History GR 2
Simon Kimbangu
A Baptist lay preacher and faith healer in the Belgian Congo who was arrested by Belgian authorities after only 2 months of ministry and imprisoned for the rest of his life, much of the time in solitary confinement. His followers continued his ministry to form the Church of Jesus Christ on Earth by this prophet who claimed over half a million members by the 1960s
Cordon Sanitaire
A French phrase that refers to a boundary line established to stop the spread of infectious diseases. It was usually accomplished by restricting the movement of people within a defined geographical area. The technique was used in the campaigns against the bubonic plague and sleeping sickness in Africa
William Wade Harris
A Liberian-born evangelist and healer who spread Christianity in Ghana and the Ivory Coast after receiving a vision that he believed came from the angel Gabriel. Preaching an orthodox version of Christianity, he and his followers baptized some 100,000 converts in a year before the French arrested him and deported him back to Liberia
Msiri
A Nyamwezi merchant who pioneered the ivory trade in the region known as Katanga, which was located in the lightly wooded southern savanna roughly halfway between the Atlantic coast and the Indian Ocean coast. In the 1860s, he founded the Yeke Kingdom, which carried on trade with both the eastern and western coasts of Africa
Samori Toure
A West African kola nut trader who used his profits to buy guns from Sierra Leone and created an army. He conquered a large territory in what is now Guinea and Mali, but lost control of it in 1886 when the populations rebelled against his imposition of Islam. He later build a new empire to the southeast of the old one
Warrant Chief
A category of chief created by the British for governing African societies that traditionally had decentralized political systems. In setting up an artificial chiefdom, the British would simply pick a compliant person and give him this to proclaim him chief. Because many abused their authority, Igbo women in southern Nigeria organized a series of protests against them in 1929 that were collectively known as the Women's war
Achimota College
A coeducational secondary school in Accra, Ghana. it was modeled after the prestigious private boarding schools in England. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of independent Ghana was a graduate of the school as were four other presidents of Ghana
Marketing Board
A colonial government agency in Britain's African colonies that purchased export commodities from farmers in order to stabilize prices. These generally set their prices so low that they amassed huge surpluses of money that should have gone to African farmers
Copperbelt
A copper-rich region now occupying the southern part of the DRC and the northern part of Zambia. During the colonial period, copper became the major export for both colonies
Chibaro Contracts
A forced-labor contract used by the British South Africa Company to recruit workers for the gold mines in colonial Zimbabwe. Company Labor recruiters rounded up able-bodied men and forced them to sign this 1-year contract.
Kariba Dam
A large dam on the Zambezi River constructed between 1955 and 1959 on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe in order to supply electricity to the Zambian copper mines. It created a lake 170 miles long that displaced many African farmers from the fertile Zambezi valley
Indigenat
A law in French colonies that gave French administrators the right to inflict immediate fines or prison time on Africans who challenged their authority or failed to meet their administrative demands. Perhaps the most hated aspect of French colonial rule and was eventually abolished
Natives Land Act
A law passed by the Union of South Africa in 1913 that reserved 93% of the land in South Africa for whites, even though black South Africans made up 2/3rds of the population. The law also prohibited blacks from living on white lands as sharecroppers, forcing them to become wage laborers for white landowners
Rabih Fadlallah
A lieutenant of Al -Zubayr who struck out on his own after his employer was called to Egypt. Continuing Al-Zubayr's pattern of trade and conquest, he established a trading state at Dar al-Kuti and later conquered the kingdom of Bornu
Amadu Hamallah
A member of the Tijaniyya who led a religious reform movement in colonial Mali. He believed that he had received revelations directly from the Prophet Muhammad that guided his reinterpretation of certain Tijaniyya texts. At the urging of Tijaniyya leaders, he was arrested by the French colonial authorities and sent into exile in the Ivory Coast and France
Maji Maji Rebellion
A rebellion against German colonialism that engulfed the southeaster quarter of Tanganyika. The name comes from the holy water distributed by the African prophet Kinjikitile to protect people from the bullets of German soldiers (means water in Swahili)
Hut Tax War
A rebellion that broke out in Sierra Leone when the British colonial government tried to impose an annual hut tax on the Africans. It lasted from Feb-Nov 1898 and involved some of the "most stubborn fighting" that had been seen in West Africa
Republic of Liberia
A republic on the Atlantic coast of West Africa; originated as a settler colony for free blacks and ex-slaves created by the American Colonization Society in 1821; became Commonwealth of _______ in 1839 and an independent republic in 1847
Albion A10 Truck
A rugged and reliable truck, built by the Scottish automobile maker ____, that became the workhorse of colonial Africa, during the interwar period. First introduced in 1910, this had a 32 horsepower motor and a carrying capacity of 3 tons
Katsina College
