The world's largest desert, the Sahara, divides Africa into two unequal parts. In the smaller of them - North Africa - there were Egypt, Carthage and other ancient states. Tropical Africa extends south of the Sahara. It is inhabited by peoples with black or dark skin. The life of their ancestors in ancient times and the Middle Ages is told by the rock paintings that have reached us, inscriptions on stones, and oral traditions, which are carefully preserved by almost all African peoples. Information about the peoples of Tropical Africa was preserved by Egyptian inscriptions on stone and papyrus, as well as some books by Greek and Roman writers and scientists.
Sources say that African peoples have been engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding, fishing and hunting since ancient times. Millet and sorghum, cotton and various root crops were grown here. In many areas, canals and dams were built to irrigate fields. Among domestic animals, the most important economically were sheep, cows and goats. And at the beginning of our era, camels were imported from the Middle East into North Africa, and they became indispensable for the peoples of the Sahara and the adjacent regions.
In Tropical Africa, gold, silver, copper, and iron have been mined and processed since ancient times. African craftsmen widely used copper; their gold products that have come down to us amaze with their high art. In the southwest of what is now Nigeria, a school of bronze artistic casting has developed, surprising with the beauty and completeness of its works. Most of the peoples of Tropical Africa switched from stone tools directly to iron ones. Pottery was a very common craft - making jugs, pots and other utensils; Unlike their counterparts in other parts of the world, African craftsmen did not know the potter's wheel. Brilliant craftsmanship distinguishes the products of African wood and bone carvers, as well as baskets, mats, and clothing woven from plant fibers.
Tropical Africa was famous for its riches. For a long time it has been trading with the peoples of North Africa, the Middle East, and then with others. Ships from the Roman Empire, Arabia, India and other countries took slaves, ivory, gold, emeralds, animal skins, hippopotamus teeth, and various animals for menageries from here. In exchange, Africans received handicrafts and salt.
One of the most ancient states of Tropical Africa - Napata - emerged in the 8th century. BC e. in the northern regions of what is now Sudan. In 736 BC. e. The rulers of Napata managed to subjugate Egypt, weakened by internal struggle, and ruled it for six and a half decades. Only powerful Assyria was able to expel them from Egypt.
At the end of the 6th century. BC e. Napata was replaced by a new strong state - Meroe, which existed until the beginning of the 4th century. n. e. Neither the Persians nor the Romans could conquer it. The kingdom of Meroe had two capitals: Napata and Meroe. On the site of these cities, stone pyramids, temples and palaces decorated with sculpture have been preserved.
In the 50s and 60s of our century, two inscriptions were found in northern Ethiopia. From them it became known that in the 5th century. BC e. there was a state here. Excavations helped uncover the remains of temples, stone sculptures, and obelisks, which testified to the high culture of the ancient Ethiopians. The inhabitants of northern Ethiopia, just like in Napata and Meroe, knew writing. At first, Egyptian writing was used here, as well as the writing of one of the peoples of South Arabia - Sabaean. In the II century. n. e. in Meroe, and then in Ethiopia, their own alphabet was invented.
Among the ancient states of Tropical Africa, the Kingdom of Aksum, which arose in the 2nd century, was especially famous. n. e. in the north of modern Ethiopia. The strong and warlike rulers of Aksum subjugated not only the peoples of Ethiopia, but also parts of Sudan and South Arabia. They maintained diplomatic relations with neighboring countries: Aksumite ambassadors visited Egypt, Arabia, and India. Ambassadors and travelers from different countries arrived in Axum.
Foreign ships came to the main port of the state - the city of Adulis, located on the shores of the Red Sea. They brought handicrafts to Aksum - fabrics, dishes, jewelry, metal tools - and generous gifts to the king. And they took away ivory, gold, emeralds, and animal skins. Trade brought large revenues to the state. Aksumite caravans penetrated far into the depths of Africa; they exported gold from the Blue Nile Valley to their homeland.
The Aksumites achieved great skill in making statues and huge stone obelisks, which were carved entirely from basalt blocks. Some of them reach 20 - 30 m in height and weigh tens of tons. In Axum, coins began to be minted for the first time in the countries of Tropical Africa.
