The World of the West Africans

1
The World of the West Africans

• Chapter 1
• Section 3

2
The Forest Kingdoms

• There were several prosperous Kingdoms found in
  West Africa during the 1400s including the
  territory of Guinea.
• Guinea was home to three forest kingdoms Oyo,
  Ife, and the most prominent Benin.
• Here trade fueled their economies and the number
  one export of this region was gold.
• Eventually this region would trade gold for salt
  from the east of Africa in the Trans Saharan
  Trade.

3
A Well-Organized Society

• Most people lived in towns throughout Guinea and
  supported themselves through farming.
• They traced their ancestry through a kinship
  network known as a lineage and usually most of
  the people in a town belonged to the same
  lineage.
• Guineans believed in a spirit world that needed
  to be venerated through prayer and ceremony.

4
Empire of Songhai
5
Empire of Songhai

• During the 1400s Songhai found in the forest
  region south of the Sahara was one of the largest
  in the world.
• Like other forest kingdoms of the west, Songhai
  traded with its neighbors to the North across the
  vast desert.
• Camel caravans carried exports such as gold and
  ivory and returned with books, paper, weapons,
  cloth, horses, and salt.

6
Songhais Government

• The most prosperous leader and ruler of Songhai
  was Askia Muhammad.
• He controlled his vast empire through a system
  paid officials which carried out duties like
  administering law and collecting taxes.
• The capital city was Tombouctou (Timbuktu) which
  became a vaster center of learning. It housed a
  university and about 150 schools where the main
  curriculum was the Koran.

7
Slavery in Africa

• Like in other parts of the world some people in
  Africa were kidnapped or imprisoned and forced
  into a life of slavery.
• Due to the abundance of land and shortage of
  labor trading people into slavery became common
  place in Africa during this period.
• Unlike in Europe which had a shortage of land,
  land was abundant in Africa and therefore not
  valuable. Labor was extremely scarce and this
  fueled the need to keep slaves.
• Slaves in Africa included orphans, criminals, and
  socially unaccepted people.