Page 440-448 African Societies, Slavery, and the Slave Trade
Main Idea: African societies had developed many forms of servitude due to the slave trade. Women remained a central feature of African slavery.
-Europeans justified slavery because it existed elsewhere (Africa)
-African societies developed forms of servitude; varied from peasant status to something like chattel slavery (people considered property without a soul)
-African states were nonegalitarian, the control of slaves was one of the ways an individual could increase their wealth
-slaves were used as servants, concubines, soldiers, administrators, and field workers; sometimes whole villages of slaves who were requiered to pay tribute to the owner, such as in the empire of Ghana and in Kongo
-Muslim traders had slave porters as well as villages of slaves to supply their caravans
-Forms of servitude were benign and an extension of lineage and kinship systems while in others they were exploitive econmic and social relations that reinforced the hierarchies of African societies
-Atlantic trade opened up new oppurtunities for expansion and intensification of slavery
-slaves were denied choice about their lives and actions; placed in dependent positions and considered aliens
-enslavement of women was a central feature of African slavery
-historians question if the enslavement of women led to polygyny(having 2+ wives at a time)
-Sudanic states of the savanna, Islamic concepts of slavery were introduced; slavery was a fate for nobelievers but was illegal for Muslims (Ahmad Baba of Timbuktu was against the enslavement of Muslims)
-slavery allowed Europeans to mobilize the commerce in slaves by tapping existing routes and supplies
-Africans did not enslave their own people
Slaving and African Politics
Main Idea: As competition grew as states tried to expand, endless wars broke out and made the sale of captives into the slave trade an extension of the politics of African regions.
-European merchants and royal officials tapped existing routes, markets, and institutions, but the new demand intensified enslavement in Africa and changed the nature of slavery in African societies
-beteween 1500 and 1750 (gunpowder empires and expanding international commerce of Europe penetrated sub-Saharan Africa)states and societies transformed
-the many states of central and western Africa were small and fragmented--> situation of instability caused by competition and warefare as states tried to expand
-the warrior or soldier emerged as an important social type -- like in the Kongo kingdom and Dahomey, along the Zambezi River as well
-endless wars* promoted importance of military and made the sale of captives into the slave trade an extensino of the politics of regions of Africa
-sometimes wars took on a religious aspect *believers vs. nonbelievers* = capture and sale of millions of humans
-self-sufficiency and anti-authoritarian ideas developed
-result of presence of Europeans on the coast was shift in locus of power in Africa
-states like Ghana and Songhay in the savanna took advantage of their position as intermediaries b/w the gold of the west African forests and the trans-Saharan trade routes
- people on the coast tried to monopolize the trade with Europeans
-with acces to European firearms, iron, horses, cloth, tobacco, western and central African kingdoms redirected trade toward the coast
-result was unending warfare and disruption of societies as search for slaves pushed ever farhter into the interior
Asante and Dahomey
Main Idea: Both the Asante empire and Dahomey kingdom emerged due to the slave trade and expanded by conquest. Asante combined the 20 small states of Kumasi and used an ideology of unity to overcome their divisons while Dahomey eliminated the royal families and customs in places they conquered and established their traditions for unification.
-several large states developed in west Africa during the slave trade era and represented a response to the realities of the European presence
-rulers in the African states grew in power and often surrounded themselves with ritual authority and a court life to reinforce the position their armies won
-in the Gold Coast area (called by the Europeans) Asante (Ashanti) empire rose during the slave trade
-the Asante were members of the Akan people (group in present day Ghana) who setlled around Kumasi (region of gold and jola nut production) where 20 small states based on the martrilineal clans that were common to the Akan people, but people in the Oyoko clan predominated
-the cooperation and access to firearms after 1650 initated a period of centralization and expansion
- under Osei Tutu, the title asantehene created to designate the supreme civil and religious leader- became the symbol of an Asante union created by linknig Akan clans
-ideology of unity was used to overcome the traditional clan divisions- conquest of the area began and by 1700 the Dutch on the coast dealt with them
-Asante was powerful until 18020s, slaves made up almost two third of their trade and gold contributed as well
-area of the Bight of Benin, several large states developed- kingdom of Benin had political and artistic traditions
-1516 the ruler or "oba" limited slave trade from Benin
-European pressure and the goals of the Benin nobility combined to generate a significan slave trade
- Dahomey developed among the Fon (Aja) peoples- emerged from Abomey
- 1720s, access to firearms allowed the rulers to cvreate an autocratic and brutal political regime based on the slave trade
-King Agaja, Dahomey moved towards the coast, trade controlled by royal court
-Dahomey eliminated the royal families and customs it conquered and established their traditions= unified, slaving state 1.8 million slaves exported from Bight of Benin b.w 1640 and 1890
-growing divine authority of the rulers paralleled absoloutism in Europe--> new political forms (limit kings power)
-Yoruba state of Oyo--> governing council shared power with the ruler
-in the arts, crafts such as bronze casting, woodcarving, and weaving flourished, as well as sculptures in wood and ivory
-Europeans came to appreciate African arts and skills- Portuguese employed African artists to work
East Africa and the Sudan
Main Idea:Slavery became a prominent feature of the east African coast with slave populations as high as 100,000 in particular areas.
