Medieval Africa

Africa is an enormous continent, containing 54 countries. Diverse cultures were formed and developed there but also suffered strong influence from foreign nations.

One of the aspects that most attracts attention to this continent is its heterogeneity. The northernmost areas of Africa are inhabited by people of white color, while the rest of the continent is populated mainly by people with black skin. Other physical and cultural characteristics differentiate them.

In the pre-colonial period, four regions stand out: The Suprasaharian area, with emphasis on Egypt, dominated by the Islamists, and where the Kingdom of Axum was. The Sub-Saharan region, where the empires of Mali and Songhai. The Southern Region, with the Kingdom of Benin, the Yoruba civilization, the Bantu-speaking kingdoms. And West Africa, with the empire of Ghana.

Kingdom of Axum 

In the region known as the "African Horn." the Axum Kingdom developed. Today, the Axumite area corresponds to Ethiopia. According to archaeological research, the place had fertile soils and therefore began to attract human settlement from the fifth century BC. There, the first sedentary populations would have started the practice of agriculture.

But it was after the 1st century that agricultural villages started to grow. The center and capital of the kingdom was the city of Axum, but its domains extended the Red Sea coastal region to the southern part of the Nile River and advanced to the south of the continent.

The Axumite 

One of the most outstanding characteristics of the Axumite people is the trade. By dominating the trade routes in the region, the Axumites distributed merchandise between the West and the East, coming into contact with various peoples, among them Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Arabs, Syrians, Jews, Byzantines, and Indians. This intense commercial relationship with different peoples and cultures made them cosmopolitan people.

The city of Adulis was the main port for selling goods and became known as an important ivory market. The prosperous trade made the Axum Kingdom rich and enabled it to build a powerful army, which went on to conquer and dominate a wide area, including other port cities, including the Asian continent.

Culture and society

The Axum Kingdom was divided into principalities under a central power. The king of Axum ruled over the princes and rulers of the other principalities, whom he commanded and collected taxes. Thus he was considered the "king of kings.

The Axumite society, composed of nobles, merchants, sailors, soldiers, and slaves, was polytheistic. Contact with other peoples led to the incorporation of diverse religious aspects.

Yoruba Civilization

The Yoruban cities started to be formed in the West African area between the coast of Benin and the Akan region.  The beginning of the formation of the city was around the 5th century, but their development began in the 9th century. The formation of the Yoruba population in this area has likely happened by the process of migrations in the region between the Niger River and Lake Chad.

Yoruba cities are considered city-states because of the similar characteristics between the Phoenician and Greek cities of antiquity. They were cities with an expanded territorial dimension, similar to small kingdoms, which encompassed the city itself and its surroundings with their government and economy.

Precisely because there was no homogeneous political and military unity, the cities suffered a decline, which made it difficult to resist the enslavement process that increased with the arrival of the Portuguese in the region. 

Politics, Society, and Culture

Politically, the Yoruba cities, although autonomous, respected a hierarchy of power. The city of Ife was ruled by an Oni (a priest-king) while the other ones had an Oba (local ruler) and owed respect to the Oni. In this way, Ife was constituted, in practice, as the central power of the so-called Yoruba civilization.

The cities usually had assemblies composed of members of the ruling class, composed of aristocrats linked to local power, military power, or even to the internal and external commerce of the cities.

Empire of Ghana

The Empire of Ghana originated in a region between the Niger River, the Senegal River, and the Sahara Desert. Part of this area is known as the Sahel, an extensive belt that cuts across Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, between the Sahara Desert and the Sudanese savannahs. It is said to have been founded by the Soninke people.

These people were organized into tribes and lived by agriculture, animal husbandry, and fishing. Some nomadic groups passed through the region trading and plundering, and to better protect their cities, the Soninkes felt the need to make alliances among themselves. Therefore, since the fourth century, there were already small towns in this area that, as they developed, gave rise to the Kingdom of Ghana.

By the 8th century, Ghana was known as one of the leading empires in the region. Its merchants controlled important trade routes connecting West Africa to North Africa, Egypt, the Middle East, and other parts of Asia.