The ruler of Aksum bore the title “king of kings.” He was considered a descendant of the war god Mahrem and was worshiped as a deity. The power of the “king of kings” was passed on from father to son. According to legend, before taking the throne, the heir had to fight a bull and a lion to prove that he was a brave and dexterous warrior. The people saw the ruler only on holidays. Custom forbade him to address his subjects directly - to convey the royal will there was a special dignitary, called the “mouth of the king.” The king also could not touch food with his hands: he was watered and fed by another dignitary - the “feeder”. The ruler's mother and his brother enjoyed great influence. A special council of nobles controlled his most important actions. The king and the nobility were served by many slaves.
A giant obelisk created in ancient Axum. Its height is 24 m.
The splendor and power of the Aksumite state was based on the labor of peasant farmers who were subject to royal taxes. It is no coincidence that it was the gods of agriculture Becher and Medr who were considered until the 4th century. n. e. the main gods of the Aksumites.
Sculptural portrait made of terracotta, created by an African sculptor in the 5th century. BC e. Found in tin mines in northern Nigeria.
In the 4th century. Aksum was ruled by King Ezana. He sought to unite the peoples subject to Aksum under a single religion (before this, the tribes conquered by the Aksumites retained their own gods). Ezana proclaimed the veneration of a single god - “the lord of heaven and earth” - as the state religion; he declared himself the son of this god. At the same time, he patronized Christianity, which began to spread in Aksum at that time. In the V - VI centuries. Christianity became the dominant religion in Axum.
The Aksumite state ceased to exist in the 9th - 10th centuries. The traditions of its once brilliant culture were preserved by medieval Ethiopia.
Bronze head. Benin.
In the western part of Africa, the first states emerged later than in the northeast. One of the earliest was Ghana, created by the Soninke people on the territory of modern Mauritania and Mali. According to legend, Ghana arose at the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 4th century. Through the capital of the country, the “city of Ghana,” there were busy trade routes: slaves and gold were brought from the south to the north (before the discovery of America, West Africa was the main source of gold that circulated in world trade), and from the north - salt and handicrafts. According to the descriptions of Arab historians and geographers of the 8th century, medieval Ghana was primarily a “country of gold”; it was mined both in the country itself and to the south of Ghana - in the tropical forest zone, where the Soninka sent caravans to buy the precious metal.
In 1076, Ghana was defeated by the Almoravid Berber tribes that inhabited the Sahara. They also captured Morocco, Algeria, and Spain. The name of ancient Ghana has been preserved in the name of the modern African state.
In the 13th century. The state of Mali, which had previously been a vassal of Ghana, rose to prominence. It extended its power from Gao to the Atlantic Ocean. In the Malian city of Timbuktu on the Niger River in the 16th century. the university arose. In addition to theology, they studied history, literary criticism, law, grammar, rhetoric, and Arabic. The city of Timbuktu was widely known as a scientific center later, when it was part of the Songhai state.
East of Ghana, on another caravan route to North Africa, connecting the Niger River valley with Egypt, at the end of the 7th century. The city of Gao was founded, which became from the end of the 9th century. capital of the Songhai state.
Even further east, northeast of Lake Chad, the state of Kanem arose, created by the Kanuri people. It was first mentioned in the works of Arab writers at the same time as Ghana, in the 8th - 9th centuries. In the 13th century. the center of this state moved to the southwestern shore of Lake Chad, and since then it began to be called Bornu. Bornu reached its peak in the second half of the 16th century.
The peoples of West African states deified kings, worshiped the spirits of ancestors and the forces of nature. From the 8th century Islam began to penetrate into West Africa from the north (see article “How Islam Arose”), which was brought by Arab and Berber merchants. Gradually Islam became the religion of the majority of the inhabitants. The spread of Arabic writing was of great importance for the culture of the peoples of this part of Africa: in the 16th - 18th centuries. Several historical works were written in Arabic, which tell us many interesting information about the life of West Africa in the Middle Ages.
In the 7th - 8th centuries. Rich trading city-states arose on the east coast of Africa and remained independent for centuries. Their inhabitants were engaged in agriculture and ocean fishing. African sailors successfully sailed to Arabia and India. The city-states of East Africa developed a unique culture in which local traditions mixed with the culture of the Muslim peoples of the Middle East.
In the southeastern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, in the 14th century. a powerful state of Monomotapa emerged, inhabited by the Karanga people. The ruins of huge fortress and palace buildings erected by order of the rulers of Monomotapa have survived to this day. There were legends about their wealth and power. In the 16th century dozens of Portuguese adventurers tried to make their way deep into the mainland, to the fabulous gold deposits that beckoned them. The intervention of the Portuguese in the feuds of various groups of Karanga nobility ultimately proved fatal for Monomotapa: in the 17th century. the unified state broke up into many small possessions.
