A variety of internal and external factors contribute to state formation, expansion, and decline. Governments maintain order through a variety of administrative institutions, policies, and procedures, and governments obtain, retain, and exercise power in different ways and for different purposes.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Explain how and why states in Africa developed and changed over time

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

K.C.-3.2.I.D.ii.--In Africa, as in Eurasia and the Americas, state systems demonstrated continuity, innovation, and diversity and expanded in scope and reach.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES

State systems in the Africa:

§ Great Zimbabwe

§ Ethiopia

§ Hausa kingdoms

§ Great Zimbabwe

• ruled by a hereditary monarchy of Shona elite who reached the peak of their power and influence in the mid-fifteenth century

• It is the largest stone complex in Africa built before the modern era, aside from the monumental architecture of ancient Egypt, constructed between the 11th and 15th centuries and was continuously inhabited by the Shona peoples until about 1450.

• not a singular complex—at the site’s cultural zenith, it is estimated that seven comparable states existed in this region.

• the settlement encompasses a cluster of approximately 250 royal houses built of clay, which in addition to other multi-story clay and thatch homes would have supported as many as 20,000 inhabitants

• Trade

  • • Great Zimbabwe by Dr. Nancy Demerdash.

    • Great Zimbabwe National Monument video

    • Who built Great Zimbabwe? And why? - Breeanna Elliott

§ Ethiopia

Ethiopia had a Christian Monarchy

• Since Solomon figures in the line of descent to Jesus, it meant that Ethiopia’s Christian rulers could legitimate their position by tracing their ancestry to Jesus himself

• a fascination with Judaism and Jerusalem, reflected in a much-told story about the visit of an Ethiopian Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. The story includes an episode in which Solomon seduces the Queen, producing a child who becomes the founding monarch of the Ethiopian state.

Monumental Architecture

• in the twelfth century, the rulers of a new Ethiopian dynasty constructed a remarkable series of twelve linked underground churches, apparently attempting to create a New Jerusalem on Christian Ethiopian soil, as the original city lay under Muslim control. The most well known is the Church of Saint George (Lalibela)

§ Hausa kingdoms

• The Hausa are a people of the West African region of the Sahel. They continue to live in modern-day Northern Nigeria and northwestern Niger, and in the Middle Ages they formed a powerful and important alliance of African kingdoms with great influence over the sub-Saharan trade routes.

• for most of their early history the Hausa were polytheists; Islam was introduced to the region in the eleventh century.

Governance--city states

• The seven Hausa city-states never unified, but they cooperated closely.

• Biram was the initial seat of government for the city-states

• Gobir provided soldiers and, since it bordered the rival empires to the west, protected Hausaland from foreign invasion.

• Kano and Rano grew cotton and produced textiles. They were also known for their valuable and beautiful indigo dye, which they used both for art and for dying their textiles.

• They traded these with the other Hausa states, such as Zaria, which provided slaves and grain.

• Katsina and Daura had direct access to the trans-Saharan caravans, and so traded the products produced in Hausaland for foreign goods, such as salt.

• Kings and rulers were attracted to Islam, perhaps for the prestige it granted them in the eyes of other great Islamic states.

  • • The common people only gradually adopted Islam, and generally practiced it along with ancient Hausa religious customs.

    • Arabic script was eventually adopted for writing the Hausa language.

    • Muhammad al-Maghili, an Islamic scholar and missionary, is credited with converting the Hausa to Islam at the end of the fifteenth century. It was probably around this time that Islam became firmly integrated into Hausa society, though polytheism would be common in the region until the nineteenth century

    • Rise of Kano

      • • the fifteenth century also saw the rise of one city-state over all the others. Kano became the most economically important city, thanks to its cotton cloth and dye industry. It provided most of the cotton to the western Sudan. Kano became one of the most important trade centers in all of Africa.

Summary:

• The first Hausa states began to develop around 500–700 AD, though we know little about how this happened aside from legend.

• Eventually seven main city-states emerged—Biram, Daura, Gobir, Katsina, Kano, Rano, and Zaria. Each played a different role in the confederation, providing goods or soldiers or access to trade. This allowed the Hausa states to become important in international trade.

• Islam first appeared in Hausa lands in the eleventh century, and by the fifteenth century it had become a powerful force, though it was still often practiced alongside traditional religion.

• The Hausa states were eventually overrun by the Fulani jihad in the nineteenth century and replaced by the Sokoto Caliphate, though much of Hausa culture was preserved in this state.

Source: www.saylor.org/courses/hist101/#10.2.2

Practice: Using the images below, develop a claim and apply the evidence from the stimulus to support your claim.

What you will learn today:

A) Characteristics of states in Africa.

B) How explain the similarities and differences between the two states/civilizations in Africa.

State Building in General

Why do we have states?

A) Organization of resources

B) Enforcement of social norms/laws

How do they keep power?

A) Use of religion

B) Keeping the economy running and wealth flowing in

Similarities in States

A.) Using religion to govern

B.)

Differences in States

A.) Salt and gold trade in West Africa

B.)

Geographic Limitations and Barriers (Geography can limit long-distance trade and transportation / communication)

A.)

B.)

Write a thesis statement that answers the following prompt:

Develop an argument that evaluates how one or more states or empires in Africa established their authority from 1200-1450.

Use the passage below to develop a claim regarding the diffusion of religion:

. . . Merchants were carriers of Islam rather than agents of Islamization. They opened routes and exposed isolated societies to external influences, but they were not themselves engaged in the propagation [spread] of Islam, which was the work of religious leaders. The leaders became integrated into African societies by playing religious, social, and political roles similar to those of traditional priests. Like traditional priests, Muslim men of religion were peacemakers, who pleaded for those who broke the king’s laws. Mosques, like traditional shrines, were considered sanctuaries. Immunity of life and property was extended to men of religion only as long as they kept out of politics and posed no threat to the existing sociopolitical order. . . .

Source: John L. Esposito, ed., The Oxford History of Islam, Oxford University Press

Key Takeaways

A) States form for many of the same reasons and keep power in many of the same ways.

• Be able to make these comparisons with evidence

B) Identify examples of outside cultural influences

• How were the diffused into the state?

• Who initially adopted these influences?

• what evolving role did these influences have on the state?

Note: Thesis statements are the backbone of your essays. Make sure it is strong!

Remember, compare/contrast as much as you can in your studying.

Remember, write your thesis in the intro and as a conclusion.