-West Africa was the most influenced by the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but elsewhere long-term patterns of society and economy continued and intersected with new external influences
-Swahili trading cities continued their commerce in the Indian Ocean, adjusting to military presence of Portuese and Ottoman Turks
-Trade to the interior brought ivory, gold, and supply of slaves
-many slaves destined for the harems and households of Arabia and the Middle East, but small number were carried away by the Europeans for their plantaion colonies
-Zambezi River in Mozambique used slave soldiers to increase their territories
-east African groups specialized in supplying ivory and slaves to the east African coast
-Swahili, Indian, and Arabian merchants followed the European model and set up clove-producing plantations using African slave laborers--> slave population of 100,000
-slavery became a prominent feature of the east African coast
- large and small kingoms in the east were supported by the well-watered and heavily populated region of the great lakes of the interior
-Bantu speakers predominated- states absorebed the immigrants
-Nilotic migrations, esp the Luo people, resulted in construction of related dynasties
-other related states formed in the region b/w 17th and 17th centuries
-process of Islamization entered new violent stage that linked Islamization to the external slave trade
-several successor states established after Songhay breakup- Hausa kindgom ruled by Muslim royal families and urban aritocracies
-1770s, Muslim reform movements swept the western Sudan; religious brotherhoods advocating a purifying Sufi variant of Islam extended their influence throughout the Muslim trade networks---> intense impact on the Fulani, a pastoral people who were spread across a broad area of the western Sudan
-1804 Usuman Dan Fodio, Muslim Fulani scholar, preached the reformist ideaology in the Hausa kindgoms- movement was a revolution when seeing himself as Gods instrument, he rpeached a jihad against the Hausa kings who weren't following the teachings of Muhammand
-new kingdom developed under Dan Fodio's son and brother- expansion driven by religious zeal and political ambitions, as the attack on Muslim kingdom Bornu demonstrated- result was creation of a powerful Sokoto state under a caliph
- 1840s, Islamization effects and Fulani expansion were felt across interior of west Africa--- new political units established
-reformist Islam tried to eliminate pagan practices spread as well as social and cultural changes
-jihads established other new states along similar lines (literacy widespread, new centers of trade emerged)
-upheavals moved by religious, political and econmic motives were effected by external pressures on Africa
White Settlers and Africans in Southern Africa
Main Idea: Although the southern end of Africa was not really affected by the slave trade, competition for things like fertile plains and hills existed there between the Africans and Boers.
-southern end of Africa wasn't really affected by the slave trade; peoples practicing farming and using iron tools were living south of the Limpopo River by the 3rd century C.E.
-Bantu speakers spread southward and established their villages and cattle herds in the fertile lands along the eastern coast (heavy rain)
-Bantu-speaking peoples occupied much of the eastern regions of southern Africa- agriculture, herding, iron and copper tools, weapons, adornments, traded with neighbors
-spoke Zulu and Zhosa languages
-men worked as artisans and herders; women did the farming and the housework
-chiefdoms of various sizes characterized the Bantu peoples; chiefs held power with the support of relatives
1652 Dutch East India Company established a colony at the Cape of Good Hope to serve as a provisioning post for ships sailing to Asia--large farms developed
-competition resulted to the Dutch farmers crossing the Oragne River in search of new lands and finding fertile plains and hills (saw Africans as intruders)
-various government measures caused groups of Boers to move to the north- voortrekkers moved into lands occupied by southern Nguni, created Boer states
-Boers staged their Great Trek to the north to be free of government interferance
The Mfecane and the Zulu Rise to Power
Main Idea: Zulu, a powerful group of Bantu-speaking peoples, created a powerful chiefdom in a process of expansion.
- unification process began in northern chiefdoms and a new militaryr organization emerged- 1818 leadership fell to Shaka
- army was made a permanent instituation, new tactics were introduced
-Zulu chiefdom became the center of hte new military and political organization, which destroyed or absorbed its neighbors
-cruel behavior by Shaka led to enemies even within his own chiefdom
- mfecane- wards of crushing and wandering began due to the rise of Zulu and other Nguni chiefdoms
-groups raided Portuguese on the coast, clashed with Europeans to the south, collided with chiefdoms
page 448-454
The African Diaspora
Main Idea: The slave trade and other types of trade in the African soceities led them into the world economy.
-slave trade linked americas and africa; drew the African soceities into the world economy
-the major imports such as firearms, Indian textiles, and American tobacco of European goods into Africa (and slaves) demonstrated Africa's integration into the mercanile structureof the world
-prices of slaves rose during the 18th centurry Slave Lives
Main Idea:Despite horrific treatment and conditions, especiallyin the Middle Passage, Africans maintained what was most valuable to them through slavery; their languages, beliefs, traditions, and memories.
