Download Africa and the Arrival of Islam

Africa and the Arrival of Islam
African states 600-1450
The Swahili States
• Founded by Bantu settlers
in 1st millennium CE
• Islamic merchants settle in
coastal villages
• Swahili culture emerges by
13th century
• Major role in Indian Ocean
trade network
• Trade raw materials for
Indian, Islamic, & Chinese
luxuries
Great Zimbabwe
• Dominates central Africa
from 9th-16th centuries
• Built massive stone
enclosures (zimbabwe)
• Supplied gold to the
Swahili coast
• Declined due to internal
divisions by the 16th
century
Trans-Saharan Trade
• 300 C.E. camels replaced horses and donkeys as
transport animals
• Speeds travel across the Sahara
• Trade in gold, salt, and ivory flourishes
• Islam arrives in 7th century
EARLY AFRICAN RELIGION
• Creator god
• Recognized by almost all African peoples
• Created the earth and humankind, source of world order
• Lesser gods and spirits
• Often associated with natural features, forces in world
• Participated actively in the workings of the world
• Believed in ancestors' souls influencing material world
• Diviners
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Mediated between humanity and supernatural beings
Called shamans and inappropriately “witch doctors”
Interpreted the cause of the people's misfortune
Used medicine or rituals to eliminate problems
• African religion was not theological, but practical
• Religion to placate the gods, ask for assistance, cures, fertility
• Public celebrations inc. dancing, singing formed community
• Genders honored different deities, had separate ceremonies
ARRIVAL OF ISLAM IN AFRICA
Islam in Africa
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North Africa
• Arab armies conquered region by early 8th Century; pushed up Nile
• Mass conversions of local inhabitants due to tax incentives
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West Africa
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Introduced by Trans-Saharan Trade route
Merchants were greatest contact with Islam
Local rulers, elites converted by 10th century
Gave elites control of trade, many benefits
Allowed people to observe traditional beliefs
Elite religion vs. common practices
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Most people remained polytheists especially outside of cities, towns
Produced syncretic blend such as accommodation of African gender norms
After conversion by elites, old beliefs remained; part of inherited traditions
Religion introduced writing, literary traditions
Rise of Sudanic States
• Trans-Saharan trade led to
the rise of the kingdoms in
the Sudan
• Common characteristics
• Led by patriarch or council
of elders
• Based upon ethnic core
• Rulers were considered
sacred
• Islam reinforced kingship
Kingdom of Ghana (750-1076)
• Used territorial expansion
to control Trans-Saharan
trade routes
• Trade led urbanization
Salt Mines
• Kings converted to Islam
by the 10th century
• Did not force upon others
• Nomadic raids from the
Sahara weakened Ghana
in the early 13th century
Gold Mines
Kingdom of Mali (1230-1620)
• Malinke people created
an empire in the early 13th
century
• Sundiata “the Lion Prince”
• Agriculture, with the gold
trade, was the base of the
economy
• Mansa Musa’s hajj in the
14th century became
legendary
Mansa Musa’s Pilgrimage
Malinke Economy
• Most of the people were rural farmers
• Small farms owned by families
• A special merchant class, called the juula,
controlled trade
• Slave trade became common after the
Islamic conquest of North Africa
• High demand for women and children
• Estimated 4.8 million slaves over 700 years
SLAVERY
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Slavery in Africa
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Most slaves were captives of war, debtors, criminals
Kept for local use or sold in slave markets
Often used as domestic laborers especially agricultural workers
Generally not a social stigma attached
Slaves could receive freedom, become part of family, tribe
Children born to slaves were not slaves
Slave trading
• Slave trade increased after the 11th century CE
• Primary markets
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Across Sahara to North Africa and Egypt and ultimately Arabia
Out of East Africa to Arabia and Middle East
In some years, 10 to 12 thousand slaves shipped out of Africa
Males preferred, could also act as carriers of trade goods
10 million slaves transported by Islamic trade between 750/1500
• Demand for slaves outstripped supply from eastern Europe
• Original slaves preferred in Muslim world were Caucasian Slavs
• Word “slave” comes from Slav
• Slave raids against smaller states, stateless societies
• Muslims could not be used as slaves (Quran) yet often ignored
Malinke Society & Culture
• Formation of the kingdom heightened social
differences
• Society was organized according to clans
• Many societies were matrilineal
• Women enjoyed more freedom than most
Eurasian cultures
• Polygamy was common
Malinke Culture
• Large portions of the
population did not convert
to Islam
• Many converts maintained
some of their old beliefs
• History maintained by oral
historian called griots
Drawing of a Malinke Griot
Djenne & Timbuktu
• Timbuktu was famous
for its library and
university
• Djenne was famous
for The Great Mosque
• Largest adobe building
in the world
Madrasa Sankore in Timbuktu
Songhai Empire (1340-1591)
• From the early 15th to
the late 16th century,
Songhai was one of
the largest African
empires in history
• Founded by Sunni Ali
and expanded by Askia
Muhammad the Great
• Conquered by
Moroccans, with
muskets, in 1591