Africa developed many diverse societies before European arrival, with some establishing powerful kingdoms through trade and military strength. Between 800-1500 CE, contacts with the outside world increased through growing international trade networks. The spread of Islam profoundly impacted northern and eastern Africa as it was incorporated into the Arab world. New political centers and civilizations arose across the continent, though many areas remained isolated. Powerful West African empires like Mali and Songhay dominated trade in the Sahel region along the southern edge of the Sahara desert. East African coastal cities engaged in extensive Indian Ocean trade, developing Swahili cultures that blended African and Islamic traditions.

1. Africa before the Arrival of the
Europeans

2. Warm up………..
 How many African countries can you
name???

4. Bantu migrations spread
knowledge of ironworking and
language

5. Africa in the Postclassical
Period
 At time of Roman Empire sub-Saharan Africa on the
edge of major centers of civilizations
 Between 800-1500 contacts with the outside world
increased dramatically with the growth of the growing
international trade network
 Spread of Islam had profound effects on both those who
converted and those who resisted - until 1450 Islam
provided the major external contact b/w sub-Saharan
Africa and the world
 State building, ie. Songhay and Mali (although their
power derived from military strength)
 Africa in the post-classical period:
◦ N. Africa and eastern Africa incorporated into the Arab
world
◦ New centers of civilization and political power arose
◦ Much still remained in isolation

6. African Societies: Diversities
and Similarities
 Differences in geography, language, religion,
politics, etc. meant that they never unified
 Stateless societies
◦ Organized around kinship or other forms of
obligation and lacking the concentration of
political power and authority we normally
associate with the state
◦ Little concentration of authority; did have forms of
government but the authority normally held by a
ruler was held by a council of families or a
community council
◦ Drawbacks- difficult to resist external pressures,
mobilize for warfare, organize large building
projects, etc.

7. Common Elements in African
Societies
Bantu language- provided a linguistic base
(despite regional variances)
Animistic religion- belief in the power of
natural forces personified as spirits or gods;
provided a cosmology- view of how the
universe worked
Veneration of ancestors vital
Diversity in economies- N. Africa stands apart
b/c of contact with Med. World; Sub-Saharan
Africa- settled agriculture, skilled ironwork -
specialization – basis for lively markets and
large cities

8. Arrival of Islam in North Africa
◦ 640-700 CE followers of Muhammad swept across north
Africa from Suez to Morocco’s Atlantic shore- by 670
Muslims ruled Tunisia- by 711 Arab and Berber armies had
crossed into Spain
◦ Conversion took place rapidly, as Abbasid dynasty had
provided political unity
◦ Berbers- peoples of the desert- formed states of their own-
by 11th century reformist movement- Almoravids- moved
south against the African kingdoms of the savanna. 1130
another reformist group- Almohadis- followed same pattern
◦ Islam attractive within Africa
 Acceptance of conquerors and new rulers acceptable since all
Muslims were equal in Islam
 Tradition of uniting the powers of the religion and the state in the
caliph appealed to some
 Despite ideals, practice differed at local levels

9. The Christian Kingdoms:
Nubia and Ethiopia
◦ Adopted Christianity before Roman Empire
◦ Christians of Egypt- Copts- developed rich
tradition in contact with Byzantium- were
able to maintain faith when Egypt was
conquered – eventually spread to Nubia
(ancient kingdom of Kush)
◦ Ethiopian Kingdom- grew from Axum- cut off
from Byzantium by Muslim conquest of Red
Sea coast – so turned inward- King Lalibela
(died 1221) sponsored huge building project-
13-14th centuries- Christian Ethiopian state

10. Kingdoms of the Grasslands
 African had three important coasts of contact:
the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and the
savanna on the southern edge of the Sahara
 Ghana had already formed by the 8th century
by exchanging gold form the forests of west
Africa for salt or dates from the Sahara or
goods from the Med. – probably founded in
3rd century. By 10th century had converted to
Islam
 Sahel- grassland belt at edge of the Sahara-
became a point of exchange between the
forests to the south and north Africa- another
“coast” where ideas and goods were
exchanged- several cities developed along
the “coast”

