1. Peoples of Africa In the vast plains between the Niger and Senegal rivers, in the valleys of these rivers, Western Sudan is located. A lot of gold was mined here. There were legends about the wealth of Sudan in the Middle Ages. One Arab geographer reported that here “gold grows in the sand, just like carrots, and is harvested at sunrise.” The most important trade routes from the Gulf of Guinea to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea passed through Western Sudan. Farmers traded with nomads who lived on the border of the Sahara: in exchange for salt, hides and livestock, the nomads received grain and handicrafts. The journey through the Sahara Desert was difficult and dangerous. More than a dozen caravans died here from thirst or attacks by nomads.
2. West Africa The most ancient state of Sudan was Ghana, which achieved power in the 10th century. The king of Ghana and the family nobility became rich from trading in gold and salt. The king had a large army, consisting of detachments of archers and cavalry. In the capital of Ghana, a special royal quarter with a palace, sanctuary and prison was surrounded by walls. Solemn royal receptions were held here. In another part of the city, mosques and houses of Arab merchants were built.
2. West Africa At the end of the 11th century, the troops of the Sultan of the Arab state of Morocco (North Africa) captured and destroyed the capital of Ghana. The king undertook to pay tribute to the Sultan and, together with the nobility, converted to Islam. The rebellious population soon expelled the Moroccans, but Ghana's territory was reduced and it submitted to the state of Mali.
2. West Africa The rise of Mali refers to XIII century, when its rulers conquered neighboring territories where caravan routes passed and gold was mined. The ruler and his entourage converted to Islam. After this, Muslim merchants from North Africa settled in the cities.
2. West Africa Later, in the 15th century, the Songhai state strengthened. The expansion of its borders was achieved during the reign of the energetic, warlike Ali Ber (1464-1492). He built a large river fleet; Severe discipline was introduced in the army. Ali Ber spent almost his entire life hiking. He managed to annex the main cities of Sudan to his possessions. In African tales and legends, Ali Ber appears as a wizard who could fly, become invisible and turn into a snake.
2. West Africa Rulers and nobles kept 500-1000 dependent people on their lands, who were settled in special villages. Dependent people paid rent to the owner and taxes to the state. Free community members also depended on the nobility. Since the middle of the 16th century, Songhai has been rapidly weakening. The ruler's relatives, holding high positions, conspired; the influential Muslim nobility in the cities had little respect for the rulers. The outbreak of internecine wars led the state into decline. At the end of the 16th century, Songhai was defeated by the troops of the Sultan of Morocco.
3. East Africa Aksum maintained close ties with the Roman Empire and later with Byzantium. The king and his entourage accepted Christian faith. Writing was created in the country. In the 7th century, the Arabs took possession of Aksum in southern Arabia and then attacked it. The state broke up into separate principalities; the princes waged a fierce struggle for the throne. In the 10th century, Aksum ceased to exist.
3. East Africa City-states grew on the eastern coast of Africa. Arabs, Iranians, and Indians willingly settled in them. Large ships were built here, and there were many experienced sailors. Merchants from these cities sailed their ships across the Indian Ocean and traded with India, Iran and other Asian countries.
4. African culture Muslim schools arose, and in the city of Timbuktu - a higher school where they studied theology, history, law, mathematics, and astronomy. Scientists created writing based on local languages. Libraries were founded where many handwritten books were kept. Books were sold in shops, and, according to a contemporary, they received “more profit than from other goods.”
4. African culture Africans had considerable achievements in art. Ancient wooden and bronze sculptures and masks amaze with their expressiveness. Bronze plaques with bas-reliefs (convex images) of kings and nobles, scenes of hunting, war and court life were found in the royal palace in Benin.
4. African culture Europeans began to explore Africa back in ancient times. In the 14th century, they sailed freely along its northwestern coast, exchanging knives, glass beads and other products of European artisans for gold, ivory, which was very valuable in Europe, and rhinoceros horns, which were attributed to medicinal properties, parrots for noble ladies.
Materials used Agibalova E.V., Donskoy G.M. History of the Middle Ages 6th grade / textbook for secondary schools. - M.: Education, 2008. Illustrations: - Devyataikina N.I. History of the Middle Ages: Tutorial. 6th grade. Part 1 / Devyataikina N. I. - M.: OLMAPRESS, 2008.
