general stuff about the Yoruba, Edo, Kongo, and Mutapa cultures in post-classical era Africa
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| 340451499 | Beyond Islam | interior and southern parts of Africa developed apart from Islam with traditional African cultures local customs and a rich history that has often been overlooked or ignored by Western historians because of a lack of writing in these oral cultures | 0 | |
| 340451500 | The Cultures | peoples in the lower Sahel and the forests and plains of Central Africa with common characteristics and institutional forms associated with African cultures Yoruba- Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Cameroon Edo- Benin Kongo- Congo Mutapa- Zimbabwe and Mozambique | 1 | |
| 340451501 | Yoruba Culture | two main cities: Nok and Ile-Ife agriculture, iron tools, wood and ivory art terra-cotta and bronze "portrait-heads" religion: Orisha, had deity called Ogum/Ogoun interesting factoid: high birthrate for twins | 2 | |
| 340451502 | Yoruba Economy | small farms worked by peasants family ownership of land, though jobs like clearing land and installing irrigation systems were worked on communally trade of local products with the Edo people of Benin, also involved tangentially with Sahel and trans-Saharan trade | 3 | |
| 340451503 | Yoruba Government | small city-states controlling land within a 50-mile radius of urban culture the city-states were often part of a federal system ruled by a regional king, who, though divine, was not an absolute monarch; local autonomy was respected if provinces pledged loyalty and tribute, also they could sent representatives to advise the king in a council of state or assemblies | 4 | |
| 340451504 | Golden Age of the Yoruba Culture | 1100-1700, the Kingdom of Ile-Ife, where the ruler ("oba") influenced most of southwestern Nigeria, had "golden age" of prosperity and artistic achievement 1700-1900- the Oyo Empire controlled southwestern Nigeria and established ports along the Atlantic coast | 5 | |
| 340451505 | Yoruba: Ibadan | a city-state that established a republic in the 1700s; military and civilian councils were elected from pool of aristocrats, hence it was basically a military republic; many of these aristocrats were involved heavily in trade | 6 | |
| 340451506 | Slavery Diaspora of the Yoruba | as the Oyo Empire declined (1700s), many Africans were enslaved by European traders and taken to New World destinations; the slaves carried their culture and Orisha religious beliefs with them, as seen in the Santeria/Lucumi and Vodou/Voodoo cults in the Caribbean islands | 7 | |
| 340451507 | Edo Peoples | established a city-state at Benin (Benin City), formerly called Ubini, that had a large population, walls and moats, and broad avenues Major oba (ruler): Ewuare the Great r. 1440 to 1473 Art: bronze and ivory sculptures with royal themes; also portrays Portuguese visitors | 8 | |
| 340451508 | Benin Trade | Portugal- 1485, Portuguese traders developed strong trading ties, with Edo goods like ivory, palm oil, pepper, and slaves, and European manufactured goods and guns, firearms, swords; 1500s, an ambassador of Benin was sent to Portugal and Christian memories were sent to Benin England- mid-1500s, exports including 20% ivory, 30% slaves, and 50% other tropical products | 9 | |
| 340451509 | Benin Decline | after 1700, during era of European colonialism Benin resisted joining the British Empire, but then Admiral Harry Rawson looted and burned the city | 10 | |
| 340451510 | Central Africa | home to Bantu-speaking peoples who migrated into Central Africa and then to the eastern coast (Swahili) some groups in Central Africa created states with hereditary monarchial rule and hereditary bureaucracies | 11 | |
| 340451511 | Kongo Culture | 1400s, Kongo population near the Zaire/Congo River was living among small villages and a few large towns, the capital Mbanza Kongo numbering 60,000 to 100,000 people | 12 | |
| 340451512 | Kongo Government | kings (called mwenes), built a centralized system of provincial management with provincial governors who were members of the king's kinship groups; succession to the throne was a major problem though population was concentrated around Mbanza Kongo (capital), with communally owned land and a head tax for each provincial village | 13 | |