Economy and Society

The peak of the Ghana Empire occurred in the late 11th century. The economy of the kingdom was vigorous due to the extraction of gold.  In addition, the flow of the product was controlled by the royal power.

Other vigorous sources of profit were the collection of and the dominance of trade routes. The king of Ghana demanded tribute from neighboring peoples and, in return, provided them protection.

The control of the trade routes also brought good income.

End of Ghana Empire

Two factors contributed to the end of the Empire of Ghana. The first was the expansion of Islam over the region. Some merchants and members of the imperial elite were leaving the African cults and joining the Islamic faith, which led to fighting within the clans and eventually plunged much of the empire into civil war. In the process, the surrounding small kingdoms that were under Ghana's rule began to seek independence from the central power.

Already weakened, the Empire of Ghana was defeated by the Almoravids around 1076.

Empire of Mali

The emergence of the Mali Empire is linked to the end of the Empire of Ghana. When the latter was in decline, some members of the Soninke people had already crossed the Niger River in an attempt to find new sources of gold exploitation. They were credited for founding the city known as Djenné, which was crucial for trade in this region downriver and consequently within the Mali Empire. 

After a long conflict between Ghana and the Almoravids, Mali prevailed over other local kingdoms and dynasties. In the 12th century, Sundiata Keita was responsible for the unification of the kingdom. Mali's expansion was so vigorous that virtually all of the territories that had formed the Empire of Ghana came under his rule.  In this way, Mali quickly became the largest empire in West Africa.

Politics, Economy, and Society

During Sundiata Keita's rule, Mali came to rule the lands that were Ghana's, commanding existing kingdoms and trade routes. There were two types of provinces in the Mali Empire: One that allied itself during the conflict process and another that was defeated and submitted to Mali.

The political organization of this Empire was characterized by a kingdom divided into provinces that were subject to central power, the capital Niani. Mali had a strict code of laws, written by an assembly called the Gbara, composed of people from different parts of the empire.

Economically, Mali favored itself, like Ghana, with the extraction and trade of gold.  The trade routes that crossed the Sahara Desert found Mali a trading point in West Africa. Moreover, the empire also made use of navigation on the Niger River to move in both directions. Consequently, this expanded its commercial power.

Mali society was very hierarchical and divided into very closed castes. Each clan performed a specif activity.

The decline of the Mali Empire

The decline occurred in the 15th century, due to the incursion of Berber peoples into West Africa, which damaged trade, the economy, and a series of internal conflicts, weakening its structure. In addition, the Songhai Empire, a kingdom hitherto dominated by Mali, secured its independence and eventually controlled it.

Bantus

Around 2000 B.C, the first Bantu groups left southeastern Nigeria and spread throughout southern Africa. From this expansion process emerged different Bantu-speaking civilizations. Starting in the seventh century, with the arrival of Arab traders, Islamism also spread to the region, giving rise to a culture that integrated elements of Islam and Bantu culture.

Sometime in the second millennium B.C., possibly due to the aridity of the Sahara combined with migration pressure from the Saharan people in the region, they were forced to expand into the rainforests of Central Africa. Approximately 1,000 years later, the Bantu began a second and more rapid expansion beyond the forests of southern and eastern Africa.

The kingdoms formation 

The formation of Bantu kingdoms and states started in the 16th century probably due to population growth, which led to more specialized divisions of labor, possibly including the emergence of a military class.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Bantu states began to emerge in different parts of Africa - from the southern savannah to the central African rainforest. Starting in the 16th century, Bantus from various regions of Africa were captured and sold as slaves by the Portuguese, and the destination of many was Brazil.

Social Organization

The center of Banta society was the clan. The elders were the guardians of traditions and mediated any relationship with other clans. 

A tribe is constituted of a group of clans, more or less related to each other, speaking the same dialect and occupying the same territory.

In Bantu society, the most important values are hospitality, respect for elders and older brothers, and family. The elders represent wisdom and are the ones in charge of transmitting ancestral values to the new generations.