Transcript Slide 1

Islam in Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa:
A Challenging Geography
• Large area with many different environmental zones and
many geographical obstacles to movement
– Sahara Desert—North Africa
• World's largest desert
– Maghreb—northwest Africa
• Coastlands and Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia
– Sahel—belt of grasslands south of Sahara
– Sudan—just below the Sahel
– Guinea—rainforests
• Along Atlantic coast from Guinea to Nigeria
– Congo—rainforest region of Congo River Basin
– Great Lakes—series of five lakes
– Southern Africa
Movement in Africa
• Romans and Greek
– Both knew of region: Greeks called it Periplus,
Romans called area Azania
– Greek, Roman, and Persian coins of 3rd century CE
found in area
• Three movements converge
– Bantu Migration down East
Coast
– Polynesians of Indian Ocean
– Arabic merchants along East
Coast
African
African
Advent of Iron
and Bantu Migrations
• Sub-Saharan agriculture
• Origins north of equator
• Spread southward
• Iron-working also began north of equator
and spread southward
• Reached southern Africa by 800 c.e.
Advent of Iron
and Bantu Migrations
• Bantu migrations
• Linguistic evidence
• Spread of iron and other technology in sub-Saharan
Africa
• Original homeland of Bantu was area on the border
of modern Nigeria and Cameroon
• Spread out toward east and south through series of
migrations in first millennium CE
• Introduce cattle, iron, slash-burn agriculture
• By 8th century, Bantu-speaking people reached East
Africa
Movement in Africa
• Polynesian immigrants settle parts
– Introduce bananas
• Muslim Arab merchants
– Arab Muslims trade for slaves, gold, ivory
– Link East Africa to wider Indian Ocean
– Arab merchants take Bantu wives
– Mixed families link interior Bantu, coastal Arabs
Early Islamic Movement in Africa
• "Islam reached Africa through two gateways, from the
east and from the north. From both directions the
carriers of Islam navigated across vast empty spaces,
the waters of the Indian Ocean and the sands of the
Sahara desert. Both ocean and desert, which so often
are considered to be barriers, could be crossed with
appropriate means of transportation and navigational
skills, and they were, in fact, excellent transmitters of
religious and cultural influences. Densely populated
lands, on the other hand, functioned as filters, their
numerous layers slowing down the infiltration of
religious and cultural influences."
--From Introduction to The History of Islam in Africa (2001)
Influence of Geography
• Sahara Desert, Red Sea,
and Indian Ocean were
not great barriers to the
spread of Islam
– Arabs lived, traveled and
traded in desert
conditions for centuries
before founding of Islam
– Since Arabian Peninsula
is bordered on three
sides by water, Arabs
were experienced sea
traders
Spread of Islam—Egypt
• First African country under
the influence of Islam
• Was predominantly
Christian for hundreds of
years prior
• Under new Arabic speaking
rulers, became Moslems
– Small minority of
Egyptians remained
Christian
• Coptic Christians
Spread of Islam—North Africa
• Arab traders took Islam west into area called Maghrib
– Present day countries of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco
• Islam not automatically
accepted by local Berbers
– Did not become main religion
in North Africa until 12th century
• Arab rule followed Arab trade
– Nowhere else in Africa did Arab
political control follow Islam
• Today, Arabic is official language
of Egypt, the Sudan, Libya,
Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco
Spread of Islam—South
• Down Nile River valley into
present day Sudan and
Ethiopia
• Christian populations in Nubia
(northeast Sudan) resisted
expansion of Islam for
hundreds of years
• By 15th century most of
northern Sudan and Eritrea
had converted to Islam
Spread of Islam—East coast
• Conversion to Islam was slow process on east coast
• Arab traders traded along east coast of Africa for
centuries before Islam
• After Islam began, took religion
along with goods
• By 780 CE Arab-Swahili Moslem
communities formed on coast
• By 1400 majority of coastal
population (today Somalia,
Kenya, and Tanzania were
Moslem
El Zanj: The Swahili
• 30-40 separate city-states along East African
coast
• "Swahili" used by early Arabs, means "coast“
• By 1st century BCE Arab and Indian traders
• Brought bananas, cloves, cinnamon and pepper
• Left with gold, ivory and slaves
• Spoke African language enriched with Arabic and
Persian vocabulary
• 8th Century CE
• Settlement Arabs from Persian Gulf
• Small settlements of Indians
Swahili Coastal Trade
• Trade Winds
– Monsoon winds dictate all
movement
– November to February: Indians
can arrive
– April to September: Swahili go to
India
Primary Sources
• The Periplus of the Erithraean Sea, a Greek Sailors’ Guide from
Alexandria, Egypt, c. 100 CE
– "Two days' sail beyond the island lies the last mainland market
town of Azania, which is called Rhapta, a name derived from
the small sewn boats the people use. Here there is much ivory
and tortoiseshell. Men of the greatest stature, who are pirates,
inhabit the whole coast and at each place have set up chiefs.“
