...1 African Kingdoms I. General Overview a. The single most important development in the history of northwestern Africa was the use of the camel as a transport vehicle. In ancient times, the Egyptians and Carthaginians engaged in just a trickle of commercial trade with west Africa, even though west Africa was rich in gold, precious metals, ivory, and other resources. b. The reason for this was the imposing barrier of the Sahara, which in Arabic simply means "The Desert." Around 750 AD, under the influence of Islamic peoples, northern and western Africans began to use the camel to transport goods across this forbidding terrain. c. Camels do several things exceptionally well: they can carry unbelievably heavy loads for impossibly long distances and they can keep their footing on sandy terrain. It was as if someone had invented sand ships and its effect on western African culture was just as profound as if they were sand ships. d. The most important developments occurred in the Sahel area just south of the Sahara; the Sahel provided southern terminal points for the goods being shipped across the Sahara. The Sahel is a dry, hot area with fertile areas and grasslands; all of the major north African kingdoms grew up in this area: Ghana, Mali, Songhay, and Kanem-Bornu: the Sahelian kingdoms. SLIDE: African Empire Chronology SLIDE: Key terms SLIDE: Map of Africa II. Sahelian kingdoms a. The largest African cities and kingdoms were located in the Sahel, a desert and savannah region south...
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...The Kingdom of Mali Prior to the emergence of the Kingdom of Mali, under the leadership of Sundiata of the Keita clan, after the decline of its predecessor Ghana, Mali had had a succession of strong leaders. It also had established strong regional trade links. The ancient Malian kingdom of Jenne-Jeno was reputed by archaeologists to have its roots in and around 200 Years BC. Mali only began to lose its power and influence in the 16th Century. Prior to its eventual collapse it was the second largest state in the world after the Asiatic Mongol Empire. Jenne’s strategic position made it an important crossroads for both north and south trade. Highly crafted fragments of pottery, iron work and jewelry have been discovered in the region. This makes it highly likely that there were imports of iron ore, stone grinders and beads into Mali. Also the origins of Mali lie in the Mandinka people who originally lived in the upper reaches of the Niger and Senegal rivers. They lived in small villages which were called Dugu. The chiefs of each village called themselves Dugutigi. These villages by the end of the 12th Century had formed themselves into the state of Kangaba. With the breakup of the Ancient Kingdom of Ghana, partly caused by raids led by the Almoravid Berbars from the north coupled with dwindling gold supplies at around the start of the 12th Century, smaller states such as Tekrur and Sosso competed to fill the power basin left in regions west of the Upper Niger. One of the main reasons...
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...the life of Sundiata, son of Maghan Kon Fatta and Sogolon and future King of the Kingdom of Mali. The history of the “lion prince” (Niane 14), is told by the griot Mamadou Kouyate many generations after Sundiata himself died in the 1200’s. It remained spoken only until scholars began publishing African oral tradition as stories in the mid-1900s. Mamadou Kouyate explains that his reason for telling the history of Mali in this fashion is, “…so that the lives of the ancients might serve them as an example, for the world is old, but the future springs from the past, (1).” The epic itself are plainly written words of an oral account, but that does not take away from the fact that the history and tale is a reliable source of information on the old kingdoms of Western Africa and the Kingdom of Mali specifically. Griots, like Mamadou Kouyate, were men who had ,”…learnt the art of historical oratory through long years…bound by an oath, (viii).” Though certain words are often changed when a person retells a story, Griots were raised from their youth and trained to retain exact details of a history in order to better retell it in the future. Griots were highly respected men who maintained traditions of their people and were often more than not advisers to the kings of Mali. Griots, “…for want of archives, records the customs, traditions and governmental principles of kings, (vii).” These men told history so it can be an example to learn from, the matter of whether it was orally or written...
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...Under the great leadership of Sunjata, the Mali Empire was established and grew from a pigmy to a giant in Northern Africa. Similar to other empires, the Mali Empire expanded its territories during the reigns of its various rulers from the forest of south-west region to the Songhay capital of Gao on the east of the middle Niger bend. The empire also pushed its boarder lines to the area in the south including cities such as Bure and Bambuk. Eventually, the empire’s influence reached to the south from where important cities including Walata and Tadmekka were located. [1] With its immensely territorial expansion, the Mali Empire eclipsed the glory of the Ghana Empire and integrated with the Old World. [2] As Iliffe points out that the creation...
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...D.T. Niane’s book Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali tells the history of Mali’s former ruler from the perspective of a royal griot, Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate of the village of Dejliba Koro (Siguiri) in Guinea. According to Niane, he is not trying to write a traditional history book, rather, he is trying to present the history of Sundiata’s empire through the traditional African form of memory using oral tradition as his only sources. He claims that the West has taught historians to avoid oral traditions and to rely instead primarily on written documents. However, Niane disagrees with these methods and claims that much can be learned from the stories and traditions passed from generation to generation through spoken word. He makes a wonderful case for the problem of Westernization of the historical discipline; stressing that it is important to understand the people being studied on their own terms, instead of viewing their histories from Eurocentric perspectives. The story of Sundiata begins before his birth. In the beginning, the griot establishes his authority on the subject by claiming that he was entrusted with these stories from his father and his father’s father. The griot also explains that griots take an oath and are unable to lie. According to tradition, Sundiata came from a long line of Malian kings. His father was a great and handsome man who was loved by his people. One day, Sudndiata’s father, Maghan Kon Fatta received a visiting hunter and soothsayer, who foretold...
