INTRODUCTION

DISCOVERY

Archeological discoveries in the African continent continue to challenge and revise our understanding of human history. The recent recovery of hundreds of thousands of written documents dating back to the heyday of the famed city of Timbuktu have provided new insights into Islamic and African history. An influential center of trade and scholarship during the Mali and Songhai Empires (13th–17th centuries), Timbuktu was home to a university, libraries and museums. Students from across Africa and the broader Islamic world came to this famed city to pursue Islamic studies, as well as learn about sciences, law, politics and philosophy; Timbuktu was the African counterpart to the famed university towns of Oxford and Cambridge. Scholars, mosques, and wealthy families maintained libraries, and centuries later many manuscripts remained in family hands, scattered throughout the region, in some cases secreted away. Written in an archaic form of Arabic illegible to most, knowledge contained in these manuscripts was effectively lost to the world.

In the 1990s, a concerted effort was made to recover and preserve these manuscripts, as well as make them more accessible. Thousands of recovered and translated documents housed in the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research represented a vast reservoir of new knowledge that transformed historical understanding. But then Mali’s ancient manuscripts were again threatened in 2012 by political and cultural violence; the city of Timbuktu and surrounding regions were overrun by militant al-Qaeda jihadists intent on imposing a repressive, intolerant form of Islamic rule. Music and other cultural practices were banned, and artifacts and ancient writings deemed ‘pagan’ were destroyed. These documents were under threat despite the fact many were related to ancient Islamic learning. The potential loss of these manuscripts was prevented by individuals who risked harsh punishment, smuggling archived documents out of Timbuktu via car, donkey or boat, to be taken to a safer haven in the city of Bamako. An estimated 200,000 priceless historical records were saved, including Medieval era works on medicine, astronomy, astrology, mathematics, politics and governance, history, physics, law and jurisprudence, poetry, literature, commerce, and social issues such as slavery and the treatment of women and children. These records enhance our understanding of historic Islamic and West African cultures; they also contain and convey influences and ideas brought by travelers from across Africa, Europe and Asia and their impact. Currently, a digitization project is underway, translating these works into English, French, Spanish and modern Arabic, to further increase preservation and accessibility. These writings deeply enrich comprehension of Islamic culture in the Medieval era, with treatises emphasizing religious piety and cultural pride, as well as extolling the importance of education, good governance, pluralism, diversity, and tolerance. Through these manuscripts, we have gained a more nuanced appreciation of past Islamic scholarship as well as gained valuable insights into the cultures that interacted with Timbuktu for centuries. This story of the successful recovery and preservation of the Timbuktu manuscripts highlights the threats that can lead to the irrevocable loss of invaluable records of past peoples. It also demonstrates the importance of the discovery and preservation of unique historical materials.

OVERVIEW

Sailing the Indian Ocean in the early 1500s CE, Portuguese naval officer Duarte Barbosa, was confident he was helping to forge a new, enduring era of Portuguese dominance. As he passed through several Swahili city-states on the East African coast, Barbosa noted the brisk trade and riches of these African settlements where he saw a “great plenty of gold” that would serve Portuguese interests (Rogers 2003, 376). In the conflicts that followed, the Portuguese plundered the Swahili city-states, burning buildings and enslaving African men and women (Rogers 2003, 377). Barbosa’s description highlights the violence of the Portuguese conquest as well as his arrogant expectations of continued Portuguese rule. But in writing about the coast of East Africa, Barbosa paid little heed to the hundreds of years of Swahili history that preceded his visit. This same pattern is evident when looking at the deeper history of other parts of the African continent. Gaps and skewed understanding are still evident today as media sources highlight issues like drought, famine, and war, feeding Westerners’ misconceptions. Western TV shows often focus only on wildlife and natural sites which does not provide an accurate portrayal of the everyday experiences of most Africans or convey the continent’s history. A more comprehensive understanding of Africa requires an appreciation of the achievements of the continent’s numerous civilizations, as we will do in this Chapter. In East Africa, ancient societies such as Ethiopia and the Swahili states emerged as sophisticated and cosmopolitan centers of trade. Exploring the history of West African kingdoms Ghana, Mali and Songhai make clear their profound cultural and economic influence. And investigating the critical role North African societies played in facilitating the exchange of goods and ideas, in comparison to more isolated developments of African civilizations further south, highlights the important role of geography in African history.

STUDYING AFRICAN HISTORY

Environmental Influences

A critical starting point in understanding the history of African peoples is the prominent role of environmental factors. Africa is the second largest continent in the world, home to over 50 independent countries and more than a billion people. This vast region includes diverse environments that include savannahs, rainforests, deserts, glaciers and snow-capped mountains. African inhabitants speak over 1,000 languages (about one-third of the world’s languages), testament to the continent’s diversity (“African Languages n.d.”).

Africans have experienced, and continue to face, significant environmental challenges such as diseases, low soil fertility, and unpredictable rainfall, factors which have significantly impacted population growth, settlement patterns and lifestyles. Africans have had to continuously adapt herding and farming techniques in response. In many regions, African soils are poor and rainfall is unpredictable, conditions now exacerbated by climate change. Soils have limited fertility due in part to the geologic age of the continent, the oldest inhabited on Earth. Rainfall tends to be concentrated to just two or three months a year, making farming difficult. Myriad diseases remain chronic, significantly challenging African populations and economies. Over the past 5,000 years of African history, malaria, yellow fever, and trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) have had the biggest impact on population levels and settlement patterns; these diseases continue to significantly affect developments on the continent. In 2020, 95% of global cases and 96% of all malarial deaths occurred in Africa, with children accounting for most fatalities. Malaria and yellow fever historically have had the largest toll on human populations, while sleeping sickness most dramatically impacts the livestock on which so many societies depend.

Writing the History of Ancient and Medieval Africa

The limited availability of written primary sources recorded by ancient Africans means scholars must rely on a wide range of alternative resources to trace the history of African societies. Prior to the 19th century CE, many African societies maintained records orally rather than in written form. The histories of rich, complex African societies were thus often overlooked or ignored by past scholars focused on written documentation. 19th century scholars tended to portray Africans as primitive and static. Africa was commonly referred to as “the dark continent” and viewed as lacking a meaningful history prior to European arrival on the continent. Urban developments or complex state structures in Africa were sometimes believed to be achievements of other cultures, for example the creation of the Axum trading empire was attributed to Yemeni influences, and archaeological findings at Great Zimbabwe were credited to the Phoenicians. In recent decades, efforts to reclaim African history have led to a more accurate understanding of experiences and accomplishments. Scholars now rely on numerous methodologies, including archaeology, climate science, linguistics, and paleoarchaeobotany (the study of ancient plant materials). Compiling information from numerous sources has produced a deeper and more multi-faceted understanding of the African past.

Perhaps the most contested, and potentially most revealing, materials are oral resources. Many ancient African societies relied on those tasked with orally transmitting official histories and traditions, such as the griots in West Africa who memorized chronologies, cultural traditions, and legal precedence. These memorized records were used to advise kings and state leaders. Griots also traveled and performed theater and praise-songs, spreading cultural values, sharing historical tales, and communicating governmental news. Griots held honored places in their societies, reflecting their importance. African communities honored older generations for their knowledge of the past, prompting Amadou Hampate Ba, a famous author from Mali, to write, “In Africa, when an old man dies, it’s a library burning” (Badkhen 2015, 20). Since the 1960s, scholars of African history have worked to integrate knowledge from these oral sources. While challenging, work to include these resources has broadened scholarly understanding of African societies.

Terminology

Due to the paucity of written records and prejudices of past Western scholars, much of our understanding of African societies and history filtered into popular images is inaccurate. Popular media often depicts Africans as living in a rural landscape dominated by wild animals, in a continent made up largely of rural villages, isolated from and lagging behind the rest of the modern world. But these images do not accurately represent the continent, either in the past or present. By 2015, one-half of Africa’s population were living in cities, with that percentage even higher in areas such as Egypt where 93% of the population resided in urban centers. African history is full of examples of ancient great cities, such as the famed cities of Mombassa, Kilwa and Timbuktu. These great cities, past and present, depended on vibrant trade links that connected Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, Asia, and Europe – for millennia.