A secondary school in northern Nigeria that the British established for the training of Muslim students. Located in the capital of this Emirate, the school took in boys who had come up through the Muslim education system. Taught them the skills needed by the British administration, and socialized them to the elite culture of government service
Yoruba Wars
A series of wars that engulfed much of what is now southwestern Nigeria between 1813 and 1893, triggered by destruction of the Oyo Empire by the Sokoto caliphate as smaller Yoruba states fought to succeed the defunct empire
Cheddo
A soldier of slave origin in the service of one of the rulers of the coastal kingdoms of senegambia; unlike the general population which was predominantly Muslim, these people remained defiantly pagan and flaunted their use of alcohol. By the 19th century , these people and noble families had become intertwined and formed a ruling aristocracy
Indirect Rule
A system of colonial rule, first formalized by the British, in which African chiefs were allowed to remain in power if they pledged subservience to the colonial administration. Although all colonial powers used chiefs as low-level administrators, this emphasized the appointment of chiefs who had legitimate traditional authority
Shebeen Queen
A term that refers to the unattached women who came to the mining areas of South Africa to run these unlicensed drinking establishments where they brewed beer and sold it to the miners while also avoiding the efforts of the South African police to shut them down
Colonial City
A type of African city that grew up during the colonial period as ports, transportation hubs, commercial centers, or administrative capitals. Colonial cities were inhabited mostly by Africans who came from rural regions. They can be contrasted with the "European cities" built in southern Africa to attract white settlers
Zariba
A type of fortified trading post that traders from Khartoum established in southern Sudan in the second half of the nineteenth century. This system spread westward across the southern savanna toward Lake Chad, carried by Khartoum traders who had been driven out of Sudan by the Egyptian army
Taarab Band
A type of musical group that originally performed songs in Arabic, accompanied by Southwest Asian instruments for the sultan of Zanzibar, but branched out in Tanzania in the 1920s to perform songs in Swahili for popular audiences. Because the bands and their audiences were Muslim, they did not perform in bars, but played at weddings and other festive occasions instead
10-year Plan
A type of plan for developing the economy and infrastructure of an African colony, drawn up by many colonial governments after WWII. The best known of these was the Belgian Congo's ____________ which called for improvements in infrastructure, urban planning, and agriculture and was financed mostly by loans from American banks
Native Authority School
A type of primary school in British colonies that were sponsored and financed by local communities. They were especially popular in northern Nigeria, where the Muslim population was hostile to schools sponsored by Christian missionaries
Nehanda-Charwe
A woman who was the most powerful of the Shona spirit mediums in Zimbabwe, who channeled the spirit _________ to bring rain and fertility to the land. In 1897, the British executed her on charges of inspiring the Shona people to rebel against the rule of the British South Africa Company
Aladura Churches
African independent churches that arose in southern Nigeria. They differed from missionary churches in their emphasis on the power of prayer rand divine healing. Because these churches included many small independent congregations, they exhibited tremendous variation in their stances on issues such as polygyny, witchcraft, and the validity of certain prophetic visions
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
An American company based in Ohio that acquired the rights to lease up to a million acres of land for rubber plantations in Liberia. It established two plantations that together contained 10 million rubber trees, from the beginning, the company found it difficult to recruit labor. It was accused of using forced and coerced labor
Native Reserve
An area of South Africa reserved for black South Africans under the Natives Land Act. The law recognized African "tribal" ownership of the land here, but would not allow Africans to own land as individuals. In 1913, these contained only 7% of the land in South Africa, but the amount was increased later to 13%
White Highlands
An area of the highlands of central Kenya where Europeans acquired 99-year leases to large tracts of land to be used for agriculture. The railway to Uganda passed through the region, making it accessible to Europeans. The European settlers did not work the land themselves, but relied on African labor
Chokwe
An ethnic group living in the hinterland of Angola that had developed a lifestyle based on hunting elephants, gathering beeswax, and warfare. In 1886, after rebellious Lunda chiefs hired these mercenaries to aid them against the Lunda king, these people sacked the Lunda capital, thus destroying the Lunda Empire
Cecil Rhodes
An influential figure in the 19th century history of southern Africa. He was a major investor in diamond and gold mines, the prime minister of the Cape Colony who ordered the disastrous Jameson Raid, and the founder of the British South Africa Company, which orchestrated the European settlement of the Zimbabwe Plateau
evolue
An intermediate category for Africans who had attained a certain level of education and adopted Western ways, created by French, Portuguese, and Belgian colonial administrators. Laws and regulations in all African colonies were grounded in a racial distinction between white Europeans and Black natives (aka Assimilados) were exempt from some of the laws that applied to "natives" (indigenat)
