Download THE BANTU MIGRATIONS

THE BANTU MIGRATIONS
ORIGIN
The actual origins or the Bantu is shrouded in mystery. However, Bantu is a common term used
to refer to the over 400 different ethnic groups of Africa stretching from borders of the Sahara
desert to South Africa that have similar languages and to some extent customs. Their movements
have been called migrations because they are large scale movements over long distances. It is
important however to understand that these movements did not occur all at once. They took place
in several phases.
The Bantu speaking people were actually part of the Iron Age people from the Middle East areas
of Northern Africa. They originally settled along the banks of the Nile River. Later, they moved
west across North Africa and occupied some areas in the ancient Saharan grasslands. From there,
they moved to the area around Lake Chad, Nigeria and the highlands of Cameroon called the
Benue-Cross region. However, some also settled in the great lakes region in east Africa.
These people were given the name „Bantu‟ because of the similarities that were noticed in their
languages. For example, the prefix „ba-‟ and the suffix „-ntu‟ was actually common among the
languages they spoke.
CAUSES
The drying up of the Sahara grasslands led the groups that practiced agriculture to
migrate in search of new fertile land and water for farming.
There was a great population increase, causing others to migrate in search for new land.
Changes in occupations from agriculture to hunting, herding, and metallurgy.
Successive disputes between various tribes led to the migration of some groups. This
normally happened when a king died and members of the royal family quarreled about
who should succeed.
Criminals and formerly enslaves people migrated in order to run away from being
punished or killed.
Tribal wars caused migrations as defeated tribes ran away from powerful ones for safety
and to avoid enslavement.
The slave trade contributed to the migrations in order to avoid being attacked and sold as
slaves.
Some groups or individuals migrated to follow large herds of animals that supported their
economy.
Another reason that led to the Bantu migrations was that of expansion. Some rulers
wanted to expand their kingdoms and therefore caused weaker tribes to migrate to new
regions to avoid being conquered.
First group
Traveled southeast and southwest from the fringes of the Sahara Desert to the regions of
the Western and Eastern Sudan (meaning “Land of the Blacks” in Arabic).
This was around the 1st to the 3rd Century.
They settled here because of the fertile land, minerals, and grazing land.
Interaction with other Arab-African Nomadic groups established strong trading ties by
the 9th Century
Second group
Passed through the Congo Forest, avoided Zaire River, and settled in Katanga or Shaba.
This was about the 5th century.
They settled here because of the fertile land, good rainfall, minerals, and grazing land.
Interacted with the Portuguese in the early 15th Century who introduced them to new
crops like, maize, sweet potatoes, and bananas.
Third group
This group included the Sotho and Nguni who went north east via Tanzania and through
the western side of Lake Malawi.
They settled in Mashonaland.
Here, they were forced out by the Rozwi, Shona and the Karanga.
The group went to settle in South Africa.
This occurred between 9th and the 14th century.
Fourth group
Migrated around the 14th century.
Settled western side of Lake Malawi.
The descendants of this group are the Tumbuka, Nsenga, Kamanga and Tonga of Malawi.
Another group of the Shona, Rozwi, and Karanga took a short cut, crossed the Zambezi
River and settled in Mashonland.
WAYS OF LIFE
Economic
The Bantu were agriculturists who grew crops like sorghum, millet, beans, maize, and
sweet potatoes.
They were pastoralists who kept animals like cattle, pigs, goats.
They were hunters who hunted wild game for meat.
They were also smelters and also made farming implements
Pottery makers, made channel decorated type.
Made baskets and mats.
Social
Lived in small households.
Households were made of pole and daga.
Roof was thatched with grass.
Huts built in a secular form
Kraal built in the middle for protection of the cattle.
Diet included fish, meat, and vegetables.
Bark of the tree used as cloth.
Completely an oral cultural with tribal “griot” (gree-yaws) that maintained an oral record
of the tribal history and culture
Political
Family household under eldest male member.
Family formed clans which formed villages.
Villages headed by a headman.
Villages formed a chiefdom or kingdom.
Headed by a chief or king respectively.
Religious
Believed in a superior being.
They called their superior being by different names.
Their god would be approached by leaders who were semi-divine.
Had different spirits for different problems.
Religious ceremonies held on tombs, under the msoro tree or any other sacred place.
Cattle and/or other animals would be killed only during such ceremonies.
EFFECTS
METALLURGY
They introduced iron-working and the use of iron tools in the interior of East Africa were
at first using stone tools but when iron-smelting was started, there was an increase in food
production.
The knowledge of iron smelting which the Bantu introduced led to the making of better
weapons (bows, arrows and spears) for defense and protection against neighboring tribes.