Adding to misconceptions is language usage that perpetuates false assumptions, for example the potentially problematic use of “tribe.” As African historian Christopher Ehret points out, use of the term tribe in reference to Africans often carries the implication tribal peoples are exotic, wild, backwards, and potentially dangerous. Ehret asks us to consider, for example, why African wars are often referred to as tribal wars instead of civil wars, and,

…Why is Shaka, the famous nineteenth-century ruler, called the king of the Zulu “tribe” when he was actually the king of a centralized and military powerful state? Why are Africans in “traditional” dress said to be engaging in “tribal” dancing, when Europeans garbed similarly in the clothes of an earlier time are said to be performing “folk” dances? (Ehret 2002, 7).

Ehret makes the case that the way tribe was frequently used perpetuated negative stereotypes of Africa in European accounts. Dismissing Africans as tribal allowed Europeans to legitimize the centuries-long trans-Atlantic slave trade that began in the 15th century, as well as justifying 19th century colonization of the continent. Many historians point to the more fluid, adaptive, and/or inclusive ethnic identities of Africans and suggest 19th century colonizing Europeans reinforced divisions, emphasizing tribal affiliations to suit their own administrative purposes. Today, references to tribes, and tribal interests and conflicts prevent more accurate understanding of the complexities of African politics and social organization.

Other terms modern scholars use to scrutinize also evoke similar prejudices, for example, the phrase “stateless society”. Many European written sources from the 19th century did not recognize the existence of African states based on more democratic, less centralized, and less hierarchical leadership structures. Assuming all states had kings or other centralized leaders, some Western scholars denied or failed to acknowledge states organized in alternative ways. Some African societies were centralized under the rule of monarchs, while others relied on councils of elders or other social groupings to structure societies, mobilize labor and manage government affairs. 19th century Europeans usually did not recognize these alternative forms of state organization which buttressed their claims that Africans were incapable of ruling themselves without European intervention. Referring to “stateless societies” was one way Europeans could claim to be more advanced, legitimizing colonization of Africa in the 19th century.

Africa has in fact been a continent of innovation and change since the first behaviorally modern humans emerged there between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago. Africans were some of the first farmers and iron-workers in history. Africans developed numerous, distinctive artistic traditions, social patterns, religious beliefs and unique societal structures. With such a diverse continent to consider, this chapter focuses on major, influential civilizations of larger scale and greater complexity, examining important achievements and Africa’s participation in international trade links, as well as conveying some of the major changes and challenges impacting the continent.

NORTH AFRICAN STATES AND KINGDOMS

Nubia: The Kingdoms of Kerma and Kush

Ancient Nubia, also referred to as Kush or Meroe, was centered south of Aswan, at the first cataract of the Nile River. The emerging kingdoms of Kerma (c. 2400 BCE to 1500 BCE) and Kush (c. 1000 BCE to 300 CE), located along the Nile River, prospered due to the region’s productive agriculture and copious natural resources. Nubians borrowed heavily from the Egyptians yet retained distinctive practices setting their civilization apart from their northern neighbors, including their religious and cultural traditions and the written script of Meroitic. At certain points, both Kerma and Kush were powerful enough to successfully invade Egypt.

Scholars link the origins of ancient Kerma (in present-day Sudan) to changes in the Sahara Desert and the rise of dynastic Egypt. Rock paintings of cattle in areas that have been desert for thousands of years attest to the significant environmental changes that have taken place in Nubia. As the region dried out, between 5,000 and 4,000 BCE, people moved closer to the Nile River, bringing their cattle, agricultural traditions, and languages, creating settlements with higher population densities. Egyptian elites desired ivory, animal skins, incense, and other luxury goods, prompting trade between Nubia and Egypt. Increased demand for luxury goods led to Egyptian military forays into Nubia; Egyptians also invaded Nubia to raid for slaves and cattle. Lack of Nubian records from the 3rd millennium BCE makes it difficult to identify specific reasons why the state arose but likely Nubian desires to control trade and to protect themselves from Egyptian raids contributed to the formation of a powerful state. Archeological evidence indicates that by about 2400 BCE, Nubians had formed the Kingdom of Kerma between the third and fourth cataracts of the Nile River.

Kerma (c. 2400 BCE to c. 1500 BCE)

The kingdom is named after the capital city at Kerma, located at the Nile’s third cataract. Excavations at other sites suggest that at its height, Kerma’s state reach may have extended more than 200 miles southward. Archaeological evidence indicates that, with the exception of the capital and a few other cities, most people in Kerma lived in smaller villages. Kerma endured in Upper Nubia for almost a thousand years. Residents grew crops like barley, and kept goats, sheep, and cattle, sending tribute to the capital. The people of Kerma also developed small-scale industries in mining, metalworking, and pottery. Kerma was linked through trade to its tributary villages as well as dynastic Egypt and other communities in sub-Saharan Africa which desired the gold, copper, slaves, ivory, exotic animals and other goods that Kerma had to offer. Presumably, Nubian leaders built their ancient capital at Kerma in part to oversee lucrative river trade. This location gave the leaders at Kerma the chance to tax, divert, and register goods transported between Kerma and Egypt.

Archaeology has revealed capital defenses that included ditches, ramparts, and massive walls with towers. There were palaces within the city and on its outskirts. The most famous structure is the Western Deffufa, made of mud-bricks, which likely served as a temple. Two other deffufa, large mud-brick structures with spaces for rituals on top, have been partially excavated within the vicinity of Kerma. Another notable archaeological find is the Eastern Cemetery, which lies a couple of miles to the east of the city. It served as the burial site for Kerma’s rulers for almost a thousand years and contains over 30,000 tombs, some covered with large mounds. Dozens of cattle skulls encircle a number of the tombs, reflecting the cattle culture of the region. Tombs contain remains of human sacrifices as well as symbols of wealth and status such as jewelry of gold and silver. The largest tomb found to date is 300 feet in diameter and covered with black granite, white quartz pebbles, and a marble top. Its interior burial suite contains semi-precious stones, bronze weapons, and lavish furniture. In the corridor leading into the underground burial site, archaeologists unearthed remains of horses, dogs, and about 400 human sacrificial victims. While they did sometimes employ Egyptian artisans to complete construction of these grand projects, the cattle skulls, mounds, and the remains of human sacrifices suggest the Kerma elite had established their own style of monumental structures. The practice of entombing bodies and wealth in massive monuments is thus also found south of Egypt, a tradition shared along the Nile River.

Kerma was strongest when neighboring Egypt was weak. For example, during Egypt’s Second Intermediate Period, Kerma was at the height of its power, successfully invading parts of Upper Egypt and establishing diplomatic relations with the occupying Hyksos. Once reunified during the New Kingdom, Egypt retaliated by pushing south to the fourth cataract, occupying Kerma for the next 500 years. During the Egyptian occupation, the elite classes of Kerma adopted many elements of Egyptian culture including Egyptian gods, styles of dress, hieroglyphics, and the Egyptian language. Yet scholars believe the Nubian masses retained their own distinctive identity, including their local language and customs.

The Kingdom of Kush

As Egypt entered its Third Intermediate Period, Nubians gradually established their independence, creating the Kingdom of Kush in the 8th century BCE. The initial capital of the Kingdom of Kush was Napata (c. 750 BCE to 593 BCE). The Nubians took control of Upper Egypt, establishing the ‘Ethiopian Dynasty’ which ruled from Thebes for 60 years. Assyrian invasions destabilized Nubian rulers in Thebes, causing the last pharaoh of the Ethiopian Dynasty to flee to Napata. The Egyptian army sacked Napata in 593 BCE and in response, Nubian rulers moved their capital farther south to Meroe.

With the new capital at Meroe, a location with well-watered farmland some distance away from Egypt, the Kingdom of Kush flourished, lasting until the 4th century CE. Meroe received more rainfall than Napata and was not as dependent on Nile floods. Nubians extended areas under cultivation, growing a wider variety of crops including cotton, sorghum, and millet. Better grazing meant cattle became even more important as a symbol of their culture and wealth during this period.