In the southwestern part of Nigeria there is a city called Ife. It was once the capital of a medieval kingdom created by the ancestors of a people called the Yoruba. Archaeological materials show that Ife flourished in the 14th century. Archaeologists have found in the city the remains of fortress walls and amazing pavements made of tens of millions of round clay shards. Many museums around the world contain sculptures of Ife foundry masters: human heads cast in bronze or sculpted in clay. They depicted ancestors and were considered sacred.
The city was inhabited by farmers and artisans: weavers, foundries, blacksmiths, potters, carvers. The townspeople, as a rule, had plots of land in the city itself or not far from it, on which grain crops, cotton, and various fruits were cultivated. The state of Ife consisted primarily of the city and its surroundings.
The powerful state of Ono was also inhabited by the Yoruba people, ruled by the Alafin (in the Yoruba language - “master of the palace”). Ordinary people could not see or hear him. The power of the king of Oyo was limited by a council of the largest dignitaries of seven people - “Oyo mesi”. If the alafin made decisions they disliked, oyo mesi sent him a parrot egg or an empty calabash - a vessel hollowed out from a pumpkin. According to the custom of the country, this “gift” meant that people were tired of the king’s rule and it was time for him to “fall asleep,” that is, to commit suicide. Only once in the entire history of Oyo did the Alafin dare to refuse the parrot's eggs and, instead of dying himself, killed his dignitaries.
The majority of Oyo's population were peasant farmers. They worked in the fields of the ruler of their district, built and repaired the master's estate for free, and sent him gifts every year.
Many artisans lived in the cities. Their products, especially fabrics, were highly valued in other countries. Important trade routes passed through Oyo territory. They connected the coast of the Gulf of Guinea with the interior of West Africa. Along these routes, large caravans of slave porters brought horses from the west of Sudan and carried salt, copper and other goods that were not available in Oyo. And kola nuts, ivory, and fabrics were sent north. Bundles of cowrie shells, which foreign merchants brought from the Maldives of the Indian Ocean, served as money. The priests enjoyed great influence in Oyo. They propagated the cult of the god Shango: he was considered the ancestor of Alafin.
During campaigns and punitive expeditions against conquered peoples, the Oyo army captured thousands of prisoners. When in the 16th century Europeans began to buy African slaves in large quantities to send to America (see article “International Slave Trade”), the Alafin and the Yoruba nobility around him became the largest slave traders. Captives were sold to European merchants for firearms, copper wire for making jewelry, and alcoholic beverages. But the demand for slaves increased, and the rulers of Oyo began to sell their own subjects. Soon, sale into slavery became the most common punishment in the lands subject to Oyo (as well as in most countries on the coast of West Africa). Rich people hired gangs that waylaid travelers on the roads, kidnapped people from their homes and sold them to slave traders. The slave hunt had a devastating impact on the entire life of society: no one could be sure of their safety. Entire regions were depopulated, and the economy fell into disrepair. Ultimately, it was the slave trade that became one of the main reasons for the fall of the power of Oyo and the actual collapse of this state in the second half of the 18th century.
To the east of Oyo was another strong state - Benin. It was inhabited by the Bini people, related to the Yoruba. In terms of its culture and customs, Benin had much in common with Oyo.
In the 17th century, judging by the story of the Dutch physician and geographer Dapper, the capital of Benin was no less than the largest Dutch cities. The towers of the magnificent royal palace were decorated with bronze sculptures of birds and snakes. The walls of the palace were covered with bronze plaques depicting various events from the history of Benin.
The king of Benin had strong power. Without his permission, no European merchant could trade with the Benin people. He also set prices for foreign goods and for captives, whom he sold to Europeans as slaves.
As in Oyo, the slave trade and captive wars sapped Benin's strength. In 1397, Benin was destroyed by the British. They subjected it to severe bombardment from their ships; The royal palace was destroyed and burned, and art objects were taken to Europe.
The original culture of the peoples of Tropical Africa was brutally defeated and destroyed by European colonialists.
Egypt is not the only state in Africa where high culture has existed and developed since ancient times. Many peoples of Africa have long been able to smelt and process iron and other metals. Maybe they learned this before the Europeans. Modern Egyptians speak Arabic, and a significant part of them are indeed descended from the Arabs, but the ancient population of Egypt came to the Nile Valley from the Sahara Desert, which in ancient times had abundant rivers and rich vegetation. In the center of the Sahara on the plateaus, drawings on rocks, carved with sharp stones or painted with paint, have been preserved. From these drawings it is clear that in those days the population of the Sahara hunted wild animals and raised livestock: cows, horses.
