MEDIEVAL HISTORY OUTLINE: GRADE 7
CHAPTER 2 CIVILIZATIONS OF AFRICA
Section 1: Africa and the Bantu (Begin on page 37)
I. Africa’s Physical Geography
-Tropical rain forests are located on __________________________. They have hot _____________________________________.
-Surrounding these forests are bands of _______________________, areas of grassland with scattered ____________________________. Much of Africa is _________________________________.
-Deserts stretch _____________________________ of the savannas.
-The __________________ is a desert ________________________ across much of ________________________. It is the world’s largest ___________________.
-A band of _______________, deep ________________, and rugged _____________________ runs ______________________________ through east Africa.
-Africa’s _____________________________ has affected its people’s ____________________. For example, there is little _____________ in Africa’s deserts because there _____________________________.
-People ____________ cattle on the __________________________, but _____________ cannot survive in the _____________________. Flies and other ______________ in the ___________________ carry diseases that ____________________________________________.
II. The Bantu Migration
-The physical ___________________ formed by _______________, forests, ____________________, and _____________ did not stop the ______________________________ of people across Africa.
-The migrations of the ______________________ continued for more than ______________ years. They are among the largest _________________________________ in all of human history.
-Historians know a great deal about __________________________. But they have only a __________________ knowledge of the history of Africa _____________________________________. That area is called _____________________________________________.
-Until modern times, the _________________ cut off this larger part of __________________________________________________.
-One reason this __________________ is so difficult is that the wood and _____________ that many African people __________________ have disintegrated. Even ________________________ and weapons have not lasted, because iron _______________________________.
-In early times, most ____________________ peoples were fishers, ______________, and ______________. Their villages were made up of the ____________________, or group of families who traced their _________________________________________________.
-Many of these ______________ traced their _________________ through ________________ rather than ________________. For this reason, ________________ and _____________________________ were passed down through the ______________________________.
-The _________________________peoples moved slowly from their _____________________________. Each generation moved a fairly __________________________ in their search for ______________
_______________________________________________________.
-In many places, they had to ________________________________. For example, they learned to raise ____________________________ and different _________________________________________.
-Often, __________________ people moved into areas where other ________________________________. When this happened, they sometimes joined the ____________________________. The older cultures then usually ____________________________________.
- For example, the ______________ introduced crops such _______ to other parts of Africa. At other times, however, the ____________ forced the people already __________________________________.
-As the _______________ migrated, they also carried a knowledge of __________________________________. ____________ tools gave the ___________________ more control over their ______________ than older ___________________________ had.
-With hard ___________, they could ______________________ and clear the ____________. Their sharp _________________________ and arrows were powerful __________________ for hunting and for _________________________________.
-These __________________ continued over many _____________, with groups moving whenever an ____________________________. In time, the ______________ had settled throughout ____________ __________________________________________________.
Section 2: Kingdoms of West Africa
I. Kingdoms of the Savanna
-Mansa Musa ruled ______________, a rich _______________ of the ______________________. The kingdoms of the ________________ controlled rich ____________________ across the ______________.
-The Niger River, which flows ___________________________, was another important ____________________________________.
-Traders _________________________ through these lands had to ___________________ on all their goods. This made the kingdoms _______________. In return, the rulers kept _________________ and order __________________________________________.
-_______________ and _____________ were the basis of West African trade. Most of the ___________ came from mines in the _______________________________________.
-Salt was very _______________. People needed it to ____________ ____________________, to __________________, and to ________ _________________. Salt was scarce in the ___________________. So people from the ______________________ region of West Africa ____________________ in exchange for _________________.
-The first West African ________________ to be based on the wealth of the _________________ and _________________ was Ghana. By about A.D. _________, the people of Ghana took control of the trade ____________________________________________. By about 800, Ghana was a ____________________________________.
-Ghana’s capital, _______________________, was divided into two ______________. One was the center of ___________________. The other was the ______________________________ where the ______________ had his ____________________.
-Around A.D. ____________, the power of Ghana began _________
________________. Invaders from the ______________ overran the _______________ and other ______________. By the 1200s, Ghana had been broken into ______________________________________.
-Soon, most of the trade in the area was _______________________ new kingdom, the kingdom of ________________.
-Under the leadership of _____________________, who united the kingdom about _______________, Mali took control of the ________ and ___________________________________.
-By 1255, when _________________ died, Mali had grown ________ from trade. It had become the most __________________________
________________________________________.
-In _____________, Mansa Musa became the ruler of ___________. By this time, traders from __________________ had brought a new religion, _______________, to ________________________.
-Mansa Musa greatly ______________________________ and made ________________ the official religion. Mansa Musa’s trip to the holy ____________ of ________________ created new ties between Mali and the ______________ peoples of North Africa and ___________
________________________________________.
-During his ______________ rule, Mansa Musa used his new ties to these _______________________ to make Mali a _______________
_________________. Scholars came to teach __________________, __________________, __________________, and ______________.
-In the late ____________, however—about ____________________ after Mansa Musa died—Mali’s power __________________. Raiders attacked from the _________________, and fighting _____________ within the kingdom.
-Several provinces ______________________________ and became _____________________. One of these former provinces became an _______________ in its own right. It was called ________________.
-___________________ became the leading ___________________ of the West African ___________________ during the ___________. Like the rulers of Ghana and Mali, ______________________ leaders controlled trade routes and the sources of _____________________.
-Songhai’s _______________ and _________________ grew when it conquered the rich trading city of _________________________ in 1468.
-In less than __________, however, the kingdom of _____________ began to lose power. In the ____________________, the people of _______________ began fighting among _____________________.
