9781422283509

AFR ICA

AFR ICA

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D

Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2016 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America. First printing

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3529-4 ISBN: 978-1-4222-3530-0 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8350-9

Cataloging-in-Publication information from the Library of Congress is on file with the publisher.

On the Cover: The enormous mud mosque in Timbuktu, Mali; the great golden burial mask of Egypt’s King Tut; artwork showing an 18th century slave auction; South African president and anti-apartheid hero, Nelson Mandela (1918–2013).

Exploring World History A frica A ustralia C hina

I ndia J apan

L atin A merica N orth A merica P olar R egions

2

Contents

1 Exploring Africa The Story of Africa

4 6

The Beginnings of History 2 Africa to the 1400s Western Empires

A modern-day Maasai man from East Africa.

8

Moving East

10 12

Great Zimbabwe

3 Visitors and Traders The Traveler of Islam The Europeans Arrive

14 16

4 1500s-1800s Kingdoms of the Guinea Coast

18 20 22

The Mighty Rozvi Inside East Africa

5 Changing Times From Slave Trade to Exploration

24 26

Why Explore Africa?

6 Europeans into the Interior In Search of the Nile

28 30 32 34 36 40 42 46 47 48

The Niger River

The Mystery of Timbuktu The Traveling Scholar

Routes to the Coast 7 Modern Times Africa Is Colonzied

Africa Today Time Chart

Glossary

Index

3

M ore than 1.1 billion million people live in Africa, in about 800 ethnic groups, each with their own language and culture. Africa is covered by desert, grassland and forest. The largest desert in the world, the Sahara, covers almost all of northern Africa. One of the world ’ s longest rivers, the Nile, flows for almost 4,000 miles (6,400 km) through northeastern Africa. Temperatures in Africa vary from region to region. The highest temperature in the world of 136°F (58°C) was recorded in Libya in 1922. Rainfall also varies around the continent. Some areas, like the Sahara and Namib deserts, receive no rain for six or seven years. Along the west coast however, rain tends to fall all year round. Parts of Africa also have a dry season (when very little rain

falls) and a rainy season (when lots of rain falls). Zaire in Central Africa has a rainy season from October to May, but in the Gambia the rainy season is from July to October. Africa has thousands of species of mammals, reptiles, birds, plants Central Africa contain hundreds of trees, from oil palms and mahogany trees to mangroves that line the coasts. and fish. The rain forests of West and A map showing the geography of Africa and some of the kingdoms and empires of Africa up until 1800.

T he dotted lines represent the boundaries of the modern-day states of Africa. Look at page 43 of this book for more detail.

4

The Story of Africa 1 Exploring Africa A frican history is fascinating. We have all heard about the great Pharaohs of Egypt, with their magnificent tombs and burial ceremonies. But how many of us know about the ancient empires of West Africa? The first of these great kingdoms, Ghana, was powerful from 300 ce for about a thousand years (see page 8). Ghana was so rich that the dogs in the king’s palace wore collars made out of gold. Arab Scholars In the tenth century, Arab scholars began to write about the great wealth of the African kingdoms. Some of them, such as Ibn Battuta (see pages 14-15), actually traveled around the continent. Others just gathered stories from those who had been to Africa. As more books about Africa appeared, the fame of the kingdoms spread and Europeans began to visit the continent. First came the Portuguese in the 1400s. Then other Europeans such as the French, Dutch and British followed. They built forts along the coast and traded with the Africans. But few Europeans actually traveled into the heart of the country and because they knew so little about Africa they called it the Dark Continent. Exploring This Book This book is divided into four sections. The first section deals with the history of Africa to the 1400s, and the second section takes the history up to the 1800s. Within each time period, we deal with different regions of Africa separately. The last two sections deal with European explorers who visited Africa from the late 1700s onwards and Africa as it is today. This book is the story of Africa and her visitors.

5

Exploring Africa

The Beginnings of History

The Iron Age The next great discovery was how to make tools and weapons out of iron. Iron hoes and axes were much stronger than the old stone ones, and could be used to clear large areas of land for farming. This time is known as the Iron Age and first developed in Africa from about 6000 bce .

T he Sahara Desert was once a lush, green land. This rock painting was made by people who lived there thousands of years ago.