On the northern African coast and the adjacent islands lived tribes who knew how to make large boats and were successfully engaged in fishing and other marine crafts.
In the millennium BC. e. The Phoenicians, and later the Greeks, appeared in ancient settlements on the shores of North Africa. The Phoenician city-colonies - Utika, Carthage, etc. - grew stronger over time and, under the rule of Carthage, united into a powerful state.
Carthage's neighbors, the Libyans, created their own states - Numidia and Mauritania. From 264 to 146 BC. e. Rome fought with the Carthaginian state. After the destruction of the city of Carthage, the Roman province of Africa was created on the territory that belonged to it. Here, through the labor of Libyan slaves, a strip of coastal desert was turned into a flourishing land. Slaves dug wells, built stone cisterns for water, built large cities with stone houses, water pipes, etc. Subsequently, the cities of Roman Africa suffered from the invasions of German vandals, and later these areas became a colony of the Byzantine Empire, and finally, in the VIII- X centuries this part of North Africa was conquered by Muslim Arabs and became known as the Maghreb.
In the Nile Valley, south of the territory of ancient Egypt, the Nubian kingdoms of Napata and Meroe existed even before our era. To this day, the ruins of ancient cities, small pyramids similar to ancient Egyptian ones, as well as monuments of ancient Meroitic writing have been preserved there. Subsequently, the Nubian kingdoms were conquered by the kings of the powerful state of Aksum, which emerged in the first centuries of our era on the territory of what is now South Arabia and Northern Ethiopia.
Sudan stretches from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the Nile itself.
It was possible to penetrate from North Africa to the country of Sudan only along ancient caravan roads that passed along the dried up beds of ancient rivers of the Sahara Desert. During scanty rains, some water sometimes collected in the old riverbeds, and in some places wells were dug by the ancient Saharawis.
The people of Sudan grew millet, cotton and other plants; raised livestock - cows and sheep. They sometimes rode bulls, but they did not know how to plow the land with their help. The soil for crops was cultivated with wooden hoes with iron tips. Iron in Sudan was smelted in small clay blast furnaces. Weapons, knives, hoe tips, axes and other tools were forged from iron. Initially, blacksmiths, weavers, dyers and other artisans were simultaneously engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. They often exchanged surplus products of their craft for other goods. Bazaars in Sudan were located in villages on the borders of the territories of various tribes. The population of such villages grew rapidly. Part of it grew rich, seized power and gradually subjugated the poor. Military campaigns against neighbors, if successful, were accompanied by the capture of prisoners and other military booty. The prisoners of war were not killed, but were forced to work. Thus, slaves appeared in some settlements that grew into small towns. They began to be sold in bazaars, like other goods.
Ancient Sudanese cities often fought among themselves. The rulers and nobles of one city often brought several surrounding cities under their rule.
For example, around the 9th century. n. e. in the very west of Sudan, in the area of Auker (the territory of the northern part of the modern state of Mali), the state of Ghana, strong at that time, was formed.
Ancient Ghana was the center of trade between Western Sudan and North Africa, which was very important for the prosperity and power of this state.
In the 11th century Muslim Berbers from the Maghreb state of the al-Moravids, in northern Africa, attracted by the wealth of Ghana, attacked it and destroyed the state. The remote southern region of Mali suffered the least from the defeat. One of the rulers of Mali, named Sundiata, who lived in the middle of the 12th century, gradually captured the entire former territory of Ghana and even annexed other lands to it. After this, the state of Mali began to occupy a significantly larger territory than Ghana. However, the continuous struggle with neighbors gradually led to the weakening of the state and its collapse.
In the 14th century The scattered and weak cities of the state of Mali were captured by the rulers of the city of Gao, the center of the small state of the Songhai people. The Songhai kings gradually united under their rule a vast territory on which there were many large cities. One of these cities, which existed during the times of the Mali state, Timbuktu became the cultural center of the entire Western Sudan. The inhabitants of the Songhai state were Muslims.
