Terms : Hide Images
| 159754931 | Sahara | The world's largest desert (3,500,000 square miles) in northern Africa. | |
| 159754932 | Sahel | The extensive grassland belt at the southern edge of the Sahara; a point of exchange between the forest to the south and northern Africa. | |
| 159754933 | Transhumant | A form of pastoralism common to the Mediterranean basin and the Sahara; involves moving from one region to another according to the season. | |
| 159754934 | Nok | Culture featuring highly developed art style flourishing between 500 B.C.E. and 200 C.E.; located in forests of central Nigeria. | |
| 159754935 | Yoruba | City-states developed in northern Nigeria circa 1200 C.E.; Ile-Ife featured artistic style possibly related to earlier Nok culture; agricultural societies supported by peasantry and dominated by ruling family and aristocracy. | |
| 159754936 | Bantu | A member of any of a large number of linguistically related peoples of Central and South Africa. | |
| 159754937 | Pygmies | One of few pure hunting societies left in Africa following Bantu migration. | |
| 159754938 | Ghana | First known kingdom in sub-Saharan West Africa between the 6th and 13th centuries C.E. | |
| 159754939 | Sudanic States | Kingdoms that developed during the height of Ghana's power in the region; based at Takrur on the Senegal River to the west and Gao on the Niger River to the east; included the states of Mali and Songhay. | |
| 159754940 | Kumbi Saleh | Capital of empire of Ghana; divided into two adjoining cities: one for the king, court, and indigenous people, one for the merchants, scholars, and religious leaders. | |
| 159754942 | Mali | Empire centered between the Senegal and Niger Rivers; creation of Malinke peoples; broke away from control of Ghana in the 13th century. | |
| 159754943 | Pastoral Nomads | An intermediate form of ecological adaptation dependant on domesticated animal herds that feed on natural environment; typically more populous than shifting cultivation groups. | |
| 159754944 | Stateless Societies | African societies organized around kinship or other forms of obligation and lacking the concentration of political power and authority associated with states. | |
| 159754945 | Ifiqiya | The Arabic term for eastern North Africa. | |
| 159754946 | Maghrib | The Arabic term for western North Africa. | |
| 159754947 | Almoravids | A puritanical reformist movement among the Islamic Berber tribes of norther Africa; controlled gold trade across the Sahara; conquered Ghana in 1076 C.E.; moved southward against African kingdoms of the savanna and westward into Spain. | |
| 159754948 | Almohadis | A reformist movement among the Islamic Berbers of northern Africa; later than the Almoravids; penetrated into sub-Sahara Africa. | |
| 159754949 | Mali | Empire created by indigenous Muslims in western Sudan of West Africa from the thirteenth to fifteenth century. It was famous for its role in the trans-Saharan gold trade. | |
| 159754950 | Juula | Malinke merchants; formed small partnerships to carry trade throughout Mali Empire; eventually spread throughout much of west Africa. | |
| 159754951 | Sundiata | The "Lion Prince"; a member of the Keita clan; created a unified state that became the Mali Empire; died about 1260 C.E. | |
| 159754952 | Ibn Batuta | Arab traveler who described African societies and cultures in his travel records. | |
| 159754953 | Timbuktu | Port city of Mali; located just off the flood plain on the great bend of the Niger River; population of 50,000; contained a library and university. | |
| 159754954 | Mansa Musa | This Mali king brought Mali to its peak of power and wealth from 1312 the 1337; he was the most powerful king in West Africa. | |
| 159754955 | Songhay | Successor state to Mali; dominated middle reaches of Niger valley; formed as independent kingdom under a Berber dynasty; capital at Gao; reached imperial status under Sunni Ali (he lived from 1464-1492). | |
| 159754956 | Muhammad the Great | Extended boundaries of the Songhay Empire; Islamic ruler of the mid-16th century. | |
| 159754957 | Hausa | Peoples of northern Nigeria; formed states following the demise of Songhay Empire that combined Muslim and pagan traditions. | |
| 159754958 | Sharia | Body of Islamic law that includes interpretation of the Quran and applies Islamic principles to everyday life. | |
| 159754959 | Benin | Powerful city-state (in present day Nigeria) which came into contact with the Portuguese in 1485 but remained relatively free of European influence; important commercial and political entity until the 19th century. | |
| 159754960 | Great Zimbabwe | Bantu confederation of Shona-speaking peoples located between the Zambezi River and Limpopo River; developed after 9th century; featured royal courts built of stone; created centralized state by the 15th century; king took title of Mwene Mutapa. | |
| 159754961 | Kongo | Kingdom, based on agriculture, formed on the lower Congo River by the late 15th century; capital at Mbanza Kongo; ruled by hereditary monarchy. | |
| 166756350 | Demography | The study of population. | |
| 166756351 | Zenj | Arabic term for the east African coast. | |
| 166756352 | Griots | Professional oral historians who served as keepers of traditions and advisors to kings within the Mali Empire. |