The Stone Age S cientists now believe that the very first human beings lived in Africa two million years ago. Because the early humans used stone tools as hunting weapons, this period of history is known as the Stone Age. People lived in small groups, moving about from place to place in search of food. People lived in this way for many thousands of years (until about ten thousand years ago). Stone Age people learned how to farm and keep animals. They started building permanent homes, growing rice and wheat and other grains, and keeping goats, sheep and cattle for food. Their numbers

The Nok culture

A n ancient Egyptian wall painting in a tomb. Early Civilizations Ancient Egypt was one of the world’s first great civilizations. It developed along the banks of the River Nile around 3000 bce and flourished for over two thousand years. The Egyptians produced the first 365-day calendar, developed basic arithmetic and invented a form of picture-writing called hieroglyphics. They built great temples and buried their rulers in massive tombs called pyramids. Ancient Egypt survived longer than any other known civilization and even conquered Nubia, a region of the Upper Nile. Around 1000 bce , the Nubians broke away and formed their own kingdom which was called Kush. The Kush civilization survived until 350 ce and was a center of art, learning and trade.

increased because there was enough food to feed everyone and they even built fires to keep themselves warm.

T he Nok culture in western Africa lasted from 500 bce to 200 ce . The people of Nok made beautiful terra cotta sculptures of human heads and animals.

6

Exploring Africa

The Trans-Saharan Trade As more and more food was produced, people began to have special jobs. Some of them were responsible for providing the food while others just made tools and weapons. In time, people who lived in one community began to sell any extra goods they had to neighbors. Some people traveled over great distances to trade. The North African Berbers traveled south across the desert to sell goods to the people of West Africa. Because the Berbers traveled through the Sahara Desert this trading became known as the trans-Saharan trade. No one knows when this trading began; some people say that as long as there have been people in Africa there has been trade. Journeying Through the Desert The trans-Saharan trade thrived for over two thousand years only decreasing in the last century. The Berbers loaded up about one thousand camels and traveled 1,500 miles (2,400 km) across the desert. The journey usually took three months to complete and was fraught with dangers. Some merchants lost their way in the vast desert and died of thirst. Others got caught up in fierce sandstorms. When they finally got to the trading towns south of the desert, the Berbers bartered their salt and copper for gold and kola nuts . The Growth of Empires The people who lived at each end of the trans-Saharan trade routes were very fortunate. They were able to take part in the lucrative trade and become rich. Each town or village began to select kings and form themselves into states. As trade expanded, the states grew even more powerful and started to conquer their weaker neighbors. Eventually, the states south of the Sahara grew into large and wealthy empires such as Ghana and Mali.

Routes Across the Sahara At the height of the trans-Saharan trade, there were three main routes that crossed the desert and ended at important trading cities. One route was from Marrakesh to the salt-mines of Taghaza. From there salt and copper were carried to the ancient Ghana Empire and Timbuktu. The second route ran from Tunis to Hausaland and Gao. The last one went from Tripoli to the salt-mines of Bilma, and then on to the ancient Bornu Empire. Both of these routes carried salt and copper. Salt was very important as it was used for cooking and for preserving meat in the hot climate. There were other secondary routes that crossed the main ones. For example, there was a caravan trail all the way from Cairo in the east to Gao in the west.

S alt pans in the Sahara at Teguidda, Niger.

A camel train crossing the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria.

7

2 Africa to the 1400s Western Empires

T he trans-Saharan trade continued to grow in volume up until the 1600s. The trade was very important to the west Africans, for not only did it bring new ideas but it brought the new religion of Islam from the north. The wealth of the trade helped some people to set up very powerful empires. Two of the most famous were Ghana (see box) and Mali. The Growth of Kangaba Mali started off as a small state called Kangaba. Then in 1235 a great warrior, Sundiata, became ruler and founded the empire of Mali. The first thing he did was to build a new capital city at Niani where all his subjects could meet him. Sundiata sent his armies out to conquer areas in the south that mined gold, and Taghaza in the north that produced salt. Eventually Sundiata controlled all the trans-Saharan trade in the area and Berbers flocked to his city to exchange their goods. T he bustling market at Djenné, with the old mosque (see page 9) in the background.

The Land of Gold Ghana was the first great empire in West Africa. It began as a small state in the 300s ce and lasted for almost a thousand years. The capital of Ghana, Kumbi Saleh, had a population of about 15,000 people. The city was divided into two areas. The king lived in one section, in a palace built out of stone and decorated with paintings and carvings. His subjects also lived in this area, but their homes were built out of mud. Muslims who took part in the trans- Saharan trade lived in the other section of the city. They built houses and mosques for themselves out of stone. The people of Ghana were farmers. They worshiped many gods and believed that people continued to live as spirits when they died. When a king of Ghana died, the people built a special hut for him. They put comfortable rugs on the floor for him to lie on, and placed food, water and his servants in the hut. The hut was then covered up with sand, burying the servants alive. Ghana became wealthy because it lay at the southern end of the trans- Saharan trade route. Many Arab travelers visited the kingdom, and it became known as the Land of Gold.