Kanku Musa was the most famous ruler of Mali. His pilgrimage (hajj) to holy places in 1324 became known throughout the Muslim world. On the way, he was accompanied by a retinue of 8 thousand warriors and no less number of slaves; The camels were loaded with up to one hundred packs of gold weighing about 12 tons. In every city where Kanku Musa arrived on Friday, he ordered the construction of a mosque. Even in the center of the Sahara, he feasted on fresh fish, which messengers brought him, and to bathe his beloved wife, they dug a huge pool and filled it with water from wineskins. Arriving in Cairo, Kanku Musa, without bargaining, paid any price for goods and distributed alms in huge sums. In Mecca, he bought houses and plots of land for black pilgrims. Eventually, Musa's money, accumulated by generations of subjects, ran out, but he was so trusted that a Cairo merchant lent a large sum. The Hajj to Mecca strengthened the authority of the ruler of Mali among Muslims.
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Egypt is not the only state in Africa where high culture has existed and developed since ancient times. Many peoples of Africa have long been able to smelt and process iron and other metals. Maybe they learned this before the Europeans. Modern Egyptians speak Arabic, and a significant part of them do come from the Arabs, but the ancient population of Egypt came to the Nile Valley from the Sahara Desert, in which ancient times there were deep rivers and rich vegetation. In the center of the Sahara on the plateaus, drawings on rocks, carved with sharp stones or painted with paint, have been preserved. From these drawings it is clear that in those days the population of the Sahara hunted wild animals and raised livestock: cows, horses.
On the northern African coast and the adjacent islands lived tribes who knew how to make big boats and successfully engaged in fishing and other marine activities.
In the 1st millennium BC. e. The Phoenicians, and later the Greeks, appeared in ancient settlements on the shores of North Africa. The Phoenician city-colonies - Utica, Carthage, etc. - grew stronger over time and, under the rule of Carthage, united into a powerful state.
Carthage's neighbors, the Libyans, created their own states - Numidia and Mauritania. From 264 to 146 BC. e. Rome fought with the Carthaginian state. After the destruction of the city of Carthage, the Roman province of Africa was created on the territory that belonged to it. Here, through the labor of Libyan slaves, a strip of coastal desert was turned into a flourishing land. Slaves dug wells, built stone water cisterns, built large cities with stone houses, water pipes, etc. Subsequently, the cities of Roman Africa suffered from the invasions of German vandals, and later these areas became a colony Byzantine Empire, and finally, in the VIII-X centuries. this part of North Africa was conquered by Muslim Arabs and became known as the Maghreb.
In the Nile Valley, south of the territory of ancient Egypt, the Nubian kingdoms of Napata and Meroe existed even before our era. To this day, the ruins of ancient cities, small pyramids similar to ancient Egyptian ones, as well as monuments of ancient Meroitic writing have been preserved there. Subsequently, the Nubian kingdoms were conquered by the kings of the powerful state of Aksum, which emerged in the first centuries of our era on the territory of what is now South Arabia and Northern Ethiopia.
From the shores Atlantic Ocean Sudan extends all the way to the Nile.
It was possible to penetrate from North Africa to the country of Sudan only along ancient caravan roads that passed along the dried up beds of ancient rivers of the Sahara Desert. During scanty rains, some water sometimes collected in the old riverbeds, and in some places wells were dug by the ancient Saharawis.
The people of Sudan grew millet, cotton and other plants; raised livestock - cows and sheep. They sometimes rode bulls, but they did not know how to plow the land with their help. The soil for crops was cultivated with wooden hoes with iron tips. Iron in Sudan was smelted in small clay blast furnaces. Weapons, knives, hoe tips, axes and other tools were forged from iron. Initially, blacksmiths, weavers, dyers and other artisans were simultaneously engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. They often exchanged surplus products of their craft for other goods. Bazaars in Sudan were located in villages on the borders of the territories of various tribes. The population of such villages grew rapidly. Part of it grew rich, seized power and gradually subjugated the poor. Military campaigns against neighbors, if successful, were accompanied by the capture of prisoners and other military booty. The prisoners of war were not killed, but forced to work. Thus, slaves appeared in some settlements that grew into small towns. They began to be sold in bazaars, like other goods.
Ancient Sudanese cities often fought among themselves. The rulers and nobles of one city often brought several surrounding cities under their rule.
For example, around the 9th century. n. e. in the very west of Sudan, in the Auker area (the territory of the northern part modern state Mali), the strong state of Ghana at that time was formed.
Ancient Ghana was the center of trade between Western Sudan and North Africa, which was very important for the prosperity and power of this state.
In the 12th century. Muslim Berbers from the Maghreb state of the al-Moravids, in northern Africa, attracted by the wealth of Ghana, attacked it and destroyed the state. The remote southern region of Mali suffered the least from the defeat. One of the rulers of Mali, named Sundiata, who lived in the middle of the 13th century, gradually captured the entire former territory of Ghana and even annexed other lands to it. After this, the state of Mali began to occupy a significant large territory than Ghana. However, the continuous struggle with neighbors gradually led to the weakening of the state and its collapse.