After moving the capital to Meroe, the people of Kush displayed greater independence from Egypt, emphasizing their own deities and relegating Egyptian gods to the background. Gold had long been mined in the region and remained important even as the people of Kush developed additional industries. The area was rich in iron ore and hardwoods used to make charcoal, enabling the growth of a booming iron industry. They made iron weapons and tools for military defense and increased crop yields. Ancient Nubians transported agricultural surpluses, iron, cattle, and exotic animals from sub-Saharan Africa to Egypt, Greece, Rome, and India, bringing great wealth and prestige to Meroe. The enriched rulers of Meroe also commissioned pyramids. These Meroe pyramids were smaller and distinct from Egyptian pyramids. Kush burial practices also differed from those used in dynastic Egypt, for example corpses were buried in the fetal position and not always mummified.

The Meroitic written script replaced the use of Egyptian Hieroglyphics by 300 BCE. Modern scholars have not yet translated Meroitic; we will surely learn even more about the Kingdom of Kush once scholars have deciphered this language. At present, we know of distinct elements of the Kush civilization from physical evidence including indications of its productive agriculture, local rituals and burial practices, growth of industries, social stratification, and extensive trade networks.

There are also insights gained from outside sources. Greeks and Romans occasionally sent raiding parties into Nubia, though Meroe’s southern location provided some protection from conquest for a long period. Egyptian sources were generally very derogatory in their portrayal of Nubians, leading a few early 20th century archaeologists to carelessly (and incorrectly) identify Nubian kingdoms as slave colonies of the Egyptians. In fact, the kingdoms of Kerma and Kush were renowned in the ancient world for their wealth and industries. Wealth garnered through productive agriculture and trade supported a ruling class, prolific artists, and monumental architecture. Egyptian culture was influential, but Nubians adapted Egyptian practices to meet their own needs and sensibilities. Though often entangled with Egypt, and sometimes defending themselves from other invaders, Nubian kingdoms persisted for hundreds of years as an independent civilization along the southern stretches of the Nile River. Environmental changes, internal rivalries, and the rise of Axum (a new state to the East) contributed to the fairly abrupt collapse of Meroe in the 4th century CE.

Trans-Saharan Trade

Peoples along the North African coast, like those along the Nile Valley, also experienced change and exposure to diverse Mediterranean cultures. Phoenicians spread Near Eastern culture westward along North Africa coasts, extending as far as what is today Morocco and Tunisia. The blending of African and Near Eastern cultures gave rise to the impressive Carthaginian culture. Later the Roman Empire conquered the African coastline of the Mediterranean, ruling for centuries and transplanting elements of Greco-Roman culture such as the Latin language, Christianity, and Roman engineering brilliance. Roman structures such as coliseums are still being uncovered in the deserts of North Africa, some deemed World Heritage sites. Many of the most influential early written sources we have about North African cultures are observations by classical Greek and Roman authors.

In the 7th and 8th centuries CE, Arab armies spread across North Africa, carrying with them Islamic religious and cultural influences. Islam rapidly took root across the Northern rim of Africa as peoples such as Berbers and Tuaregs converted and spread Islamic culture further south through trade and warfare. Northern and Saharan Africa were brought within the sphere of the Islamic world early in the process of Arab expansion. As a result of these different influences over the centuries, North African regions such as Tunisia, Morocco and Libya are diverse, layered, cosmopolitan cultures.

Access to the Mediterranean fostered long-lasting, lucrative trading connections as societies in the Nile valley, and in Western and Eastern Africa, benefited from expanding caravan trade links across North and Saharan Africa – the Trans Saharan trade routes. From the 8th century on, Berber caravans across North Africa enabled the accumulation of impressive wealth for those with economic control over trade links and centers. Economic interchange significantly increased after the domestication of the camel. Caravans of camels laden with goods could undertake extensive desert travel resulting in a dramatic increase in trade throughout Africa’s Saharan region.

Trans-Saharan trade links, facilitated by Berber and Tuareg peoples, brought African gold, ivory and slaves to the Mediterranean and imported finished goods such as clothing into Africa. Caravan routes of the Trans-Saharan trade network fostered great wealth in those African states controlling the movement of highly valued natural resources such as gold, ivory, ebony and salt. Trading connections across North Africa later extended south, resulting in the diffusion of Mediterranean influences deep into West Africa. North African civilizations and peoples were highly integrated with other cultures through Mediterranean interchange, and African peoples in these societies were significantly impacted by these influential economic connections, cultural interchange and political links.

Aksum and Ethiopia

Aksum was located in the region that is today home to the countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and parts of Sudan. This kingdom was at its most powerful between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. Aksum was a great trading empire, with its own coinage, language, and distinctive Christian faith; at its height, its influence extended beyond Africa into parts of the southern Arabian Peninsula. Climatic variation throughout Ethiopia encouraged agricultural diversification and trade which sustained large populations in the region. Innovative cultivation included crops such as teff (a grass) and nsete (“false banana”), used to make bread and porridge. Ethiopians also are credited with the discovery and the first production of coffee.

The Kebra Nagast (“The Glory of Kings”), is a 700 year old text sacred to Ethiopian Christians and Rastafarians and traces the origins of the Ethiopian royal family to the Queen of Sheba (known locally as Queen Mekeda) and King Solomon of Jerusalem. According to the Kebra Nagast, early Ethiopian rulers were descendants of King Solomon through Menelik I. A 13th century Ethiopian king, Yekuno Amlak (r. 1270 – 1285 CE) traced his origins back to King Solomon and Queen Mekeda, founding the Solomonic Dynasty which ruled Ethiopia from 1270 to 1769 CE. Members of Ethiopia’s royal family continued to claim descent from King Solomon until the last Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, was overthrown in 1974. The proclaimed royal link going back to King Solomon and Queen Mekeda is a critical part of Ethiopian religious beliefs and legitimized claims to political power for generations of rulers.

The Kingdom of Da’amat was the first to emerge in northern Ethiopia in about the 10th century BCE. Archeological finds show that by the 7th century BCE, ivory, tortoiseshell, rhino horn, gold, silver, and slaves were brought from interior regions of Africa and traded through Da’amat for imported cloth, tools, metals, and jewelry. Inscriptions, imagery, architectural styles, and even overlaps in historical traditions, such as those associated with the Queen of Sheba, suggest close connections between the Kingdom of Da’amat and Saba (Yemen) in Southern Arabia.

The Kingdom of Da’amat was weakened in the 4th century BCE as Red Sea-based trade challenged the dominance of northern overland routes. Da’amat gave way to the state of Aksum, with its important cities of Adulis and Aksum. Adulis, positioned on the coast, rose in prominence and grew wealthy as a safe harbor for ships traveling from Southeast Asia. The growing capital city in the interior, Aksum, was a stopover point for land-based trade routes to the Sudan and Sub-Saharan Africa. Ivory, slaves, tools, spices, gold, silver jewelry, copper, and iron were traded through the capital city of Aksum, and directed to the coast. The state of Aksum began minting its own gold and silver coins in the 3rd century CE, demonstrating the importance of this long-distance trade.

In addition to trade, Aksum was also known for its inhabitants’ early conversion to Christianity. Ethiopian tradition traces the establishment of Christianity in the region to two shipwrecked Syrians, one of whom became the first bishop of Ethiopia in 303 CE and guided the king of Aksum, King Ezana (r. 325 – 350 CE), in his conversion to Christianity. Christian merchants were encouraged to settle in Aksum and Christianity in Ethiopia grew further as the state offered refuge to Christians fleeing persecution due to doctrinal disputes. Nine priests, breaking with the Church in Jerusalem, settled in Ethiopia and founded the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. They maintained ties with the Coptic Church in Egypt and developed a distinct liturgy using Ge’ez, the local language. Members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church also incorporated local beliefs, such as the legendary connection to King Solomon, into their religious traditions.

The ruling family, coastal elites, and military leaders amassed significant wealth during the height of Aksumite power. Aksumite kings gained wealth by collecting tribute from surrounding states and taxing trade. Aksum and its surrounding states were agriculturally productive with fertile soils and effective irrigation systems. Building a powerful military, King Ezana expanded the empire and claimed control over most of Ethiopia, Nubia, and Saba (Yemen), showcasing his power with “conquest stones” that commemorated his victories and proclaimed God had ordained his reign. One section reads:

[…] The Lord of Heaven strengthens my dominion! And as he now has conquered my enemy, (so)

May he conquer for me, where I (but) go! As he now has given me victory and has over- thrown my enemies.

