Chapter 11: North and North-East Africa to the Eighteenth Century

CHAPTER 11: NORTH AND NORTH-EAST AFRICA TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

KEY POINTS

• The ‘Arabisation’ of northern Africa

• From Fatimid to Mamluk: Egypt before the Ottoman conquest

Egypt under the Fatimids

The Ayyubid dynasty

Egypt under the Mamluks, 1250-1117

• Egypt under Ottoman rule

• Nubia and the Funj Sultanate

The spread of Islam in Nubia

The Funj Sultanate

• Oromo migrations and the kingdom of Ethiopia

The Oromo migrations

The kingdom of Ethiopia

• States of the Maghrib, sixteenth to eighteenth century

The eastern and central Maghrib

The rise of Morocco

The ‘Arabisation’ of northern Africa

• 10th – 13th century immigration of Bedouin (badawin) into northern Africa
• Mobile pastoralists, camel-skin dwellings, family-sized clans
• Blamed for disruption by some settled farmers
• But generally spread Islam and Arabic language among rural Berber population
• 250 000 moved west into Maghrib from Egypt
• (Banu Sulaym), south of Atlas, absorbed many Berbers
• 13th century Arabised Berber nomads moved east into Egypt and up Nile valley
• Egypt and Maghrib become largely Arabic-speaking

From Fatimid to Mamluk: Egypt before the Ottoman conquest

Egypt under the Fatimids, 969-1171 CE

• Fatimid prosperity and economic development
• Delta cotton and textiles
• Duties on trade and taxation of peasantry
• Fatimid Berbers settled as new landed aristocracy
• Tax-farming system, open to corruption
• Turkish slave horsemen (‘Mamluks’) imported for army
• Black ‘Sudanese’ slaves formed footsoldiers
• Corrupt tax-farming: shortage of money for army: army discipline broke down
• Fatimid Egypt threatened by Christian Crusaders in Palestine
• Salah al-Din ibn Ayyub (‘Saladin’), Kurdistan general of Fatimid army
• Saladin saved Egypt and conquered Jerusalem

The Ayybid dynasty

• Founded by Saladin,1171
• Restored Sunni Islam in Egypt
• Cairo: important centre of learning and culture
• Restored importation of Mamluk slaves for army
• Successful Mamluks earned freedom and allocated ‘tax-farms’ (iqta)
• Iqta to provide soldiers for the state
• Mamluks became new military landed aristocracy: title ‘amir’
• 1250 Mamluks seized throne

Egypt under the Mamluks, 1250-1517

• Powerful military dictatorship
• More Mamluks imported
• Conquest of Palestine and Syria
• Defeated Asian Mongol invasion
• Mamluk ‘protection’ over Medina and Mecca
• Cairo: key city on route of pilgrimage
• Visit my Mansa Musa (Mali) 1324-5)
• Gold and emerald mining near Aswan
• Expansion of Red Sea trade
• Egyptian fellahin (‘peasantry’) still basis of Egyptian wealth
• Abuse of iqta system and forced labour pressed heavily on fellahin
• Expansion of public works (forced labour): expansion of canals for irrigation: more land for cultivation: more iqta for Mamluks
• Mamluk urban wealth prompted trade – Swahili coast and Indian Ocean
• 1300 CE: 10 000 Mamluks, 4-5 million Egyptians
• 15th century: Mamluks abused their power, ceasing to provide military service
• Decline in agricultural productivity, and trade
• By 1500 Mamluk army out of date, no match for firearms

Egypt under Ottoman rule

• 1453 Ottoman conquest of Christian Constantinople – renamed Istanbul
• 1517 Ottomans conquered Egypt – became province of Ottoman empire
• Restoration of iqta system
• Conquered into Nubia as far south as 3rd cataract
• Revival of Red Sea trade, seizing Ethiopian port of Massawa
• 17th – 18th centuries: hereditary Mamluk nobles regained power
• Heads noble families: ‘beys’; viceroys (‘pashas’): appointed from Istanbul, but effectively head of corrupt local nobility
• Lacked national unity and allowed army to get out of date

