Chapter 10

Bantu

~ Various Bantu-speaking ethnic groups made up the large majority in the center and south by about 400 CE. In West Africa below the Sahara Desert, there are various groups closely linked to the Bantu languages. ~Spread of the Bantu-speaking people The Bantu-speaking people, originally located in the region of present-day Nigeria and Cameroon in West Africa, began spreading to Southern Africa and also brought their knowledge of agriculture to the new regions. This process began around 1000 B.C.E. They were masters of the yam agriculture. How did they move? They used canoes to sail down the Congo River and as they were moving, they also cleared some of the forests to prepare the area for agriculture. Eventually, they reached Lake Victoria. They acquired iron technology and learned to breed livestock and grow the grain crops that did better than yams in the grasslands. Knowledge of iron technology and agriculture helped the Bantu people to expand their numbers and to absorb the native people they met on the way of their movement. Eventually, they established small kingdoms stretching across eastern, central, and southern Africa, and by 400 C.E., they had reached the southern tip of the continent in present-day South Africa. The bulk of the Bantu-speaking inhabitants of central, eastern, and southern Africa are thought to be the descendants of these migrants. We know about these migrations mostly from archeology and study of their languages. We know much more about them when they arrived on the coast of the Indian Ocean and built the port cities of the Swahili coast. They created kingdoms dependent on agriculture and trade in the interior. Some of these states existed when the Portuguese arrived there in the 1500s.

Trans-Saharan trade

~The name Ghana was adopted by the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence in 1957. This was a former British colony of the Cold Coast. But there is no connection between the ancient kingdom of Ghana and modern Ghana. Ancient Ghana was located several hundred miles northwest of the modern nation. Part in the Sahel and part in the Savanna, Ghana was well situated to take advantage of trading network across the Sahara. As I already stated, the "trans-Saharan trade" was revolutionized by the introduction of the camel in the third through the fifth century by Northern African Berber nomads. The caravans that crossed the deserts had 5,000 camels and hundreds of people. They traveled mostly at night to avoid the daily heat. The journey took up to 70 days, covering about 15 to 25 miles per day.

The reign of Mansa Musa

Mansa Musa (r. 1312-1337) The most famous of all Mali rulers was Mansa Kankan Musa (r. 1312-1337). From 1322 to 1325, he undertook the hajj (or pilgrimage) to Mecca. ("Mansa" means emperor.) He had 100 camel loads of gold, 500 slaves in his caravan. His journey to Mecca drew a lot of attention. It put Mali on the map of the medieval world. It also showed that Islam had become more present in Mali. Mansa Musa was a particularly devout Muslim and encouraged Muslim scholarship and literacy. He distributed so much gold in Cairo in gifts that the contemporary accounts suggest that his journey was responsible for gold devaluation in Egypt.

Berbers

pg. 274 ~Along the Mediterranean coast, along the Nile River, and the northern Sahara live Egyptians and Berbers who were later joined by Muslims after the expansion of Islam in the 7th century.

Islam in West Africa

pg. 276 ~Along the northeastern coasts and upper Nile valley were Abyssinians or Ethiopians, Nubians, and Somalis. Various Bantu-speaking ethnic groups made up the large majority in the center and south by about 400 CE. In West Africa below the Sahara Desert, there are various groups closely linked to the Bantu languages. ~As in West Africa, the importance of gold increased. In this case, the Swahili city-states, such as Kilwa, prospered from gold mined far in the inferior, on the Zimbabwean plateau. ~The religious impact was the greatest one: the West African Savanna and the East Coast of Africa become the most Islamized parts of Africa.

