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The important features of religion in traditional African society
An essay on the development of west african kingdoms
The important features of religion in traditional African society
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There are many similarities between the kingdoms that formed Africa. To begin, trade was heavily relied on in the West, East, South, North, and Central kingdoms. Further, trade created strong links among different kingdoms across Africa. Most African kingdoms became wealthy through trade and the resources they had. The Eastern, Southern, and Western kingdoms bought or sold gold for trade. Moreover, family was very important as well as staying loyal to them and whomever was in the lineage. Finally, the main religion of the kingdoms was Islam. The majority of people were very faithful to their religions.
As there are similarities between the kingdoms of Africa, there are also differences. First, the North and Central Africa kingdom lived off
As the world of trade developed over time, goods were not the only things that were traded throughout these routes. With the merchants that traveled the world, were the ideals and religions that had learned from foreign lands, and the major religions of Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, spread like wildfire throughout the regions of Eurasia and Africa because of this. The spread of Islam throughout the continent of Africa acted as a major influence both politically and socially. After 1600, Islam began to make its mark on the newly centralized states in Africa and was spread through western land trade, and through merchants on the Swahili coast. The major gold trading center of the Kingdom of Ghana, attracted merchants, and was a center for the Muslim community . By the 10th century, the kings of Ghana had converted to Islam in order to improve the relation between the kings and merchants. The early converts of Central and West Africa did not e...
Many African religions have common tenets. They share a belief in a community of deities, the idea that ancestors serve as a way to communicate with these deities. They also share the belief that society as a whole is organized around values and traditions drawn from a common origin, which was created by one Supreme Being.... ... middle of paper ... ...
African society used bodies of water such as the Nile, the Red Sea, and many more to transport goods across the continent and generate profit. For example, the city of “Aksum reached its height between 325-360. Aksum’s location made it an important international trading center.” After analyzing the map of trade routes in Document 1, it is clear Aksum was strategically built to have ties to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. These two bodies of water give the city the freedom to import and export goods. Additionally, this work of trade did not come without reward. Cities who succeeded in the business became overly wealthy and had surpluses of gold and other riches. A king, Mansa Mansa, who expanded the Mali kingdom to be twice the size of Ghana, was not afraid to show his wealth as he showered other cities in riches out of generosity. In Cairo, Egypt, “there was no person, officer of the court, or holder of any office of the Sultanate who did not receive a sum of gold from him.” This is just one of the many examples of wealth in african cities and empires. What is impressive is the fact that before European trade became an influence, African people had already created a successful and very profitable system of
...e, unlike the surrounding nations which were powerful, rich empires, Africa consisted of small tribes and kingdoms. These kingdoms’ greatest exports would consist of gold, salt, and slaves, in exchange for the goods imported from the surrounding empires.
Between the time period of 1492 to 1750, the regions of America and Africa, through the Columbian exchange, had experienced similarities in the spread of crops, people, and diseases, but differences when it came to the reason for change in population density, environmental change, and change of local ethnicities.
Creation myths vary among African ethnic groups highlighting similarities and differences in belief systems and societal constructs. There are many factors that contribute to creation myths for each individual group. Survival issues dominate many my ths, suggesting the origins of land, the ability to cultivate land, and the benefit of existing off of what one has cultivated. Questions of where land came from, the purpose of man, and the relationship between the creator and the created are evaluated. The important issues of each African ethnic group became the focal point of their creation and origin myths.
Imagine building a boat with no nails or screws what a difficult job that would be However, there is evidence that Ancient Africa and South America cultures built reed ships that were held with rope. The two cultures were similar in other ways as well. Did you know, for instance that both cultures built pyramids and wrote in hieroglyphics
The Hausa Kingdoms were a grouping of west African states that were located between Lake Chad to the west and the Niger River to the east. The African ethnic group which populated these kingdoms and the area in general from 700 AD are known as the Hausa people with one of the oldest kingdom being Daura located in modern-day northern Nigeria. The Hausa Kingdoms included Kano, Katsina, Zazzau, Gobir, Rano, Daura and Biram and were founded in 1000 AD. The kingdoms are also known as ‘Hausa Bakwai’ which means ‘Seven True Hausa States’. The language utilized by these Africans is also called Hausa. The written record of the Hausa people is contained in a document called the Kano Chronicle which focuses primarily on the Kano Kingdom. In addition to the seven primary Hausa Kingdoms there were a further seven satellite states named Kebbi, Yauri, Gwari, Nupe, Kororofa, Yoruba and Zamfara. The
The spread of Islam in Africa had taken course from a number of factors, including external and internal forces. After my analyzing of the spread of Islam in Africa, I have gather three main themes that stuck out during the expansion of Islam: Islam and trade, the conversion conditions of Islam, and the economics/political development involving Islam. These three themes provide great insight on how Islam started to spread through out Africa. Through trade the culture and religion of Islam was spread to many different areas. This correlates to the conversion of different people, which helped spread Islam. By these conversions Islam was able to establish Islamic states, which played a factor in the development of strong economic and political
One of the biggest ways to compare and contrast Africa and China is through trade. Trade was very important to both cultures. Africa was basically built on trade. Trade began to grow in Africa in Ghana and by 700, it was making people rich. Two things that were very important to trade in Ghana were gold and salt, which were considered
degree of social political and economic organisation before the colonial era in Southern Africa, there was the Zulu empire; in Central Africa, there was the Kingdom of Monomotapa; while in East Africa, there was the Buganda
The spread of Islam throughout the African continent was predominantly influenced by the trading routes in North and East Africa. While Islam was very influential in the political and economic sphere of these areas, many of the original practices and traditions of Africa remained. The dominant people who facilitated the spread of Islam throughout the continent were the elite of Africa, such as the kings, and the traders themselves. While the spread of religion is typically looked at as a spreading of faith or a way to exclude yourself from warring nations, Africa’s conversion to Islam was incredibly economical and political. Primary sources from the time period, like Meadows of Gold, serve to further highlight how the effects of trade and commerce were able to have so much impact on the spread of Islam throughout the continent.
This is not to say that there was no influence, biological or cultural, from Asia or Europe on Egypt, but any such influence was slight. The ancient Egyptians, biologically and culturally, were fundamentally Africans.
Africa has always played a good role on influencing other parts of the world with their culture and roots. The word “Africa” came from ethnonyms like “Afira” which means to be dusty in Arabic. The English version comes from the Latin word “Africanus’. Back in the ancient Africa they found a hominid subfamily. There was only one thing surviving is was called the Homo sapien. Researchers found evidence that there were modern human like species that once lived in Africa. The species for which humans belong to are called Australopithecines. This generation of species departed from their ancestors of chimpanzees about 6 million years ago. In Africa is where you can find the oldest fossils from passed humankind ancestors. Africa is known for finding evidence of the key stages of the evolution. In the 1920’s there were countless number of Australopithecus fossils found through the East and South of Africa. Australopithecus are human like creatures that walked the earth before man. The first bone of Australopithecus was near a cave in Taung, Africa. The bone they found was...
True, humans didn’t evolve entirely in Africa. As a matter of fact the first known ancestors of humans where found in North America, in the Utah Valley. These animals where nothing more than a shrew in the shadow of the dinosaurs. However, with the event that killed the dinosaurs, they where finally allowed to reproduce and spread. At this time, according to isotope dating, the world was averaging 4 times warmer than it now is. As time went on, the small mammal had spread throughout Eurasia. All of Eurasia then was covered in tropical forests. Primates evolved in what is now the Indian Subcontinent.