Nubia and the Funj Sultanate

The spread of Islam in Nubia

• Gradual spread of Islam through Lower (northern) Nubia through peaceful trading contact
• 14th century Arab nomad immigration into Nubia and south-west into Darfur
• Immigrants became ‘Africanised’, spreading Islam
• These Muslim Nubian pastoralists raided southwards for captives to enslave as servants and concubines for Egypt and western Asia

The Funj Sultanate

• 16th century Nubian Christian kingdom of Alwa replaced by non-Arab Muslim Funj Sultanate
• Cattle pastoralists from eastern foothills of Ethiopian highlands
• By 1600 living in cities and controlling large part of modern Sudan
• Small army of mounted soldiers to collect tribute from local population

Oromo migrations and the kingdom of Ethiopia

The Oromo migrations

• 16th-century wars between Christian Ethiopia and Muslim Adal allowed migration of Oromo pastoralists into southern highlands
• 1530-65: occupied a third of Ethiopia, pushing towards Harar and Awash valley
• No central authority: loosely-organised extended-family clans
• Five age-sets, based on age
• Third age-set – folle – young men spearheaded search for new pasture: acting as military escort to cattle and clan
• Period of rapid expansion of herds: search for new seasonal pasture led to push into fertile southern highlands
• Many of those in contact with Adal became Muslim, others in contact with Ethiopia became Christian
• By 1600 Oromo: dominant population of southern Ethiopia

The kingdom of Ethiopia

• Largely ignoring Oromo incursions, Saras Dengel (1562-97) concentrated on northern region, opening trade with Ottomans at Massawa
• Captives from south-east were main export (10 000 a year in this period)
• Opened way for more Oromo expansion
• During 17th century Ethiopian rulers officially recognised Oromo presence
• Fasiladas (1632-67) established permanent capital at Gondar
• 18th century: kings lost control of provinces to local nobility

States of the Maghrib, sixteenth to eighteenth century

The eastern and central Maghrib

• Late 15th century Portuguese and Spanish Christian revival
• 1492 Spanish drove Muslims out of Granada (Spain)
• Over following decades Spanish and Portuguese seized north African ports (Tangier, Algiers, TripoliTunis)
• Turkish corsairs responded – attacking Christian shipping in western Med.
• Turks lost 2 major battles (Malta 1565, Lepanto 1571) so failed to dominate Med.
• But Ottoman Turks regained north African ports for Islam
• Ottoman occupation: mainly port cities, used for raiding shipping
• Little control over rural areas: raided for tribute
• Tripoli trade relations with Borno: shortest trans-Saharan trade route: horses and firearms to Borno, exchanged for slaves and concubines for Ottoman empire

The rise of Morocco

• 16th century rise of Morocco as independent state
• Arab nomad Sa’dis clan, claiming descent from Prophet’s daughter Fatima, gradually conquered and united Morocco
• Prevented Ottoman conquest, defeated Portuguese (battle of al-Ksar Kebir 1578)
• Sultan killed in battle: succeeded by Ahmad al-Mansur (1578-1603)
• Aim: conquer Songhay, seize control of gold trade to stop it being diverted to Ottomans
• Trade with English: sugar (slave grown) exchanged for English firearms
• Strengthened army: slave soldiers (from Songhay) and Arab horsemen, trained by European and Turkish mercenaries
• 1591 conquest of Songhay (see also Ch 13)
• Short-term: sacking Gao and Timbuktu brought initial rewards
• Long-term:
• heavy cost in men and equipment
• too far from Morocco to control effectively
• local military governors, increasingly independent
• trade disrupted (much of it diverted to Europeans at west African coast),
• 17th century, Morocco weakened by dynastic disputes: rival sultanates of Fes and Marrakesh
• 1669, Mawlay al-Rashid founded Alawid dynasty: unity re-established
• For much of 18th century effective government control confined to cities
• Rural people (Atlas mountains) only paid tribute when threatened by sultan’s army

© Kevin Shillington, 2012