AGRICULTURE
The Bantu introduced and increased the knowledge of food and extensive crop cultivation
(ie: yams, bananas, beans). Earlier on, the inhabitants of East Africa were food gatherers,
but with the introduction of iron tools (hoes and pangas for tilling and clearing the land),
food production seriously increased.
They introduced subsistence agriculture, whereby they grew enough food for home
consumption, and the rest could be kept in case of shortages, or be exchanged in barter
trade.
LANGUAGE
Their movement led to the spread of the Bantu based languages throughout Africa,
including the more well known languages of Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa, Mbundu & Lingala.
SOCIAL
They opened new land to settlement by families and clans in permanent homes and
villages based in kinship ties and both Matrilineal and Patrilocal systems.
They spread the oral tradition of maintaining tribal histories through “griot” (gree-yaws).
POLITICAL
They introduced a kin-based system of government whereby the tribal chief acted as the
overall ruler, under the guidance of a group of tribal elders.
Eventually, as populations grew, bigger tribes and larger states grew with more
centralized forms of government with kings ruling over many villages led by tribal chiefs.
(ie: Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, Kongo, and the Swahili City-States)
© One World Africa (Zambia) 2007, and ELATE (Makerere University) 2009
THE GERMANIC MIGRATIONS
ORIGIN
The origins of the Germanic tribes are shrouded in mystery. For the most part, the term
Germanic is almost entirely a linguistic rather than a cultural term because it refers mainly to the
tribal groups in Europe that spoke similar languages that derived themselves from Celtic origins.
Archaeologists place the geographical origins of the Germanic peoples in southern Scandinavia
or Northern Germany. Their eventual movements are called migrations their large scale
movements over long distances. It is important however to understand that these movement did
not occur at once. They took place in phases.
The Germanic tribes were Iron Age people who settled in the regions north of the Danube River
and east of the Rhine River. This region, which remained unconquered by the Roman Empire,
saw an influx in migration and aggression from the 3rd and 4th centuries C.E. on into the 9th
century. These movements and invasions are well documented, but are still scrutinized for the
integrity and historical perspective.
It is believed, however, that the Germanic languages probably came into existence as distinctly
different languages than the Celtic languages around the 2nd century B.C.E. Yet, in both
languages, the word “Germanic” seems to have one of two meanings: either “the fierce man” or,
contrarily, “the friendly man.” No one knows for sure which meaning is the most accurate.
CAUSES
A period of sustained drought, extreme cold, and floods caused agricultural problems
leading some groups to migrate in search of new fertile lands.
There was a population increase. This created the need for more food and caused others
to migrate in search of new land.
Occupational changes from nomadic hunters to agricultural pastoralists.
Succession disputes in some cases led to migration of some groups. This normally
happened when a tribal chiefton died and members of the royal family quarreled about
who should succeed him.
Encroachment on tribal boundaries by outside nomadic invaders like the Huns as
defeated tribes migrated away from powerful enemies for safety.
Increasing contact with the Roman Empire and Romanized Celts influenced desires for
increased technology for agriculture and warfare.
Since most of the Germanic tribes were warrior societies, some may have migrated
merely for adventure, exploration, and the thrills of battle.
Another reason for the Germanic migrations was that of expansion. As problems
developed in the Roman Empire, some Germanic tribes saw the opportunity to expand
into the fringes of the slowly declining empire.
First group (The Goths: Ostrogoths and Visigoths)
Migrated from Scandinavia south into southern Russia around the 3rd Century.
They settled here because of the fertile land, good rainfall, and grazing land.
Interacted with the Turkish and Persian civilizations and adopted some of the
agricultural, domestic, and military technology of these civilizations.
Hunnish invasions in 375 effectively destroyed the Gothic empire and inspired another
round of migrations into Rome and southern Gaul (Southern France)
Eventually, the Visigoths migrated into Spain and dominated the area until 711.
Second group (The Vandals)
Migrated from Scandinavia south into the area of Hungary & Slovakia (c. 3rd Century).
They joined other Germanic and Alanic tribes and invaded Gaul and then Spain.
Pressured by invasions by the Franks and the Goths, the Vandals crossed the narrow
Straights of Gibralter and invaded North Africa.
Eventually this war of conquest culminated in the establishment of the Vandal
civilization around the ancient city of Carthage during the 5th century.
Third group (The Franks)
Migrated into the areas around Gaul (Modern France) in the 3rd Century.
Had very little success against the Roman Legions and settled in areas ceded to them by
their Roman allies.
Developed from warrior clans into communities with minor kings.
Bravely defended Gaul against the Huns, Vandals, and Visigoths.
Developed the first great Germanic kingdom under King Clovis in 486.