(So will I rule) in right and justice, doing no wrong to the peoples. And I placed

The throne, which I have set up, and the Earth which bears it, in the protection of the Lord of Heaven, who has made me king… (Brizuela-Garcia and Getz 2012, 33-36).

Ezana and other Aksumite kings commissioned construction of stelae (singular: stele), tall rectangular pillars with rounded tops that marked underground grave sites of Aksum’s royalty and elite. The most ornate stelae were elaborately carved into a marble-like material with faux doors at the bottom and multiple stories indicated by windows etched into each level. They have been described as “ancient skyscrapers”; the largest is 108 feet tall. Most stelae have fallen in the over 1700 years since their construction, but several remain standing. One stelae caused international uproar when the Italians took it during their occupation of Ethiopia at the onset of the Second World War and only recently returned it at great expense.

Stelae demonstrated the wealth of Aksum’s ruling classes and links between ruling generations. Though graves marked by stelae were raided by tomb robbers in the intervening years, small remnants of glass, pottery, furniture, beads, bangles, earrings, ivory carvings, and objects gilded in gold attest to the wealth buried with ancient affluent Aksumites. These artifacts also show the availability of traded goods brought from long distances.

Aksum’s power began to wane at the end of the 6th century CE. Muslims increasingly dominated trade along the Red Sea coast as the most profitable trade shifted to the Persian Gulf. Aksum shrank as Ethiopia’s Christian rulers turned away from coastal trade and became more dependent on tribute collected from agriculturally productive regions in their south. As Muslims in coastal areas became more powerful and Christian rulers shifted attention away from the coast, relations between Ethiopian Muslims and Christians remained complex. In the 7th century CE, one king of Aksum, al-Najashi Ashama Ibn Abjar, gave sanctuary to followers of Islam before he himself converted. In subsequent years, Muslim traders and Christian elites often cooperated. From the 10th through the 14th centuries, Muslims set up trading settlements in the interior, facilitating the consumption of imported goods by Christian elites. Yet there were also periods of conflict, especially after Muslims formed the Adal Sultanate in the 14th century. The Adal Sultanate militarily extended its influence over much of the region and for several centuries reigned over a thriving, multi-ethnic state. In the 16th century, Ethiopian Christians allied with the Portuguese to fight against the Adal Sultanate. After the fall of the Adal Sultanate, Ethiopian Christians rejected Portuguese attempts to convert them to Catholicism and forced Portuguese missionaries out of the region in 1633 CE.

THE WESTERN SUDANIC STATES

Who comes to mind as the richest person ever? Many economists and historians propose the West African leader Mansa Musa. Mansa Musa was an emperor in the Western Sudan during the Middle Ages. One estimate is, adjusted for inflation, Mansa Musa was worth $400 billion, while other sources conclude it is impossible to fully estimate his vast fortune. One scholar suggests “(i)magine as much gold as you think a human being could possess and double it…” (Davidson 2015). Mansa Musa became wealthy by controlling what was at that time the world’s primary supply of gold found in West Africa. West African societies emerged in the Western Sudan, today home to Mali, Niger and Nigeria. Arabic-speaking travelers gave the region its name, calling it bilad-al-Sudan or the “Land of Blacks.” The Western Sudan encompasses the Sahel and surrounding grasslands from the Atlantic coast through Lake Chad. The Sahel, which in Arabic means “the shore,” is a transition zone between the Sahara Desert and more forested regions to the south, largely grassland savannah. Straddling regions with different climates, the people of the Western Sudan developed productive agriculture, trade networks, and a creative urban culture.

Agriculturally-based civilizations in Western Africa are traced back to the 1st millennium BCE. Between 800 BCE-200 CE, the Nok civilization grew up in this region. Relying on cultivated agriculture fed by two productive rivers, the Niger and Senegal, this civilization is noted for its early mastery of working with iron, and creative craftsmanship with terra cotta art. The Nok civilization introduced an agriculturally based lifestyle, though its development was influenced by complex relations with still-nomadic neighbors.

Subsequently, from about 800 to 1600 CE, expansive kingdoms dominated the Western Sudan, reflected in the monumental buildings constructed of mud (adobe) such as the Great Mosque in Djenne and Aksia the Great’s tomb in Gao. The three most prominent West African empires were Ghana (800–1070s CE), Mali (1230s–1430s CE), and Songhai (1460s–1591 CE). The leaders of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai dominated the region based on state control of access to West African gold. The spread of Islam and rise of new states along the North African coast and in Europe contributed to an increased demand for gold to mint coins. To meet demand, Berber traders used camels to carry gold north across the desert, then loaded their camels with big slabs of salt to return south. In many parts of West Africa, salt was a valuable commodity due the time required to extract salt from plant, animal, and other sources, and the distance from sources to markets. While demand for gold and salt drove trade, weapons, manufactured goods, slaves, textiles, and manuscripts also passed through the desert. The flow of all of these goods established the Western Sudanic kingdoms as the nexus of the trans-Saharan trade routes.

Western African populations were a mix of settled agricultural peoples surrounded by nomadic communities, such as Tuareg tribes, who moved their domestic animals between grazing areas. Relations between city dwellers and nomadic tribes fluctuated between stable coexistence and periods of violence. The great kingdoms of West Africa relied on nomadic peoples to maintain trading connections to far flung areas, links which enabled settled cities to accumulate great wealth. But assaults on Western African kingdoms frequently came at the hands of these same nomadic partners when they chose to raid and steal. North African Berber traders crossing the Sahara Desert were early converts to Islam, and introduced Islam to market towns of the Western Sudanic states; thus Trans-Saharan trade brought Islam to the Western Sudan. Connections with Northeast Africa and the Middle East grew during the Middle Ages and in later centuries, the kings of Mali and Songhai fostered links with the Islamic world for religious reasons and to enhance their status. Growing cities like Timbuktu attracted Muslim scholars encouraged by state funding of mosques and schools. Islam deeply influenced Western Sudan culture and lifestyles, particularly the urban residents.

Ghana

The first powerful Western empire, Ghana (800–1070s CE) was made up of those speaking the Soninke language and living in the region between the Niger and Senegal Rivers (today parts of Mauritania and Mali). As early as 300 BCE, farmers used iron tools to grow an abundance of crops. This agricultural productivity supported labor specialization, urban developments, and eventually state formation. One of the earliest urban areas in the Western Sudan was Djenne-Jeno. Archaeological evidence from approximately 250 BCE suggests plentiful production of rice, millet, and vegetables. Iron technologies allowed craftsmen to make iron spears and swords. Soninke speakers formed the ancient state of Ghana around 300 CE, probably for defense purposes, and the state continued to expand.

Even before Ghana was a formalized state, Soninke speakers were involved in extensive trade networks that relied on the region’s complex river systems. Ghanaians often acted as middlemen, trading fish from the rivers, meat from herders, and grains from farmers. By 800 CE, a formal kingship consolidated control over trade, as well as authority over urban areas and reign over tributary states. The gold trade defined Ghana, particularly in the minds of Arab scholars chronicling the history of this period. Large caravans with hundreds of camels passed through the Sahara Desert going to and from Ghana. Ghanaian kings taxed gold brought from forested regions in the south to market towns, and then taxed again as Berber traders departed for the north. News of Ghana’s wealth spread and Medieval Arab scholars who had never traveled to Africa wrote about the riches of Ghanaian kings. In one manuscript, Al-Bakri, an 11th century geographer based in Muslim Spain, described how a Ghanaian king was adorned in gold and guarded by dogs wearing gold and silver collars, and subjects would “fall on their knees and sprinkle dust on their heads” upon entering his presence (“Kingdom of Ghana” n.d.). According to Al-Bakri, the kings claimed all gold nuggets for themselves, leaving only gold dust for everyone else. Ghanaian kings used their wealth to build strong armies with archers and cavalry to collect tribute and expand the empire. Al-Bakri’s depiction of Ghana’s capital city, Koumbi Saleh, indicates the presence of Islam in the region, he describes how in the capital city Koumbi-Saleh merchants used a Muslim site with mosques to trade their wares.

