early West Africa



Two thousand years ago, West Africa was a country where 6 to 8 million people lived and they traded with each other. The West African society was influenced by two different occurrences : - the coming of the Muslim teachers who had an enormous power. - -the arrival of the Europeans on the West African coastline. At first they were interested in gold, but later they traded in other goods and slaves. West Africa has been described as a peninsula set between the Sahara in the North and the Gulf of Guinea in the South. There are different sorts of vegetation zones : the Sahel, the Savannah and the Tropical rain forest.. There are three time divisions : Early stone age, Middle stone age and the Late stone age. West African people were very developed in the three division time.
Alexis Rainaut - Sébastian Harlander

The first traders who crossed the North of Africa used animals for their transport. Later, the Nomadic Berbers discovered the land of the Black people which they called Billad Al-Sudan. They began trading their horses and cattle against millet and cotton. In exchange the savannah farmers bought Salt. From that trade three trading centres grew up they became the nucleus of future West African Empires : Tekkur, Ghana and Kanem-Bornu.
Gihane Seidou

The expansion of Islam Before West African people believed in God and spirits. Many diviners helped them to deal with the problems of everyday life. After the Prophet Muhammad's death in 632 a new religion : Islam expanded.. His teachings were collected into the Koran. Berber merchants contributed to the expansion of Islam in West Africa. However the process was very slow. The first converts to Islam were the dynasty of Ja who accepted the teachings of Islam in Gao in 985.
Zouliath Gibirila

The Peoples of West Africa : 1000AD. A common stock In West Africa, in 1000AD, intermix of the several peoples, races and cultures was extremely important, so there was not any pure race : everyone is the same, considering that origin everyone is equal , everyone belongs to the same species : homo sapiens. Migrations and mingling. There were a lot of migrations in West Africa because of famines in Sahara. That fact added to the long standing contact and steady eastward movement of the stateless Fulani pastoralists led to a great variety in ethnic groups in West Africa. The forest belt and coastal regions Those regions were less open to migrations and some very original societies developed there such as the Tiv.
Maria Detchissambou

The Kingdom of Tekrur The Almoravids 1042-1140 The Almoravids were formidable Tuareg warriors converted to an extremist Islamic faith, between 1042 and 1065 they controlled most of the Maghrib, the Western Sahara and Spain.. They fought a jihad notably against Ghana 1076-1077. After 1087 this kingdom began disintegrating. The rise of Tekrur Tekrur on the Senegal river was founded around 800 and converted to Islam around 1041. Tekrur's importance Tekrur's people were the first of the Sudanic kingdoms to have a strict interpretation of the Islamic faith and to war against people who weren't Muslim. Tekrurian soldiers were allied with the Almoravids and in 1056-1057 they warred against pagan Ghanaians. The decline of Tekrur In Southern Tekrur, after 1250, the Sosso created their own kingdom. They were replaced by the Woloff in 1445. Futa Toro is the successor state of ancient Tekrur and it appeared in the XVIIIth century. In Futa Toro took place the second jihad in 1775 Tekrur's influence in the Fulani As the influence of Tekrur rose the Fulani people moved eastwards.
Pascale Prudent

The European presence In 1482, the Portuguese built El Mina castle to protect their gold trade from envious rivals. In 1637 the castle was occupied by the Dutch.. The European presence had changed the social, political and military history of the coastal people. The demand for slaves. The increased demand for slaves and gold from European traders had favoured the ambition of West African peoples who exchanged slaves and gold for firearms.
Jean-Maurice De Souza

The Asante Empire The center is Kumasi. The Asante developed their empire more towards the North than in the South by many battles. Two aspects of the Asante empire : -the government with the golden stool which represents the unity of the empire by the king Osei Tutu who garanteed the development of the empire. -the war with the strategy with their battle formation which permits them to win series of victories. The slave trade in West Africa and on the Gold Coast : many slaves were exported from West Africa across the Sahara to Europe. The main ports known are : Assini, Cape Coast, Elmina, Whydah, Lagos.
Rawad Rawad



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