HIS 101 (CULTURE HISTORY OF AFRICA P TO 1500 AD )

CULTURE HISTORY OF AFRICA UP TO 1500AD (His 101)

THE ROMANS IN EGYPT

The last Ptolemiac ruler was Cleopatra who fell to the lures of Mark Anthony, the ruler of Eastern province of Rome. Both fell foul of Augustus Caesar. In A.D. 30, Augustus Caesar led Roman armies to capture Egypt. A period of reconstruction followed. Egypt then became an Imperial state. Caesar kept Egypt to himself although three regions led by commanders were stationed there to subdue chaos. The emperor delegated power to a prefect as the supreme authority over the civil and the military. A roman High priest was sent to Alexandra to reduce clashes among different religion sect in Egypt. The Greek Gymansia which had existed throughout the state was confined to the cities. Regular census took place every fourteen years. Trade flourished and canals were dug to aid irrigation for farming. A new tax on farmland was introduced and peasants were cruelly exploited. As a result of exploitative form of taxation economic crisis ensued. People fled in penury and money lost its value.

Rome itself faced serious fiscal problems and Barbarian invasion. In 295AD Roman Empire was divided into two by Emperor Diocletian: West and East.

In 305, Diocletian abdicated while Constantine succeeded as Emperor. Constantine made Christianity a state religion and Alexandria became the centre of free thinking education and religion. In 641, Muslim forces under Amir Ibn al-As invaded Egypt and conquered. This began Arab rule in Egypt.

GHANA EMPIRE

Ghana empire was located in the Western Sudan_ the Arabs called all the land south of the Sahara and north of the forest from west to east coast ‘Bilad as Sudan’, meaning ‘land of the Blacks’. The little information we know about Ghana Empire was derived from archeological findings and the writing of the itinerant Muslim Arabs such as EL-Zuhri, El-Fazari and El-Masudi and EL-Bekiri who either visited the empire before its fall received information from the itinerant Muslim traders.

Soninke of Ghana acted as ‘middlemen’ or agents between the gold producer and the Arabs who wanted to acquire it. In exchange for salt or other goods, the Soninke traded gold. The Arabs in turn traded the gold obtained from the Soninke to Europe. Gold was mined by a negro people in a district called Wangara, and received salt, copper, cloth, dried fruit and cowries shell from the Soninke people in exchange for gold. Before profits accrued from trades in gold, the rulers of Ghana found other way of making income first by controlling the supply of gold and second by imposing taxes on every load of goods..

The capital of Ghana was two separate towns lying about six miles apart. One of these was called ‘El Ghaba’ meaning ‘The Forest’ and here the King lived and held his court. The second city Kumbi Saleh , was occupied by Muslim population, merchants, lawyers religious teachers and others. At the peak of its expansion, Ghana controlled Audaghost (Awdaghast). The emergence of a reformist movement the Almoravid (El-Murabitum) among the Berbers in 11^th century marked the beginning of the collapse of Ghana Empire. Under the able leadership of Yaya Ibn Yacin, different Berber clans joined the Almoravids movement after the options of either been crushed or accept a purer form of Islam. After the death of Ibn Yacin, one of his deputy commanders, Abubakri Ibn Omar assumed leadership. Ghana was gradually conquered by the force of Omar. In 1055, Audaghost was conquered while other tributary states under Ghana were either absorbed into the movement or instigated to revolt. In 1076 A.D., Kumbi Saleh fell and was conquered. But the Almorarids were unable to effectively control the city as pockets of revolt did not cease. In 1087, Abubakir was killed while quelling a revolt. Similarly, all the tributary states threw off their loyalty to Ghana. In 1203, Sumanguru, the ruler of Sosso/Susu of Kaniaga to the south, captured Ghana and enslaved its people. In 1235, he was in turned defeated and killed by Sindiata the Madingo ruler who was to become the undisputable master of a new empire.

MALI EMPIRE

The authority of Sumanguru, the ruler of the Soso Kingdom short lived.  He was decisively routed in AD 1235 by Sundiata, the ruler of Mali. Sundiata absorbed the Sosso and destroyed what remained of the Ghana Empire in 1240. He moved his capital from Jeriba in Kangaba to Niani. He built a strong standing army with which he extended his territories to the river Gambia in the west enclosing the gold bearing districts of Wangara and Bambuk. By the end of 13^th century, Mali had become the richest and most powerful of the states of the Sudan.