The Mali Empire

Attacks from the North by Muslim Almoravids, environmental problems caused by overgrazing, and internal rebellions led to Ghana’s decline in the 11th century, paving the way for the rise of the Mali state. The Mali Empire originated with the king Sundiata Keita (c.1217–1255 CE), known as the Lion King. An epic story, recounted orally by griots for centuries and written in various forms, relates the story of Sundiata’s rise. One version written by Guinean D. T. Niani in 1960 described how Sundiata faced a number of challenges such as being unable to walk until he was seven years old, banishment by a cruel stepmother, and tests given by witches. With loyal followers and the attributes of a born leader, Sundiata overcame these and other challenges to found the new empire. Sundiata’s background in the epic tale is traced to Bilali Bounama, an early follower of Islam, as well as powerful pre-Islamic local clans of the lion and buffalo.

Under Sundiata, some of Mali’s leadership converted to Islam yet maintained important pre-Islamic traditions, a reflection of syncretism – the blending of religious beliefs and practices. According to oral tradition, Sundiata’s ability to draw from both Muslim and traditional African sources of strength allowed him to overcome adversity and defeat less worthy opponents. Like Sundiata, most subsequent kings of Mali combined Islamic and local religious traditions. They maintained the use of pre-Islamic amulets, sustained animistic beliefs, and preserved pre-Islamic sacred sites. Similarly, those living in Mali’s cities and those involved in trans-Saharan trade blended Muslim and traditional beliefs and practices.

Through diplomacy and military victories, Sundiata coerced surrounding leaders to relinquish their titles and established a sizable empire with tributary states, becoming the mansa, or emperor, of Mali. Most subsequent mansas of Mali maintained control over the gold-salt trade as the basis of their wealth. Mali developed a diversified economy and was recognized in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East as a prosperous trading center.

The Mali Empire reached its height under Mansa Musa (c. 1280–1337 CE) in the early 14th century. Mansa Musa, likely Sundiata’s grandson or grandnephew, further expanded the empire, making it a crossroads of the Medieval Islamic world. Under Mansa Musa and a large army of approximately 100,000 soldiers, the Kingdom of Mali stretched farther east, west, and south. Encompassing diverse environments, Mali trade in agricultural produce became more prominent. Farmers specialized in regional crops and on state-operated farms, slaves grew food for the royal family and army. Mansa Musa improved the empire’s administration, dividing territories into provinces under appointed governors.

In addition to the vast wealth possessed by the empire and Mansa Musa himself, he is remembered for going on the hajj from 1324 to 1325 CE. His massive caravan of almost 100 camels, 12,000 slaves, and an estimated 30,000 pounds of gold attracted significant attention. Local lore recounted he gave out so much gold during his three month stay in Cairo that the price of gold dropped by 25%; in Alexandria, the value of gold in the city reportedly did not recover for a decade. Mansa Musa’s impressive display of wealth in Northeast Africa and the Middle East boosted Mali’s standing in the Islamic world and drew the attention of outside powers to the natural resources and wealth of this region.

The Mali city of Timbuktu became an important trading and cultural center, reaching its peak between the 13th–15th centuries CE. Slaves, ivory and gold passed through the city to markets in the North, while salt and Mediterranean goods moved through the city to southern consumers. Mansa Musa explicitly cultivated Islamic connections by building new mosques and schools. He hosted Muslim scholars and transformed cities such as Timbuktu, Djenne, and Gao into renowned centers of learning. Mansa Musa encouraged the use of Arabic while libraries – especially in Timbuktu – became significant repositories of Islamic manuscripts. He paid for these projects by collecting tribute from surrounding states, and taxing trans-Saharan and inter-regional trade. State funds were directed to support numerous schools, libraries and mosques where students pursued not only Islamic studies but also studied sciences, history, law and medicine. The vibrancy of the city at its height, renowned as an economic hub and a center for Islamic religious and intellectual studies, is captured in this oft-cited Sudanese proverb: “Salt comes from the north, gold from the south and silver from the country of the white men. But the word of God and the treasures of wisdom are only to be found in Timbuctoo” (African Digital Heritage 2017). The European view of West Africa captured in the famed Catalan Atlas demonstrates the view of the region and Mansa Musa’s preeminence by outside powers. Commissioned by Charles V of France, the 1375 map shows Mansa Musa ruling his empire. He sits atop a gold throne, wearing a gold crown, carrying a gold scepter, and gauging (or perhaps admiring) a gold nugget.

Songhai

Several factors led to the decline of Mali after Mansa Musa’s death, including weak leadership, foreign invasions, and rebellions within tributary states. These factors resulted in the empire shrinking throughout the early 15th century. As Mali leadership declined, leaders of a breakaway tributary state, Songhai (Songhay), expanded. Songhai’s leader Sunni Ali captured Timbuktu by the late 1460s, initiating the start of the Songhai Empire. The Songhai Empire is most closely associated with the Sorko people who lived and traded alongside the Niger River, southeast of Gao. With the growth of trans-Saharan trade and the eventual discovery of new gold fields, the Sorko and other ethnic groups established market towns and most people in these market towns converted to Islam by the 11th century. Using his military to pick off pieces of Mali in its waning years, Sunni Ali built the Songhai state into an empire by the 1460s. During its peak, the Songhai Empire was ruled by Askia Mohammad I (r. 1493–1528). Referred to as Askia the Great, Askia Mohammad I was a devout Muslim, who centralized the empire’s administration, encouraged agriculture, and further expanded the state. Askia went on the hajj to Mecca from 1496 – 1497, which brought him international recognition; his power was reinforced when the Sharif of Mecca bestowed Askia with the title “the Caliph of the Sudan.” Upon his return, Askia used Islam to validate attacks on neighboring states. He rebuilt Islamic centers, and trade and scholarship flourished in the great city of Timbuktu. Leo Africanus, originally from Granada (Spain), traveled through Timbuktu in 1526 and wrote,

[…] There are in Timbuktu numerous judges, teachers, and priests, all properly appointed by the king. He greatly honors learning. Many hand-written books imported from Barbary [the coastal regions of North Africa] are also sold. There is more profit made from this commerce than from all other merchandise. (“Leo Africannus” 1526).

Under Askia, the cities of Timbuktu, Djenne, and Gao once again beckoned scholars and people with commercial aspirations. Taxing gold remained an important source of revenue for the king and salt remained an important commodity; trade also expanded to incorporate manuscripts, kola nuts, prisoners of war (sold as slaves), horses, and cowry shells (used as an internal currency). To centralize his administration, Askia appointed loyal Muslim governors to new provinces, replacing hereditary rulers. After his death, Askia’s sons, particularly his last son, Askia Dawud (r. 1549–1582 CE) continued to generate wealth by taxing trans-Saharan trade and invested in Songhai’s Islamic centers. During the reign of Dawud, there were approximately one hundred and fifty Islamic schools operating in Timbuktu. Askia Dawud’s death in 1582 led to the reemergence of power struggles amongst competing rulers and rebellions within tributary states, signaling the end of the Golden Age of Songhai. The biggest blow to the crumbling Songhai Empire came from the invasion by Morocco in 1591. The Moroccan army used the new technology of muzzle-loading firearms to defeat Songhai troops. Surviving as a weakened state until 1737, in reality Songhai was no longer a unified empire after 1591.

For almost 1,000 years, large empires had dominated the Sahel. Leaders of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, each in turn, taxed trans-Saharan trade and grew powerful. They built sprawling empires that encompassed urban centers, strong militaries, and numerous tributary states until internal tensions and outside threats eroded their power. The Age of Expansion initiated by Portuguese exploration of the West Africa coast in the 15th century redirected trade and introduced European influence and control. The resulting decline of West African societies was accelerated by the destructive and inexhaustible European desire for slaves.

Modern Issues – Salt Production

Questions to answer:

• How has the production and trade of salt shaped the history of Africa and the world?
• If you could learn more about the history of any commodity (food, good, etc), what would you choose and why?