Most common form of leadership in stateless societies in Africa

pg. 277

Kingdom of Ghana

pg. 277 Kingdom of Ghana (ca.700-1000) The name Ghana was adopted by the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence in 1957. This was a former British colony of the Cold Coast. But there is no connection between the ancient kingdom of Ghana and modern Ghana. Ancient Ghana was located several hundred miles northwest of the modern nation. Part in the Sahel and part in the Savanna, Ghana was well situated to take advantage of trading network across the Sahara. As I already stated, the trans-Saharan trade was revolutionized by the introduction of the camel in the third through the fifth century by Northern African Berber nomads. The caravans that crossed the deserts had 5,000 camels and hundreds of people. They traveled mostly at night to avoid the daily heat. The journey took up to 70 days, covering about 15 to 25 miles per day. Ghana's traders and rulers prospered by assuming a middleman position between resources of salt to the north and gold from the Bure goldfields of the southeast. Salt was extremely valuable and was used as a form of currency. Ghana's core ethnic group was the Soninke. Soninke kings, who claimed automatic rights over gold nuggets (as opposed to dust), were able to extend their power over numerous other ethnic groups. After the 7th century, Ghana was trading with Muslims to the north. Trade brought Islam to Ghana. There were Muslims in Ghana, but the king and the majority of people remained polytheistic and worshiped their own spirits and ancestors. Al-Bakri (1014-1094), a Muslim geographer and historian, reported that the capital Kumbi Saleh was comprised of two cities: preachers and scholars lived in the Islamic one (with 12 mosques) and six miles away, the king and his sorcerers lived in the other. Basically, al-Bakri made a distinction between Muslim dwellers and those who were polytheist and worshipped, according to him, idols. The king did not convert to Islam, but he welcomed Muslim visitors. The king taxed the goods in and out of the cities he ruled. Merchants paid a tax in gold on each donkey load of goods they brought in. The revenue financed the king's military campaigns. Even though Ghana controlled vast territories, it exercised control only in a small core area. The king had little independent political power. He usually served as a mediator and consensus- builder for the council of elders. The lineages and clan leaders made the most important decisions on local level.

Kingdom of Mali

pg. 280 Kingdom of Mali and Griots In the early 1200s, rivals to the Soninke kings of the Ghana emerged. A young Malinke chief, Sundiata, proved triumphant and founded the most legendary West African empire of all, Mali. The story of Sundiata is the basis of the most famous epic from Africa; it was transmitted orally for several centuries and was finally written down in the 20th century. Sundiata defeats Soumaoro, the king of the Soso. He is represented as the good king, and Soumaoro as the "evil" king. Soumaro is portrayed as evil because he relied on witchcraft for his power. Sundiata is portrayed as good because he embraced Islam. When in rural settings, Sundiata was depicted as the "hunter king." This means that Sundiata clearly represents the unique blend of traditional and Islamic religious traditions. This story was transmitted by griots. Griots were royal storytellers who recited the events of the past to the monarch they advised. Griots were oral historians, musicians and entertainers. A griot used a string instrument, the kora, to accompany his recitations. Each king of Mali had his own griot who had been taught the story of his dynastic predecessors and whose task was to compose new sections about the reigning king. Griots had access to the kings and had tremendous influence on them. They often advised rulers in matters of importance and accompanied them on diplomatic missions.

Timbuktu

pg. 282 Timbuktu and Jenne Under rulers such as Mansa Musa, cosmopolitan towns of Islamic culture emerged. The most famous one are Timbuktu and Jenne. Timbuktu was reported to have had a population of 50, 000 and by the 14th century, its great Sankore Mosque contained a library and university where scholars and jurists studied. Ancient texts in the library were brought with the caravans that crossed the Sahara desert. Book trade in Timbuktu was the most lucrative business. As Mali's power waned in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, Songhai became the new most powerful empire.

Coptic Christianity in Ethiopia

pg. 283 ~Christianity spread throughout the Mediterranean to Northern Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia in the 300s. After 650, Islam replaced Christianity in much of North Africa but not in Ethiopia. Islam eventually spread to East Africa and Western Africa.

Swahili Language

pg. 288 ~We call them Swahili city-states because they used the Swahili language. Swahili was a Bantu language that also incorporated many Arabic words. It illustrates well the mixture of cultures in the region- local indigenous African populations that mixed with Arab people.

The importance of the camel and the saddle

~Why did only North Africa and East Africa have closer contact with the rest of the world? The answer lies in the geography of the African continent. The Sahara desert is 3,000 miles wide and 1,000 miles long from north to south. It is really hard to cross. The first to cross it were traders riding camels. CAMELS were domesticated in Arabia and first seen in the Nile Valle around 700 B. C.E. Eventually, camels revolutionized travel across the desert about the 4th to 5th century. CAMELS were called the "ships of the desert" because their padded feet travel easily on soft sand. They store fat in their humps and conserve water very efficiently. However, it is the SADDLE on the camel that made trade possible; eventually, loadcarrying saddles were developed. The camel was so efficient for crossing deserts that it replaced the wheeled cart over enormous areas of Southwestern Asia and the rest of the desert world. ~Part in the Sahel and part in the Savanna, Ghana was well situated to take advantage of trading network across the Sahara. As I already stated, the trans-Saharan trade was revolutionized by the introduction of the CAMEL in the third through the fifth century by Northern African Berber nomads. The caravans that crossed the deserts had 5,000 CAMELS and hundreds of people. They traveled mostly at night to avoid the daily heat. The journey took up to 70 days, covering about 15 to 25 miles per day.