Africa

1450-1750 CE

Politics

• leaders cooperated with slave traders

• monarchy – inheritance and succession was matrilineal,

meaning it followed the woman’s family. – When a king of Ghana died he was

succeeded by his sister's son.

West African Empires

SonghayPrince Sunni Ali• conquered the Mali

Empire in 1463.• not a devout Muslim. • succeeded by his son,

a non-Muslim. • overthrown by the

Muslim population, who made Askia Muhammad, a Muslim, king of Mali.

Sunni Ali

West African Empires

Under Askia Muhammad:• Islam became the state religion of Mali. • Arab scholars were brought to Timbuktu.• Timbuktu became the cultural center of West Africa.

• The Mali Empire was defeated by The Moroccans in 1590

• Moroccan occupation brought civil war and poverty. • Because of the frequent wars, this was also a time of

intense slave trade of war prisoners for the Arab slave markets.

East African Empires

Ethiopia

• In 1508, Christian emperor Lebna Dengel was at war with neighboring Muslims.

• Made a treaty with the Portuguese who lent him 400 soldiers with muskets and cannons to defeat the Muslims.

• The aid from the Portuguese kept Ethiopia from becoming a Muslim state.

East African Empires

Kongo• In the 16th century, King John II of

Portugal sent Jesuit missionaries to the Kingdom of Kongo.

• The king of Kongo, Nzinga Nkuwu, converted to Christianity.

• He sent his son, Afonzo Mvemba Nzinga, to missionary school.

• In 1506, Afonzo I became king of Kongo.

Economy

• Slavery was common in Africa– Men, women, and children captured in wars became slaves. – Slavery was also a consequence of family poverty, when poor

people became slaves to pay off debts.– Between 1200 and 1500 CE, approximately 2.5 million Africans

were sold as slaves to the Arabs.– In the 1500’s the Portuguese obtained slaves from already

established Muslim sources.

• Triangular Trade– Manufactured goods from Europe– Slaves from Africa– Raw goods from the Americas

Social: Class/Gender

• Demographic shifts– more males in the slave trade than females

(females traded more in the East coast)– depopulated

• South & East Africa had more cultural influence from the Portuguese

Religion

• animism, ancestor worship syncretism• Islam: many African Muslims had mixed

opinions about some Islamic teachings, such as those concerning the role of women.

• Aksumite Christianity took root in Ethiopia during the early stages of Christianity, and was different from that of the Catholic Church.

Science, Inventions, & Art

General decline due to slave trade

• manioc, maize, sweet potatoes (from America)

• Islamic art/architecture, paper making