Think about your favorite recipes, the elaborate dishes you concoct when you have an event to attend or perhaps the comfort foods you whip up when you are having a bad day. Are there any common ingredients required? It’s a safe bet that the majority of your favorites call for at least a dash, if not more, of salt. In fact, salt is such an ubiquitous condiment that it is easy to take it for granted. Salt can be found sprinkled on your movie theater popcorn, in tiny packets at fast food restaurants, and in salt shakers in nearly every household. As a commonly used seasoning, salt today is relatively inexpensive. A 26 ounce container of iodized salt can be found at the grocery store for under $3.00. And yet this unassuming condiment has a long and illustrious history, one that is today obscured by its easy accessibility.

Today we may primarily think of salt as something to be used to enhance the flavor of our food, however, it is also a necessity for the functioning of the human body. Humans require about 500 mg of salt (sodium chloride) for regulation of  “nerve impulses, [to] contract and relax muscles, and [to] maintain the proper balance of water and minerals” (Harvard 2023). The need for salt increases in very dry and arid environments. Scholars have found evidence of salt harvesting that dates back to 6000 BCE in the dry region of Shanxi China. The first evidence of human salt production dates to 800 CE in China, when communities boiled sea water and collected the salt crystals that were left behind. Salt had many uses and was commonly used as a preservative in the days before refrigeration; it could be used to keep meat and vegetables from rotting.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, salt was mined and produced in a number of ways and in various regions around the world. Some communities had easy access to salt while others, like “the savannah region south of the western Sahara desert (known as the Sudan region) and the forests of southern West Africa were poor in salt” (Cartwright 2019). By 1000 CE, trade routes were established linking these areas with the Sahara desert. Millions of years ago the Sahara desert was covered in water; that water eventually receded and evaporated, leaving behind rock salt deposits. Enterprising Berber traders operated camel caravans, carrying salt and other precious commodities across the desert. Control of salt mines and trade routes played critical roles in the growth of prominent west African empires such as the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires. So valuable was salt that at times it was traded for gold dust, in equal quantities. Adding to the value of salt was the difficulty of transporting it across the Sahara desert. Sahara salt was typically cut into uniform 200 lb slabs and loaded onto camels. Each camel carried two slabs and traders often made the journey with hundreds of camels. The trek across the Sahara was notoriously difficult and full of danger, even for experienced traders and guides.

Salt was a highly valued trade good outside of Africa, as well. In fact, in Medieval Europe one way the socio-economic elite demonstrated their status was through the display of salt in ornate salt cellars on the dinner table. Honored guests at the table could expect to sit above the salt, while the rest sat below. Today, salt is readily available and usually inexpensive. This is largely due to the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the mining and processing of salt. While the Trans-Saharan salt caravans have continued into the 21st century, this form of transportation and trade has been outpaced by large scale producers.

Salt continues to be in high demand and is ranked second of all non-energy minerals; in 2021, the top three global producers of salt were China, the United States, and India. “There are three basic salt production methods in the world includ[ing]: seawater solar evaporation or inland brines, brine extracted through solution mining, and mined rock salt. More than a third of the world’s salt production comes from evaporation of sea water by solar energy” (Ekrami et al 2021). Modern salt production results in notable environmental consequences, as studies have found industrial salt production can result in deforestation, freshwater salinization, ecosystem degradation, and other impacts.

Some communities continue smaller scale salt production using traditional methods, for example, at the salt flats of Waimakaohiʻiaka in the ahupuaʻa of Hanapēpē on Kauaʻi. There, a group of 20 plus Kanaka Maoli families continue to harvest paʻakai, Hawaiian salt, by hand. Paʻakai has and continues to be used for culinary, spiritual, and medicinal purposes. These families are cultural practitioners whose knowledge of paʻakai stretches back generations. Paʻakai is harvested in the summer from carefully dug and tended clay basins that are filled with ocean water. Unlike the mass produced Hawaiian salt you can find at the grocery store, Paʻakai cannot be sold and must be gifted. In recent years the salt flats and the abilities of these families to continue their traditional practices have been threatened by pollution from neighboring commercial developments, beachgoers, and environmental changes due to climate change. Despite these difficulties and the labor intensive nature of producing paʻakai, the families remain determined to preserve the salt flats of Waimakaohiʻiaka and their practices. They formed an organization, Hui Hana Paʻakai o Hanapēpē, and continue to advocate for the preservation and protection of the salt flats.

THE SPREAD OF AGRICULTURE AND GREAT ZIMBABWE

Most languages indigenous to Africa belong to one of the major language groups. Historians of Africa are paying more attention to these language groups to trace the spread of ancient technologies and interaction between peoples. Using linguistics (study of languages), historians corroborate information found in other sources, such as the oral traditions of dynastic origins and archaeological findings. Today’s scholars are not the first to notice linguistic similarities on the continent. Following 19th century European colonization, anthropologists grouped Africans into tribes based on presumed physical, cultural, and linguistic similarities. Anthropologists and others noticed striking similarities amongst the languages spoken by about 400 different ethnic groups in the southern and eastern third of the continent. They found people in most of Sub-Saharan Africa spoke languages that used the root –ntu to refer to a person, with the prefix ba– added in the plural. Combining the root and the plural prefix, 19th-century colonial anthropologists referred to people in these communities as Bantu and later traced Bantu languages to a root language spoken in parts of Cameroon and Nigeria. To explain similarities in the languages, European scholars hypothesized that about 2,000 years ago there was a Bantu Migration, a massive movement of thousands of Bantu speakers from the Bantu homeland. It was theorized Bantu speakers imposed iron technology and agricultural practices on peoples they encountered in eastern and southern Africa. Influenced by their own conceptions of colonization, 19th century anthropologists portrayed the Bantu Migration as a rapid conquest of Sub-Saharan hunter-gatherer societies by the technologically advanced, Iron Age Bantu speakers.

Since the 1990s, however, historians of Africa have used linguistics to reject elements of this description of the Bantu Migration. Referring instead to Bantu expansions, historians generally agree the movement of Bantu speakers was a slow diffusion of languages and technologies that lasted over 4500 years, from around 3000 BCE to 1500 CE. Bantu speakers took multiple routes. From the linguistic evidence, historians suspect Bantu speakers and those they settled amongst blended ideas and technologies resulting in mutual exchange. Some indigenous populations rejected Bantu languages while others repackaged Bantu technologies, incorporating their own innovations. There was no Bantu migratory conquest of indigenous communities. Instead, linguistics seems to confirm that Bantu languages, iron-working, and agriculture slowly spread through eastern and southern Africa in the early centuries CE. The current view of Bantu expansions is more nuanced and recognizes the give and take between Bantu newcomers and indigenous populations.

These corrections allow scholars to more accurately discuss state formation in southern Africa. In the colonial era, European scholars often jumped to misleading conclusions when they encountered evidence of early African states. For example, in 1871 the German geographer Carl Maunch saw the ruins of an impressive civilization Great Zimbabwe and concluded people from Yemen must have built the grand structures. Biased by 19th century racism, Maunch assumed early Africans were incapable of statehood and the skilled masonry techniques evident at Great Zimbabwe. Subsequent Europeans reached similar conclusions, attributing the civilization to Phoenicians and Arabs. Some white supremacists in southern Africa clung onto this fabricated history of Great Zimbabwe’s foreign origins until the early 1990s.

Over the past decades, scholars have confirmed the African origins of Great Zimbabwe. Archaeologists found peoples of Great Zimbabwe exhibited features found in nearby African kingdoms, such as stone masonry and rituals involving cattle. Historians used oral tradition and linguistics to track African state formation and show that Great Zimbabwe was a Bantu civilization. Archaeologists and historians conclude that from approximately 1200 to 1450 CE, Great Zimbabwe was the thriving commercial and political center of a rich southern African state.

During the Middle Ages, a prosperous elite based in Great Zimbabwe ruled over about 300 settlements on the Zimbabwe Plateau. Great Zimbabwe and other linked settlements had similarly constructed walled enclosures, practiced mixed farming (grew crops and kept livestock), and used iron, copper, and bronze. The 300 settlements paid tribute in the form of ivory, gold, cattle, and crops to rulers in Great Zimbabwe. Wealth generated through collection of tribute helped Great Zimbabwe become a center of trade and artistry. Great Zimbabwe exported gold and ivory to cities like Sofala and Kilwa Kisanwani, on the East African coast. From the coast, goods were carried to the Persian Gulf, India, and China. In exchange, Great Zimbabwe’s elite imported luxury items like stoneware, colored glass beads, and cotton. Out of these imports, artisans based in Great Zimbabwe made jewelry, ornaments, and cloth for elite consumption.