 The fame and expansionist policy of Mali was continued by Mansa Musa, a grandson of Sundiata. Mansa Musa came to throne in 1307 AD Mansa Musa was perhaps the most famous ruler in the Western Sudan. His famous Pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324AD is still remembered till date. With numerous slaves and train of camels loaded with gold and gift, Mansa Musa displayed the wealth of his empire on his way to Mecca. He was reported to have given people gift of gold in large quantity to the extent that its value fell for twelve years.  

Mali Empire under Mansa Musa stretched to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the West. Under his reign, Islam flourished and the empire prospered. On his way back from pilgrimage, the emperor brought different Muslim scholars, scientist, and poets to Mali. The people served as advisers and administrators to the government. One of these was Es-Saheli who was a poet and architect who helped him build an imperial palace great mosque qt Gao and Timbuktu (Sankore Mosque).

When he died in 1332, Mansa Musa left behind him a remarkable empire – wealthy, prosperous, organized and with cities renowned throughout Sudan for their learning and culture, though his administrative ingenuity and wealth of the empire, the fame of Mali spread to Europe and Mediterranean world.

After Mansa Musa, his son and successor, Maghan, was very weak and thus, Mali grew weaker. The Mossi people of the Upper Volta and Gao asserted their freedom. Sulaiman who succeeded Maghan maintained stability of the empire.

SONGHAI EMPIRE

Songhai empire emerged from an urban centre of Kukia which was the meeting point for different migrants from North Africa. Kukia was located in the Dendi Region on the bend of River Niger. The region witnessed waves of migration from the North. By seven century, a group of migrants from the north probably Christian Berbers who probably fled in the face of persecution by the Muslims settled in the region and mixed with the agriculturists and fisherfolk they met on ground.  They created the Za or Dia ruling dynasty. They later moved the seat of their government from Kukia to Gao. Gao rose to become a trading point in the Western Sudan.

About AD 1464, a strong ruler named Sonni Ali emerged as a ruler of Songhai. Sonni Ali was a great warrior and conqueror. He matched / led his army against Timbuktu in 1468 took it, killed many of its citizens and carried many off as slaves. He led another campaign against Jenne, a peaceful town celebrate for its trade and learning, although it took him some years before he finally conquered it. At the time of his death in AD 1492, Sonni Ali had established a fairly stable empire over much of the reaches of the middle an upper empire. But significantly, in spite o his achievements, Sonni Ali was criticized by Muslim savants who described him as cruel dictator. One major claim of these Muslim scholars was that not only did Ali attacked Jenne and Timbuktu, he also persecuted Muslim scholars there. He was therefore described as not a true believer. But it should be noted that, Sonni himself was a devout muslim. He was sympathetic to the work of Muslim within his state and encouraged Muslim and scholars. But he could not spare any disobedience in spite of religion. Timbuktu Jenne and Walata flourished under Askia Muhammedas centre of learning and religion. In fact, under Askia Muhammed, Timbuktu became a great centre that its university, one of the first in Africa was visited by Muslim scholars all over the world. He divided his provinces and put each under a governor. He created several central officers and ministries. He instituted a well organized system of taxation whereby each town had its own tax collector.

 With Muslim population swelling the empire, Songhai flourished. Sudan gold continued to flow northward together with slaves, ivory, ebony and ostrich feathers, and in exchange for copper and iron, brassware, sword blades from Spain and Germany, cloth and of course salt.   As result of internal division and external invasion, Songahi fell. In 1528 Muhammed Toure was deposed by his son. While the empire was riddled with succession disputes, Songahi still had to contend with external invasion from their northern neighbor, Morocco. The Moors of Morocco invaded Songahi over the control of the salt mine in Taghaza. At the battle of Tondibi in AD 1591, the Moorish army inflicted a crushing defeat on the Songhai army.  But significantly, the invasion of Songahi by Moroccan army can not be divorced from the cupidity of Morocco for Sogahi wealth, particularly gold. The Pasahalic administration imposed on Songahi by the Moors could not last as their authority was met with pockets of resitance.