Medieval Muslim scholars from Timbuktu became known far beyond Western Sudan. They were the first to create writing in the languages of Sudan, using characters from the Arabic alphabet. These scientists wrote many books, including chronicles - books on the history of the states of Sudan. Sudanese architects built large and beautiful houses, palaces, and mosques with six-story minarets in Timbuktu and other cities. The cities were surrounded by high walls.
In the 15th century The sultans of Morocco repeatedly tried to conquer the state of Songhai. They eventually conquered it, destroying Timbuktu and other cities in the process. Wonderful libraries with valuable ancient manuscripts perished in the burning of Timbuktu. Many architectural monuments were destroyed. Sudanese scientists - architects, doctors, astronomers - taken into slavery by the Moroccans, almost all died on the way through the desert. The remnants of the cities' wealth were plundered by their nomadic neighbors - the Tuaregs and Fulani. The huge state of Songhai fell apart into many small and weak states.
From that time on, the trade caravan routes running from Lake Chad through the interior of the Sahara - Fezzan - to Tunisia were of primary importance. In the northern part of the territory of modern Nigeria until the 19th century. There were independent small states (sultanates) of the Hausa people. The Sultanate included a city with surrounding countryside. The richest and most famous city was Kano.
The western part of tropical Africa, located off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, was discovered by Portuguese, Dutch and English navigators of the 15th-17th centuries. was named Guinea. For a long time, sailors did not suspect that behind the wall of tropical vegetation of the Guinea coast they were hiding densely | populated areas with large, crowded cities. European ships landed on the shore and traded with the coastal population. Ivory, valuable wood, and sometimes gold were brought here from the interior regions. European merchants also bought prisoners of war, who were taken from Africa, first to Portugal, and later to the Spanish colonies in Central and South America. Hundreds of slaves were loaded onto sailing ships and transported across the Atlantic Ocean with almost no food or water. Many of them died along the way. Europeans in every possible way incited wars between the tribes and peoples of Guinea in order to get more slaves. European merchants of the XV-XV centuries. I really wanted to penetrate into the rich interior regions of Guinea ourselves. However, tropical forests and swamps, as well as the resistance of strong, well-organized states, prevented this for several centuries. Only a few people managed to get there. When they returned, they talked about large, well-planned cities with wide streets, about the rich palaces of the kings, well-armed troops maintaining order, wonderful bronze and stone works of art by local craftsmen, and about many other amazing things.
The cultural values and historical monuments of these ancient states were destroyed by Europeans in the 19th century. during the colonial partition of West Africa. In our century, in the forests of Guinea, researchers discovered the remains of an ancient African culture: broken stone statues, heads made of stone and bronze, ruins of palaces. Some of these archaeological sites date back to the millennium BC. e., when most of Europe was still inhabited by wild tribes.
In 1485, the Portuguese navigator Diego Cano discovered the mouth of the high-water African Congo River. During the following voyages, the Portuguese ships ascended the river and reached the state of Congo. They brought with them ambassadors from the Portuguese king, as well as monastic preachers who were tasked with converting the population of the Congo to Christianity. Portuguese monks left records that tell about the medieval state of Congo and neighboring states - Lunda, Luba, Kasongo, Bushongo, Loango, etc. The population of these countries, like Guinea, was engaged in agriculture: they grew yams, taro, sweet potatoes and others plants.
Local craftsmen were famous for the art of making various wood products. Blacksmithing was of great importance.
All these states fell into decay and collapsed as a result of long wars with the Portuguese, who tried to conquer them.
The eastern coast of Africa is washed by the Indian Ocean. In winter, the wind (monsoon) blows here from the coast of Asia to the coast of Africa, and in the summer in the opposite direction. Since ancient times, the peoples of Asia and Africa have used monsoon winds for merchant shipping. Already in on the eastern coast of Africa there were permanent trading posts where the local population exchanged ivory, tortoiseshell shields and other goods for metal tools, weapons and fabrics from Asian merchants. Sometimes merchants from Greece and Egypt sailed here across the Red Sea.
Later, when some trading settlements grew into large cities, their inhabitants - Africans (the Arabs called them “Swahili”, i.e. “coastal”) - began to sail to Asian countries themselves. They traded in ivory, copper and gold, the skins of rare animals and valuable wood. The Swahili bought these goods from peoples who lived far from the ocean shores, in the depths of Africa. Swahili merchants bought elephant tusks and rhino horns from the leaders of various tribes, and exchanged gold in the country of Makaranga for glass, porcelain and other goods brought from overseas.