8

Africa to the 1400s

The Birth of Islam In 622 ce , the Prophet Muhammad founded a new religion in Arabia, called Islam. The people who follow it are called Muslims and they believe in one god whom they call Allah. The first Muslims wanted to convert other peoples who did not believe in their religion. After the Prophet Muhammad died in 632, his followers began to wage wars against people who lived in other countries. They conquered Egypt in 639 and most of North Africa by the 700s. Muslims follow a holy book called the Quran. It contains passages that tell them how to live a good life. Muslims are supposed to pray five times a day, give food or money to the poor, fast during Ramadan and make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. There are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world and 300 million of them live in Africa. T he elegant Sultan Haman Mosque in Cairo, Egypt.

A European map dated around 1375, showing the king and kingdom of Mali. Mansa Musa’s Pilgrimage After Sundiata’s death, Mali continued to be powerful. Many good rulers followed Sundiata and enlarged the empire. The next great ruler was Mansa Kankan Musa, who came to power in 1312. He made Mali wealthier by conquering the prosperous cities of Timbuktu and Gao. Mansa Kankan Musa made his famous pilgrimage to Mecca from 1324-1326. Mecca is the holy city in Arabia which every follower of the Muslim faith (see box) is supposed to visit at least once during his lifetime. Mansa’s pilgrimage made Mali known throughout the Mediterranean world. Mansa Musa took sixty thousand servants, one hundred camels and three million pounds worth of gold with him on his trip across the desert. He gave a lot of his money away as gifts. Wherever Mansa stopped on a Friday, the Muslim day of worship, he gave the people who lived there money to build a mosque. Mosques are like churches. Muslims go there to pray to their god, Allah. Mansa Musa was so generous that he ended up having to borrow money from an Egyptian merchant to get back home. Timbuktu, the Islamic Center Mansa Musa brought architects and scholars back with him from Egypt. He asked architects to build Islamic schools in Timbuktu. He also encouraged Muslim scholars from other countries to come and live in the city. By the end of his reign in 1337, Timbuktu had become a famous center of Islamic learning.

9

Africa to the 1400s

Moving East W hile some people were forming empires in the west, others were migrating to other parts of Africa. These people spoke several languages called Bantu, and they started migrating over four thousand years ago. The Bantus moved into the forests of Central Africa, continuing until they reached the east African coast around 400 ce . Across the Indian Ocean The Bantu-speaking Africans who settled along the coast were farmers who kept cattle and grew crops. In due course they also traded across the Indian Ocean with Arabia, Persia and India. Merchants from these countries had learned how to sail on the monsoon winds, which blew from India towards East Africa between November and March. They brought goods such as beads, plates and silk from China and India to sell at east African ports. The Africans sold ivory and gold, which they bought from people living in the interior . When the monsoon winds blew eastwards between April and October, the foreign merchants sailed home in their dhows .

A detail from a nineteenth century European engraving of an Arab caravan traveling across the desert to sell their wares.

10

Africa to the 1400s

A Swahili man blowing on a Siwa horn. Swahilis are the descendants of Bantu and Arab settlers

A page from Ptolemy’s book, Geography.

The Earliest Books Over two thousand years ago, a Greek merchant wrote a guide for seamen called the Periplus Maris Erythraei ( Voyage Around the Indian Ocean ). It describes the ports along the east African coast and the trade which took place between African and overseas merchants. The author of the book wrote about a rich, southerly port called Rhapta, where there was plenty of ivory and tortoiseshell. Archaeologists have failed to uncover this site, but they think it may be somewhere in modern Tanzania. In the fifth century bce , a book came out which described the east African trading ports. It was written by the Egyptian geographer and astronomer Ptolemy, and was called Geography . After Ptolemy’s book not much was written about the east coast until Arab geographers started visiting it over four hundred years later.

