Intermittent
stopping and starting at irregular intervals
Prodigality
extravagant wastefulness; profuse generosity; extreme abundance; lavishness
Contemporaneous
..., occurring in the same period of time
Disparity
inequality; difference
Sub-saharan
the region of Africa under or south of the Sahara Desert
Stateless society
African societies organized around kinshp or other forms of obligation and lacking the concentration of political power and authority associated with states
Bantu
Collective name of a large group of sub-Saharan African languages and of the peoples speaking these languages.
Animism
A religious outlook that sees gods in many aspects of nature and propriates them to help control and explain nature. the belief that spirits are present in animals, plants, and other natural objects.
Diviner
a person who is believed to communicate with the spirit world and to help other people interact with their gods; witch-doctor soothsayer
Ifriqiya
The Arabic term for eastern north Africa; the term used by the Romans for Africa.
Maghrib
the Arabic word for western North Africa; a region of western North Africa, consisting of the Mediterranean coastlands of what is now Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria
Berbers
converted to Islam, were fiercely independent desert and mountain dwellers, were the original inhabitants of North Africa, they accepted Islam as their faith, and many maintained their Berber identities and loyalties, there were two groups-the Almoravids and the Almohads that united the Maghrib under Muslim rule,
Carthage
City located in present-day Tunisia, founded by Phoenicians ca. 800 B.C.E. It became a major commercial center and naval power in the western Mediterranean until defeated by Rome in the third century B.C.E. (p. 107)
Almoravids
A puritanical reformist movement among the Islamic Berber tribes of northern Africa; controlled gold trade across Sahara; conquered Ghana in 1076; moved southward against African kingdom of the savanna and westward into Spain.
Jihads
Struggle; often used for wars in defense of the faith.
Almohadis
A reformist movement among the Islamic Berbers of northern Africa; later than the Almoravids; penetrated into sub-Sahara Africa.
Nubia
The Coptic (Christians of Egypt) influence spread up the Nile into__________________(the ancient land of Kush). Muslims attempted to penetrate_________and met stiff resistance in the 9th century (left Christian descendants of ancient Kush - left as independent Christian kingdom until 13th century).
Axum
Kingdom located in Ethiopian highlands; replaced Meroe in first century CE; received strong influence from Arabian peninsula; eventually converted to Christianity; modern day Ethiopia
King Lalibela
Ethiopian king who directed building project of 11 great churches sculpted from rock underground; promoted Christianity.
Sahel
Belt south of the Sahara where it transitions into savanna across central Africa. It means literally 'coastland' in Arabic; an exchange region between the forests to the south and north Africa.
Ghana
The first West African kingdom based on the gold and salt trade, First known kingdom in sub-Saharan West Africa between the sixth and thirteenth centuries C.E.; rose to power by taxing gold and salt exchanged within its borders
Mali
located between Senegal and Niger rivers; created by Malinke people who broke away from Ghana in 13th century; First leader Sundiata; Mansa Musa great leader ruled 25 years, made epic hajj to Mecca; controlled gold-salt trade; built great mosque at Jenne; Timbuktu Islamic center of learning; 13th-15th centuries
Songhay
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; 15th - 16th centuries
Malinke
The people who broke away from Ghana control and founded Mali in the 13th century
Juula
Malinke merchants; formed small partnerships to carry out trade throughout Mali empire; eventually spread throughout much of West Africa
Sundiata
The Lion Prince; a member of the Keita clan; created a unified state that became the Mali Empire; died about 1260
Griots
Professional oral historians who served as keepers of traditions and advisors to kings within the Mali Empire
Mansa
The title for a ruler in West Africa.
Ibn Batuta
Arab traveler who described African societies and cultures in his travel records
Mansa Musa
greatest Mali king; brought Mali to its peak of power and wealth from 1312 the 1337; expanded borders, maintained peace and order, religious freedom and tolerance; hajj to Mecca; built Timbuktu
Jenne
Great mosque made of mud built here; major center for iron-working and trade; center for Islamic learning and scholarship
Timbuktu
Port city of Mali; located just off the flood plain on the great bend in the Niger River; population of 50,000; contained a library and university.
Sunni-Ali
Leader(1464- 1492) of Songhai that drove out the Berbers and built the largest empire in West Africa; tactical commander and ruthless leader who seized trading cities of Timbuktu and Jenne
Muhammad the Great(Askia Muhammad)
extended boundaries of Songhay empire; Islamic ruler of mid-16th century; one of the many askias that succeeded Sunni Ali
Hausa
Peoples of northern Nigeria; formed states following the demise of Songhay empire that combined Muslim and pagan traditions.
Matrilineal
relating to a social system in which family descent and inheritance rights are traced through the mother
Sharia
Islamic law; defined among other things the patrilineal nature of Islamic inheritance; the system of law that regulates family life, moral conduct and the business and community life of Muslims
Zeng
Arabic term for the east African coast
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
Swahili
an Arabic-influenced Bantu language that is spoken widely in eastern and central Africa
Ile-Ife
the holiest Yoruba city; created terra-cotta and bronze portrait heads that rank among the greatest achievements of African art
Benin
Nigerian city-state form by the Edo people during the 14th century by Ewuare the Great; famous for its bronze art work
Kongo
kingdom based on agriculture; formed on lower Kongo River; capital at Mbanza Kongo; ruled by hereditary monarchy
Yoruba
Kingdon of city-states developed in northern Nigeria c. 1200 C.E.; Ile-Ife featured artistic style probably related to earlier Nok culture; agricultural societies supported by peasantry and dominated by ruling family and aristocracy.
Mwene Mutapa
the king of Great Zimbabwe in the late 15th and 16th centuries when the kingdom experienced a period of rapid expansion
King Lalibela
Ethiopian king and monarch of Zagwe dynasty who directed a remarkable building project in which 11 great churches were sculpted from rock into the ground
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Sudanic states
Kingdoms that developed during the height of Ghana's power in the region; based at Takrur on the Senegal River to the west and Gao on the Niger River to the east; included Mali and Songhay.
Kongo
Centrally located - West Central Africa - consisted of a group of small kingdoms along the Zaire River; was a confederation of smaller states brought under the control of the king and divided into eight provinces.,
Great Zimbabwe
City, now in ruins (in the modern African country of ____________), whose many stone structures were built between about 1250 and 1450, when it was a trading center and the capital of a large state.
indigenous
Living, growing, or produced naturally in a particular place; native