When merchants in Africa collected so much cargo that their porters could not carry it, then they bought slaves or took with them by force people from some weak tribe. As soon as the caravan reached the shore, the merchants sold the porters into slavery or took them to sell overseas.
Over time, the most powerful cities on the East African coast subjugated the weaker ones and formed several states: Pate, Mombasa, Kilwa, etc. Many Arabs, Persians and Indians moved to them. Scientists in East African cities created writing in the Swahili language, using, as in Sudan, signs of Arabic writing. There were literary works in the Swahili language, as well as chronicles of the history of cities.
During Vasco da Gama's voyages to India, Europeans first visited the ancient Swahili cities. The Portuguese repeatedly conquered and again lost East African cities, while many of them were destroyed by the invaders, and the ruins were overgrown with thorny tropical bushes over time. And now only in folk legends are the names of ancient African cities preserved.
African empires- large states and state formations founded in ancient times and in the Middle Ages on the African continent.
Ancient Egypt
In the 4th millennium BC. e. In the valley of the Nile River, the ancient Egyptian state was formed, the culture of which originates on the African continent, but, gradually developing, begins to separate from the cultures of other countries of this continent and interact with the culture of the countries of Western Asia and the Mediterranean. In the 2nd millennium, the state of Kush was formed on the territory of modern Sudan. In the 8th century BC. e. it captured Egypt. In the 7th-8th centuries AD. e. the Arabs conquered Egypt and North Africa; Egypt and Kush became part of the Arab Caliphate. The Arabs, who spread the Muslim religion here, introduced office work in Arabic, displacing other languages from use. This process continued until the 14th century. After this, the territory of Egypt was dominated by the Fatimid dynasty, then the Ayyubid dynasty. In the 13th century, the state of the Mamluks was formed - slave warriors who formed the guard of the Ayyubid dynasty. In 1250, the Mamluks overthrew the Egyptian branch of the Ayyubids and founded the dynasties of the Mamluk sultans: Bahri (-) and Burji (-), who ruled in a state that included Egypt and Syria. Overthrown by the Ottoman Turks. In 1711-1798, the Mamluk emirs (beys) actually ruled Egypt again. Their power was finally eliminated by Muhammad Ali in 1811.
Ghana Empire
The ancient empire of Ghana was formed in Central Africa (in Southern Sahara) in the 3rd century in the upper reaches of the Niger and Senegal rivers, flowing in Western Sudan. The main natural wealth is gold deposits in the southeast and salt in the north of the country. In 977, about the prosperous, developed Ghanaian Empire, the Arab chronicler Ibn Haukal wrote: “The ruler of Ghana is the richest man in the world.” The army consisted of 200 thousand people. The fabulous wealth of Ghana is known from Arab sources. This wealth aroused the interest and envy of neighboring states. The main threat came from Muslim dynasties. In the middle of the 11th century, Abdullah ibn Yassin began the Ghazawat War, while the Muslim Almoravids moved north, building their capital - Marrakech (Morocco). In 1076, after a fierce battle, the Almoravids defeated and burned the center of trade - the city of Kumbi-Sale (southern part of Mauritania). Only 10 years later the local population expelled the Almoravids. But Ghana was unable to restore its former power and by 1240 it completely fell into decline.
Empire of Mali and Songhai
After Ghana, the Mali Empire appeared on the African continent. The Malinke tribe, which had been dependent on Ghana for a long time, adopted the Muslim religion. From 1230-1253 the empire was ruled by Sundiata Keita (“Lion of Malia”). He defeated the capital of Ghana, capturing territory from Western Senegal to the bend of the Niger River and the caravan routes leading to Mauritania, where the important trading center of Walata was located. In the 14th century, the Mali Empire weakened as a result of constant inter-tribal wars, raids by the Tuareg tribe from the north and the Mossi from the south. In 1435 the Tuaregs captured Timbuktu and the empire fell.
In its place a new state, Songhai (Gao), appeared. The capital, the city of Gao, was located 350 km from Timbuktu. The Songhai tribe adopted the Muslim religion early (11th century). In the 15th century, after the accession of the ruler Sonni Ali to the throne, the Songhai gained independence, capturing most of the territory of Mali. After the death of Sonni Ali in 1492, the leader of the Soninke tribe, Askia Mohammed I, took the throne, deposing Sonni Ali's son. He laid the foundation of the Askiya dynasty, which ruled the Songhai state. In the 16th century it reached its peak.
