Empire of Songhai, 1461-1591

• The last and largest of the Sudanese empires– Sunni Ali • Reigned 1464-1492• Conquered people paid tribute• Generally ran their own affairs

Empire of Songhai (cont.)

-- Askia Muhammad Toure • Reigned 1492-1528• Devout Moslem• Expanded empire

– Centralized administration of the empire– Substituted taxation for tribute– Established bureaucratic trade regulation– Used his power to spread Islam within the empire

Empire of Songhai (cont.)

• Askia Daud – Reigned 1549-1582– Songhai failed to adapt to changing political atmosphere

• Portuguese established trading centers along the Guinea coast• Arab rulers of North Africa threatened with loss of trade• King of Morocco sent mercenaries to Songhai in 1591• Defeated the Songhai army and empire fell apart

when Moroccans left the region • West Africa without a government powerful enough to stop the

Portuguese

The Nok People

The Nok people of what is today Nigeria produced terra-cotta sculptures like this one during the first millennium BCE. They also pioneered, between 500 and 450 BCE, iron-smelting in West Africa.

SOURCE: Nigeria, Nok head, 900 BC–200 AD, Rafin Kura, Nok. Prehistoric West African sculpture from the Nok culture. Terracotta, 36 cms high. © Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY

West African Forest Region

• Cultural diversification– Divided labor by gender– Lived in villages composed of extended families– Patchwork of diverse ethnic groups

• Variety of languages and traditions– Small powerful kingdoms

• Benin City– Little influenced by Islam or Christianity – Trading center

» Gold, peppers, ivory, and slaves» By 17th century dependent on slave trade

The Great Mosque

The great mosque at the West African city of Jenne was first built during the fourteenth century CE. It demonstrates the importance of Islam in the region’s trading centers.

SOURCE: Roderick J. McIntosh, Rice University

Ceremonial Offering Bowl

This carved wooden ceremonial offering bowl is typical of a Yoruba art form that has persisted for centuries. It reflects religious practices as well as traditional hairstyle and dress.

Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

Map 1–5. Trans-Saharan Trade Routes.Ancient trade routes connected sub-Saharan West Africa to the Mediterranean coast. Among the commodities carried southward were silk, cotton, horses, and salt. Among those carried northward were gold, ivory, pepper, and slaves.

V. Kongo and Angola

• Kongo-Angola region– Trade with the interior of the continent– Late 15th century rulers more welcoming of

Portuguese• Nzinga Mbemba tried to convert kingdom to

Christianity • Unrest, Portuguese greed, and slave trade destroy the

kingdom

VI. West African Society and Culture

• Most were farmers– Villages and hamlets • Extended families and clans

– Some patrilineal, others matrilineal

• Produced cotton for clothes• Variety of crops

– Millet, rice, sorghum, peas, okra, watermelons– Yams replaced grains in the forest regions

Class and Slavery

• Royalty– Landed nobles, warriors, peasants and bureaucrats

• Lower classes• Artisans and laborers: blacksmiths, butchers, tanners, and oral

historians called griots

• Slavery– Common in West Africa

• More so in the savanna region than in forest areas

– Variety of forms• Not necessarily a permanent condition

Class and Slavery (cont.)

– Islamic regions• Masters responsible for slaves’ religious well-being

– Non-Islamic regions’ children of slaves • Legal rights

– Not to be sold from the land they occupied– Slaves in royal courts or in the armies

• Owned property and often held power over free people– Agricultural slaves

• Less fortunate– Work and privilege for second and third generation

offspring similar to free people

Religion

• 15th century West Africa– Islam• Monotheistic• Introduced by Arab traders–More prevalent in cosmopolitan areas– The religion of merchants and bureaucrats – Fostered learning and building mosques in West

African cities

Religion (cont.)

– Indigenous religions• Strongest in forest areas

– Polytheistic and animistic

–One creator God and a host of lesser gods – Saw the force of God in all things» Ancestor worship, magicians, and oracles» Ceremonies and animal sacrifices

Art and Music

• Related to religious practices• Excelled in woodcarving and sculpture– Wooden masks and terra-cotta figurines• Used in funerals, medical practices, and in coming-of-

age ceremonies

• Musical instruments– Drums, xylophones, bells, flutes, and mbanzas

Wooden Harp

This six-string wooden harp is a rare example of the type of instrument West African musicians and storytellers used to accompany themselves.

Literature

• Oral histories, poetry, and tales– Specially trained poets and musicians

• Served kings and nobles

– Views of common people also represented• Prose tales

– Human characters» Tales about creation, success, romance

• Animal characters– “Trickster tales”– Entertained and taught lessons

Events in Africa — World Events

Events in Africa — World Events

Events in Africa — World Events

Events in Africa — World Events

VII. Conclusion

The history of African Americans begins in West Africa. Family organization, work habits, language, religious beliefs, legends, and more came to America and influenced the way African Americans and others lived in their new land.