Transcript EQ 2: How were the African civilizations impacted by the geography

EQ 1: How were the African
civilizations impacted by the
geography of the land?
Key Terms: Sahel,
savannas, Sahara, Bantu
The African Continent
http://www.sciencealert.com/this-is-thetrue-size-of-africa
Geography of Africa
Main geographic feature of Africa
is the Sahara Desert, which is the
largest desert in the world
Early African civilizations could
not cross the Sahara, therefore the
cultures north of the desert are
different from the south
Sahel—area bordering the Sahara
along the southern edge of the
desert, acting like a coastline where
the land is arid
Savannas—grassy plains that cover
the southern one-third of the
African continent
Early African History
The first sub-Saharan civilizations
developed in the Sahel or along the
coastlines of Africa
Bantu—means “the people”; the
first settlers of sub-Saharan
Africa, developed in the northwest
corner of the Sahel
Bantu tribes were hunter-gatherers
As the Bantu population increased, it was
necessary for the tribes to move
Bantu migration—Bantu tribes migrated
south and southeast, eventually spread over
the entire sub-Saharan continent
Today, about 90% of the people in Africa
(60 million) speak some dialect of the Bantu
EQ 2: What contributions were
made by ancient African societies?
Key Terms: Ghana, Mali,
Songhai, Sundiata, Mansa
Musa, Swahili, Kilwa
Saharan African Empires
Western empires of Ghana, Mali, and
Songhai
Bantu origins
Established great trading empires
Northern Kingdoms converted to Islam
through conquest by and trade with Arabs
Islam eventually spread throughout the
continent
Ghana—c. 700-1100 AD
Ghana
Smallest of the northern African empires
Kingdom was close to gold mines, traded salt
for gold and made a profit through taxing the
transactions
Incorporated Muslim beliefs and practices
into their own traditional religions
Conquered c. 1050 AD by group of
Muslims called the Amoravids
Mali– c.1200-1400 AD
Established by Mali’s first great ruler,
Sundiata, when he led an army in vengeance
of his family’s murder by a rival kingdom years
earlier
Mali Empire also grew wealthy from the gold
& salt trade
Sundiata’s nephew,
Mansa Musa, is
considered the
greatest ruler of the
Mali Kingdom
Mansa Musa’s famous
haj is evidence of the
nation’s wealth and
power
Ibn Battuta traveled to
Mali and described the
wealth and
advancements
Songhai—c. 1400-1600 AD
Songhai lived under Mali rule for 100s of years
Emerged as a separate independent state in
1400s b/c of a rebellion led by Sunni Ali
Empire spread through military conquest
Empire reached its height under rule of Askia
Muhammad
Trade routes passed through the empire, allowing
the empire to become wealthy by taxing the
traders of gold and salt
Eastern Trading Cities
Unlike northern Africa, eastern civilizations were
not organized into empires
Instead, they lived in individual city-states that were
linked together by trade
The trading cities along the eastern coast of
Africa were called Swahili
Their language, which also was called Swahili, was
a combination of Bantu and Arab, which came from
the Muslims with whom they traded
The Swahili city-states were very wealthy from
trade and had extensive access to gold from nearby
mines
The most important of the Swahili citystates was Kilwa, because of its geographic
location
Kilwa was the city-state that was the furthest
south the winds would carry a ship
This city trade approximately 1 ton of gold a
year
In 1500, the city was destroyed by the
invading Portuguese