History Review - Africa PDF

Summary Essential Questions 1) What were the reasons for the rise and decline of the 3 great empires? Ghana - Rise: Their position was good (ghana was in between the gold and salt mines which brought wealth and prosperity) - Fall: Northern Invaders (and Mali conquering it finally)...

Summary Essential Questions 1) What were the reasons for the rise and decline of the 3 great empires? Ghana - Rise: Their position was good (ghana was in between the gold and salt mines which brought wealth and prosperity) - Fall: Northern Invaders (and Mali conquering it finally) Mali - Rise: Sundiata Keita (griots credit him for the rise)/Mansa Musa - Fall: Civil War after Mansa Musa’s Death Songhai - Rise: Broke away from Mali/Gold and Salt Trade - Fall: Northern African invaders and Moroccans 2) Who did the empires trade with and why? - Axum was an important stop on the trading route that linked Africa, the Mediterranean, and India (1) Exported ivory, incense, and enslaved people (2)Imported cloth, metal goods, and olive oil - In the 1300s, Africa’s traders began to trade with inland states (1) Coastal traders exchanged silk, glass beads, carpets, and pottery in exchange for minerals, ivory, and coconut oil - Why: Because they had lots of gold to trade for different goods and the Trans-Saharan trade network allowed them to exchange ideas, technologies, languages, cultures, and goods easily. They also needed salt to replace the salt their bodies lost in the desert. The Wangarans had many salt mines. 3) How did religion impact the 3 great trading empires? - The Ashanti people of Ghana believed in a supreme God whose sons were lesser Gods - In the 700s CE traditional African religions were challenged by Islam - Rulers converted to Islam in the 1000s CE - In the 1400s CE, much of the population believed in Islam Ghana - Islam made its way to Ghana through the Trans-Saharan trade - Ghana kings accepted Islam to have a better relationship with Muslims who traded goods  - Kings of Ghana were Muslim but they kept traditional religious practices important - Sunni Ali became a Muslim to keep the loyalty of merchants - Askia Muhammad ordered local courts to follow Muslim laws - A new society called Swahili is a blend of African and Muslim cultures I Can Statements 1) I can identify the 4 different climate zones of Africa and explain how Africans adapted to their environment. - Most of Africa lies in the tropics - Rainforests make up about 10% of Africa’s land area - Rainforest zones get heavy rainfall (warm year-long) - Vast grasslands stretch north and south of the rainforest - Savannas are tropical grasslands dotted with plantations (40% of Africa’s land area) - Savannas have high temperatures and uneven rainfall (enough rainfall for farming and herding) - Sahels are drier grasslands - Plants that grow in the Sahels barely provide food for people and animals - About 40% of Africa’s land is the desert - The Sahara Desert stretches across much of North Africa - Small areas of the Mediterranean make up the fifth zone - Most of Africa is covered by plateaus (areas of high and mostly flat land) - Many large river systems are found in Africa (1) Egypt and Kush flourished along the banks of the Nile River (2)The Niger River promotes the diverse climate zones of West Africa and communication - People living south of the Sahara Desert learned to make iron tools - In about 400 BCE, the Berber people of North Africa found ways to cross the Sahara desert to Sudan (West Africa) 2) I can identify the Nok and explain how iron led to the development of trading cities. - The Nok mastered ironworking the earliest - Iron tools made it more efficient to farm and grow crops - Also made stronger weapons - Because of the efficiency of farming crops, there was a surplus of food - The Nok traded the extra food they had for other resources  3) I can identify what made Ghana wealthy and powerful and explain the 3 factors that caused Ghana’s decline. - Ghana kings used the military to dominate those who produced and traded salt and gold - Ghana reached its height in the 800s and 900s CE - The gold and salt trade was a big factor in what made Ghana wealthy and powerful - During the 1100s, invaders from North Africa disrupted Ghana’s trade - In the 1200s a small state named Mali conquered Ghana 4) I can identify how Sundiata came to power and how Mansa Musa brought learning and religion to Mali. - Griots credit Sundiata Keita for Mali’s rise - Sundiata united Mali’s people during his rule from 1230 to 1255 - Sundiata’s conquests put Mali in control of gold mines in West Sudan - Mali doubled in size under the rule of Mansa Musa - Mansa Musa encouraged Muslim scholars and artists to visit Niana - Mansa Musa used the empire’s wealth to support Muslim artists and scholars building mosques and learning centers (mosque of Sankore in Timbuktu) 5) I can identify what the gold and salt trade was and explain how it led to the immense wealth in West Africa. The gold and salt trade, also known as the Trans-Saharan trade, helped Ghana and Mali immensely. It was much easier to go through Ghana to trade, so Ghana took advantage of this by taxing the caravans coming through their territory. Mali established a monopoly on the gold and salt 6) I can identify Sunni Ali and Askia the Great and explain the factors that led to the fall of the Songhai. - Sunni Ali became a Muslim to keep the loyalty of merchants - Askia Muhammad ordered local courts to follow Muslim laws (1) Made Timbuktu an important center of Islamic learning (2)Set up a famous university (3)Opened schools to teach the Quran Fall: The fall of the Songhai Empire resulted from several factors, including Morocco's invasion, internal power struggles, economic decline, drought and famine, and corruption and incompetence. Reading Notes: How Islam Influenced The 3 Great Trading Empires Islam first reached urban centers and the ruling elite. In empires like Mali and Songhai, most of the kings were Muslims or converted to Islam, while others did not convert but supported the presence of Islamic culture and institutions. In both empires, the merchant elite was often Muslim. Key Terms - Animism: Worship of tutelary deities, nature worship, ancestor worship, and the belief in an afterlife. - Extended families: family extending beyond parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. - Silent barter: silent trading - Almoravids: Berber Muslim dynasty in Morocco - Timbuktu: city, center of learning - Sunni Ali: was the first king of songhai