Trade and Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa

Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa

Isolation

Rivers not navigable to coast

Average elevation of 4/10 of a mile

Review: Why isn't the Nile navigable from Egypt to central Africa?

Layered Ecological Zones

Deserts (Sahara and Kalahari)

Sahel

Savannah

Tropical forests

Central, South and East Africa

*Bantu, "the people"

Linguistic group: 500-700 languages

Slash-and-Burn Agriculture

Yams

Sorghum

Millet

Iron

Village-level political organization in tropical regions

Tropical soils

East African coast

*Swahili

dhow, 100 CE

Muslim traders

Ibn Battuta

City-states and Kingdoms

*Kilwa

*Great Zimbabwe

Indian Ocean Trade

Exports

Ivory, gold, slaves

Imports

Cotton cloth, pottery

West Africa Kingdoms

Irrigated agriculture

*Niger River

Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

Dromedary camel

Domesticated, 5th c. CE

Berber and Tuareg nomads and traders

Travel time Sijilmasa to Taghaza

25 days (Hansen and Curtis, Voyages, p. 318)

*Ghana, "ruler," ca. 990-ca. 1180

Matrilineal dynasty of kings

Sources of wealth

Gold

Trade taxes

Salt, copper and gold

Muslim trade settlement

Roles of educated Muslims

Merchants

Administrators

*Mali, ca. 1230-1450

*Sundiata

Differences from Ghana

Size

Muslim rulers

*Mansa Musa (Emperor Musa), r. 1312-37

Barriers to Islam's spread

1) Geography: Desert

2) Differences in language and culture

Aids to Islam's spread

Trade

Literacy of Muslims

Conversion of ruler

Lecture Study Questions

1. How did the domestication of the camel around the fourth century contribute to ending the geographic isolation of sub-Saharan Africa?

2. Why was most of tropical Africa restricted to village-level political organization? Why were larger city-states and kingdoms able to form in East Africa (Kilwa and Zimbabwe) and West Africa (Ghana and Mali)?

3. What were the sources of wealth and power in ancient Ghana and Mali?

4.  What were the barriers to the spread of Islam in Ghana and Mali?  How were these barriers overcome?  How does this compare with the case of Islam in the Middle East and North Africa?

Reading Study Questions

Reading: Reading: Hansen, et al., 248-261, 264-266, 268-269

1. What are the Bantu languages? What were the common characteristics of early Bantu agriculture, society and technology in sub-Saharan Africa before the year 1000? Why did Bantu society spread so widely in sub-Saharan Africa by the year 1000?

2. Why was sub-Saharan Africa geographically isolated from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia?

3. Based on Ibn Battuta's account of his travels, how did caravans cross the Sahara Desert from North Africa to the kingdom of Mali in West Africa? How did Ibn Battuta travel on the Indian Ocean between Arabia and East Africa? What goods were exchanged on both trades routes?

4. How did interactions between Muslim traders and Africans influence the development of East and West African kingdoms and encourage the spread of Islam?

Supplementary Reading on D2L>Content:

20) "The Book of Routes and Realms" [Also see Hansen and Curtis, Voyages, p. 261]

1. Who inherits the Ghanian throne? What does this suggest about the status of women in Ghanian society?

2. What roles did Islam and local religion play in Ghanian society? What does this suggest about how Islam entered Ghana?

3. What types of taxes are mentioned? What does this suggest about Ghana's trade and sources of wealth?

4. According to this account, why did the king of Malal convert to Islam? Is this legend believable?