View

Critical ThinkingCritical Thinking

The Glencoe SkillbuilderInteractive Workbook, Level 2provides instruction and practice in key social studies skills.

Reviewing the Facts1. Geography Use a chart like the one below to

identify key geographical features of North,East, West, Central, and Southern Africa.

2. History Discuss how archaeologists and histori-ans have learned about early Africa.

3. Culture Identify the Nok people, their location,and their major cultural achievements.

4. Economics Explain Ghana’s wealth.5. History Summarize the major accomplishments

of Mansa Musa in Mali.6. Culture Name the city that became a major

center of trade and learning in Mali.7. Government Explain how Askia Muhammad

kept order and control over his huge empire.8. Economics List the products traded in the

coastal city-states of East Africa.9. Culture State how the language of Swahili

originated.10. Geography Name the three areas of Africa that

prospered from the Indian Ocean trade.11. Culture Identify Great Zimbabwe and discuss

its importance to Karanga.

Critical Thinking1. Apply How do climate and geography affect

the development of a civilization?

Using Key TermsWrite the key term that completes each sentence. Then write a sentence for each term not chosen.

a. multicultural f. oral traditionsb. matrilineal g. monopolyc. plateau h. age setsd. savanna i. monotheisme. ghana j. mosque

1. Africa south of the Sahara includes a large cen-tral ______—a relatively high, flat area called theSahel.

2. Early African peoples communicated knowl-edge about their culture through _______—legends and history passed by word of mouthfrom one generation to another.

3. Much of Africa’s landscape is covered by ____,or treeless grasslands.

4. The city-state of Kilwa had a near ______, orsole control, of the gold trade along the EastAfrican coast.

5. A society is said to be ____________ when it has people of many different cultural back-grounds.


CHAPTER 7 ASSESSMENT

On your map of Africa draw in themodern states where each ancient kingdomthat you identified was located. Use themap of Africa in the Atlas of your text.

Using Your History Journal

NorthAfrica

EastAfrica

WestAfrica

CentralAfrica

SouthernAfrica

Using a Computerized Card Catalog Choose amodern-day African countryto research. Use a computerized card catalog to find information on that country from itsearly history to the present. Then create a bul-letin board about that country, including anillustrated time line of significant events of thecountry’s history. Display current informationabout culture, national resources, demographics,and government.

Technology Activity

Self-Check Quiz

Visit the World History: The Human Experience Web site at worldhistory.ea.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 7—Self-Check Quiz to prepare for the Chapter Test.

http://www.glencoe.com/qe/qe47.php?&st=597&pt=3&bk=18


S A H A R A

AFRICA

ATLAS MOUNTAINS

AHAGGAR

RANGEAIR

RANGETIBESTI

HIGHLANDS

DARFURPLATEAU

TADEMAÏTPLATEAU

ADAMAWAHIGHLANDS

ETHIOPIANHIGHLANDS

KALAHARIDESERT

NAM

IBD

ESERT

DRAKENSBERGM

TS.

CONGO

BASIN

MIT

UM

BAM

TS.

Delta ofthe Nile

ARABIAND

ESERT

ATLANTICOCEAN

INDIANOCEAN

Niger River

Nile

River

LakeVictoria

KasaiRiver

Africa

CHAPTER 7 ASSESSMENT

Skill PracticeRead the following African proverbs carefully.

Then answer the questions for each proverb.• Familiarity breeds contempt; distance

breeds respect.• When you follow in the path of your father,

you learn to walk like him.1. What is the general subject of each proverb?2. Describe the point of view expressed in each

proverb.3. Do you agree with the point of view? Make sure

you are able to support your answer.

Geography in History1. How does the continent of Africa compare

with the United States in land area?2. Refer to the map below. Why has communica-

tion and travel always been difficult betweenthe northwest African interior and northeastAfrica?

3. Why has Egypt had nearly continual contactwith peoples of Asia and Europe?

2. Evaluate The Bantu languages changed aspeople moved into central, eastern, and south-ern regions of Africa. Why do you think thishappened?

3. Making Comparisons Compare the causes forthe decline of each of the three West Africankingdoms.

4. Synthesize Discuss how family and social lifein a typical Bantu-speaking village was organized around A.D. 1000.

5. Analyze What two cultural values does this artifact of aWest African horn playerreveal?

Understanding Themes1. Movement How did population movements

affect the development of early Africa?2. Cultural Diffusion What were major political

and cultural developments in each of the following early African territories: Nubia,Axum, Songhai, Kilwa, and Karanga?

3. Innovation What two examples can you givethat illustrate how the peoples of coastal EastAfrica and of the interior of Central Africa andSouthern Africa made creative use of theirresources?

Horn player,Benin

1. Gold helped make Ghana a powerfulempire. Name another natural resource thathas made African countries wealthy today.

2. Ancient peoples adapted to their environ-ments in order to survive. Explain ways weadapt today.

3. How do strong central governments affect anation’s economic and social structures?What factors often lead to a weakening ofcentral governments?

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