-slavery meant destruction of villages or their capture in war, seperation from friends and family, and moving to slave pens
-horrible conditions; one third of captives died along the way or in slave pens
-slaves were loaded onto cargos (up to 700 slaves) unsanitary conditions
-the Bights of Benin and Biafra were dangerous- average mortality rate was usually about 18 percent
-the Middle Passage, slave voyage to the Americas, was horrific--> slaves were taken from homes, branded, confined, and shackled
-Africans faced poor hygeine, disease, bad treatment
-Africans maintained their languages, beliefs, aristic traditions and memories through slavery Africans in the Americas
Main Idea: Slaves were used for just about every occupation there wvas; they were miners, artisans, street vendors, and household servants.
-slaves were brought to plantations and mines of the Americas
-estates caused for large amounts of labor--first in sugar producion and then rice, cotton, and tobacco
-plantation system was already being used for sugar on the Spain and Portugal coasts
-West Africans came from soceities with herding, metallurgy, intensive agriculture- sought by Europeans for their asks of making suar
-in England, servants were replaced by slaves
-the plantation became the locus of African and American life--> relied on slaves for labor
-slaves were also miners, artisans, street vendors, household servants American Slave Societies
Main Idea: Creole and Mulatto slaves were given more oppurtunities in the Americas than most other slaves.
- each American slave-based society reflected its EUropean origin
-each recognized distinctions between African-born saltwater slaves (completely black) and the Creole slaves (mulattos)
-a hierarchy of status evolved where free whites were at the top, slaves at the ottom, free people of oclor had intermediate position
-creole and mulatto slaves were given more oppurtunities to acquire skilled jobs or to work as house servants than in fields and mines
- creole and mulatto slaves were more likely to win their freedom
-African nobles or religious leaders who were sold into slavery continuted to exercise authority within the slave community
-many slave rebellians in the Caribbean and Brazil were organized by African ethic and political lines
-Jamica- Akan led rebellions
- Peru- blacks outnumbered Europeans
-free people of color made up one-third, slaves and free colored people made up the other two thirds
-Charleston and New Orleans developed slave and free African population
-creole slaves predominated in North America, 10 percent of the population The People and Gods in Exile
Main Idea: Slaves converted to Christianity yet continuted to hold onto their African religious beliefs at the same time.
-working contitions were exhausting, life was difficult
-family formation was made difficult because of the general shortage of female slaves
-family members were seperated by sale or master's whim
-lived in familiy units, even through marriages
-aspects of langguage, religion, artistic sensibilities, and other cultural elements survived
-slaveholders tried to mix up the slaves so that they would not be lost
-afro-american culture reflected specific african roots adapted to anew reality
-religion was a continuity an adaption
-slaves converted to catholicism by spaniards and the portuguese
-members of Black Catholic brotherhoods
-African religious ideas and practices did not die
-obeah was the name given to the african religious practices in england
-brazilian candomble and haitian vodun, fully developed versions of African religions flourished and continute even today
-Middle passage- religious ideas were easier to transfer than the institutional aspects of religion
-slaves held their new faith in christianity and african beliefs at the same time
-resistance and rebellion were other aspects of african american history
-1508 African runaways disrupted communications on Hispaniola
-palmares, an enormous runaway slave kingdom with many villages and high population
-Suriname, former dutch plantation colony- large umbers of slaves ran off in the 18th century and mounted an almost perpetual war in the rain forest
-those captured were brutally executed but a truce developed
Safavids ESPIRIT
E
Main Idea: Shah Abbas I went above and beyond to give merchants and traders the most efficient way to trade by established a network of roads and rest houses. Despite his efforts, the Safavid economy came to generally be less market oriented than other states. · Abbas I established his empire as a major center of international trade -Created network of roads and rest houses, desired to make merchants and travelers safe when they were within his domains · Workshops to manufacture the silk textiles and Persian carpets (great demand) were established · Abbas I encouraged Iranian merchants to trade with Muslim, Indian, China, Portuguese, Dutch, and English · Ottomans gained economy growth since their large-scale traders in their empire were from minority groups, who had great contacts with oversea traders · Safavid economy remained much more constricted, less market oriented
S
Main Idea: The Ottomans and Safavids contained very similar social systems, both being dominated by warrior aristocracies and profoundly involved in production and trade. Like many other states in this era, women were subordinated to their fathers and husbands and lacked power outside of politics and religion. · Ottomans and Safavids had very similar social systems · both dominated by warrior aristocracies, which shared power with the absolutist monarchs of each empire (and enjoyed great luxury) · warrior aristocrats retreated to the estates and made life difficult for the peasants on whom they depended on for the support of their houses · demand for landlord class grew with diminish of rulers and population increases reduced the uncultivated lands where peasants may had run to · early rulers encouraged handicraft production and trade, established imperial workshops · engineers, stonemasons, carpenters, and other artisans were provided good pay · women in Islamic societies under Ottoman or Safavid rule faced legal and social disadvantagesà women were subordinated to their fathers and husbands, had political or religious power, and meager outlets for artistic/scholarly expression · (recent evidence suggests) women in the Islamic heartlands struggled against restrictionsà women made no effort to cover their faces in public · Wives and concubines of the rulers were to influence the women · Many women active in trade and money-lending