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...brother, yet, he emerged as the greatest king of Mali Empire. This review examines the importance of Islam, the jinns (ancestral spirits) and griots in making Sundiata the Lion king, the advantages of ethnicity to his victory, and its relevance to “Africa” identity in the 13th century. To begin with, Islam was the predominant religion in Mail during the 13th century and Sundiata’s lineage could be traced to Bilali, a devoted follower of the Prophet Muhammad. The muslims also believed in...
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...History The history of Africa begins with the prehistory of Africa and the emergence of Homo sapiens in East Africa, continuing into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. Some early evidence of agriculture in Africa dates from 16,000 BCE,[1] and metallurgy from about 4000 BCE. The recorded history of early civilization arose in Egypt, and later in Nubia, the Maghreb and the Horn of Africa. During the Middle Ages, Islam spread through the regions. Crossing the Maghreb and the Sahel, a major center of Muslim culture was Timbuktu. Some notable pre-colonial states and societies in Africa include the Nok culture, Mali Empire, Ashanti Empire, Kingdom of Mapungubwe, Kingdom of Sine, Kingdom of Saloum, Kingdom of Baol, Kingdom of Zimbabwe, Kingdom of Kongo, Ancient Carthage, Numidia, Mauretania, theAksumite Empire, the Ajuuraan State and the Adal Sultanate. From the late 15th century, Europeans and Arabs took slaves from West, Central and Southeast Africa overseas in the African slave trade.[2] European colonization of Africa developed rapidly in the Scramble for Africaof the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following struggles for independence in many parts of the continent, as well as a weakened Europe after the Second World War, decolonization took place. Africa's history has been challenging for researchers in the field of African studies because of the scarcity of written sources in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Scholarly techniques...
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...control the Trans-Saharan trade. Ghana was a monarchy, and the state made money by taxing merchants. Gold and iron were produced in Africa and traded north. Salt and manufactured European goods were traded south. Historians have limited information about Ghana because there were few literate people. Most of our records come either from travelling merchants or from stories passed down orally by professional story-tellers called griots. Mali replaced Ghana by 1100 CE. Trade volume continued to increase over the entire period, so by the middle of Mali’s dominance, Mali was a rich and well-known trading kingdom. One of the best examples comes from the story of one of Mali’s kings, Mansa Musa. As Muslim traders came into Ghana and then into Mali, they brought the Muslim religion. In Ghana, many merchants converted. By the time of Mali’s rise, a majority of the elite converted, including the king. As a Muslim king, Mansa Musa was expected to go on pilgrimage to Mecca. He was also expected to give out charity. Records show that he left Mali with over 80 camels laden with gold. He gave out so much gold in Cairo that he inflated and ruined the economy. It took Mansa Musa over a year to travel to and from Mecca,...
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...Africa before the Transatlantic Slave Trade Racist views of Africa In the last 50 years much has been done to combat the entirely false and negative views about the history of Africa and Africans, which were developed in Europe in order to justify the Transatlantic Slave Trade and European colonial rule in Africa that followed it. In the eighteenth century such racist views were summed up by the words of the Scottish philosopher David Hume, who said, ‘I am apt to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior to the Whites. There scarcely ever was a civilised nation of that complexion, nor even any individual, eminent either in action or in speculation. No ingenious manufacture among them, no arts, no sciences”. In the nineteenth century the German philosopher Hegel simply declared ‘Africa is no historical part of the world.’ This openly racist view, that Africa had no history, was repeated by Hugh Trevor-Roper, Regius Professor of History at Oxford University, as late as 1963. Africa, the birthplace of humanity We now knowWe now know that far from having no history, it is likely that human history actually began in Africa. The oldest evidence of human existence and that of our immediate ancestors has been found in Africa. In July 2002 further evidence of the existence of early hominids in Africa was found with the discovery of the fossilised remains of what has been called Sahelanthropus tchadensis, thought to be between 6-7 million years old, in Chad. The latest...
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...remain obscure and little known. Since first contact between Europe and Africa the history of Africa has been fundamentally dominated by the way Europeans have portrayed themselves in relationship to that continent. So that most of what we read and see about Africa tends to say -- either directly or indirectly -- more about the history of European colonialism and its biases toward Africa than it does about the real Africa and its people (see Ahmad, 1987). The majority of people today of all backgrounds, including those of African ancestry, tend to know little about Africa and its history outside of the transatlantic slave trade and perhaps colonialism. While even in these instances knowledge about these events can be at times, limited. The African continent is too often conceived of as one with no legitimate history before contact with Europeans. Formal anthropological research is now showing that this notion could not be further from the truth. In the bible Ham's sons are believed to have fathered the peoples of Africa. Of Ham's four sons, Canaan, fathered the Canaanites, while Mizraim fathered the Egyptians, Cush the Cushites and Phut the "Libyans". Nimrod, the Grandson of Ham and son Cush, is written to have been the father the Mesopotamian/Babylonian Empire: “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before Jehovah. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that...