In the XIV century. The scattered and weak cities of the state of Mali were captured by the rulers of the city of Gao - the center of the small state of the Songhai people. The Songhai kings gradually united under their rule a vast territory in which there were many big cities. One of these cities, which existed during the times of the state of Mali, Timbuktu became the cultural center of the entire Western Sudan. The inhabitants of the Songhai state were Muslims.
Medieval Muslim scholars from Timbuktu became known far beyond Western Sudan. They were the first to create writing in the languages of Sudan, using characters from the Arabic alphabet. These scientists wrote many books, including chronicles - books on the history of the states of Sudan. Sudanese architects built large and beautiful houses, palaces, mosques with six-story minarets. The cities were surrounded by high walls.
In the 16th century The sultans of Morocco repeatedly tried to conquer the state of Songhai. They eventually conquered it, destroying Timbuktu and other cities in the process. Wonderful libraries with valuable ancient manuscripts perished in the burning of Timbuktu. Many architectural monuments were destroyed. Sudanese scientists-architects, doctors, astronomers, taken into slavery by the Moroccans, almost all died on the way through the desert. The remnants of the cities' wealth were plundered by their nomadic neighbors - the Tuaregs and Fulani. The huge state of Songhai fell apart into many small and weak states.
From this time on, the trade caravan routes running from Lake Chad through the interior of the Sahara - Fezzan - to Tunisia were of primary importance. In the northern part of the territory of modern Nigeria until the 19th century. there were independent large states(sultanates) of the Hausa people. The Sultanate included a city with surrounding countryside. The richest and most famous city was Kano.
The western part of tropical Africa, located off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, was discovered by Portuguese, Dutch and English sailors of the 15th-18th centuries. was named Guinea. For a long time, sailors did not suspect that densely populated areas with large, crowded cities were hidden behind the wall of tropical vegetation of the Guinea coast. European ships landed on the shore and traded with the coastal population. Ivory, valuable wood, and sometimes gold were brought here from the interior regions. European merchants also bought prisoners of war, who were taken from Africa, first to Portugal, and later to the Spanish colonies in Central and South America. Hundreds of slaves were loaded onto sailing ships and were transported across the Atlantic Ocean almost without food or water. Many of them died along the way. Europeans in every possible way incited wars between the tribes and peoples of Guinea in order to get more slaves. European merchants of the XV-XVI centuries. I really wanted to penetrate into the rich interior regions of Guinea ourselves. However rainforests and swamps, as well as the resistance of strong, well-organized states, prevented this for several centuries. Only a few people managed to get there. When they returned, they talked about large, well-planned cities with wide streets, about the rich palaces of the kings, well-armed troops maintaining order, wonderful bronze and stone works of art by local craftsmen, and about many other amazing things.
The cultural values and historical monuments of these ancient states were destroyed by Europeans in the 19th century. during the colonial partition of West Africa. In our century, in the forests of Guinea, researchers discovered remains ancient culture Africans: broken stone statues, heads made of stone and bronze, ruins of palaces. Some of these archaeological sites date back to the 1st millennium BC. e., when most of Europe was still inhabited by wild tribes.
In 1485, the Portuguese navigator Diego Cano discovered the mouth of the high-water African Congo River. During the following voyages, the Portuguese ships ascended the river and reached the state of Congo. They brought with them ambassadors from the Portuguese king, as well as monastic preachers who were tasked with converting the population of the Congo to Christianity. Portuguese monks left records that tell about the medieval state of Congo and neighboring states - Lunda, Luba, Kasongo, Bushongo, Loango, etc. The population of these countries, like Guinea, was engaged in agriculture: they grew yams, taro, sweet potatoes and other plants .
Local craftsmen were famous for the art of making various wood products. Great importance had a blacksmith's trade.
All these states fell into decay and collapsed as a result of long wars with the Portuguese, who tried to conquer them.
The eastern coast of Africa is washed by Indian Ocean. In winter, the wind (monsoon) blows here from the coast of Asia to the coast of Africa, and in the summer in the opposite direction. Since ancient times, the peoples of Asia and Africa have used monsoon winds for merchant shipping. Already in the 1st century. on the eastern coast of Africa there were permanent trading posts where the local population exchanged ivory, tortoiseshell shields and other goods for metal tools, weapons and fabrics from Asian merchants. Sometimes merchants from Greece and Egypt sailed here across the Red Sea.