P
Main Idea: The Safavid dynasty contained an ever-expanding imperial bureaucracy. · Isma’il drank to escape troubles (loss at Chaldiran) à new shah Tahmasp I won the throne and set about restoring the power of the dynasty · Turkic chiefs wanted supreme power, Ozbegs were driven from Safavid domains · Under Shah Abbas I the empire reached strength and prosperity peak, despite that amount of territories controlled remained equivalent to those when ruled by Isma’il and Tahmasp I · Tahmasp worked to bring the Turkic chiefs under control and transform into a warrior nobility · Safavid warrior nobles were assigned villages, whose peasants were required to supply them and their troops with food and labor · Expanding imperial bureaucracy* struggle for power and influence between Turkic and Persian notables was very complicated · Shah Abbas I or Abbas the Great made great use of the youths who were captured in Russia (educated and converted to Islam) they were granted provincial governorships and high offices at court -Similar to the Janissaries, “slave” regiments monopolized the firearms that became prominent in Safavid armies · Sherley brothers from England provided instruction in the casting of cannons and trained Abba’s slave infantry and a special regiment of musketeers recruited from Iranian peasantry · Abbas built a standing army of 40,000 troops and elite bodyguard
I
Main Idea: One of the most historic battles between the Safavids and the Ottomans resulted in a terrible loss for the Safavid dynasty, ending their dreams of western expansion. · Decades of wars caused by the Red Heads and their enemies led to a surviving Sufi commander named Isma’il, who led his Turkic followers to a string of victories -1501, Isma’il’s armies took the city of Tabriz, where he was proclaimed shah (emperor) -A group that followed the Safavids called the Red Heads (due to their distinct headgear) preached Shi’a doctrines and grew à as well did their number of enemies · Isma’il’s followers conquered majority of Persia and pushed the neighboring nomadic people of Turkic stock back to central Asia (present-day Iraq) · Safavid successes and support from their followers attained from the Ottoman borderlands brought them to conflict with Ottoman rulers -August 1514 at Chaldiran, the two armies met in one of the most fateful battles in historyà clash between champions of the Shi’a and Sunni variants of Islam -Used military weapons for battle; *Isma’il’s army lost to well-armed Ottomans -Safavid loss in battle at Chaldiran diminished dreams of western expansion, checked the rapid spread of conversions to Shi’a Islam in the western borderlands as a result of the Safavid’s recent successes in battle · Powerful warrior leaders occupied key posts, posed a constant threat to Safavid monarch after defeat at Chaldiran -To counterbalance threat, Safavid rulers recruited Persians for positions at the court and in the rapidly expanding imperial bureaucracy
R
Main Idea: Safavid shahs and their followers had faith in Shi’ism, which provided ideological and institutional support and was an essential part of Iranian identity. · Safavid dynasty came from a family of Sufi mystics and religious preachersà shrine center at Ardabil -Sail al-Din (named the dynasty) began a militant campaign to purify and reform Islam and spread Muslim teachings among Turkic tribes · Shahs relied on Persian religious scholars called Mullahs who entered into service of the state and were paid by government -They were local mosque officials and prayer leaders · all religious leaders had to curse the first three caliphs and mention the Safavid ruler in the Friday sermon · religious leaders taught in the mosque schools and were directed by state religious officials · Iranian population majority converted to Shi’ism during the centuries of Safavid ruleà others like Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, followers of Sufi were pressured to convert · Religious festivalà commemorating the martyrdom of Husayn (son of Ali)àpublic flagellation involvement as well as passion playsà pilgrimages to Shi’a shrines such as in Karbala · Shi’ism provided ideological and institutional support for Safavid dynasty and was an integral part of Iranian identity
I
Main Idea: The Safavid capital at Isfahan contained beautiful mosques, public baths, beautiful colored designs, and ceramic tiles under the reign of Abbas I. · Early shahs wrote in Turkishà after Chaldiran, Persian supplanted Turkish as the language of the court and bureaucracy · Persian influences were felt in the ritual organizations · Safavids took titles like padishah, or king of kings and derived from those used by ancient Persian emperors · Safavids presided from their high thrones over opulent palace complexes with servants and courtiersà palace life was set by elaborate court rituals and social interaction refined of etiquette and decorum · Safavid shahs claimed descent from one of the Shi’a imams, or successors of Ali · The militant, expansive cast of Shi’a ideology was modified as the faith became major · Abbas I established his empire as a major center of Islamic culture · Capital Isfahan**à seat of Safavid was around a great square lined with two-story shops with mosques, government offices, and soaring arches that opened onto formal gardens · Abbas I founded colleges · Public baths and rest houses established throughout the capital · Beautifully colored miniatures produced by master painters and their apprentices · Great mosques were glory of Abbas I reign: -Ceramic tiles, massive domes, graceful minarets, royal tombs, geometric designs, floral patterns, verses from the Qur’an written in Arabic
T
Main Idea: Technologies in the Safavid dynasty ranged from muskets and field cannons on the battle field to domes and cool refuges in the capital of Isfahan. · At the battle of Chaldiran between the Ottomans and Safavid armies, muskets and field cannon in the gunpowder age was highlightedà use of artillery · Under the reign of Abbas I, grand mosques and ceramic tiles were used · Persian architects and artisans created lush, cool refuges · Domes, tombs, pools, rest houses all created in capital of Isfahan under Abbas I
African Societies, Slavery, and the Slave Trade
Main Idea: African societies had developed many forms of servitude due to the slave trade. Women remained a central feature of African slavery.
