Transcript Kingdoms and Empires

Kingdoms and Empires
Africa
Aksum
• No longer exists
• Former countries of Ethiopia and Entrea
• African and Arab traders began settling
along the west coast of the Red Sea.
• Aksum came to control trade in the Red
Sea
• Came to power after the Nubian Kingdom
of Meroe fell
Aksum
• Controlled a trade network that stretched
form the Mediterranean Sea to India
• Christian religion traveled to Aksum along
these routes.
• Mid-300s many Ethiopian people in Aksum
became Christian
• Aksum became the center of the early
Ethiopian Christian Church
Aksum
• Aksum began to decline in the 600s
• Arabs took control of much of the regions
trade.
West African Kingdoms
• Power of the W. African kingdoms was based on
the trade of salt and gold.
– People need salt to survive, especially in hot areas
like W. Africa
– People of W. Africa had no sources of salt, but they
had plenty of gold
– People of N. Africa had the opposite problem
• Control of this trade brought power and riches to
three W. African kingdoms—Ghana, Mali, and
Songhai.
West African Kingdoms
• Ghana
– Kingdom of Ghana was located b/w the
Senegal and Niger rivers.
– From this location Ghana controlled trade
across W. Africa.
– Ghana’s kings grew rich from the taxes they
charged on the salt, gold, and other goods
– Ghana lost control of the trade routes,
– New power is the Kingdom of Mali
West African Kingdoms
• Mali and the spread of Islam
– Kingdom of Mali arose in the mid-1200s in the
Upper Niger Valley
– Mali means “Where the King lives”
– Kings cont4olled both the gold mines of the
south and the salt supplies of the north
– King is called Mansa which means “emperor”
– Mali’s most famous king was Mansa Musa
West African Kingdoms
• Mansa Musa gained the throne about
1312
• 25-year reign brought peace and order to
the kingdom
• Mansa Musa based his laws on the Quran,
the holy book of the religion of Islam
• Muslim travelers spread their religion into
many parts of Africa
• Muslims are followers of Islam
West African Kingdoms
• 1324—Mansa Musa made a pilgrimage (a
religious journey– to the Arabian city of
Mecca.
• Muslims consider Mecca a holy place
• Muhammad, the prophet who first
preached Islam, was born in Mecca
• Mansa Musa brought 60,000 people with
him on his pilgrimage
West African Kingdoms
• 80 camels each carried 300 pounds of
gold
• Along the way Mansa Musa gave people
gifts of gold
• Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage brought about
new trading ties with other Muslim states.
• It displayed Mali’s wealth
West African Kingdoms
• Songhai
– After Mansa Musa’s death around 1332, Mali
declined and was destroyed by an empire
called Songhai.
– Songhai became W. Africa’s most powerful
kingdom
– Songhai’s rulers controlled important trade
routes and wealthy trading cities.
West African Kingdoms
– Invaders from N. Africa defeated Songhai in
1591
– Songhai people still live near the Niger river
– Islam remains their religion
West African Kingdoms
• East African City-States
– Trade helped E. African cities to develop
– Circa the time that Aksum declined, trading
cities arose along E. Africa’s coast
– Traders used seasonal winds to sail northeast
to India and China.
– They carried animal skins, ivory, and gold and
other metals
West African Kingdoms
– When the winds changed direction, the
traders sailed with them.
– They brought many goods including cotton,
silk, and porcelain
– Some traders who visited E. Africa were
Muslims
• Many of them settled and introduced Islam to E.
Africa
• A new language developed called Swahili
West African Kingdoms
• Swahili is a Bantu language with some Arab words
mixed in
• E. African cities grew into powerful city-states
– A city-state is a city that has its own
government and often controls much of the
surrounding land
• Among the greatest of these city-states were
Malindi,, Mombasa, and Kilwah.
West African Kingdoms
• Kilwa
– “One of the most beautiful and bestconstructed towns in the world” Ibn Batuta.
– Grew rich from trade and taxes.
– Traders had to pay huge taxes on goods they
brought into the city
– In the early 1500s Kilwah and other citystates were conquered by the European
country of Portugal who wanted to build their
own trading empire.
West African Kingdoms
• Zimbabwe
– Located near the bend in the Limpopo River
in S. Africa
– Zimbabwe reached its peak about the year
1300
– Today only ruins remain