The architectural evidence of Great Zimbabwe’s social hierarchies is one of the most dramatic elements of the site’s ruins. Covering three square miles, the ruins of Great Zimbabwe consist of many clusters of stone buildings. The most famous structures are the Hill Complex and the Great Enclosure. The stone buildings were constructed with local granite, and stones were stacked without mortar. Scholars hypothesize the ruling elite resided and performed ceremonies on the Hill Complex, demonstrating their authority by the height and separate nature of the complex. From about 1300 CE, more than 15,000 people lived in the valley below in small, circular homes with thatched roofs and walls made of clay and gravel. The Hill Complex overlooked a number of other structures, including the famous Great Enclosure. With its stone walls up to thirty-five feet tall, the Great Enclosure was the largest structure in precolonial sub-Saharan Africa and was likely a ceremonial site. Scholars disagree about its exact function but suggest the Great Enclosure further demonstrated the status and wealth of the capital city and the ruling classes.

Great Zimbabwe declined in the 15th century and was abandoned by 1450 CE. Some scholars suggest the site deteriorated because resources supporting up to 30,000 people became exhausted; the civilization became too crowded, and carried out extensive deforestation, denuding regional resources through overuse. Surrounding gold mines may have also been depleted. Trade shifted to support the rise of two new kingdoms, Batua to the west and Mutapa to the east. Both kingdoms built stone walls like those seen in Great Zimbabwe and practiced mixed agriculture, using cattle for ceremonies and as symbols of the ruling elite’s power. From the 15th through 17th centuries, the kingdoms faced the threats of the Portuguese and the influx of other African populations. The Mutapa Kingdom lasted the longest, enduring until 1760. Overall, this rewritten history of southern African statehood acknowledges the significance of the Bantu expansions that brought agriculture and iron to many regions. It also celebrates the African origins of great civilizations and demonstrates how Africans shared technologies and cultural practices across the Zimbabwean plateau.

THE SWAHILI CITY-STATES (EAST AFRICA)

From 1000 to 1500 CE, dozens of Swahili city-states dotted the East African coast from Mogadishu to Sofala, including Kilwa Kisiwani, one of the most prosperous cities. Swahili city-states were wealthy urban areas connected by trade to the African interior and Indian Ocean World. These cities, along with islands off the coast, emerged as important commercial centers tied together by a shared identity but not by a unifying political structure. In addition to Islam and claims to Persian ancestry, Swahili identity became associated with Indian Ocean trade, urban lifestyles, and a shared Swahili language and culture. Trading connections linked these East African cities to societies throughout Africa, Islamic Arabia, as well as to markets and ideas in Persia, the Persian Gulf, India and as far East as SE Asia and China. Thriving trade networks enabled exchange of goods such as ivory, gold, and spices and luxuries to and from the East. These African city-states played a dominant role in the Indian Ocean sea-based trading network from 900-1400 CE.

Historians of Africa trace the origins of the Swahili city-states to Bantu expansions. By the 1st century CE, Bantu farmers built communities along the East African coast. They traded with southern Arabia, Southeast Asia, and occasionally Greece and Rome. Trade diminished after the fall of the Roman Empire but rebounded several hundred years later. Residents of Swahili city-states played a pivotal role as middlemen, selling gold, timber, ivory, resins, coconut oil, and slaves from the interior regions of Africa to traders arriving from throughout the Indian Ocean World. In return, Swahili elites bought imported glass, porcelain, silk, spices, and cloth. Seasonal monsoon winds made possible thriving trade between the Swahili coast and southern Arabia, the Persian Gulf, and Southeast Asia. Blowing towards the East African coast three to four months of the year and reversing several months later, these monsoon winds stranded traders for months at a time, encouraging intermarriage and dynamic cultural exchange. The wealth of the Swahili coast attracted Persian and Arab immigrants, further fostering cultural interactions and fusion. Some of the wealthiest, most influential Swahili city-states included Mogadishu, Kilwa and Zanzibar. The Swahili state of Mombasa in the early 15th century (in the modern state of Kenya) was compared to later Venice, Italy in terms of its regional economic importance and the cultural richness this city boasted during the peak of Swahili power. With African, Arabian, and southeast Asian influences, Swahili culture became a rich and blended culture, a vibrant and fascinating mix of African Bantu, Islamic and several Asian influences including Malay and Chinese.

A quintessential feature of the Swahili city-states was their urban focus. Claimants of Swahili identity, in addition to speaking the Swahili language, were Muslim. Archaeology shows emerging Swahili cities had mosques and Muslim burial grounds starting in the 8th century CE. The Swahili, regardless of economic status, drew a distinction between themselves as Muslims and the “uncultured” non-Muslim Africans of the interior. Elite families played a key role in fashioning the Swahili urban style. In addition to tracing their descent back to some of the earliest Muslim settlers from Persia, they embraced Islam, financed mosques, practiced purdah (seclusion of women), and hosted large religious celebrations. Muslim identity stimulated extensive trade, as visiting Muslim merchants felt comfortable extending credit to and living with Swahili host families while waiting for the winds to turn. By 1350 CE, Swahili city-states reflected distinctive architecture, with many cities becoming “stone towns”, as wealthy Swahili families constructed multi-level homes out of coarse coral. The Swahili elite used stone houses to establish themselves as prominent, credit-worthy citizens. They wore imported silk and cotton and ate off imported porcelain to further display their status. Like other Swahili, the ruling classes distinguished themselves from non-Muslims of the interior, likely drawing this distinction to justify selling people captured in neighboring, non-Muslim communities as slaves.

In 1498, as the Portuguese sought to establish a direct sea route to the riches of India and China, they came upon the Swahili coast. As these Swahili city-states did not have a unified political structure or large armies, the Portuguese successfully looted and destroyed some cities. However, the Portuguese did not move inland beyond the coastal cities. The Portuguese presence did encourage Swahili leaders to ally with the Omanis from southern Arabia. In 1699, the Omanis, working with some Swahili rulers, seized Mombasa from the Portuguese, initiating an era of Omani dominance of the Swahili coast.

INDIAN OCEAN SLAVE TRADE

Swahili states derived wealth, economic influence, and cultural diversity from strategic geographic links to Indian Ocean connections. The Indian Ocean World, the zone of contact connecting people adjacent to the Indian Ocean, was a dynamic trading network for centuries. As sailing abilities improved, links expanded between cultures in Asia, Arabia and Africa, resulting in the rich interchange of goods, ideas, and cultures. African societies on the Horn of Africa and East Africa Swahili states  benefited from the flow of goods, and cultural influences.

Trade of slaves was part of this interchange, and began well before the spread of Islam in the 7th century CE. During the peak of the Swahili city-states’ influence, Muslim traders controlled the slave trade in this region, with slaves tending to be captives of war sold in the Arabian Peninsula and regions near the Persian Gulf. Slaves were put to work as sailors, agricultural laborers, pearl divers, domestic workers, concubines, and musicians. Knowledge about the everyday lives of slaves in the Indian Ocean region is very limited, but there were periodic slave rebellions. The Zanj Rebellion was one famous revolt, when slaves from East Africa (the Zanj) forced to work on sugar plantations and salt flats near Basra (in present-day Iraq), challenged the power of the Abbasid Caliphate. Led by Ali ibn Muhammad, the Zanj and supporters (an estimated 15,000 people) beginning in 868 CE raided towns, seized weapons and food, and freed slaves. They captured Basra and came within seventy miles of Baghdad, the Abbasid capital. These rebels created their own state with fortresses, a navy, tax collection, and their own coinage. The Abbasids finally put down the revolt in 883 CE through use of a large army and by offering amnesty to the rebels. Scholars use evidence from the Zanj Rebellion to examine the scope of the Indian Ocean trade in East African slaves, slave conditions in the Indian Ocean World, and the slaves’ ability to impact their lives. Some scholars suggest the Zanj Rebellion led Muslims in Arabia to largely abandon the use of East African slaves as plantation laborers. The rebellion helps explain why the Indian Ocean slave trade developed differently than the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The slave trade within the Indian Ocean World and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade forcibly moved Africans, creating an African diaspora (dispersal) of African peoples and their descendants all over the world. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade lasted approximately 300 years, reaching its peak in the 18th century CE. Approximately 12 million people, mostly from West Africa, were forced to migrate to the Americas. In comparison, Indian Ocean slave trade networks lasted far longer, about 2000 years, and were generally smaller in scale. Scholars suggest African slaves in the Indian Ocean world had more social mobility, especially since many were skilled soldiers. Also, according to Islamic precepts, slaves had some basic rights and could be incorporated into the households that they served. In theory a freeborn Muslim could not be enslaved. Unlike slavery in the Americas, slavery within the Indian Ocean World was not racially codified, so freed slaves did not automatically face racial discrimination. In addition, due to reproductive capacities, women were more sought after as slaves within the Indian Ocean World, while the trans-Atlantic slave trade had the highest demand for young men to perform grueling labor on plantations and mines in the ‘New World’.