• From Compendium of Knowledge by the Chinese Confucian scholar,
Tuan Ch'eng-shih, 8th century CE
– “This country has not been subject to any foreign power. In
fighting they use elephant's tusks, ribs and wild cattle's horns
as spears, and they have corselets and bows and arrows. They
have twenty myriads of foot-soldiers. The Arabs are continually
making raids on them.“
Swahili History
• Swahili city-states
– Muslim and cosmopolitan
– Bantu, Islamic, and Indian influences
– Politically independent of one another
– Never a Swahili empire or hegemony
• Trade and economics
– Cities like competitive companies, corporations
vying for African trade
– Chief exports: ivory, sandalwood, ebony, and gold;
later slaves
– Trade linked to both Arabia and India; even Chinese
goods, influence reached area
Swahili History
• Social construct
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Arabs, Persians were significant players
Cities were run by nobility that was African in origin
Below nobility: commoners, resident foreigners
Large group of artisans, weavers, craftsmen
Slavery was actively practiced
• 16th century
– Advent of Portuguese trade disrupted trade routes, made
commercial centers obsolete
– Portuguese allowed natives no share in African trade
– Began conquering Islamic city-states along eastern coast
• Late 17th century
– Oman conquered Portuguese cities along coast
– Area controlled by Omani sultanate for another 200 years
– Cotton, cloves, plantation agriculture thrived and used slaves for
labor
Swahili Cities
• Swahili garden cities
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Built around palaces, mosques
Walled cities
Many markets, harbors
Wealthy
• Built homes within walls
• Endowed mosques, schools
– Muslims transplanted many different plants, crops to area
• Gaspar Correa, sailor/mercenary describing da
Gama's arrival in Kilwa, 16th century
– "The city comes down to the shore, and is entirely surrounded by a wall and
towers, within which there are maybe 12,000 inhabitants. The country all round is
very luxurious with many trees and gardens of all sorts of vegetables, citrons,
lemons, and the best sweet oranges that were ever seen… The streets of the city
are very narrow, as the houses are very high, of three and four stories, and one can
run along the tops of them upon the terraces… and in the port there were many
ships. A moor ruled over this city, who did not possess more country than the city
itself.“
Spread of Islam—Sahel
• Gradually spread
southwards into Sahel
region of West Africa
and somewhat latter
from East coast
westwards into
interior of East Africa
Spread of Islam—West Africa
• Berbers traded across Sahara with West
Africans in Sahel (south of Sahara)
– Traded salt and other
goods for gold and ivory
• Nearly 1000 years
before Islam, West
Africa had supplied
gold to the Roman
Empire
Spread of Islam—West Africa
• Islam first introduced to West Africa south of
the Sahara across the salt and gold trade routes
• By 12th century C.E., many Berber traders
converted to Islam
• Moslem traders practiced religion but did not
actively try to convert West Africans
• Eventually traveled with Moslem clerics and
scholars who interacted mainly with local
rulers.
– Provided advice on trade, security, and governing
– Gradually, Moslem advisors became important to
West African rulers
Spread of Islam—West Africa
• Conversion of majority of population could take
generations
– Often took years for West African leaders to convert
– After leaders converted, effort was made to convert
citizens
• Gradual process
– People adopted some Islamic practices and beliefs while
maintaining some indigenous beliefs and practices
– Islamic practice eventually became more predominant
– Shows openness and flexibility of both African
indigenous religious systems and Islam
• When Mali replaced by Songhai, Islam had become
primary religion of Sahel
Spread of Islam
Movement and Trade in Africa
Major African Kingdoms
Mansa Musa (the Magnificent)
• Grandson of Muslim founder of Mali Empire
• Mali was source of over half of world's gold
• Made Islam state religion
– Made hajj in 1324
• Gave away so much gold in Cairo that price of gold there was
depressed for 20 years
• Gave so much he had to borrow money to pay for return trip
• Added Timbuktu and Gao to his kingdom
– Made Timbuktu center of learning with a royal palace,
libraries, university, and mosques
• Encouraged trade between Mali and world
– Resources of kola nuts, ivory, salt, and gold
Great Zimbabwe
• Swahili cities
• Wealth led to centralization
of Zimbabwean government
around 1300 CE
• Gold and copper
• Easily mined and obtained
• Capital was Great Zimbabwe
• Huge fortification surrounded by stone walls
• Economy rested on agriculture, cattle herding,
and trade
• Declined due to an ecological crisis brought on
by deforestation and overgrazing
Great Zimbabwe
•200 Square Miles
•Built consistently from 11th
century to 15th century
•Estimates are that Great Zimbabwe had as
many as 18,000 inhabitants at its peak
•Ruins at Great Zimbabwe are some of oldest
and largest structures located in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Islam in Africa