Chapter 19: States and Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa

Vocabulary

• Bananas: The introduction of this fruit and its domestication allowed the Bantu peoples in sub-Saharan Africa to migrate into new areas and also lead healthier, more nutritionally balanced lifestyles. More specifically, bananas allowed them to settle in denser forested areas while also providing several nutritional benefits that their diets did not include before. 

• Stateless Society: This sort of society, as seen among the Bantu population, reflected that the Bantu peoples did not have an “elaborate hierarchy of officials” to take care of their affairs. Instead they relied heavily on kinship and family groups. 

• Kinship Group: A group within a village made up of all the male heads of the families. These were the councils that made all the important village decisions. Usually there was one male that was named chief of the village, but his only responsibility was to communicate with chiefs of other villages, not to govern over his village. 

• Kingdom of Kongo: This was a region of fast development near the Zaire River (or Congo River). The villages nearby developed fast economically and soon formed small kingdoms. This in turn began to fight amongst them until larger kingdoms were formed. The Kingdom of Kongo was one of the most prominent of these kingdoms, and took up most of modern day Angola and Republic of Congo. 

• Kingdom of Ghana: This was the most prominent kingdom in Western Africa. This was located between the Senegal and Niger rivers, between modern day Mali and Mauritania. 

• Mansa Musa: Mansa Musa was the ruler of Mali from 1312 to 1337. During this time, he was an active Muslim and participated in the Hajj. He widely encouraged Islam by building mosques, and sending students to learn from some of the most well-renown Islam scholars. 

• Swahili: This directly translates from Arabic to “coasters”. This was referring to people who participated in trading along coastlines. The Swahili populated the eastern coast of Africa. They spoke Swahili, and all along the coastline, the Swahili societies developed at relatively the same pace and in relatively the same way.

• Kilwa: A Swahili state on the northeastern coast of Africa. Early on, the inhabitants of Kilwa relied mostly on fishing and only partook in trade in small quantities. Kilwa was an Islamic state, and had many mosques built within its borders.

• Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe was the largest kingdom in central Africa. This kingdom came about as early as the 5th and 6th centuries (C.E.). Zimbabwe made the majority of its money from taxing trade that went between coastal states and kingdoms and interior states and kingdoms. 

• Age Grades: Age grades were divisions of people born around the same time. They grew up together and performed tasks that were appropriate for their age together. Generally, people in the same age grade became close friends and allies to one another. 

• Diviners: Diviners were African religious leaders. African religion was largely made up of strict morals, and failure to adhere to said morals would bring about misfortunes. For example, diviners were consulted in times of trouble, such as famine or after natural disasters, as to why it occurred (how they failed their morals). Then the diviners would say why, and how to fix it – usually by medicine, rituals, or sacrifices. 

• Axum: Axum was an African Kingdom located in modern day Ethiopia. This was one of the few Christian kingdoms in Africa, and was most likely Christian so that they could maintain good relations with then Christian Egypt. This kingdom became largely involved in the Indian Ocean trade. 

Focus Question #1

            What was Islam’s effect on African kingdoms?

            Islam’s effect on African kingdoms was marginally small and basically served as a supplement to the religions already in place in each specific African Kingdom.

            Although many Kingdoms did adopt Islam, they were what many Muslims would call loose, or lazy, followers. They would say that they were Muslims, but then go about breaking many traditional Islamic laws. Most kingdoms that did this were in most part using Islam as a bridge between cultures to increase such things as trade and decrease such things as war.

            A common practice among African merchants was this; that when they would deal with merchants who were Muslim, they would act as though they were strong followers of Islam. However, once returning from those mercantile pursuits, they would return to previous, and a more traditional African belief system.

Focus Question #2

            Compare the role of women in African society with women in China, Western Europe, and Mongol societies.

            Women in African societies were given more occupation opportunities then their counterparts in China, Western Europe, and Mongol societies.

            One example of this is that many women were potters. These typically were women that were in blacksmith families and served as potters for their entire community. This was allowed because blacksmiths were seen as somewhat of leaders in African communities.

            African women also partook in agricultural practices. They took part in such processes as the planting and harvesting of crops. Along with these occupations, they also took care of the stereotypical domestic chores and raising of children. These last two were what the majority of the women in China, Western Europe, and Mongol societies were limited to.