-Europeans justified slavery because it existed elsewhere (Africa)
-African societies developed forms of servitude; varied from peasant status to something like chattel slavery (people considered property without a soul)
-African states were nonegalitarian, the control of slaves was one of the ways an individual could increase their wealth
-slaves were used as servants, concubines, soldiers, administrators, and field workers; sometimes whole villages of slaves who were requiered to pay tribute to the owner, such as in the empire of Ghana and in Kongo
-Muslim traders had slave porters as well as villages of slaves to supply their caravans
-Forms of servitude were benign and an extension of lineage and kinship systems while in others they were exploitive econmic and social relations that reinforced the hierarchies of African societies
-Atlantic trade opened up new oppurtunities for expansion and intensification of slavery
-slaves were denied choice about their lives and actions; placed in dependent positions and considered aliens
-enslavement of women was a central feature of African slavery
-historians question if the enslavement of women led to polygyny(having 2+ wives at a time)
-Sudanic states of the savanna, Islamic concepts of slavery were introduced; slavery was a fate for nobelievers but was illegal for Muslims (Ahmad Baba of Timbuktu was against the enslavement of Muslims)
-slavery allowed Europeans to mobilize the commerce in slaves by tapping existing routes and supplies
-Africans did not enslave their own people
Slaving and African Politics
Main Idea: As competition grew as states tried to expand, endless wars broke out and made the sale of captives into the slave trade an extension of the politics of African regions.
-European merchants and royal officials tapped existing routes, markets, and institutions, but the new demand intensified enslavement in Africa and changed the nature of slavery in African societies
-beteween 1500 and 1750 (gunpowder empires and expanding international commerce of Europe penetrated sub-Saharan Africa)states and societies transformed
-the many states of central and western Africa were small and fragmented--> situation of instability caused by competition and warefare as states tried to expand
-the warrior or soldier emerged as an important social type -- like in the Kongo kingdom and Dahomey, along the Zambezi River as well
-endless wars* promoted importance of military and made the sale of captives into the slave trade an extensino of the politics of regions of Africa
-sometimes wars took on a religious aspect *believers vs. nonbelievers* = capture and sale of millions of humans
-self-sufficiency and anti-authoritarian ideas developed
-result of presence of Europeans on the coast was shift in locus of power in Africa
-states like Ghana and Songhay in the savanna took advantage of their position as intermediaries b/w the gold of the west African forests and the trans-Saharan trade routes
- people on the coast tried to monopolize the trade with Europeans
-with acces to European firearms, iron, horses, cloth, tobacco, western and central African kingdoms redirected trade toward the coast
-result was unending warfare and disruption of societies as search for slaves pushed ever farhter into the interior
Asante and Dahomey
Main Idea: Both the Asante empire and Dahomey kingdom emerged due to the slave trade and expanded by conquest. Asante combined the 20 small states of Kumasi and used an ideology of unity to overcome their divisons while Dahomey eliminated the royal families and customs in places they conquered and established their traditions for unification.
-several large states developed in west Africa during the slave trade era and represented a response to the realities of the European presence
-rulers in the African states grew in power and often surrounded themselves with ritual authority and a court life to reinforce the position their armies won
-in the Gold Coast area (called by the Europeans) Asante (Ashanti) empire rose during the slave trade
-the Asante were members of the Akan people (group in present day Ghana) who setlled around Kumasi (region of gold and jola nut production) where 20 small states based on the martrilineal clans that were common to the Akan people, but people in the Oyoko clan predominated
-the cooperation and access to firearms after 1650 initated a period of centralization and expansion
- under Osei Tutu, the title asantehene created to designate the supreme civil and religious leader- became the symbol of an Asante union created by linknig Akan clans
-ideology of unity was used to overcome the traditional clan divisions- conquest of the area began and by 1700 the Dutch on the coast dealt with them
-Asante was powerful until 18020s, slaves made up almost two third of their trade and gold contributed as well
-area of the Bight of Benin, several large states developed- kingdom of Benin had political and artistic traditions
-1516 the ruler or "oba" limited slave trade from Benin
-European pressure and the goals of the Benin nobility combined to generate a significan slave trade
- Dahomey developed among the Fon (Aja) peoples- emerged from Abomey
- 1720s, access to firearms allowed the rulers to cvreate an autocratic and brutal political regime based on the slave trade
-King Agaja, Dahomey moved towards the coast, trade controlled by royal court
-Dahomey eliminated the royal families and customs it conquered and established their traditions= unified, slaving state 1.8 million slaves exported from Bight of Benin b.w 1640 and 1890
-growing divine authority of the rulers paralleled absoloutism in Europe--> new political forms (limit kings power)
-Yoruba state of Oyo--> governing council shared power with the ruler
-in the arts, crafts such as bronze casting, woodcarving, and weaving flourished, as well as sculptures in wood and ivory
-Europeans came to appreciate African arts and skills- Portuguese employed African artists to work
East Africa and the Sudan
Main Idea:Slavery became a prominent feature of the east African coast with slave populations as high as 100,000 in particular areas.