-The kingdom became __________________. And it easily fell to the ____________ and _______________ of an army from __________, in North Africa. The era of the ___________ and ________________ trading empires of ________________________ was at __________.
- II. Kingdoms of the Forest
-________________, ________________, and _________________ developed on West Africa’s savanna. At the same time, other __________________ arose in the ______________________ to the south of these _________________________.
-The people of the rainforest were not __________________. They practiced religions with _________________________________.
-Two of the most _________________________ of the West African ________________ were centered around the cities of ___________ and ______________. Both of these cities were located in the __________________________________________.
-As with the kingdoms of the ___________________, ____________ made these forest kingdoms ______________ and ______________.
-About A.D. 1000, ______________ became a major _____________ and ________________ center. The ______________ leaders of this kingdom were called ________________.
-Historians know little about the __________________ or the people who ____________________. One of the reasons that we know little about ______________ is that the modern town of ____________ is located on _______________________________________. Also the region is thickly _________________________________________.
-The city of _________________ dates to the 1200s. At that time, workers in the region mined ____________, _____________, and _____________. ______________ leaders, called ____________, also sold __________________ to African traders.
-By the 1500s, ________________ reached its greatest ___________ and ______________. The ______________ controlled a large army, ___________________, _________________________, and less important ______________________________.
-The city of _______________ ruled the _________________ routes along the rivers to the _______________ and _______________. It became immensely _______________. It ruled much of present-day _______________________________________.
-_________________ remained strong until the late ____________, when the kingdom began to ________________________________.
III. Focus on Tombouctou
-From the _______________ mines of the Sahara, caravan leaders drove their ______________ through the ____________________. Heavily weighted with _______________________, the camel train headed _______________.
-Meantime, ______________________________ from West Africa’s __________________ traveled north. They met in the West African city of ___________________.
-In the 1500s, _____________ was as valuable as ___________ in the city’s markets.
Section 3: East Africa’s Great Trading Centers
I. Ancient Ethiopia
-Thousands of years ago, rich civilizations began to develop in ____________________ and northeastern ________________ along the __________ Sea. By A.D. 1, the city of ______________, located in present-day __________________, was an important East African center ______________________.
-Although the city of _______________ was located in the mountains about ___________________, it controlled a trading port at __________________ on the _______________ Sea. Over time, ______________ conquered much of modern __________________ and southwestern ___________________.
-The merchants of ____________ traded goods at __________ as far away as ___________________. One of the _____________ trading goods they controlled was _________________________.
-As they traded goods with ______________________, the people of _______________ also exchanged __________________ and beliefs with them.
-During the A.D. 300s, ___________________ of _______________ learned about a new religion—______________________________. Soon the king became a _____________________ himself and made ______________________ the official ___________________ of the kingdom. Over time, most people under ____________________ rule converted ___________________________.
-For several ___________________ years. ______________ kept its control of the major __________________________________ linking ______________ with ________________ and _________________. Then in the A.D. ______________, Muslims fought with the rulers of ___________________ for control of _________________________.
-Eventually, the Muslims conquered the ______________________. The Muslim conquest of the _________________ ended the trade that had given ___________________________________________.
-After ___________ had lost power, the _______________________ of the region built ________________________________________. Many neighboring _____________ converted to ________________, but present-day _______________ remained __________________.
-Cut off in their __________________ home, the ________________ had little ________________________________ with other Christian _________________. In time, their churches developed unique _____________________________________________.
-Another ___________ feature of the _________________________ is a group of __________________ built about A.D. _____________ under King __________________. The king had his people build new __________________—but not from the ___________________ up. Instead the people were to __________________________________ down into the solid _________________________________.
-The flat ______________________ of the buildings are __________ with the __________________________________________.
II. Rich Centers of Trade
-After Muslims gained control of ___________________ trade, trade centers developed along the ________________________________. Each of these ports was a ________________. By 1400, there were about _____ such __________________ along Africa’s ___________
___________________________________.
-Trade thrived in ___________________ because the region supplied goods such as ______________ and ______________ that were very scarce outside of ___________________.
-In return, Muslim traders brought ________________________ that could ________ be found in _______________. Muslim traders from ______________ also brought their _______________________ and ________________________ to these African __________________.
-The merchants of _____________ traded goods from ___________ regions of Africa for the __________________________ that traders brought to the ____________________________________.
-Contact between ____________ and _______________ in Kilwa and other coastal city-states led to a __________________________ and _________________. Called _______________, this ____________ language has words borrowed from _______________. ___________ was spoken all along the _______________________________.
-In the __________, _____________________ troops sailing from ____________________ captured and looted _______________ and the other coastal city-states. _____________________ took over the prosperous ______________________________.
-But the influence of ________________________ culture remained. Today, __________________ is the official language in __________ and _____________________________, and most East Africans use ___________________ for business. Islam is still an important __________________________________________.
-Much of the ___________ traded at ______________ was mined in an inland area to the _________________, between the __________ and ___________________ rivers. This was the region controlled by the powerful southeastern __________________________________.
-Great Zimbabwe grew ______________ and _________________ through __________________________.
-Historians believe that the city of ___________________________ had been founded by about ___________. Its __________________ people were the ancestors of today’s _________________________.
-Most people in this area were ___________________________. For those who were better off, large ______________________ were an important form of ________________________________.
-Richest of all were the leaders who __________________________
_________________________________.
-________________________ thrived for ____________________ of years. Historians believe that the ______________ reached its __________ before the early ____________. By ____________, the city had fallen. Its ________________________ still stand, and its __________________ is a source of ________________ for the present-day nation of ___________________________.