Transcript SUB-SAHARAN CIVILIZATION

POST-CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION IN
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
COMMONALITIES IN AFRICAN SOCIETY
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Tribes = based on kinship
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Led by chief or king
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Ancestor worship & animism
Secret societies
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council of elders = advise
Religion
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Military commander, chief priest, head judge, lawmaker
Educate children in tribe’s customs
Limit ruler’s authority
Settle disputes & enforce punishments
Little crime; wealth = many friends & children
Family
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Husband pays bride price
Polygamy = multiple wives
ETHIOPIA (1200-1400S)
First Christian kingdom in Africa
 Culturally isolated
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 Unique
Christian faith
Faced constant threat by Muslim invaders
 King Lalibela (1200s)
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 Sponsored
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church construction sculpted from rock
Dynasty began in which kings claimed descent
from King Solomon
 Continued
until 1900s.
ETHIOPIA: LALIBELA
LALIBELA
POST-CLASSICAL AFRICAN TRADE
MALI
MALI: 1230-1468
Founded by the Malinke people
 Known for = commerce, bureaucracy, scholarship
 Key to success = agriculture & trade
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 Caravan
trade across Sahara
 Contact with Muslim merchants
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Conversion to Islam
 Mainly
merchants & rulers
 Convert in order to gain stature among Arab states
 Others = mix Islamic with local religion
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Timbuktu = capital
MALI: SUNDIATA
1st great Malian king
 Known as “Lion Prince”
 Ruled 1230-1255 A.D.
 Took title of “Mansa” =
“emperor”
 strong military leader
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Unified state  Mali
 Established social arrangements
 Secured kingdom
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Griots = oral historians & king’s advisors
MALI: MANSA MUSA
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Reigned 1312-1337 A.D.
Made Hajj to Mecca
15,000 people in his party
 500 slaves carred gold
 gave so much gold away
that he caused inflation in Egypt for a decade
 Brought back muslim architect = construct mosques
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Empire declined with Musa’s death
MALI: TIMBUKTU
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Major trading hub:
 Gold,
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slaves, salt
Center of Islamic learning
 150
schools
 Library
Home of merchants,
artisans, & scholars
 Religious & ethnic
toleration
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MALI: TIMBUKTU
SANKORE MOSQUE
MALI: GREAT MOSQUE AT DJENNE
MALI: GREAT MOSQUE AT DJENNE
SONGHAY
Rises from w/in Mali
 independence = c1370s
 Gained power under
Sunni Ali (military might)
 wealth = gold trade
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DECLINE: -ATTACKED BY MUSLIMS FROM MOROCCO (1591 AD)
-INTERNAL REVOLT AGAINST RULERS
SUNNI ALI
THE SWAHILI COAST
SWAHILI COAST
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East coast of Africa (Zanj)
 Arab
traders
 Established
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cities
Mogadishu, Kilwa, Zanzibar
 Influence
African culture
 merchants
adopt Islam
 Increase demand for interior’s
products
 Swahili culture:
Mix of Arab & African life
 ex.Language, architecture, dress
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Dhows near Zanzibar
SWAHILI COAST
YORUBA & BENIN
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Yoruba
Nigeria (small city-states, ie. Ile-Ife)
 Unclear origins
 Regional kings (divine w/civil powers)
 Terra cotta & bronze busts (post 1200 CE)
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Benin
East of Yoruba
 Formed in 14th C
 “Oba” = ruler
 Bronze and ivory art
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YORUBA & BENIN
Ife, Nigeria (12th-15th C.
KONGO: GREAT ZIMBABWE
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Begins c.13th-15th C
Confederation of small
states
Control by “manikongo”
(king)
Farming & cattle-herding
“zimbabwe” = stone
house (for ruler &
sub-chiefs)
 Best example is “Great
Zimbabwe”
 1400s – led by
Mwene Mutapa
 Controlled interior’s gold
 Split apart by internal divisions & rebellion
GREAT ZIMBABWE
GREAT ZIMBABWE