Niger scheme
An irrigation scheme that was created by the French to produce cotton. Plagued by low cotton yields and resistance from tenants, the scheme gradually switched over to rice production
Al-Zubayr
An ivory trader from Khartoum who created a trading state in present-day southern Sudan that, at hits height, was as large as France. In 1873, the khedive of Egypt appointed him district administrator over the lands that he conquered, but summoned him to Cairo 2 years later and did not allow him to leave
Battle of Adwa
Battle fought between the kingdom of Ethiopia and the invading Italians. The Ethiopians defeated the Italians, who withdrew from Ethiopia. As a result, Ethiopia remained an independent kingdom
Ngoni
Collective term for the groups established by generals of the regiments of Zwide's Ndwandwe Kingdom who moved northward after its defeat and disintegration; these states conquered and incorporated people from a variety of linguistic and ethnic groups throughout East Central Africa
Berlin Conference
Conference from November 1884 to Feb. 1885 in which twelve European nations, plus the U.S. and Turkey, met to resolve their differences over how to partition Africa among themselves. The most significant decision of the conference was to award most of the vast Congo River basin to King Leopold II of Belgium as his personal property
Shaka
Founder of the Zulu Kingdom; known for his innovative military strategies; held power through his adaptations of the traditional age-requirement system of southern Africa and through generous gifts of cattle to subordinates
Usuman dan Fodio
Fulani cleric born in 1753 in the Hausa kingdom of Gobir who became a member of the Qadiriyya. He lanuched a successful jihad against governments of the Hausa kingdoms founded the Sokoto caliphate
Edward Wilmot Blyden
Intellectual leader, Liberia; born on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas in 1832; moved to the Republic of LIberia in 1850 after being refused admission to American theological colleges; served as editor of the Liberia Herald; later held government and diplomatic positions and served as president of Liberia College. He advocated a synthesis of Africa's "triple heritage" - indigenous, Muslim, and Christian
Second Colonial Occupation
Intrusions into African life by colonial agricultural agents who arrived in East Africa after WWII to implement terracing campaigns and other agricultural improvement schemes, often by force
Lobengula
King of the Ndebele Kingdom on the Zimbabwe Plateau. In 1888, this king signed a treaty with business associates of Cecil Rhodes allowing for limited gold mining, but the text was manipulated to give the impression that he had signed away his country. The British South Africa Company drove him out of his capital, Bulawayo in 1893
Zulu Kingdom
Kingdom in the region of southern Africa between the Mkhuze and Thukela Rivers, established by Shaka in 1819; made up of three regions: !) chiefdoms that had traditional ties to old chiefdom, 2) chiefdoms that lacked such ties but were integral to the kingdom, 3) chiefdoms that operated independently, but acknowledged the hegemony of the king and provided the kingdom with a buffer zone against attacks, 4) regions outside the kingdom where Shaka sent his regiments to raid for cattle
Patriots
Members of the Ethiopian resistance forces that fought to drive the Italian occupiers out of Ethiopia during WWII. In 1941, Emperor Haile Selassie traveled through the Ethiopian countryside with the British Gideon Force to rally the people to join the patriots and drive out the Italians. Women as well as men joined the patriot forces
Zwangendaba
Ngoni leader; in the wake of the disintegration of the Ndwandwe kingdom, he established a migratory state whose regiments moved 2,000 miles northward through present-day southern Mozambique, the Zimbabwe Plateau, and Zambia, conquering and raiding as they traveled. He died near the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika in 1848
Onitsha Market Literature
Popular pamphlets that were sold at the large market in Nigeria in the middle decades over the 20th century. Over 200 English-language titles by local authors were on sale here in the postwar years
Samuel Ajayi Crowther
Religious and intellectual leader; born in 1809 in Yoruba country; enslaved and rescued from a slave ship; settled in Sierra Leone; served as a Christian missionary to the Yoruba and later as the Anglican Church's first bishop of West Africa; sought common ground with Muslims and worked to define a form of religious faith that was both Christian and African
Umar Tal
Sufi cleric born in the western province of Fuuta Toro, member of the Tijaniyya. He claimed to be a Majaddid (renewer) and to receive messages from God, and led a jihad that established the Tukolor Empire, which stretched more than 900 miles from the middle Senegal River valley to the Niger bend
Zionist Churches
The African independent churches founded among the Zulu-speaking people of South Africa in the early 20th century that traced their roots to a ministry emanating from ______, Illinois. These churches were characterized by prophetic leaders who claimed direct revelations from God through dreams and visions. In contrast to the missionary churches, they emphasized diving healing, casting out demons, and witch-finding. (These in Southern Africa are totally unrelated to the Jewish movement that was instrumental in founding the state of Israel)
Mad Mullah
The British nickname for Muhammad Abdullah Hassan who led a rebellion against the British in Somalia. In 1913, he established the Dervish State which remained independent until 1920 when the British bombed his capital
