IMPERIAL PRIMARY SENIOR PHASE: Grade 7 ASSESSMENT TASK: SS-History TERM 2

Read throu h the !o""o#i$ resour%es a$d %o&'"ete the tas(s that !o""o#)

A!ri%a$ Trade Routes

Trade with the Arab world *est A!ri%a + Tra$s-Sahara: Many colonial historians claimed that trade with Africa only started in the colonial era, but we now know that there were extensive trading empires from early times with the Arabs of North Africa and the Middle East and within Africa. Civilisations such as those at Mapungubwe and reat !imbabwe in "outhern Africa and the #est African kingdoms of oa, Mali, "onghay and hana were African, not Arab, as many colonial historians claimed. $he Ashanti and %oruba kingdoms had almost no contact with Arab traders. #ith the rise of &slam in the 'th and (th centuries and the resulting development of trade across North Africa in the Arab world, it is not surprising that the Arabs made contact with black Africa south of the "ahara. &slam brought stability to North Africa for long periods, allowing the development of trade and centres of learning throughout the region. $he Arab traders found flourishing trading communities in #est Africa. $his trade was controlled by Africans, not the Arabs, as this letter from an Arab trader to an African ruler clearly shows. We are neighbours in benevolence even if we differ in religion; we agree on right conduct and are one in leniency towards our subjects. It goes without saying that justice is an essential quality of kings in conducting sound policy; tyranny is the preoccupation of ignorant and evil minds. We have heard about the imprisonment of poor traders and their being prevented from going freely about their business. The coming to and fro of merchants to a country is of benefit to its inhabitants and a help to keeping it populous. If we wished we would imprison the people of that region who happen to be in our territory but we do not think it right to do that. We ought not to forbid immorality while practising it ourselves . !eace be upon you." Critical to the beginning of the trans)"ahara trade between the Arab North and the African "outh was the ability to cross the world*s largest desert, the "ahara, carrying large +uantities of goods. Camel bones have been found in #est Africa that are dated to ,-- CE, but regular trade using camels probably started later when the trade of gold across the desert began around .-- CE. At this time there were large trading civilisations in #est Africa centred on hana and the city of oa. $he donkey was the chosen pack animal before the arrival of camels, but donkeys were incapable of crossing the "ahara. Camel caravans of several hundred caravans made long arduous /ourneys from as far away as Egypt, linking the &slamic world with tropical Africa. &n return for gold, the Arabs brought rock salt, a luxury item in those times, textiles and various other items. #hile the Arabs might have liked to try to con+uer the African empires to the south, the problem of getting large armies across the desert proved too great a problem. $his was also the days before firearms 0guns1 and so the African rulers were easily able to raise large armies that were superior in every way to any threatening Arab army. $he Arabs were also prone to the numerous tropical diseases of tropical Africa and their horses fell prey to trypnosiamiasis 0#gama in horses and cattle and sleeping sickness in humans1. $his disease was carried by the tsetse fly. $he result was that the Arab traders had no choice but to trade on peacable terms with the African empires. $he Arabs also had their own problems trying to spread their influence into Europe. $hese wars, mainly in "pain, were largely financed by African gold.

$his does not mean that this trade was entirely benign. &n the 2 --- years between the establishment of large)scale trans)"aharan trade in about '-- CE and the end of the large)scale slave trade in the 2'--s, some ( million African slaves were taken to the Arab world. $his could only have been done with the agreement of the African rulers. 3nlike in the Americas, these slaves eventually became part of the North African population and did not form distinctive communities as has happened in the #est &ndies and the 3"A. $his is as great a number of slaves as the American slave trade, but admittedly over a longer time period. Another influence on the trade was the expansion of &slam. At first, this had little influence on the African population as the Arabs did not move south into tropical Africa, but in the great trading cities of the "ahel, where &slam met black Africa, it became fashionable for African rulers to adopt &slam. 4ne of the main rules of &slam is that believers must undergo a pilgrimage to Mecca. At first this great /ourney was only undertaken by wealthy African leaders, but by 25-- CE large)scale pilgrimages to Mecca by #est Africans was common. $hese trading cities, the contact point between black Africa and the Arab world, became great centres of learning and were the e+ual of any in the world at the time. $he university, "ankore, at $imbuktu was reputed to have one of the world*s greatest libraries, but it was lost in a fire in the 2(th Century. #hen the first 6ortuguese explorers arrived in #est Africa, they were surprised to find that many educated #est Africans knew all about the political events in Europe and some even spoke 7rench. $his contact with seafaring European traders eventually caused the collapse of the trans)"ahara trade. $he last great African Empire, the "onghay, collapsed in 28(2, when a Morroccan invasion finally succeeded, despite the loss of large numbers of soldiers in the desert. $he trans)"aharan trade was replaced by the trans)Atlantic slave trade, which involved a triangular trade between Europe, #est Africa and the Americas. East A!ri%a - Ridi$ the &o$soo$ #i$ds At the same time that trade between Arab and African was developing in #est Africa, so Arab traders used the monsoon wind to sail their dhows along the East coast of Africa, opening up trade routes with the civilisations of Mapungubwe and later the reat !imbabwe. $he Mapungubwe kingdom probably reached its peak around 2--- CE, when it was displaced by the !imbabwean civilisation. $he latter in turn peaked around 25-- CE, /ust before the 6ortuguese arrived in what is today Mo9ambi+ue. $he first European historians to investigate these sites claimed that they must have been built by outsiders. $hey also did not do careful excavations, they /ust dug wherever they thought they might find gold or interesting ob/ects. $he result is that much of the archaeological value of the settlements was lost. $he reat !imbabwe is one of many :stone houses* ; !imbabwes ; that mark the edge of the !imbabwe plateau. Many of these buildings show intricate stone work and are evidence of an organised trading community spread out over many thousands of s+uare kilometres. 4n the map, the large star shows the position of the reat !imbabwe, the small star the position of Mapungubwe. Compare this map with an Atlas map and label the !ambe9i <iver, =impopo river and the &ndian 4cean. $he remains of the Mapungubwe civilisation can be seen in northern =impopo 6rovince /ust south of the =impopo river. >ust as in #est Africa, the trade was mainly in gold, ivory and slaves. Again the Arabs did not penetrate far inland, preferring to use African :middlemen*. As a result of this trade goods such as Chinese pottery, glass beads and iron tools found their way into "outh East Africa. $he inhabitants also were able to make iron tools. $he Arabs established trading centres at several points along the East African coast from which they traded with the interior. $his trade flourished until the arrival of European traders in the late 25--s. "ome historians believe that the collapse of the reat !imbabwean civilisation was related to the arrival of the 6ortuguese, but it is more likely that it had to do with epidemic disease or even a prolonged drought.