-West Africa was the most influenced by the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but elsewhere long-term patterns of society and economy continued and intersected with new external influences
-Swahili trading cities continued their commerce in the Indian Ocean, adjusting to military presence of Portuese and Ottoman Turks
-Trade to the interior brought ivory, gold, and supply of slaves
-many slaves destined for the harems and households of Arabia and the Middle East, but small number were carried away by the Europeans for their plantaion colonies
-Zambezi River in Mozambique used slave soldiers to increase their territories
-east African groups specialized in supplying ivory and slaves to the east African coast
-Swahili, Indian, and Arabian merchants followed the European model and set up clove-producing plantations using African slave laborers--> slave population of 100,000
-slavery became a prominent feature of the east African coast
- large and small kingoms in the east were supported by the well-watered and heavily populated region of the great lakes of the interior
-Bantu speakers predominated- states absorebed the immigrants
-Nilotic migrations, esp the Luo people, resulted in construction of related dynasties
-other related states formed in the region b/w 17th and 17th centuries
-process of Islamization entered new violent stage that linked Islamization to the external slave trade
-several successor states established after Songhay breakup- Hausa kindgom ruled by Muslim royal families and urban aritocracies
-1770s, Muslim reform movements swept the western Sudan; religious brotherhoods advocating a purifying Sufi variant of Islam extended their influence throughout the Muslim trade networks---> intense impact on the Fulani, a pastoral people who were spread across a broad area of the western Sudan
-1804 Usuman Dan Fodio, Muslim Fulani scholar, preached the reformist ideaology in the Hausa kindgoms- movement was a revolution when seeing himself as Gods instrument, he rpeached a jihad against the Hausa kings who weren't following the teachings of Muhammand
-new kingdom developed under Dan Fodio's son and brother- expansion driven by religious zeal and political ambitions, as the attack on Muslim kingdom Bornu demonstrated- result was creation of a powerful Sokoto state under a caliph
- 1840s, Islamization effects and Fulani expansion were felt across interior of west Africa--- new political units established
-reformist Islam tried to eliminate pagan practices spread as well as social and cultural changes
-jihads established other new states along similar lines (literacy widespread, new centers of trade emerged)
-upheavals moved by religious, political and econmic motives were effected by external pressures on Africa
White Settlers and Africans in Southern Africa
Main Idea: Although the southern end of Africa was not really affected by the slave trade, competition for things like fertile plains and hills existed there between the Africans and Boers.
-southern end of Africa wasn't really affected by the slave trade; peoples practicing farming and using iron tools were living south of the Limpopo River by the 3rd century C.E.
-Bantu speakers spread southward and established their villages and cattle herds in the fertile lands along the eastern coast (heavy rain)
-Bantu-speaking peoples occupied much of the eastern regions of southern Africa- agriculture, herding, iron and copper tools, weapons, adornments, traded with neighbors
-spoke Zulu and Zhosa languages
-men worked as artisans and herders; women did the farming and the housework
-chiefdoms of various sizes characterized the Bantu peoples; chiefs held power with the support of relatives
1652 Dutch East India Company established a colony at the Cape of Good Hope to serve as a provisioning post for ships sailing to Asia--large farms developed
-competition resulted to the Dutch farmers crossing the Oragne River in search of new lands and finding fertile plains and hills (saw Africans as intruders)
-various government measures caused groups of Boers to move to the north- voortrekkers moved into lands occupied by southern Nguni, created Boer states
-Boers staged their Great Trek to the north to be free of government interferance
The Mfecane and the Zulu Rise to Power
Main Idea: Zulu, a powerful group of Bantu-speaking peoples, created a powerful chiefdom in a process of expansion.
- unification process began in northern chiefdoms and a new militaryr organization emerged- 1818 leadership fell to Shaka
- army was made a permanent instituation, new tactics were introduced
-Zulu chiefdom became the center of hte new military and political organization, which destroyed or absorbed its neighbors
-cruel behavior by Shaka led to enemies even within his own chiefdom
- mfecane- wards of crushing and wandering began due to the rise of Zulu and other Nguni chiefdoms
-groups raided Portuguese on the coast, clashed with Europeans to the south, collided with chiefdoms
page 448-454
The African Diaspora
Main Idea: The slave trade and other types of trade in the African soceities led them into the world economy.