Later, when some trading settlements grew into large cities, their inhabitants - Africans (the Arabs called them “Swahili”, i.e. “coastal”) - began to sail to Asian countries themselves. They traded in ivory, copper and gold, the skins of rare animals and valuable wood. The Swahili bought these goods from peoples who lived far from the ocean shores, in the depths of Africa. Swahili merchants bought elephant tusks and rhino horns from the leaders of various tribes, and exchanged gold in the country of Makaranga for glass, porcelain and other goods brought from overseas.
When merchants in Africa collected so much cargo that their porters could not carry it, then they bought slaves or took with them by force people from some weak tribe. As soon as the caravan reached the shore, the merchants sold the porters into slavery or took them to sell overseas.
Over time, the most powerful cities on the East African coast subjugated the weaker ones and formed several states: Pate, Mombasa, Kilwa, etc. Many Arabs, Persians and Indians moved to them. Scientists in East African cities created writing in the Swahili language, using, as in Sudan, signs of Arabic writing. There were literary works in the Swahili language, as well as chronicles of the history of cities.
During Vasco da Gama's voyages to India, Europeans first visited the ancient Swahili cities. The Portuguese repeatedly conquered and again lost East African cities, while many of them were destroyed by the invaders, and the ruins were overgrown with thorny tropical bushes over time. And now only in folk legends are the names of ancient African cities preserved.
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The development of African countries was very diverse. Its north was part of the Arab Caliphate; large states arose south of the Sahara under the influence of Islam and trade with the Arabs. Ethiopia took a different historical path.
Nature itself divided Africa into two unequal parts. In the northern part, adjacent to the Mediterranean and Red Seas, centers of civilization arose from ancient times. Ancient Egypt, Phoenician and Greek colonies replaced each other here, Ancient Rome, kingdom of the Vandals, Byzantium. In the 7th century The Arabs captured the entire coast of North Africa to the Atlantic. They called the lands west of Egypt the Maghreb, that is, the western lands. Huge cities such as Fez and Tangier flourished there, and outstanding monuments of Muslim architecture were created. From the Maghreb to the south, through the Sahara Desert, caravan routes led to Tropical Africa. The Arabs called it Bilad al-Sudan (Country of the Blacks) or simply Sudan. Numerous black peoples lived there.
Most of Africa is occupied by deserts, savannas, rainforests. Being in different natural conditions, the peoples of Africa and developed in different ways. Tropical forest dwellers, such as stunted pygmies, were engaged in hunting and gathering. And to the north and south of them, in the savannas, lived farmers and herders.
At the turn of our era, many peoples of Tropical Africa learned to produce iron. Iron tools made it possible to obtain higher yields and contributed to the development of crafts.
Western Sudan
Arabs from the Maghreb traded with Western Sudan - lands between the Sahara and the Gulf of Guinea, rich in gold. In addition to gold, they also traded salt, cattle, and ivory. The cities of Timbuktu, Djenne and others grew along the trade routes.
The most ancient state of Western Sudan was Ghana, so rich in gold that even the title of its ruler meant “master of gold.” This allowed the rulers to maintain a magnificent court and army. The heyday of Ghana dates back to the 10th-11th centuries, then it weakened in the 13th century. was captured by the neighboring state of Mali. The power of Mali in the XIII - first half of the XIV centuries. was also based on the gold trade. Gold coins, which were in use in the Mediterranean at that time, were minted primarily from Mali gold.
Duties from merchants enriched local rulers; their power increased. They lived in palaces, surrounded by courtiers, officials and warriors. Their power was considered sacred, and they themselves were considered intermediaries between their people and the gods. When Islam began to penetrate Western Sudan, the rulers, their entourage, and residents of large cities were the first to accept it. Arab culture also penetrated here with Islam, mosques and madrassas were built. And simple farmers and cattle breeders retained pagan beliefs for a long time. Religious differences exacerbated wealth inequality.
The ruler of Mali became especially famous for his wealth Musa(1312-1337), who was a zealous Muslim. His Hajj to Mecca is perhaps the most expensive journey in history. For travel expenses, the camel caravan carried one hundred bales of gold weighing 12 tons. The East remembered for a long time the wealth of the rulers of Mali, and Mali’s ties with the countries of Islam strengthened. Material from the site
Christian Ethiopia
Ethiopia is located in northeast Africa. The Aksumite kingdom existed here already in the 4th century. adopted Christianity and managed to defend it in the fight against Islam. Later it broke up into separate principalities, but in the 13th century. A strong state was revived in Ethiopia. Its rulers traced their line back to the biblical Solomon. In Europe they were called emperors.
