AP World History Ch. 19 Vocabulary

A family of languages in Africa. It was also the migration of subsistence farmers in West Africa to the south and east in search of fertile land. Drought and overpopulation led to problems with farming in West Africa.

The trade route that streches across the Sahara desert

african societies organized around kinship or other forms of obligation and lacking the concentration of political power and authority associated with states

the arabian term for the east african coast

West African group who created their language, which is spoken by over 2 million people today

Ancient Yoruba City in South-Western Nigeria

Same age, same job

groups of people related by blood or marriage

Professional oral historians who served as keepers of traditions and advisors to kings within the Mali Empire

Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have human characteristics

Ritual practitioners who specialize in the art of divination; very important among the Yoruba

"the Lion Prince"; a member of the Keita Clan; created a unified state that became the Mali Empire

Emperor of the kingdom of Mali in Africa. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca and established trade routes to the Middle East and gave away so much gold that the price of gold decreased 25%

Centrally located - West Central Africa - consisted of a group of small kingdoms along the Zaire River

Capital of Mali

the capital of the kingdom of Ghana, a major trading center

City-state on the east coast of Africa that exported gold across the Indian Ocean.

A powerful state in the African interior that apparently emerged from the growing trade in gold to the East African coast; flourished between 1250 and 1350 C.E.

First known kingdom in sub-Saharan West Africa between the sixth and thirteenth centuries C.E. Also the modern West African country once known as the Gold Coast.

Formed in 1240 when Sundiata took control of Ghana Empire. It controlled trade across Sahara, the South and the Niger River.

Successor state to Mali; dominated middle reaches of Niger valley; formed as independent kingdom under a Berber dynasty; capital at Gao; reached imperial status under Sunni Ali

the world's largest desert (3,500,000 square miles) in northern Africa, created major trade routes from Western Africa to East

Portion of the African continent lying south of the Sahara.

Waring states that were always competing for control of trade routes and each other. established by Swahili., Many of these city-states were Muslim and very cosmopolitan.

The most powerful kingdom in central Africa, whose name means "the dwelling of the chief"

A kingdom in Africa close to the Golden Horn that was tribute based in its centralization of authority. It creates a lasting Christian presence in Africa.