Fourth group (The Lombards and Burgundians)
Migrated into the areas of southeastern Gaul (Burgundians) and the northeastern Italian
Peninsula (Lombards).
Burgundians allied themselves with the Franks around the 4th Century.
Lombards developed an independent province around the 5th Century.
Both developed into independent Germanic Kingdoms during the Middle Ages.
WAYS OF LIFE
Economic
The Germans developed into good agriculturists.
They were pastoralists who kept animals like horses, cattle, pigs, goats.
They were hunters who hunted wild game for meat.
They were also smelters and also made weapons and farming implements
Their economy was based on reciprocity (giving gifts as forms of expression, social
relationship, or mutual obligation) instead of trade.
Eventually traded with the Romans.
Social
Lived in small households.
Households were grouped into clans.
Roof was thatched with grass.
Huts built in a secular form
Diet included fish, meat, and vegetables.
Animal hides and furs used for clothing.
Primarily oral cultures with a limited writing system called runic writing.
Political
Family household under eldest male member.
Family formed into warrior clans which attached themselves to a tribal lord by oaths of
loyalty (Called comitatus - a term invented by the Roman historian : Tacitus).
Villages were often headed by a chiefton.
Villages formed a chiefdom (later into a kingdom).
Headed by a tribal chief or king respectively.
Religious
Tribes and families originally claimed origins back to sacred animals.
Individual tribes or clans adopted unique pantheons of gods (sky and storm gods were the
highest of these).
Their god would be approached by leaders who were shamanistic in nature.
Religious ceremonies took place in groves and sometimes near bodies of water.
Traditional beliefs indicate a strong sense of nature in Germanic religion.
EFFECTS
POLITICAL
Germanic tribes settled within the boundaries of the former Roman Empire from Britania
(Britain) to Gaul (France), Hispania (Spain) to North Africa, and throughout the Italian
Peninsula.
Germanic people lived in small communities governed by unwritten laws and traditions
handed down through tribal chiefs, causing a power shift in the methods of governing
(replacing the traditional loyalties to a formal centralized government and standardized
laws, which had existed during the Roman Empire).
Germanic traditions of loyalty to tribal chiefs and clans led to the developments of small
Germanic Kingdoms throughout Europe (leading to the development of Feudalism)
ECONOMIC
Conflicts between encroaching Germanic tribes and Roman Legions caused the
disruption of trade and the decline of cities.
As cities declined, many people moved back to the countryside and took up agriculture
for personal and local subsistance.
LANGUAGE AND WRITING
Due to the oral traditions of the Germanic tribes and the lack of desire to learn to read or
write, there was a significant decline in learning and knowledge.
As Germanic speaking people mingled and inter-married with the former Roman
populations, Latin declined and new dialects formed. As a result, by the 800‟s, this
mixing created French, Spanish, Italian, and other Latin based languages in Western
Europe.
RELIGION
The Remnants of the Roman Catholic Church survived in Western Europe by creating
Christian communities (Monasteries) and eventually converted the Germanic people.
©Richard Hooker(Washington State University) 1996, ©David Holt(Arkansas State University)
2008, and “World History – Patterns of Interaction” by McDougal-Littell, Inc., 2006
THE VIKING MIGRATIONS
ORIGIN
The origins of the Vikings are shrouded in mystery. Although they have been traditionally
connected to the modern people of Scandinavia, there is additional evidence indicating that they
were related to the Germanic tribes of the ancient Sarmatians which originally came from the
lands between the Black and Baltic Seas.
The movement of the early Vikings possibly started in a region of the Sarmatian homelands
called Gotland (Land of the Gods). It would be the original movement of these nomadic
warriors that gave the Vikings their original name. The Baltic word “Vykti” actually stands for
the action of moving towards “God‟s Luck or Wealth.” Eventually, the word Viking would come
to mean “Knight of the Gods” or “Knight in search of God‟s Luck.”
The Vikings who migrated into western and eastern Europe were chiefly from the regions around
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Their language became the mother tongue of present day
Scandinavia, Iceland, and Greenland. By the 9th Century A.D., they had started establishing
settlements in northeastern Europe, Britain, France, and other Germanic regions.
CAUSES
Viking population was outgrowing the agricultural potential of their Scandinavian
homelands.
Developed occupations as Farmers, Blacksmiths, Shipbuilders, and Toolmakers
Decline in trade along the traditional trade routes linking Scandinavia to the Roman
Empire, the Baltic Sea, and the Middle East during the 5th Century A.D. required the
Vikings to search for new trade partners.
Climatic changes during the 5th – 8th Centuries A.D. melted ice packs, allowing the
Vikings to begin exploration outside their traditional northern regions.