-slave trade linked americas and africa; drew the African soceities into the world economy
-the major imports such as firearms, Indian textiles, and American tobacco of European goods into Africa (and slaves) demonstrated Africa's integration into the mercanile structureof the world
-prices of slaves rose during the 18th centurry
Slave Lives
Main Idea:Despite horrific treatment and conditions, especiallyin the Middle Passage, Africans maintained what was most valuable to them through slavery; their languages, beliefs, traditions, and memories.
-slavery meant destruction of villages or their capture in war, seperation from friends and family, and moving to slave pens
-horrible conditions; one third of captives died along the way or in slave pens
-slaves were loaded onto cargos (up to 700 slaves) unsanitary conditions
-the Bights of Benin and Biafra were dangerous- average mortality rate was usually about 18 percent
-the Middle Passage, slave voyage to the Americas, was horrific--> slaves were taken from homes, branded, confined, and shackled
-Africans faced poor hygeine, disease, bad treatment
-Africans maintained their languages, beliefs, aristic traditions and memories through slavery
Africans in the Americas
Main Idea: Slaves were used for just about every occupation there wvas; they were miners, artisans, street vendors, and household servants.
-slaves were brought to plantations and mines of the Americas
-estates caused for large amounts of labor--first in sugar producion and then rice, cotton, and tobacco
-plantation system was already being used for sugar on the Spain and Portugal coasts
-West Africans came from soceities with herding, metallurgy, intensive agriculture- sought by Europeans for their asks of making suar
-in England, servants were replaced by slaves
-the plantation became the locus of African and American life--> relied on slaves for labor
-slaves were also miners, artisans, street vendors, household servants
American Slave Societies
Main Idea: Creole and Mulatto slaves were given more oppurtunities in the Americas than most other slaves.
- each American slave-based society reflected its EUropean origin
-each recognized distinctions between African-born saltwater slaves (completely black) and the Creole slaves (mulattos)
-a hierarchy of status evolved where free whites were at the top, slaves at the ottom, free people of oclor had intermediate position
-creole and mulatto slaves were given more oppurtunities to acquire skilled jobs or to work as house servants than in fields and mines
- creole and mulatto slaves were more likely to win their freedom
-African nobles or religious leaders who were sold into slavery continuted to exercise authority within the slave community
-many slave rebellians in the Caribbean and Brazil were organized by African ethic and political lines
-Jamica- Akan led rebellions
- Peru- blacks outnumbered Europeans
-free people of color made up one-third, slaves and free colored people made up the other two thirds
-Charleston and New Orleans developed slave and free African population
-creole slaves predominated in North America, 10 percent of the population
The People and Gods in Exile
Main Idea: Slaves converted to Christianity yet continuted to hold onto their African religious beliefs at the same time.
-working contitions were exhausting, life was difficult
-family formation was made difficult because of the general shortage of female slaves
-family members were seperated by sale or master's whim
-lived in familiy units, even through marriages
-aspects of langguage, religion, artistic sensibilities, and other cultural elements survived
-slaveholders tried to mix up the slaves so that they would not be lost
-afro-american culture reflected specific african roots adapted to anew reality
-religion was a continuity an adaption
-slaves converted to catholicism by spaniards and the portuguese
-members of Black Catholic brotherhoods
-African religious ideas and practices did not die
-obeah was the name given to the african religious practices in england
-brazilian candomble and haitian vodun, fully developed versions of African religions flourished and continute even today
-Middle passage- religious ideas were easier to transfer than the institutional aspects of religion
-slaves held their new faith in christianity and african beliefs at the same time
-resistance and rebellion were other aspects of african american history
-1508 African runaways disrupted communications on Hispaniola
-palmares, an enormous runaway slave kingdom with many villages and high population
-Suriname, former dutch plantation colony- large umbers of slaves ran off in the 18th century and mounted an almost perpetual war in the rain forest
-those captured were brutally executed but a truce developed
Safavids ESPIRIT
· Abbas I established his empire as a major center of international trade
- Created network of roads and rest houses, desired to make merchants and travelers safe when they were within his domains
· Workshops to manufacture the silk textiles and Persian carpets (great demand) were established
· Abbas I encouraged Iranian merchants to trade with Muslim, Indian, China, Portuguese, Dutch, and English
· Ottomans gained economy growth since their large-scale traders in their empire were from minority groups, who had great contacts with oversea traders
· Safavid economy remained much more constricted, less market oriented
· Ottomans and Safavids had very similar social systems
· both dominated by warrior aristocracies, which shared power with the absolutist monarchs of each empire (and enjoyed great luxury)
· warrior aristocrats retreated to the estates and made life difficult for the peasants on whom they depended on for the support of their houses
· demand for landlord class grew with diminish of rulers and population increases reduced the uncultivated lands where peasants may had run to
· early rulers encouraged handicraft production and trade, established imperial workshops