With the spread of Christianity in Ethiopia, churches and monasteries were built. In monasteries, chronicles were compiled and the works of ancient and medieval authors were translated. In the XII-XIII centuries. Ethiopian art began to flourish. In the capital of Ethiopia, Lalibe-le, churches were usually not built, but were carved out of stone and decorated on the outside with carvings and on the inside with frescoes and icons.
In search of allies against Muslims, Ethiopia in the 15th-16th centuries. negotiated with Western countries, although Ethiopian Christianity was closer to Orthodoxy than to Catholicism. Her delegation participated in the work of the Ferraro-Florence Cathedral. In Europe, she was also seen as an ally against Muslims.
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According to most scientists, Africa is the cradle of humanity. The remains of the oldest hominids, found in 1974 in Harare (), are determined to be up to 3 million years old. Hominid remains at Koobi Fora () date back to approximately the same time. It is believed that the remains in the Olduvai Gorge (1.6 - 1.2 million years old) belong to the species of hominid that, in the process of evolution, led to the emergence of Homo sapiens.
The formation of ancient people took place mainly in the grassy zone. Then they spread throughout almost the entire continent. The first discovered remains of African Neanderthals (the so-called Rhodesian man) date back to 60 thousand years ago (sites in Libya, Ethiopia).
Earliest human remains modern look(Kenya, Ethiopia) date back to 35 thousand years ago. Modern humans finally supplanted Neanderthals about 20 thousand years ago.
About 10 thousand years ago, a highly developed society of gatherers developed in the Nile Valley, where the regular use of grains of wild cereals began. It is believed that it was there by the 7th millennium BC. Africa's oldest civilization emerged. The formation of pastoralism in general in Africa ended by the middle of the 4th millennium BC. But most modern crops and domestic animals apparently came to Africa from Western Asia.
Ancient history of Africa
In the second half of the 4th millennium BC. social differentiation has increased in North and North-East Africa and based on territorial entities- two political unities arose among the nomes - Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. The struggle between them ended by 3000 BC. the emergence of a single one (the so-called Ancient Egypt). During the reign of the 1st and 2nd dynasties (30-28 centuries BC), a unified irrigation system for the entire country was formed, and the foundations of statehood were laid. During the era of the Old Kingdom (3-4 dynasties, 28-23 centuries BC), a centralized despotism was formed headed by the pharaoh - the unlimited master of the entire country. The economic basis of the power of the pharaohs became diversified (royal and temple).
Simultaneously with the rise of economic life, the local nobility grew stronger, which again led to the disintegration of Egypt into many nomes and the destruction of irrigation systems. In the continuation of the 23rd-21st centuries before A.D. (7-11 dynasties) there was a struggle for a new unification of Egypt. Government especially strengthened during the 12th dynasty during the Middle Kingdom (21st-18th centuries BC). But again, the discontent of the nobility led to the disintegration of the state into many independent regions (14-17 dynasties, 18-16 centuries BC).
The nomadic Hyksos tribes took advantage of the weakening of Egypt. Around 1700 BC they took possession of Lower Egypt, and by the middle of the 17th century BC. already ruled the entire country. At the same time, the liberation struggle began, which by 1580 before A.D. graduated from Ahmose 1 who founded the 18th dynasty. This began the period of the New Kingdom (reign of 18-20 dynasties). The New Kingdom (16-11 centuries BC) is the time of the highest economic growth and cultural upsurge of the country. The centralization of power increased - local governance passed from independent hereditary nomarchs into the hands of officials.
Subsequently, Egypt experienced invasions by the Libyans. In 945 BC The Libyan military commander Shoshenq (22nd dynasty) proclaimed himself pharaoh. In 525 BC Egypt was conquered by the Persians in 332 by Alexander the Great. In 323 BC after the death of Alexander, Egypt went to his military commander Ptolemy Lagus, who in 305 BC. declared himself king and Egypt became the Ptolemaic state. But endless wars undermined the country, and by the 2nd century BC. Egypt was conquered by Rome. In 395 AD, Egypt became part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and from 476 AD it became part of the Byzantine Empire.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the crusaders also made a number of attempts to conquer, which further aggravated the economic decline. In the 12th-15th centuries, rice and cotton crops, sericulture and winemaking gradually disappeared, and the production of flax and other industrial crops fell. The population of the agricultural centers, including the valley, reoriented itself to the production of cereals, as well as dates, olives and horticultural crops. Huge areas were occupied by extensive cattle breeding. The process of so-called Bedouinization of the population proceeded extremely quickly. At the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries, most of North Africa, and by the 14th century Upper Egypt, became dry semi-desert. Almost all cities and thousands of villages disappeared. During the 11th-15th centuries, the population of North Africa decreased, according to Tunisian historians, by approximately 60-65%.
