Lesson 19: History of Africa
Recognize how peoples create regions to understand a large, complex, and changing world.
In this class we've talked briefly about EMPIRES. It's basically a group of states or countries ruled by one ruler, the 'emperor'. There were a few empires that existed in Northern Africa. The first one we'll talk about is the Ottoman Empire.
When you hear the word 'empire' you might think that it only occurred in ancient times. Actually the Ottoman Empire lasted up until World War I. That was after cars were invented. Here's a map of the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire in the year 1566
When you hear the word 'empire' you might think that it only occurred in ancient times. Actually the Ottoman Empire lasted up until World War I. That was after cars were invented. Here's a map of the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire in the year 1566
I found a map from 1566 because that was around the time of the height of the empire. If you click on the picture Wikipedia will show you how the territory of the empire grew and then shrunk over the years. This empire started in 1453.
The capital of the empire was actually in Turkey which is part of Asia. As you can see by the map, the Ottoman Empire actually covered parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. We'll talk more about the Ottoman Empire when we get to the middle east.
The capital of the empire was actually in Turkey which is part of Asia. As you can see by the map, the Ottoman Empire actually covered parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. We'll talk more about the Ottoman Empire when we get to the middle east.
The Byzantine Empire is another empire that was only partially in Africa. It ended earlier than the Ottoman Empire, it ended in 1453 A.D. The Byzantine Empire actually fell to the Ottoman Empire, that's why their territory area is pretty similar.
Even though the majority of both the Ottoman and Byzantine Empires were in Asia and Europe, we're talking about them because the culture of these two empires influenced northern Africa.
The next three empires are going to be referred to as CALIPHATES. A Caliphate is an Islamic empire ruled by a Caliph instead of an emperor. Islam is a religion. A lot of people think about countries in the middle east when they think about Islam, but Islam is a major religion in Africa. The map below shows you by country how popular Islam is in Africa and other areas in Asia.
The next three empires are going to be referred to as CALIPHATES. A Caliphate is an Islamic empire ruled by a Caliph instead of an emperor. Islam is a religion. A lot of people think about countries in the middle east when they think about Islam, but Islam is a major religion in Africa. The map below shows you by country how popular Islam is in Africa and other areas in Asia.
Islam is the name of the religion, and the people that practice Islam are known as Muslims. There are two main branches of Islam. Both are shown on the map above. There are Sunni Muslims and Shi'ite Muslims. We won't go into religion in this lesson, for now you need to know that northern Africa is heavily influenced by the culture of Islam.
The three other caliphates are: ABBASID, FATIMID, and UMAYYAD.
The three other caliphates are: ABBASID, FATIMID, and UMAYYAD.
The Abbasid was from 750 - 1256 A.D. And had Persian influences. PERSIA was another empire that is today mostly located in the country of Iran. Don't get Persian and Parisian confused. Parisian wasn't an empire, it's referring to the people of Paris, France which we'll get to when we talk about Europe. The Fatimid caliphate started from a group of Shi'ite Muslims, and the Umayyad Caliphate started with a Muslim group in Syria who spread their influence by conquering territories. The Umayyad Caliphate is actually considered the 5th largest empire to exist, and the first four on that list came after the empire collapsed.
So we know that Africa's history has been influenced by Ottoman, Byzantine, and Islam empires.
If you've studied explorers (like Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo) you know that during the late 15th century (aka late 1400's) Europeans got pretty excited about claiming territory as their own. The Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch and English sailed west to claim territory as their own. When these European explorers found a new place, even if it already had people living there, they wanted to claim it as their own so it could make money for their mother country. This is where those 'four largest' empires come from, this empire building time period. In U.S. history you learn about how America was started with the 13 English colonies. But Americans got tired of answering to England so they declared independence and fought the Revolutionary War.
Similar things happened in other areas, many times they weren't happy with being just a colony of a powerful European country across the sea, so they tried to fight similar wars and declare their independence. When you learn about the history of a country, oftentimes there's a year they declared independence. They are talking about the year that country broke away from the mother country who claimed them as a colony. The first wave of Europeans establishing colonies they focused on the 'New World' or the Americas (North and South). The second wave the Europeans turned their attention to Africa and decided to start claiming territory on that continent. Below is a map showing how European countries divided Africa:
Not only was Africa influenced by older empires, but when Europe started claiming territory as their own, European culture influenced Africa. Today many countries still speak languages of Europe:
Before these outside influences, different countries had their own cultures and tribes. Maybe the most well-known ancient culture is that of Ancient Egypt. We've talked about how when people started settling in civilizations the first thing they looked for was fresh water. Well the Nile River runs from the south to the North and it is the largest river in the world, so it makes sense that people would choose to settle along the Nile.
Here is another map of kingdoms and empires that existed in Africa that were made up of indigenous people:
Here is another map of kingdoms and empires that existed in Africa that were made up of indigenous people:
I've mentioned regions before and how they are different from the borders of countries. The map above shows kingdoms that existed before countries existed. These areas might be considered REGIONS where a certain group of people reside. Also the environment is different depending on what region of Africa you are in. When you're looking at a place it's important to look not only at country borders, but also at regions and what characteristics are specific to that region.
Ask questions like, what's the climate like? What kinds of animals live in the area? What are the different races that live in the area? What is the history of that place? Did it used to be part of an empire? Is there any European influence? What languages do they speak in the area? What do most people in the area do for a living? Are there certain customs or traditions that are only practiced here? What are social rules of the area? What is important to people here?
There are so many questions you can ask about a region, and it helps you learn more about the world around you.
Ask questions like, what's the climate like? What kinds of animals live in the area? What are the different races that live in the area? What is the history of that place? Did it used to be part of an empire? Is there any European influence? What languages do they speak in the area? What do most people in the area do for a living? Are there certain customs or traditions that are only practiced here? What are social rules of the area? What is important to people here?
There are so many questions you can ask about a region, and it helps you learn more about the world around you.
Assignment 19
For this assignment you're going to do some research on one of the Kingdoms of Africa shown on the map just above the assignment. First choose one of the kingdoms. Next to research the kingdom you've chosen find an informational video/documentary on YouTube or another website. Make sure the video is educational and teaches about the history of the kingdom you've chosen. The video should be longer than 2 minutes, but shorter than 20 minutes. You can try searching for videos using the keywords 'Kingdom of ....."
After you've found an appropriate video write 5 questions that are answered in your video. And provide an answer key to those questions. Make sure to include the link to the video you found in your assignment before you upload it below.
After you've found an appropriate video write 5 questions that are answered in your video. And provide an answer key to those questions. Make sure to include the link to the video you found in your assignment before you upload it below.
Standard 2 Objective 2: A