· engineers, stonemasons, carpenters, and other artisans were provided good pay
· women in Islamic societies under Ottoman or Safavid rule faced legal and social disadvantagesà women were subordinated to their fathers and husbands, had political or religious power, and meager outlets for artistic/scholarly expression
· (recent evidence suggests) women in the Islamic heartlands struggled against restrictionsà women made no effort to cover their faces in public
· Wives and concubines of the rulers were to influence the women
· Many women active in trade and money-lending
· Isma’il drank to escape troubles (loss at Chaldiran) à new shah Tahmasp I won the throne and set about restoring the power of the dynasty
· Turkic chiefs wanted supreme power, Ozbegs were driven from Safavid domains
· Under Shah Abbas I the empire reached strength and prosperity peak, despite that amount of territories controlled remained equivalent to those when ruled by Isma’il and Tahmasp I
· Tahmasp worked to bring the Turkic chiefs under control and transform into a warrior nobility
· Safavid warrior nobles were assigned villages, whose peasants were required to supply them and their troops with food and labor
· Expanding imperial bureaucracy* struggle for power and influence between Turkic and Persian notables was very complicated
· Shah Abbas I or Abbas the Great made great use of the youths who were captured in Russia (educated and converted to Islam) they were granted provincial governorships and high offices at court
- Similar to the Janissaries, “slave” regiments monopolized the firearms that became prominent in Safavid armies
· Sherley brothers from England provided instruction in the casting of cannons and trained Abba’s slave infantry and a special regiment of musketeers recruited from Iranian peasantry
· Abbas built a standing army of 40,000 troops and elite bodyguard
· Decades of wars caused by the Red Heads and their enemies led to a surviving Sufi commander named Isma’il, who led his Turkic followers to a string of victories
- 1501, Isma’il’s armies took the city of Tabriz, where he was proclaimed shah (emperor)
- A group that followed the Safavids called the Red Heads (due to their distinct headgear) preached Shi’a doctrines and grew à as well did their number of enemies
· Isma’il’s followers conquered majority of Persia and pushed the neighboring nomadic people of Turkic stock back to central Asia (present-day Iraq)
· Safavid successes and support from their followers attained from the Ottoman borderlands brought them to conflict with Ottoman rulers
- August 1514 at Chaldiran, the two armies met in one of the most fateful battles in historyà clash between champions of the Shi’a and Sunni variants of Islam
- Used military weapons for battle; *Isma’il’s army lost to well-armed Ottomans
- Safavid loss in battle at Chaldiran diminished dreams of western expansion, checked the rapid spread of conversions to Shi’a Islam in the western borderlands as a result of the Safavid’s recent successes in battle
· Powerful warrior leaders occupied key posts, posed a constant threat to Safavid monarch after defeat at Chaldiran
- To counterbalance threat, Safavid rulers recruited Persians for positions at the court and in the rapidly expanding imperial bureaucracy
· Safavid dynasty came from a family of Sufi mystics and religious preachersà shrine center at Ardabil
- Sail al-Din (named the dynasty) began a militant campaign to purify and reform Islam and spread Muslim teachings among Turkic tribes
· Shahs relied on Persian religious scholars called Mullahs who entered into service of the state and were paid by government
- They were local mosque officials and prayer leaders
· all religious leaders had to curse the first three caliphs and mention the Safavid ruler in the Friday sermon
· religious leaders taught in the mosque schools and were directed by state religious officials
· Iranian population majority converted to Shi’ism during the centuries of Safavid ruleà others like Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, followers of Sufi were pressured to convert
· Religious festivalà commemorating the martyrdom of Husayn (son of Ali)àpublic flagellation involvement as well as passion playsà pilgrimages to Shi’a shrines such as in Karbala
· Shi’ism provided ideological and institutional support for Safavid dynasty and was an integral part of Iranian identity
· Early shahs wrote in Turkishà after Chaldiran, Persian supplanted Turkish as the language of the court and bureaucracy
· Persian influences were felt in the ritual organizations
· Safavids took titles like padishah, or king of kings and derived from those used by ancient Persian emperors
· Safavids presided from their high thrones over opulent palace complexes with servants and courtiersà palace life was set by elaborate court rituals and social interaction refined of etiquette and decorum
· Safavid shahs claimed descent from one of the Shi’a imams, or successors of Ali
· The militant, expansive cast of Shi’a ideology was modified as the faith became major
· Abbas I established his empire as a major center of Islamic culture
· Capital Isfahan**à seat of Safavid was around a great square lined with two-story shops with mosques, government offices, and soaring arches that opened onto formal gardens
· Abbas I founded colleges
· Public baths and rest houses established throughout the capital
· Beautifully colored miniatures produced by master painters and their apprentices
· Great mosques were glory of Abbas I reign:
- Ceramic tiles, massive domes, graceful minarets, royal tombs, geometric designs, floral patterns, verses from the Qur’an written in Arabic
· At the battle of Chaldiran between the Ottomans and Safavid armies, muskets and field cannon in the gunpowder age was highlightedà use of artillery
· Under the reign of Abbas I, grand mosques and ceramic tiles were used
· Persian architects and artisans created lush, cool refuges
· Domes, tombs, pools, rest houses all created in capital of Isfahan under Abbas I