12. Empire of Mali and Sudiata,
the “Lion Prince”
◦ Mali creation of the Malinke people who broke away
from Ghana in 13th century
◦ Rulers supported Islam- in return supporters were
obedient and faithful as the sermons stressed
◦ Agriculture economic basis
◦ Malinke merchants- juula
◦ Sundiata (died 1260) - leader who began Malinke
expansion- he became the mansa (emperor)
◦ Mali grew wealthy from trade
◦ Mansa Kankan Musa (1312-1337)- most famous
successor, made a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 and
brought the attention of the Muslim world to Mali.
Brought back Ishak al-Sahili, poet and architect, who
directed the building of several important mosques
(great mosque of Jenne)

13. City Dwellers and Villagers
◦ Towns were very commercial- Power of
the state protected traders
◦ Timbuktu
◦ 80% of population lived off land
◦ Polygamy common
◦ Farmers able to provide for the people
(even with their basic methods)

14. Songhay Kingdom
◦ People of Songhay dominated the middle
areas of the Niger valley
◦ Began to form in the 7th century, by 1010
capital established at Gao on the Niger River
and the rulers had become Muslims, by
1370s Songhay had established its
independence
◦ Sunni Ali (1464-1492) great leader who
forged the empire- by mid 16th century it
dominated central Sudan
◦ 1591 Muslim army from Morocco defeated
the Songhay


15. Political and Social Life in the Sudanic States
◦ Development of a unified state provided framework to
allow existing groups and communities to coexist
◦ Islam provided solidarity and trust to merchants
◦ Muslim concept of ruler as caliph reinforced the
kingship ideas in Africa
◦ Islam in the early stages accommodated pagan
practices and beliefs
◦ Women- some Songhay societies matrilineal and
recognized the role of women
◦ Slavery became a more widely diffused phenomenon
and slave trade in Africa developed on a new scale
 In theory, Muslims viewed slave trade as a stage in
conversion but in reality it did not guarantee freedom


16. The Swahili Coast
 Islamicized trading cities developed as
a result of contacts with trading
partners from Arabia, Persia, India,
and China
 Islam provided a universal set of
ethics and beliefs that made their
maritime contacts easier
 In East Africa- Islamization slower to
reach population- compromise
between indigenous ways and new

18. The Coastal Trading Ports
◦ From 1st to 10th century Bantu-speaking
people had made it to the coast and were
mixing with the indigenous groups there
◦ Contacts on the Indian Ocean date back to
2nd century BCE
◦ By 13th century string of urbanized east
African trading ports
◦ Port city Kilwa flourished from 13th-15th
century (had gold from Zimbabwe) and was
African city furthest south that could be used
in one Monsoon season

19. The Mixture of Cultures on the Swahili Coast
◦ Islam- forged bonds of trust among
traders from Asia to Africa
◦ Islam penetrated very little into the interior
among hunters, pastoralist, and farmers
◦ Islamization was, to some extent, class-
based with the upper classes converting
and not the lower classes
◦ Swahili culture- a hybrid of Islam and
African tradition

20. Artists and Kings: Yoruba and
Benin
 Yoruba
 Nigeria- village of Nok- found objects demonstrating
great artistic skill dating back to 500 BCE-200 CE
 Ile-Ife artists worked with terra-cotta and bronze to create
lifelike portraits
 Yoruba origins obscure
 Yoruba spoke a non-Bantu language of west African Swa
family
 Organized in small city-states, developed under authority
of regional kings, who were considered divine
 Benin
 Large city state of the Edo peoples formed sometime in
the 14th century
 By 16th century- city of great population and broad
avenues and artwork
 Power of the ruler demonstrated in much of the art work

21. Kingdoms of Kongo and
Mwene Mutapa
◦ 13th-15th centuries CE development of kingdom
Kongo
 Agricultural base
 From kinship to kingship
 Division of labor between men and women
 Kingship hereditary but local chieftainships were not
 Bantu confederation developed among the farming and cattle-
herding peoples in the region between the Zambezi and Limpopo
rivers
 Began building stone houses or Zimbabwe in the 9th
century
 Greatest house was the Great Zimbabwe, which was the
center of the kingdom and was associated with the bird of
God
 By 15th century centralized state ruled from Great
Zimbabwe
 Mwene Mutapa- great king who led period of expansion in
late 15th and 16th centuries. Had dominance of internal
resources like gold, which gave them an advantage in trade
 By 16th century internal divisions split kingdom apart but
control of the gold fields still provided a source of power