Other states
Ghana, Mali and Songhai were the largest and most powerful African empires. In Africa, the state of Kanem, the kingdoms of the Yoruba tribe - Ife and Benin, the kingdom of Kongo and others also existed and flourished.
The most ancient city and political center of the Yoruba was the city of Oyo (180 km north of Lagos). A religious center, the city of Ife, was located 100 km from it. In the 12th century, Yoruba leader Eweka Benin, a native of Ife, founded the city-state of Benin. In the 14th century, its territory was 10 km 2 and was surrounded by a high fortress wall. Benin became a center of the slave trade. Along with the states of Yoruba and Benin, several more state entities appeared in the space from the coast of West Africa to the Congo River. Their center was Monomotapa (named after its ruler), which occupied the territory of the present states of Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Here you can find the remains of ancient monumental structures. The economy of this country was based on the production and processing of copper and gold. In the 15th century, Monomatapa reached its highest development, but soon, falling under the influence of the Portuguese, it lost its former greatness. In a remote corner of the continent, in the Katanga mountain system (now the southern province of Zaire), were the states of Luba and Lunda. In the 15th century, they became developed states and traded with European countries as equal partners. The terraces and traces of the irrigation system found in Kenya and Uganda indicate that an ancient culture and civilization existed here, which for unknown reasons disappeared even before the arrival of European conquerors. In the 15th-16th centuries, most African empires turned into colonies of Europeans looking for sea routes to India. They gradually lost their power or disappeared forever.
A report about Africa will help you prepare for the lesson. Descriptions of the continent of Africa are presented in this article. You can supplement your brief message about Africa with interesting facts.
Brief information about continent Africa
Africa is the hottest continent on Earth. It is the second largest continent after Eurasia.
Area of Africa- 29.2 million km 2, and together with the islands it is 30.3 million km 2.
The highest peak is Mount Kilimanjaro, and the deepest depression is Lake Assal. Most of the territory is occupied by plateaus and hills. By the way, in Africa there are much fewer mountainous areas, unlike other continents.
Geographical location of continent Africa
The continent belongs to the group of southern continents. It was formed after the split of an ancient continent called Gondwanaland. Africa has the smoothest coastline. The largest bay on the mainland is the Gulf of Guinea. There are also a large number of small bays in the Mediterranean Sea. But the only large peninsula is Somalia. It is worth noting that there are quite a few islands off the mainland - their area is 1.1 million km 2, the largest coastline belongs to the island of Madagascar.
Relief of Africa
The topography of Africa is predominantly flat, this is because the base of the continent is represented by an ancient platform. Over time, it slowly rose, which is why high plains were formed: plateaus, plateaus, mountain basins and ridges. In the north and west of Africa, plates predominate, and in the eastern and southern parts, on the contrary, shields. Here the altitudes are above 1000 m. The continental East African faults stretch through the eastern part of the continent. Faults led to the formation of grabens, horsts, and highlands. It is here that volcanic eruptions and strong earthquakes constantly occur.
African climate
The climate of the continent is determined by its position in tropical and equatorial latitudes, as well as the flatness of the topography. From the equator to the south and north, climate zones successively change from equatorial to subtropical. Tropical areas have the highest temperatures on the planet. In the mountains, temperatures drop below 0°C. It is paradoxical that on the hottest continent snow falls annually in the Atlas. And there are even glaciers on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. The atmospheric circulation is also special in Africa - the amount of precipitation decreases from the equator, and in the tropics its amount is the smallest. And in the subtropics there are more of them. You can notice a decreasing trend in precipitation from east to west.
African water resources
The deepest river is the Congo River. The major rivers include the Zambezi, Niger, Limpopo and Orange. Large lakes are Rudolf, Tanganyika and Nyasa.
Natural areas and riches of Africa
Africa is characterized by such natural zones - the zone of equatorial forests, the zone of variable-humid forests, the zone of savannas and woodlands, the zone of deserts and semi-deserts, evergreen forests and shrubs. Africa is considered the storehouse of the world. Here are the richest deposits of gold, diamonds, uranium, copper, and rare metals. Deposits of gas, oil, aluminum ores and phosphorites are common in western and northern Africa.
Brief message about the peoples of Africa
The northern part is inhabited by Arabs, Berbers, who belong to the Indo-Mediterranean race. To the south of the Sahara live the peoples of the Negrillian, Negro and Bushman races. Peoples of the Ethiopian race live in Northeast Africa. South Asian and Negroid races live in the southern territories of Africa.
