AF Module 2:1 Flashcards
What effects did the evolution to settled life have on the peoples of Africa?
Made shared needs more apparent
Result of Agriculture spread since 13,000 BCE (Levant –> Nile Delta –> Sahel –> Central & West Sudan –> Ethiopia)
Hunting and Gathering in Central Rainforest/Southern regions
Crops
Millets, sorghum, yam
Lived in villages, relied on root crops and fishing
Traders brought: Banana, Taro, Sugarcane, Coconut palms
Iron working
Phoenicians brought the iron smelting technique to NW Africa, which spread to the south.
OR
It was spread westward from the Meroe region of the Nile.
Explain the term Bantu
Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa, and Swahili (Spoken by the majority south of the Congo river)
Originated in Benue region (Cameroon, Nigeria)
Bantu Migration reasons
- Due to rapid population growth, overcrowding, lack of resources
- Kingdoms allowed rulers to spread authority while subjugated peoples fled.
Bantu background
Assumed to have started off as fishermen, root crops
Adopted mixed agriculture and iron-working in savanna
Killed/assimilated in E&S Africa, a series of assimilations
Environment-determined settlement pattern
Sudan
The region bound by Sahara, Gulf of Guinea, Atlantic ocean, Ethiopia
Administrative traditions of Sudan
Chief+council of elders, Blood ties
Mende - female rulers
Yoruba - significant power as well
Igbo - female corulers
Ibo oracles
female priestesses connected with a diety that lived in caves
Problems with Saharan trade
Not enough water, poisoned wells, sandstorms seperated and buried lines of camels
3 Important effects of Trans-Saharan trade on West Africa
Stimulated Gold mining
Created a desire for slaves
Stimulated development of Urban centers
Most important influence of trade on WA
Introduction of Islam: Military fundamentalist Almoravids preached to rulers of sub-Saharan Africa
Adoption of Islam
- admired administrative techniques, wanted to protect themselves against Berbers
- Introduced record keeping (thu diwan)
- Went from port cities/gulf of aden/red sea to Kilwa (Tanzania)
- Founded Mogadishu (Somalia)