Environment in History – North Africa’s Fragile Soil

Questions to answer:

• What factors have contributed to the acceleration of soil erosion and desertification in North Africa?
• What does desertification mean and where is occurring?

North Africa is a region deeply impacted by its geography – both its enviable strategic location and its more problematic environment. Location guaranteed the peoples and cultures developing in this region were influenced, early on and throughout its history, by extensive interchange with other societies – through trade, migrations, and inclusion in the multiple empires seeking to control the flow of desired goods coming out of this continent. Environmental impacts have been far less beneficial.

North Africa is made up of two regions, with the Sahara desert overlapping both: the Maghreb borders the Mediterranean sea, home to modern day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya; the Sahel is a swath of territory about 200–400 kilometers wide, stretching from the Atlantic to the Red Sea on the southern edge of the Sahara. The Sahel is arid and semi-arid terrain, a transition zone between the Sahara desert and savanna grasslands and forests to the south. These regions are characterized by uncertain, limited rainfall and throughout Africa’s history, those living here have had to contend with cycles of drought and threat of famine.

For millennia, peoples in this region survived by adapting to changing and challenging natural rhythms. Pastoralism was a dominant form of life, particularly in the Sahel. Herding-based communities responded to erratic and unreliable rainfall patterns through seasonal uses of several pastures, moving frequently to avoid overgrazing, as well as dispersing cattle to reduce diseases and infestations. Grazing locations were adjusted month to month as they relocated based on water and grass supplies. These patterns reflected a hard-won awareness of the uncertainty of rainfall; several good years could be followed by years of drought. In an environment with limits on available water and grasses, studies indicate pastoralism as practiced by Northern African communities was the best utilization of resources in a climate marked by significant variations in rainfall year to year.

Historians note that in past centuries, this region never supported large populations nor densely packed urban centers. Use of the land balanced human needs with limitations of water and soil. Problems emerged when outside occupiers ignored traditional insights and patterns. For example, historians note evidence of environmental degradation linked to ancient Roman Empire control of the Maghreb. Under Rome, North African coastal territories were exploited to supply grains for markets throughout the empire as well as for intensive olive production. Under Roman control, there was significant land degradation, but after the fall of the empire, there was some vegetative recovery as communities reverted to more nomadic land use practices.

Later in the 19th century, British and French colonial powers moved in and again dramatically shifted land use, this time emphasizing production of crops such as cotton, a shift fo sedentary lifestyles, and increased cattle production. Colonial economic imperatives also led to initiatives encouraging farmers to move into more marginal, arid lands with cattle and crops. Colonial laws “…restricted and criminalized many local land uses appropriate for arid lands that have been used sustainably for centuries by the North Africans…” (Isenberg 2014, 117). In pursuit of colonial profits, European land use practices and technologies ignored traditional water management strategies, and pressures on the land increased dramatically.

In addition, imported Western industrial technologies such as improved sanitation, hydraulic and reforestation projects, and medicines, resulted in a population explosion in the 19th and into the 20th centuries. Population in the Sahel increased by 300%. More people and livestock placed too high a burden on the land, with cattle numbers far beyond the estimated carrying capacity of the land. Combined with ending movement and semi-nomadic land management, these changes resulted in severe soil degradation. Overgrazing and plowing grasslands for crops devastated perennial grasses, which were then replaced by less nutritious grasses with shallow roots. Felled trees and soil pulverized by large herds left the soil degraded and vulnerable to erosion, and “(w)ithin a few years, grazing land became desert” (Fagan 1999, 217). The result has been devastating famines in the modern era, including deadly episodes in the early 1900s. A catastrophic drought and famine in the Sahel that began in 1968 lasted for several years, drawing worldwide attention as it led to the deaths of at least a million people across several West and Central African states. While many factors contributed to the current state of impoverishment for communities in North Africa, clearly “Western-style political and economic institutions have failed dismally in the Sahel….they have brought repeated crises and famines, marginalized millions of people, and killed thousands” (Fagan 2010, 220).

Today this region continues to experience severe soil degradation due to heavy livestock grazing which leaves the land denuded of vegetation as hooves compact the soil, making it more vulnerable to erosion. All these effects are exacerbated by climate change conditions. Desert conditions are expanding, degrading arable land and reducing available food and water, thereby intensifying political problems, grinding poverty, and hunger. This phenomenon is known as desertification. While deserts are growing globally, including arid regions in Asia, Latin America and the United States, Africa is clearly the most severely affected region, in particular in North Africa. A 2018 National Science Foundation funded study determined the Sahara has grown by an estimated 10 percent just since 1920. In 2015, it was estimated desertification impacted 33% of the world’s land surfaces, with almost one third of the globe’s arable land destroyed by erosion in just the last 40 years. About 45% of the land on the African continent was impacted by desertification according to a U.N. study, with 55% of that land at high risk for further degradation.

SUMMARY

Before the 12th century, foreigners recorded much of Africa’s written history and there are serious limits in their accounts. Over the past fifty years, historians of Africa have sought to incorporate Africa’s oral traditions into examinations of the ancient past, using linguistics and archaeology to create a more accurate written history of the continent and reclaim African civilizations. Stories of influential African states reflect the importance of African innovations and contributions, and make clear the necessity of using multiple methodologies to reevaluate long-held assumptions about Africa. Past African societies were not isolated or backward. Oceans and deserts were ‘highways’, and states such as Aksum, Western Sudanic states, Great Zimbabwe, and the Swahili coast cities were commercially linked to Europe, the Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, the Persian Gulf, southeast Asia, and even China. The wealth of these states supported labor specialization, urbanization, cultural and technological innovations, and dynamic changes.

African states contributed to and experienced extensive cultural change due to these links. Ethiopia, the Western Sudanic states, and the Swahili city-states all experienced religious transformations as interactions with other cultures led to adoption of new faiths. Ethiopia served as a sanctuary for both Christians and Muslims, and Ethiopians established their own Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Starting in the 13th century CE, Western Sudanic rulers converted to Islam, maintaining some pre-Islamic beliefs while building their connections with, and establishing a respected place in, the Islamic World. Taxing the gold trade, Western Sudanic rulers developed cities as trading hubs and places of scholarly learning. The Swahili in coastal East Africa embraced Islam as one of the defining features of their identity. All these societies developed numerous innovations in art, architecture, metal-working, agriculture, and political organization.

Yet the sobering historical lesson evident from an overview of African history is that power and wealth are temporary achievements. As recently as 500 years ago, Africa was home to several powerful and sophisticated civilizations. This region played a vital role in the development of global trade and cultural interactions. Residents living in the regions that were once home to Africa’s great empires today endure some of the lowest standards of living and some of the most deprived conditions in the world today. Political violence and economic hardships today afflict so many in this region, products of colonial legacies, pre and post-colonial nationalist divisions, and – most ominously – environmental degradation. A better understanding of African history fosters greater awareness and appreciation for African contributions, as well as highlighting cautionary lessons relevant for all 21st century societies.

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