- By the way, the largest mammals on land also live here.
- The name Africa comes from the name of the tribe that once lived in the north and was called the Afrigs.
- The continent accounts for half of the world's diamonds and gold.
- Lake Malawi contains the most species of fish on the planet.
- The longest river in the world, the Nile, flows here.
- Interestingly, the island of Chad has shrunk by 95% over the past 38 years.
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In the 6th-5th millennium BC. e. In the Nile Valley, agricultural cultures developed (Tassian culture, Fayyum, Merimde), on the basis of which in the 4th millennium BC. e. The oldest African civilization arises - Ancient Egypt. To the south of it, also on the Nile, under its influence the Kerma-Cushite civilization was formed, which was replaced in the 2nd millennium BC. e. Nubian (Napata). On its ruins, the states of Aloa, Mukurra, the Nabataean kingdom and others were formed, which were under the cultural and political influence of Ethiopia, Coptic Egypt and Byzantium. In the north of the Ethiopian Highlands, under the influence of the South Arabian Sabaean kingdom, the Ethiopian civilization arose: in the 5th century BC. e. The Ethiopian kingdom was formed by immigrants from South Arabia; in the 2nd-11th centuries AD. e. There was an Aksumite kingdom, on the basis of which the medieval civilization of Christian Ethiopia was formed (XII-XVI centuries). These centers of civilization were surrounded by pastoral tribes of Libyans, as well as the ancestors of modern Cushitic and Nilotic-speaking peoples.
On the basis of horse breeding (from the first centuries AD - also camel breeding) and oasis agriculture in the Sahara, urban civilizations took shape (the cities of Telgi, Debris, Garama), and Libyan writing arose. On the Mediterranean coast of Africa in the 12th-2nd centuries BC. e. The Phoenician-Carthaginian civilization flourished.
In sub-Saharan Africa in the 1st millennium BC. e. Iron metallurgy is spreading everywhere. This contributed to the development of new territories, primarily tropical forests, and became one of the reasons for the settlement of peoples speaking Bantu languages throughout most of Tropical and Southern Africa, pushing representatives of the Ethiopian and Capoid races to the north and south.
The centers of civilizations in Tropical Africa spread from north to south (in the eastern part of the continent) and partly from east to west (especially in the western part) - as they moved away from the high civilizations of North Africa and the Middle East. Most of the large socio-cultural communities of Tropical Africa had an incomplete set of signs of civilization, so they can more accurately be called proto-civilizations. Such, for example, were the formations in Sudan that arose on the basis of trans-Saharan trade with the Mediterranean countries.
After the Arab conquests of North Africa (7th century), the Arabs for a long time became the only intermediaries between Tropical Africa and the rest of the world, including through the Indian Ocean, where the Arab fleet dominated. The cultures of Western and Central Sudan merged into a single West African, or Sudanese, zone of civilizations, stretching from Senegal to the modern Republic of Sudan. In the 2nd millennium, this zone was united politically and economically in Muslim empires, such as Mali (XIII-XV centuries), which subordinated small political entities of neighboring peoples.
South of the Sudanese civilizations in the 1st millennium AD. e. the proto-civilization of Ife is emerging, which became the cradle of the Yoruba and Bini civilizations (Benin, Oyo); neighboring peoples also experienced its influence. To the west of it, in the 2nd millennium, the Akano-Ashanti proto-civilization was formed, the heyday of which occurred in the 17th - early 19th centuries. In the region of Central Africa during the XV-XIX centuries. various state entities gradually emerged - Buganda, Rwanda, Burundi, etc.
In East Africa, since the 10th century, the Swahili Muslim civilization flourished (the city-states of Kilwa, Pate, Mombasa, Lamu, Malindi, Sofala, etc., the Sultanate of Zanzibar), in South-East Africa - the Zimbabwean (Zimbabwe, Monomotapa) proto-civilization (X-XIX century), in Madagascar the process of state formation ended at the beginning of the 19th century with the unification of all the early political formations of the island around Imerina, which arose around the 15th century.
Most African civilizations and proto-civilizations experienced a rise at the end of the 15th and 16th centuries. From the end of the 16th century, with the penetration of Europeans and the development of the transatlantic slave trade, which lasted until the mid-19th century, their decline occurred. By the beginning of the 17th century, all of North Africa (except Morocco) became part of the Ottoman Empire. With the final division of Africa between European powers (1880s), the colonial period began, forcing Africans into industrial civilization.
