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Chapter 15: Societies and Empires of Africa

Terms in this set (23)

Hunter gatherers
This is the oldest form of social organization in the world and began in Africa.
Lineage
The people -living, dead, and unborn- who are descended from a common ancestor. Lineage groups were the chief means of social and political organization in African stateless societies.
Stateless societies
Groups in which the authority is shared by lineages of equal power instead of being excercised by a central government.
Authority was balanced among lineages of equal power so that no one family had too much control and conflicts were settled through discussion and negotiation.
Patrilineal
A society that traces ancestry though the fathers. Inheritance passes on from father to son.
Matrilineal
A society that traces ancestry though the mothers. Young men in this culture inherit land and wealth from their mother's family.
Maghrib
The part of North Africa that is today the Mediterranean coast of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco
Berbers
These were the original inhabitants of North Africa. They converted to Islam and helped the spread of this religion through north and west Africa.
Age set system
This consists of young people within a region who are born during a certain time period. All members of the age set take part in ceremonies that mark the movement from one stage of life to the next.
Ghana
A West African kingdom that grew rich from taxing and controlling trade and that established an empire in the 9th-11th centuries A.D.
Mali
a West African empire that flourished from 1235 and the 1400s and grew rich from trade
Sundiata
Mali's first great leader, came to power after crushing a cruel, unpopular leader.
Mansa Musa
Mali's greatest and most famous ruler, he was a devout muslim. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca that helped spread Mali's fame
Ibn Battuta
A traveler and historian and native of Tangier in North Africa. He visited most of the countries in the Islamic world. He praised the people for their study of the Qur'an but criticized them for not strictly practicing Islam's moral code.
Songhai
A West African empire that conquered Mali and controlled trade from the 1400s to 1591
Kingdom of Benin
A kingdom that arose near the Niger River delta in the 1300s and became a major West African state in the 1400s
Swahili
An Arabic-influenced Bantu language that is spoken widely in eastern and central Africa
Great Zimbabwe
In southeastern Africa the Shona people established this city which grew into an empire built on the gold trade. By 1450, this city was mysteriously abandoned.
Kilwa
city-state on east African coast; fishing limited trade from 800-1000; turned to agriculture, increased trade in pottery and stoneware; major trading center by 14th century
Sofala
A seaport village in eastern Mozambique in the 1300s an important trading center for the gold miners of Great Zimbabwe
Hausa
West African people who developed city states that relied on trade for income, became wealthy and powerful through trade, particularly of cloth and leather goods.
Yoruba
West African people who trace their ancestry to the Ife, developed a series of wealthy trading kingdoms in what is today Benin and southwestern Nigeria.
Benin
West African kingdom famous for its bronze works of art, first African kingdom to set up trade with the Portuguese.
Mutapa Empire
Salt and Gold trading empire located in southern Africa.
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