Feudal tyranny and tax oppression, the deteriorating environmental situation led to the fact that Islamic rulers could not simultaneously contain the discontent of the people and resist the external threat. Therefore, at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, many cities and territories of North Africa were captured by the Spaniards, Portuguese and the Order of St. John.
Under these conditions, the Ottoman Empire, acting as defenders of Islam, with the support of the local population, overthrew the power of local sultans (Mamluks in Egypt) and raised anti-Spanish uprisings. As a result, by the end of the 16th century, almost all territories of North Africa became provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The expulsion of the conquerors, the cessation of feudal wars and the restriction of nomadism by the Ottoman Turks led to the revival of cities, the development of crafts and agriculture, and the emergence of new crops (corn, tobacco, citrus fruits).
Much less is known about the development of sub-Saharan Africa during the Middle Ages. Trade and intermediary contacts with Northern and Western Asia played a fairly large role, which required a lot of attention to the military-organizational aspects of the functioning of society to the detriment of the development of production, and this naturally led to a further lag in Tropical Africa. But on the other hand, according to most scientists, Tropical Africa did not know the slave system, that is, it moved from a communal system to a class society in the early feudal form. The main centers of development of Tropical Africa in the Middle Ages were: Central and Western, the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, the basin, and the Great Lakes region.
New history of Africa
As already noted, by the 17th century, the countries of North Africa (except Morocco) and Egypt were part of the Ottoman Empire. These were feudal societies with long traditions of urban life and highly developed handicraft production. The uniqueness of the social and economic structure of North Africa was the coexistence of agriculture and extensive cattle breeding, which was practiced by nomadic tribes that preserved the traditions of tribal relations.
The weakening of the power of the Turkish Sultan at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries was accompanied by economic decline. The population (in Egypt) was halved between 1600 and 1800. North Africa again broke up into a number of feudal states. These states recognized vassal dependence on the Ottoman Empire, but had independence in internal and external affairs. Under the banner of defending Islam, they carried out military operations against European fleets.
But by the beginning of the 19th century, European countries had achieved superiority at sea, and since 1815, squadrons from Great Britain and France began to take military action off the coast of North Africa. Since 1830, France began colonizing Algeria, and parts of North Africa were captured.
Thanks to the Europeans, North Africa began to be drawn into the system. The export of cotton and grain increased, banks opened, railroads and telegraph lines were built. In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened.
But this penetration of foreigners caused discontent among Islamists. And since 1860, propaganda of the ideas of jihad (holy war) began in all Muslim countries, which led to multiple uprisings.
Tropical Africa until the end of the 19th century served as a source of slaves for the slave markets of America. Moreover, local coastal states most often played the role of intermediaries in the slave trade. Feudal relations in the 17th and 18th centuries developed precisely in these states (Benin region); a large family community was widespread in a separate territory, although formally there were many principalities (like almost modern example– Bafut).
The French expanded their possessions in the mid-19th century, and the Portuguese held the coastal regions of modern Angola and Mozambique.
This had a significant impact on the local economy: the range of food products was reduced (Europeans imported corn and cassava from America and widely distributed them), and many crafts fell into decline under the influence of European competition.
Since the end of the 19th century, the Belgians (since 1879), the Portuguese, and others have joined the struggle for African territory (since 1884), (since 1869).
By 1900, 90% of Africa was in the hands of colonial invaders. The colonies were turned into agricultural and raw materials appendages of the metropolises. The foundations were laid for the specialization of production in export crops (cotton in Sudan, peanuts in Senegal, cocoa and oil palms in Nigeria, etc.).
The beginning of colonization South Africa was founded in 1652 when about 90 people (Dutch and Germans) landed at the Cape of Good Hope in order to create a transshipment base for the East India Company. This was the beginning of the creation of the Cape Colony. The result of the creation of this colony was the extermination of the local population and the emergence of a colored population (since during the first decades of the colony's existence, mixed marriages were allowed).
In 1806, Great Britain took over the Cape Colony, which led to an influx of settlers from Britain, the abolition of slavery in 1834 and the introduction of the English language. The Boers (Dutch colonists) took this negatively and moved north, destroying African tribes (Xhosa, Zulu, Suto, etc.).
Very important fact. By establishing arbitrary political boundaries, chaining each colony to its own market, tying it to a specific currency zone, the Metropolis dismembered entire cultural and historical communities, disrupted traditional trade ties, and suspended the normal course of ethnic processes. As a result, not a single colony had a more or less ethnically homogeneous population. Within the same colony, there were many ethnic groups living side by side, belonging to different language families, and sometimes to different races, which naturally complicated the development of the national liberation movement (although in the 20-30s of the 20th century, military uprisings took place in Angola, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Congo, ).