Name? @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

rade? A@@@@@

&M6E<&A= 6<&MA<% "EN&4< 6BA"E? rade A A""E""MEN$ $A"C? "")Bistory $E<M D

$omplete the timeline by filling in the missing dates as well as the events %happenings&.

..........................................................

300C E

.......................................................... .......................................................... ................................... (2)

.......................................................... .......................................................... .......................................................... .................................. (2)

600C E

(1 )

800C E

$he establishment of large) scale trans)"aharan trade.

.......................................................... .......................................................... .......................................................... .................................... (2)

1000 BC

(1)

=arge)scale pilgrimages to Mecca by #est Africans was common.

.......................................................... .......................................................... .......................................................... .................................. (2)

1591

'fter having read the information provided to you by your educator( complete the following clo)e task by filling in the missing words. *se the words in bo+ to help you.

rock craftsmen high

diseases decoration ivory

structures power ornaments fly

Arabs and African traders from East Africa and #est Africa traded in gold, @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ and other products. $hey were both limited by tropical @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@. &slam played an important role in creating the conditions for trade to take place.

old is easily transportable and even small amounts have a @@@@@@@@ value, so it was widely used as the ma/or currency of the &slamic world. old was also extensively used as a

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ in many mos+ues and libraries.

Africa possessed very skilled @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ who were able to extract gold from the @@@@@@@@@@ and to work with it to make @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@. "tructures such as the reat

!imbabwe took considerable skill and planning to build. $he form of the @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ also tells us that they had organised forms of government and religion. $he fact that these ruins are found all around the edge of the !imbabwe 6lateau tells us that the rulers of the reat !imbabwe had considerable political @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ as well.

$he $setse @@@@@@@@@@ and other tropical diseases prevented the Arabs penetrating into tropical Africa. $his meant that the Africans maintained control of the trade routes from the "outh of #est Africa to the Arab trading cities in the "ahel. 02-1

Name? ,-,./'#0*,

rade? A

&M6E<&A= 6<&MA<% "EN&4< 6BA"E? rade A A""E""MEN$ $A"C? "")Bistory $E<M D

$omplete the timeline by filling in the missing dates as well as the events %happenings&.

$amel bones have been found in West

300B C

'frica (2)

Trade of gold across the desert began (2)

600B C

(1 )

800B C

$he establishment of large) scale trans)"aharan trade.

The ,apungubwe kingdom reached its peak. (2)

1000 BC

(1)

1400 CE

=arge)scale pilgrimages to Mecca by #est Africans was common.

The last great 'frican -mpire( the 1onghay( collapsed (2)

1591

'fter having read the information provided to you by your educator( complete the following clo)e task by filling in the missing words. *se the words in bo+ to help you.

rock craftsmen high

diseases decoration ivory

structures power ornaments fly

Arabs and African traders from East Africa and #est Africa traded in gold, ivory and other products. $hey were both limited by tropical diseases. &slam played an important role in creating the conditions for trade to take place.

old is easily transportable and even small amounts have a high value, so it was widely used as the ma/or currency of the &slamic world. old was also extensively used as a

decoration in many mos+ues and libraries.

Africa possessed very skilled craftsmen who were able to extract gold from the rock and to work with it to make ornaments. "tructures such as the reat !imbabwe took

considerable skill and planning to build. $he form of the structure also tells us that they had organised forms of government and religion. $he fact that these ruins are found all around the edge of the !imbabwe 6lateau tells us that the rulers of the considerable political power as well. reat !imbabwe had

$he $setse fly and other tropical diseases prevented the Arabs penetrating into tropical Africa. $his meant that the Africans maintained control of the trade routes from the "outh of #est Africa to the Arab trading cities in the "ahel. 02-1