| 340451513 | Kongo Military | massive army of archers and heavy infantry, who fought with swords and shields; 20,000 soldiers stationed at capital there was a draft, and women served in supportive roles | 14 | |
| 340451514 | Kongo Economy | based on farming; had a highly developed and extensive trade network of ivory, natural resources, copperware, metal goods, raffia cloth (palm leaf fibers), and pottery division of labor existed based on gender; men- cleared land, produced palm oil and wine, built houses, hunted, and controlled long-distance trade...women- cultivated crops, handled care of domestic animals and household duties | 15 | |
| 340451515 | Kongo and European Contact | 1483, Europeans kidnapped several Kongo nobles Nzinga a Nkuwu (the ruling mwene r 1470-1509), converted to Christianity upon the nobles' return; priests then baptized him and others; Mwene Nzinga a Nkuwu took the name Joao (John) I in honor of Portugal's king Joao II; he later reverted to his traditional beliefs | 16 | |
| 340451516 | Kongo Christianity | Alfonso I (r 1509-1543), Nzinga a Nkuwu's son, made Christianity the state religion, establishing a version of the Roman Catholic Church there; he used syncretism to combine Christian doctrine with local traditions mestres (teachers) provided syncretistic religious instruction at Church schools capital was renamed Sao Salvador (Holy Savior) | 17 | |
| 340451517 | Kongo Slavery | mid-1500s, Kongo became major source of slaves for Europeans; slave markets had been around long before though, and the slaves were mostly war captives | 18 | |
| 340451518 | Kongo Demise | it survived the frequent royal succession battles, but at the Conference of Berlin in the 1880s, European colonial powers divided most of Central Africa among them; Kongo kings were then Portuguese "puppets" until 1914, when Portugal abolished the kingship of Kongo in response to revolts | 19 | |
| 340451519 | Kingdom of Mutapa | 1450-1663 in the southeastern interior, a Shona (Bantu dialect ) -speaking people, the descendants of earlier people who built and ruled the Great Zimbabwe ("stone house"); 1400s, a centralized state developed from the southeast interior to almost the Indian Ocean ruler: Mwene Mutapa (king/lord of conquered lands) | 20 | |
| 340451520 | Mutapa Origins | according to oral tradition, Mutota, a South-African prince, was sent to find salt among the Tavara elephant-herders Matope (Mutota's successor), added lands between Tavara and the Indian Ocean (to Zimbabwe and Mozambique) and developed trade with Arab Muslims at Sofala | 21 | |
| 340451521 | Mutapa Trade | between the interior and the Muslim coastal part of Sofala involved gold, ivory, slat, exotic animals, and slaves from the interior in exchange for Arabic, Middle Eastern, Indian, and Chinese goods | 22 | |
| 340451522 | Portuguese Arrrival for the Mutapa | 1500s, Portuguese merchants and Christian missionaries arrived in increasing numbers-- they came to dominate Sofala and so the Mutapa kind of had to do business with them | 23 | |
| 340451523 | Mutapa Collapse (3) | 1 Portuguese hegemony creeped inland in an effort to control gold mines 2 Infighting among leaders made the kingdom vulnerable, with some traders currying favor with Portuguese and some tributary state stopping paying tribute 3 Portuguese settlers (praezeros) were able to depose the Mutapa monarch in 1663 and assume the throne themselves | 24 | |
| 340451524 | Butwa Invasion | late 1600s, the Butwa kingdom overran the now-European-controlled Mutapa b/c of its own quest for gold, sacking towns near the Mutapa capital and slaughtering the Portuguese traders 1695, Butwa had full control of gold production | 25 | |
| 340451525 | Non-Islamic Africa: Conclusion | Portuguese found in Africa well-developed, powerful kingdoms Africa became part of the general cultural trends in the wider world, with trade in gold, ivory, and slaves opening them to a widening global trade network; Europeans greatly intensified the cultural and commercial contacts | 26 |