Development of superior naval technologies supported the Vikings efforts to explore and
discover new lands.
Knowledge of the growing weakness of the Western Roman Empire and the feuding
Germanic Kingdoms enticed the Vikings to seek expansion into southwestern and
northeastern Europe.
Encroachment into Viking territories by Germanic Christians forced the Vikings to either
convert or fight fiercely against their religious persecutors.
Since the Viking clans were warrior societies, some may have migrated merely for
adventure, exploration, and the thrills of battle.
First group (Viking Traders in the Roman Empire)
Migrated from Scandinavia south along the western European coast to the Mediterranean.
This was about the 5th Century A.D.
Primary contact was for trade in luxury goods from the Middle East and Asia.
Second group (The Invaders of Britian)
Migrated from Scandinavia south to the British Isles during the 6th Century A.D.
Viking pirates first raided Britain in 787 AD, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
Raids continued for the next century, with Vikings seizing land all over the British Isles.
Third group (The Slavs and Rus)
Migrated into the areas in northeastern Europe in the late 6th and early 7th Centuries A.D.
Slavic clans settled along the Volga river and developed strong agricultural centers.
Local villages were unified as the “Rus” under the leadership of the Scandanavian King
Rurik around 870-880 A.D.
“Rus” eventually made trade contacts with the Byzantine Empire and adopt Eastern
Orthodox Christianity under Princess Olga and Prince Vladamir.
Fourth group (The Invaders of France)
Migrated into the areas of southwestern Europe (Kingdom of the Franks) in the 8th and
9th Centuries A.D.
Vikings initially came in conflict with the Franks around the 8th Century.
The Viking King Rollo was defeated at the Battle of Chartres by the troops of the
Frankish King Charles the Simple in 911 A.D.
King Charles the Simple granted King Rollo the lands in France eventually known as
“Normandy” (Land of the Norsemen) in exchange for loyalty and service against other
raiding tribes.
WAYS OF LIFE
Economic
The Vikings developed into good agriculturists.
The Vikings were experienced fisherman of the northern seas
They were pastoralists who kept animals like horses, cattle, pigs, goats.
They were hunters who hunted wild game for meat.
They were also smelters and also made weapons and farming implements
Their economy was based on long distance sea and land trade .
Eventually traded with the Romans, Germanics, and even as far as the Middle East.
Social
Early tribes were centered on the old system of leidang – fleets where every ship was a
unified family of sailor warriors
Lived in large households (called “long houses).
Households were grouped into clans.
Roof was thatched with grass.
Diet included fish, meat, and vegetables.
Animal hides and furs used for clothing.
Primarily oral cultures with a limited writing system.
Series of stories called sagas made up the basis of their world views.
Social Structure included Freeman, Tradesmen, Blacksmiths, and Slaves.
Political
Family household under eldest male member.
Family formed into warrior clans which attached themselves to a tribal lord by oaths of
loyalty
Villages were often headed by a chieftain.
Larger political regions were headed by a tribal chief or king respectively.
Vikings credited with one of the oldest forms of Parliament (open-air Althing), where
free men came to resolve feuds and establish laws for their community.
Religious
Polytheistic religion based on fertility gods thought to help with food production, daily
concerns, and natural dangers.
Key gods known as Odin and Thor were worshipped primarily by the aristocratic and
warrior elite.
Vikings believed that their gods were almost exclusively concerned with the wisdom and
warrior like activities of only Slavic people.
Contact with Germanic Christians and the Byzantine Empire eventually converted the
Vikings to Christianity.
EFFECTS
POLITICAL
Viking traditions of loyalty to tribal chiefs and obligated service to their lords influenced
the development of Feudalism in Europe.
Viking practice of primogeniture was carried on in Europe as the Vikings and Germanic
people inter-married and developed new kingdoms.
Viking settlements and alliances with Germanic tribes helped to create strong new
kingdoms in Normandy (France) in 911 CE, and Kiev (Land of the Rus) by 890 CE.
NAVIGATION
The construction and design of Viking longboats or dragonships (drakkar) would
influence the adaption of shallower drafts in traditional European ships by the 15th
Century.
ECONOMY
Viking navigation skills allowed them to establish and expand trade routes between
Northern Europe, Brittany, Spain, the Mediterranean, and up the Danube and Volga
Rivers.
The Rus and the Byzantines established trade links between Central Europe and the
Mediterranean Sea.
MILITARY
The long Viking traditions of their warrior society would inspire the Norman Conquest of
England in 1066 and the Norman Crusades into the Holy Lands between 1096 – 1213.
© “The Vikings and their Impact,” by Chris Butler, 2006, and “Exploring the World of the
Vikings,” by Richard Hall, 2007