Arab Settlers During the tenth century, Arab merchants began to settle along the east African coast. They learned the languages and became middlemen, buying goods from Africans who lived further inland and selling them to the sea merchants. A century later, wars in Persia and Arabia forced many Arabs to move away from their troubled homes. Some of them ended up settling along the east African coast and taking part in the trade as well. These Arabs married local African women, and as time went on a new language called Swahili developed. Swahili is basically a Bantu language with lots of Arabic words. It is still spoken today throughout eastern Africa, and is the national language of Tanzania and Kenya. Growing Settlements Many Arab immigrants settled in the port of Mogadishu, and it became an important center of the Indian Ocean trade. But as the demand for African ivory (elephant tusks) increased in China and India, more Arabs left Persia and Oman and settled along the east African coast. Finally, in the twelfth century, a number of Swahili merchants who lived in the north moved to the south and established new trading cities. The most important and wealthy city was Kilwa. Kilwa controlled the Indian Ocean trade in the south of Africa. Most of the houses in the city were built out of coral , and there was a huge palace that covered almost one hectare . The Muslims of Kilwa built many fine mosques out of stone, and made their own copper and silver coins, kilwa’s power lasted until the fifteenth century when quarrels between ruling families led to its decline.

11

 Africa to the 1400s

Great Zimbabwe W hile Arabs were settling at Kilwa on the east coast, another Bantu city was being built further inland in southeastern Africa. It was called Great Zimbabwe. Great Zimbabwe was important for Indian Ocean trade because most of the gold and ivory sold by Arab merchants at Sofala (a port on the coast) passed through the city. The Stone Walls Bantu-speaking people started living around the Zimbabwean Plateau about one and a half thousand years ago. The early settlers lived on the hill and were farmers who kept cattle. Then, in the 1200s, the Bantu people built a

massive stone wall to surround their settlement. The wall was made out of granite, a local stone that cracks into pieces at night after a hot sunny day. A century later, the ruler moved from the hill to the valley and founded Great Zimbabwe. It consisted of a house for the ruler with many other huts for members of the royal family surrounding it. All the homes were made out of thick clay and covered in designs. Each house had its own stone wall surrounding it. There were also courtyards and areas where people could cook. Soon after 1300, a great stone wall 30 feet (10 m) high was built to protect the whole area.

12

Africa to the 1400s

End of the Kingdom The stone walls of Great Zimbabwe were a symbol of power and wealth that also gave people privacy. However, in the mid-1400s, Great Zimbabwe was suddenly burned down and abandoned. No one knows why this was done. But the stone walls were so well built that they still survive today as a reminder of the ancient power of Great Zimbabwe.

People of the Valley About ten thousand people lived outside the stone walls of Great Zimbabwe and they all had different jobs. Some were herders who moved their cattle from one grazing ground to another. Others were craftworkers who made jewelry out of gold and copper. Sculptors carved in wood and stone, and locally grown cotton enabled weavers to make fine cloth. But the most important people were the traders who carried gold and ivory to the east coast. Great Zimbabwe did not have any metals of its own, so people had to get copper from mines in the north and gold from people in the south. It was this trade that made Great Zimbabwe one of the most powerful kingdoms of Africa in the 1300s.

A modern-day picture of the ruins of Great Zimbabwe (left). The drawing at the bottom is a construction of Great Zimbabwe at its height during the 1400s. Although the walls were tall and powerful, they were not built for defense. Instead they were built to enhance the power of the king.

13

3 Visitors and Traders

The Traveler of Islam E ven before Great Zimbabwe was mysteriously abandoned, an amazing man was making his way across Africa, Asia and the Middle

Ibn Battuta’s Adventures Ibn Battuta spent twenty-three years traveling through the Middle East, India and China. He visited the tombs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at Bethlehem. He sailed down the east coast of Africa, spending time at the commercial ports of Mogadishu and Kilwa. While he was in Delhi (India), he was made a judge by the sultan. By the time Ibn Battuta returned to Morocco in 1349, he had traveled through forty-four of the countries we know today.

East. His name was Ibn Battuta and he was the greatest Arab traveler of his time. When Ibn Battuta was only twenty-one (in 1325) he started his journey. By the time he finally returned to his country twenty-nine years later, he had traveled 120,000 miles. This earned him the title “Traveler of Islam.” Before Ibn Battuta visited West Africa, he traveled through Asia for twenty-three years. At first he only wanted to visit the holy city of Mecca. However, one night, he dreamed that a bird had taken him to a dark, green country—the Orient—and so began his adventures. Through the Sahara Ibn Battuta returned to Morocco in 1348 and then left again in 1349 to visit Spain and the famous empire of Mali (see pages 8-9). With enough food to last four months, he traveled through the vast Sahara Desert with some north African merchants who were on their way south to trade. It took the party just two months to reach Walata, the northern-most city of Mali. Ibn Battuta was tired so he stayed there

for fifty days, resting and eating pounded millet mixed with milk and honey.

14