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Stearns Chapter 8 – African Civilizations and the Spread of Islam

  1. African Societies: Diversity and Similarities
  2. Stateless Societies
  3. What were Stateless Societies controlled by?
  1. What did Stateless societies lack?
  1. What role did secret societies play in West African forests?
  1. Common Elements in African Societies
  2. What do the authors describe as the similarities in African societies?
  1. What is animistic religion?
  1. How were the economies of North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa different?
  1. What is known about the size of Africa’s population before the twentieth century?
  1. The Arrival of Islam in North Africa
  2. How did Islam originally enter Africa?
  1. How did Islam and the beliefs of indigenous societies fuse among African peoples?
  1. The Christian Kingdoms: Nubia and Ethiopia
  2. Where did cultures in Africa develop that were NOT affected by Islam?
  1. What was the nature of their organization?
  1. Kingdoms of the Grasslands
  2. Sudanic States
  3. What were the Sudanic states?
  1. How were they organized?
  1. The Empire of Mali and Sundiata, the “Lion Prince”
  2. Why was Sundiata so important to the Malinke people?
  1. Where did Mali control spread under Sundiata’s successors?
  1. City Dwellers and Villagers
  2. Describe Timbuktu.
  1. The Songhay Kingdom
  2. How did Songhay gain its independence?
  1. Describe Sunni Ali?
  1. Political and Social Life in the Sudanic States
  2. How did Islam affect political and social life in the Sudanic States?
  1. How is the fusion of traditions shown in the status of women?
  1. The Swahili Coast of East Africa
  2. The Coastal Trading Ports
  3. How were the ports all tied together?
  1. What groups of people met and exchanged what types of goods?
  1. The Mixture of Cultures on the Swahili Coast
  2. How did lineage pass through the generations? What is unique about this?
  1. Peoples of the Forest and Plains
  2. Artists and Kings: Yoruba and Benin
  3. Why was Ile-Ife considered the holiest Yoruba city?
  1. What are Benin artists known for?
  1. Central African Kingdoms
  2. What did the hereditary bureaucracy allow?
  1. The Kingdoms of Kongo and Mwene Mutapa
  2. How was the Kongo organized?
  1. What type of goods what Zimbabwe known for trading?
  1. Vocabulary – Define the following terms in complete sentences.
  2. Maghrib
  1. Sahel
  1. Juula
  1. Griots
  1. Ibn Batuta
  1. Great Zimbabwe