During World War II, the Germans tried to include African colonies into the “living space” of the Third Reich. The war was fought on the territory of Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, and Equatorial Africa. But in general, the war gave impetus to the development of the mining and manufacturing industries; Africa supplied food and strategic raw materials to the warring powers.
During the war, national political parties and organizations began to be created in most colonies. In the first post-war years (with the help of the USSR), communist parties began to emerge, often leading armed uprisings, and options for the development of “African socialism” arose.
Sudan was liberated in 1956.1957 – Gold Coast (Ghana),
After gaining independence, they took different paths of development: a number of countries, mostly poor natural resources followed the socialist path (Benin, Madagascar, Angola, Congo, Ethiopia), a number of countries, mostly rich, followed the capitalist path (Morocco, Gabon, Zaire, Nigeria, Senegal, Central African Republic, etc.). A number of countries under socialist slogans carried out both reforms (, etc.).
But in principle there was not much difference between these countries. In both places the nationalization of foreign property was carried out, land reforms. The only question was who paid for it - the USSR or the USA.
As a result of World War I, all of South Africa came under British rule.
In 1924, a law on “civilized labor” was passed, according to which Africans were excluded from jobs requiring qualifications. In 1930, the Land Allocation Act was passed, under which Africans were deprived of land rights and were to be placed in 94 reserves.
In World War 2, the countries of South Africa that were part of the Empire found themselves on the side of the anti-fascist coalition, carried out fighting in North Africa and Ethiopia, but there were also many pro-fascist groups.
In 1948, the apartheid policy was introduced. However, this policy led to harsh anti-colonial protests. As a result, independence was declared in 1964 and,
The history of the peoples of Africa goes back to ancient times. In the 60-80s. XX century on the territory of South and East Africa Scientists have found the remains of human ancestors - Australopithecus monkeys, which allowed them to suggest that Africa could be the ancestral home of humanity (see The Rise of Humanity). In the north of the continent, about 4 thousand years ago, one of the ancient civilizations- ancient Egyptian, which left numerous archaeological and written monuments (see Ancient East). One of the most populated areas of Ancient Africa was the Sahara, with abundant vegetation and diverse wildlife.
Since the 3rd century. BC e. There was an active process of migration of Negroid tribes to the south of the continent, associated with the advance of the desert into the Sahara. In the 8th century BC e. - IV century n. e. in northeast Africa there were the states of Kush and Meroe, associated in many ways with culture Ancient Egypt. Ancient Greek geographers and historians called Africa Libya. The name "Africa" appeared at the end of the 4th century. BC e. from the Romans. After the fall of Carthage, the Romans founded the province of Africa on the territory adjacent to Carthage, then this name spread to the entire continent.
North Africa met the early Middle Ages under the rule of barbarians (Berbers, Goths, Vandals). In 533-534. it was conquered by the Byzantines (see Byzantium). In the 7th century they were replaced by Arabs, which led to the Arabization of the population, the spread of Islam, the formation of new state and social relations, creation of new cultural values.
In ancient times and early middle ages In West Africa, three large states arose, replacing each other. Their formation is associated with the expansion of intercity trade in the Niger River basin, pastoral agriculture, and the widespread use of iron. Written sources about the first of them - the state of Ghana - appear in the 8th century. with the arrival of the Arabs in sub-Saharan Africa, and oral traditions date back to the 4th century. Its heyday dates back to the 8th-11th centuries. Arab travelers called Ghana the country of gold: it was the largest supplier of gold to the Maghreb countries. Here, crossing the Sahara, caravan routes passed to the north and south. By its nature, it was an early class state, whose rulers controlled the transit trade in gold and salt and imposed high duties on it. In 1076, the capital of Ghana, the city of Kumbi-Sale, was captured by newcomers from Morocco - the Almoravids, who laid the foundation for the spread of Islam. In 1240, King Malinke from the state of Mali Sundiata subjugated Ghana.
In the XIV century. (the time of its greatest prosperity), the huge state of Mali stretched from the Sahara to the edge of the forest in the south of Western Sudan and from the Atlantic Ocean to the city of Gao; its ethnic basis was the Malinke people. The cities of Timbuktu, Djenne, and Gao became important centers of Muslim culture. Early feudal forms of exploitation spread within Malian society. The well-being of the state was based on income from caravan trade, agriculture along the banks of the Niger, and cattle breeding in the savannah. Mali was repeatedly invaded by nomads and neighboring peoples; dynastic feuds led to its demise.
