Sub Saharan Africa

1
Sub Saharan Africa

• Not just physically, but also culturally and
  politically, Africa is divided by the Sahara.
  Almost all of Saharan Africa and the northern
  continent had become part of the Islamic world.
  The story of sub-saharan Africa is much more
  complex.

2
Introduction
3
Factors restricting the growth of major
sub-saharan States

• Strong, sizable political units occurred later
  and more slowly than in other parts of the world
• Tremendous varieties of ethnicity and language
• For ex. 2000 languages

4

• One thing that many people share (but not
  all)decent from the Bantu tribes
• Around 1000 B.C.E. the Bantu began to move out of
  their homeland in west central Africa
• By 1000 C.E. descendants of the Bantu had settled
  in almost all parts of the continent south of the
  Sahara
• With time, however, each smaller group developed
  its own distinct language and cultural tradition

5

• Another factor limiting growth of major states
  environmental
• Population growth was restricted by fluctuating
  climate, susceptibility to insect and animal
  borne diseases

6
Basic Features of Sub-Saharan Societies

• Small and social life revolved around the village
• Hunting, herding, and limited agriculture
• Skill of metalworking (mostly self-taught)
• Womensubservient to men valued for their labor
  as fieldworkers and for producting heirs
  respecting for storytelling abilities and their
  role in religious and moral eduction

7

• Lineage was sometimes matrilineal
• Women often inherited property
• Husband required to move into wifes house
• Rules of behavior between sexes tended to be more
  informal than in the Middle East, China, or India

8
Art and Culture

• Skill in carving and sculpture (wood and
  ivorymetal would become more common over time)
• Architecture varied Great Zimbabwe had
  impressive stone buildings and walls Mali used
  timber and mud Zanzibar used coral as
  decorations on buildings

9

• African literature the oral tradition
• Professional storytellers (bards) chronicled
  history and social custom acted as entertainers
  and advisors to the king
• Most famous epic Son-Jara (or Suniata) from Mali
• Most native African religions were animistic
  faiths based on the worship of the spirits of
  animals and ancestors

10
Islam and Contacts with North Africa

• As time passed there was increased interaction
  between North Africa and the sub-Saharan part of
  the continent (trade and slavery)
• For hundreds of years, Arab slavers went to the
  south capturing Africans and forcing them into
  bondage

11

• By 11th century some traders in the Saharan
  region owned more tnat 1,000 slaves apiece
• Islam began to be a part of sub-Saharan life
• In West Africa, the state of Mali, with its great
  city of Timbuktu, was an important part of the
  Islamic world

12

• Muslims also brought their religion to the cities
  of the eastern coast
• This brought trade to previously isolated parts
  of southern Africa
• BUTin comparison with the North, Islams
  presence in the south was not as extensive

13
West and Central Africa
14
Ghana

• In west Africa
• Continued to be strong and prosperous for a time
  (dates back to 500s C.E.)
• Europe began minting gold coins during the 1200a
  and Ghanas gold gained in value.
• During these years Ghana was the major supplier
  of gold to the world economy

15

• iron and copper were more useful, and thus more
  valuable, to Africans than gold was
• Over time, Ghanas ecological and demographic
  conditions weakened its society.
• Population grew and food production could not
  meet needs

16

• This left Ghana vulnerable to Muslim conquest,
  the immediate cause of Ghanas downfall

17
Central African States and Great Zimbabwe

• Kongo and Benin large city-states home to
  advanced civilizations
• From 1250s to 1450s, the most powerful of the
  central African states was the one that emerged
  around the city of Great Zimbabwe in the Zambezi
  river basin

18

• Its name means sacred graves of the chiefs
• Crucial as a religious and political center
• Great walled city
• Skilled builders
• Wealthylarge deposits of gold and diamonds

19

• Gained wealth from gold trade
• It was shipped east and became part of the East
  African-Indian Ocean coastal trade system

20
The Eastern Coast
21
East Africa and the Indian Ocean Trade Network

• Coast was open to a remarkable number of outside
  influences, culturally and economically
• Sale of desirable (and diverse) goods like ivory
• Slaves were already a part of the economic
  equation at this time

22

• As early as the Roman era, east Africa already
  had commercial ties with India and the
  Mediterranean region
• By 10th-11th century, African goods reaching
  China through this network
• Chinese Maritime trade expanded during the early
  part of the Ming dynasty

23
The Diversity of East African city-states

• Many flourished b/w 1000 and 1500
• Multi-ethnic
• 12th century, Arabs and Persians immigrated to
  Mogadishu and started to press southward
• City-states were politically independent
• Many ruled by Arab Sheiks
• (Malindi, Mombasa, Sofala, and Zanzibar

24

• There was a tremendous amount of ethnic,
  religious, cultural, and linguistic mixing along
  the East African Coast (Arabs, Turks, Indians,
  etc.)
• Islam became important but did not displace local
  religions
• Most widespread language Swahili
• It became the common tongue

25

• Arab culture influenced poetry and vocabulary
• BY THE EARLY 1500S, THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPEAN
  COLONISTS AND EXPLORERS WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING,
  NOT JUST FOR EAST AFRICA, BUT THE ENTIRE INDIAN
  OCEAN

26
Christianity in East Africa

• Christianity existed as a dominant, even
  official, religion in 2 parts of northeastern
  Africa
• The Copts, a Christian minority, formed
  communities in predominantly Islamic Egypt and
  Sudan

27

• Ethiopia (a.k.a. Abyssinia) was on the cusp
  between Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa
• Oldest African state and a Christian Kingdom for
  many centuries
• They went and explored parts of Europe as early
  as 12th century

28

• By 1500s, Ethiopia was a Christian autocracy that
  adopted certain aspects of European civilization
• Rumors of Ethiopian wealth spurred on the
  Europeans exploring efforts