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...oral tradition was a means for passing down history, folklore and stories from generation to generation. Everyone’s story is different; passing along oral traditions works to convey one’s culture. Oral tradition can even go so far as to teach the traditional values of life and give religious insight. Dr. Vincent Muli Wa Kituku explains that “voice unified a family, clan, or community”. In tradition, griots serve as storytellers, musicians and singers. They memorize these stories and songs completely, and pass them along. Thus, the role of the griot is important in the conservation of African history and culture. Throughout history, people have visited Africa and several countries within only to return home and share stories of their adventures. They recount what they see and often times regurgitate stories that they have heard. Is it possible to relate a visitor’s tale of Africa to the tales passed through generations by storytellers? While recounting a visit in a foreign country does give others an idea of that country may be like, hearing a story from someone within the culture provides a better understanding of that culture. D.T. Niane’s story of Sundiata and Ibn Battuta’s stories in Africa both provide the reader with knowledge of African history. However, given the importance of spoken word in African culture, Niane’s work serves as a more reliable source and properly provides a realistic view of a powerful kingdom such as Mali, which is done through his own personal understanding...
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...which is caused by a recurrent wind. 4. A Muslim kingdom known as the Delhi Sultanate was the first Muslim empire located in India. This empire was created by the Sultan Mahmud, lasting from 1206 AD to 1526 AD. 5. The Mali Empire, located in western Sudan of West Africa played a big role in the trans-Saharan gold trade. One of its most well-known rulers was Mansa Musa. 6....
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...This helped civilization grow and thrive. Africa was transformed by the religion Islam. It was spreading from Africa, the Middle East, and Spain, making its way to West Africa, having a huge impact of society. A Kingdom in West Africa called Ghana was ruled by the West African’s from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries. (Schultz, 2012) Ghana opened up trade through West Africa with horses, camels, and advanced weapons to transport goods. Ghana was made up of many large cities. The people from here were very artistic, and used political structure. North African Muslims used the trade routes of the Ghana to attack the Kingdom, and eventually succeeding, and taking over the Kingdom in 1235 C.E. Mali was an Islamic Kingdom that took the place of the Ghana after its demise. People came from Southern Europe to be a part of this cultural and artistic place that had opportunities for growth in many ways. Although Islam did not spread to North Africa as fast it did in other parts, it did slowly make its way. Mali is important to history because most of the slaves who were forced into slave trade in North America came from here, and kept their religion and did not convert to Islam like many others did. Over the course of centuries Mali did fall apart and other Kingdoms came in just as the Europeans made contact. West Africans were being asked to make trade relations with Europeans and would soon be asked to trade slaves. These immigrants were called an Indenture servant that...
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...The history of Ghana goes far back into the 13th centuShry. The Republic of Ghana was formerly known as Gold Coast until midnight March 6th 1957, when it was liberated from the hands of the British. The name Ghana was derived from the ancient Mali empire which was also known as the Ghana Empire of West Africa. Ghana was the title of the Kings who ruled the kingdom which was then controlled by Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire in 1240 AD. It is believed that the ancient people migrated from the Ghana Empire, which is several hundred miles to the northwest of the Country Ghana. This is the southern part of today Mauritania and the western side of Mali. The history of Ghana has gone through a series of metamorphosis with lot of theories from academics and ancient tales. Many books about the history of Ghana have minimal conflicting issues pertaining to the origin of Ghanaians. Bottom line, they all arrive at the same point making the history of Ghana very reliable when it comes to the people and places. ARRIVAL OF THE WHITES The Portuguese were the first white merchants to arrive in Gold Coast in the 15th century to trade mainly in Gold, Diamonds, Ivory, just to name a few and most importantly Slaves. In 1842, a year after their arrival, built the first castle in Gold Coast, called the Elmina Castle (Sao Jorge da Mina) and a second one also known as Fort st. Anthony at Axim, a small fishing town in the Western Region. The Dutch joined them in 1598 for the same results...
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...Firstly, I am going to talk about the role of griot in historical account. In the beginning of this story, the author introduces as a griot. In the aspect of history, Griots are really important since they derive knowledge, history, and stories from fathers and then impart them to the next generation. The story of Sundiata, who was the great among kings of Mali, is spread from griots’ mouth to mouth. In other words, without these griots, lots of precious historical stories, such as the story of Sundiata, cannot be known to future generations. Secondly, I am going to talk about the story of this first king of Mali. One day a hunter tells Sundiata’s father that he must get marry with an ugly buffalo woman and this woman is going to give the king...
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