Herero Genocide
The German colonial government's brutal repression of the Herero revolt in Namibia during which over 80% of the Herero lost their lives. A UN report classified the German actions as the first genocide of the 20th century
The Mahdi
The Islamic deliverer who, according to the prophecies, would bring justice and equity to the earth at the end of time; also, the title claimed by Muhammad Ahmad, a member of the Sufi Sammaniyya order and leader of a jihad that ousted the Turco-Egyptian regime and established a theocratic state in Sudan
Boer Republics
The Orange Free State and the Transvaal (Officially the South African Republic): two independent, self-governing states that were established by the Trekboers in previously held African territory during the 1830s and 1840s. They were recognized by Britain as independent states in the 1850s. Each had a constitution and a republican form of government, but Africans were not allowed to vote
Muhammad Ali
The Ottoman-appointed governor who became known as the father of modern Egypt. After breaking the Mamluks' hold on the Egyptian administration, he embarked on a series of reforms. During his rule (1805-1848), he improved the irrigation system, encouraged the production of cotton, modernized the army, and extended Egyptian rule over Sudan
Haile Selassie
The emperor of Ethiopia, the only country in Africa that had never been colonized, who was driven into exile by the Italian invasion of 1935. After Ethiopia regained its independence, he resumed his position as emperor which he held until he was overthrown in a coup in 1974
Maxim gun
The first true machine gun, named after inventor. It was introduced in 1884, just as the scramble for Africa was under way. European armies equipped with these could defeat much larger African armies equipped only with muskets
Amadu Bamba
The founder of the Muslim Muridiyya or Muride brotherhood in Senegal. He was feared by French colonial authorities because of his popularity and his refusal to acknowledge French authority. After being sent twice into exile, he reached an accommodation with the French. Members of the Muride brotherhood became known for expanding peanut production in Senegal
Leverville
The headquarters of the Lever Brothers concession in the Belgian Congo, where palm oil was collected for making Sunlight Soap. In 1911, the company received a legal monopoly on all palm fruit within five circles, each one 36 miles in diameter. A company drive to forcibly recruit workers triggered a major revolt by the local population
Scramble for Africa
The label given to the period between the late 1870s and the late 1890s when Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal laid claim to various parts of Africa and sent armies to occupy the territories that they had claimed. It is called this because of its chaotic nature, driven by great power rivalries
William Ponty School
The major secondary school for Africans in French West Africa prior to WWII. Its principal goal was the training of teachers, but students who wanted more technical training could switch to the medical school, the veterinary school, or the school of marine mechanics, all in Dakar. It admitted only about 80 new students per year
Great Trek
The migration of Boer farmers out of the Cape Colony beginning in 1834, after the British had captured the colony from the Dutch in 1806, abolished the Hottentot Code in 1828, and ended slavery in 1833. By 1840, about 10% of the white settlers here had moved north into the interior, where they seized land belonging to Bantu-speaking Africans
Tippu Tip
The nickname of Hamid bin Muhammad el Murjebi, the most successful of the 19th century East African caravan traders. He created a large trading state in the region know as Manyema, located halfway between the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, which funneled ivory and captives to Zanzibar
Free French Forces
The resistance movement against the Germans and their French collaborators during WWII led by General Charles de Gaullee. The governors of the French colonies in Africa were forced to choose between loyalty and the collaborationist French government at Vichy or this
Red Rubber
The system under which European rubber companies received large concessions of territory in King Leopold II's Congo Free State, which they exploited using brutality and violence. In response to reports of atrocities, the Belgian government took control of the Congo away from the king in 1908
Anglo-Boer War
The war fought in southern Africa between the British and two Boer Republics: The Orange Free State and the South African Republic. It was characterized by Boer guerilla tactics and British use of concentration camps. The British victory led to the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910
Sokoto caliphate
Theocratic Muslim state, established in 1812, with its capital at ____, as a result of the jihad led by Usuman dan Fodio in Hausaland. It continued to expand for much of the 19th century
Delegalization
This strategy used in British and French colonies to reduce domestic slavery. Instead of formally abolishing slavery and setting all slaves free, colonial administrators did this by passing laws saying that slave owners had no standing to go to colonial courts to demand the return of slaves who left them. Some slaves left their masters, but others stayed on and renegotiated the terms of their servitude
Germ Theory
the guiding theory that underlies modern biomedicine which states that many diseases are caused by the actions of microorganisms which can be counteracted by drugs. This gained gradual acceptance in Europe and the U.S. from the middle 19th century onward and spread to Africa during the colonial period