The state of Songhai (the capital of Gao), which came to the fore in this part of Africa after the fall of Mali, continued the development of the civilization of Western Sudan. Its main population was the Songhai people, who still live along the banks of the middle reaches of the Niger River. By the 2nd half of the 16th century. an early feudal society developed in Songhai; at the end of the 16th century it was captured by the Moroccans.
In the Lake Chad region in the early Middle Ages there were the states of Kanem and Bornu (IX-XVIII centuries).
The normal development of the states of Western Sudan was put an end to the European slave trade (see Slavery, Slave trade).
Meroe and Aksum are the most significant states of North-East Africa in the period between the 4th century. BC e. and VI century. n. e. The kingdoms of Kush (Napata) and Meroe were located in the north of modern Sudan, the state of Aksum was on the Ethiopian Highlands. Kush and Meroe represented the late phase of ancient Eastern society. Few archaeological sites have survived to this day. In temples and on steles near Napata, several inscriptions in Egyptian have been preserved, which make it possible to judge the political life of the state. The tombs of the rulers of Napata and Meroe were built in the form of pyramids, although they were significantly smaller in size than the Egyptian ones (see Seven Wonders of the World). The transfer of the capital from Napata to Meroe (Meroe was located about 160 km north of modern Khartoum) was obviously associated with the need to reduce the danger from invasions by the Egyptians and Persians. Meroe was an important center of trade between Egypt, the Red Sea states and Ethiopia. A center for processing iron ore arose near Meroe; iron from Meroe was exported to many African countries.
The heyday of Meroe covers the 3rd century. BC e. - I century n. e. Slavery here, as in Egypt, was not the main thing in the system of exploitation; the main hardships were borne by village community members - plowmen and cattle breeders. The community paid taxes and supplied labor for the construction of pyramids and irrigation systems. The Meroe civilization remains underexplored - we still know little about Everyday life state, its relations with the outside world.
The state religion followed Egyptian models: Amon, Isis, Osiris - the gods of the Egyptians - were also gods of the Meroites, but along with this, purely Meroitic cults arose. The Meroites had their own written language, the alphabet contained 23 letters, and although its study began in 1910, the Meroe language still remains difficult to access, making it impossible to decipher the surviving written monuments. In the middle of the 4th century. King Ezana of Aksum inflicted a decisive defeat on the Meroitic state.
Aksum is the forerunner of the Ethiopian state; its history shows the beginning of the struggle waged by the peoples of the Ethiopian Highlands to preserve their independence, religion and culture in a hostile environment. The emergence of the Aksumite kingdom dates back to the end of the 1st century. BC e., and its heyday - by the IV-VI centuries. In the 4th century. Christianity became the state religion; Monasteries arose throughout the country, exerting great economic and political influence. The population of Aksum led a sedentary lifestyle, engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. The most important culture there was wheat. Irrigation and terrace farming developed successfully.
Aksum was important shopping center, connecting Africa with the Arabian Peninsula, where in 517-572. South Yemen belonged to him, but the powerful Persian power ousted Aksum from southern Arabia. In the 4th century. Aksum established connections with Byzantium and controlled the caravan routes from Adulis along the Atbara River to the middle reaches of the Nile. The Aksumite civilization has brought cultural monuments to this day - the remains of palaces, epigraphic monuments, steles, the largest of which reached a height of 23 m.
In the 7th century n. e., with the beginning of the Arab conquests in Asia and Africa, Aksum lost its power. Period from VIII to XIII centuries. characterized by the deep isolation of the Christian state, and only in 1270 did its new rise begin. At this time, Aksum loses its significance as the political center of the country, and the city of Gondar (north of Lake Tana) becomes it. Simultaneously with the strengthening of central power, the role of christian church, monasteries concentrate large land holdings in their hands. Slave labor began to be widely used in the country's economy; Corvee labor and natural supplies are being developed.
The rise touched and cultural life countries. Such monuments are being created as chronicles of the lives of kings and church history; works of Copts (Egyptians professing Christianity) on the history of Christianity are translated, world history. One of the outstanding Ethiopian emperors, Zera-Yakob (1434-1468), is known as the author of works on theology and ethics. He advocated strengthening ties with the Pope, and in 1439 the Ethiopian delegation took part in the Council of Florence. In the 15th century The embassy of the King of Portugal visited Ethiopia. The Portuguese at the beginning of the 16th century. assisted the Ethiopians in the fight against the Muslim Sultan Adal, hoping to then penetrate the country and capture it, but failed.
In the 16th century The decline of the medieval Ethiopian state began, torn apart by feudal contradictions and subjected to raids by nomads. A serious obstacle to the successful development of Ethiopia was its isolation from the centers of trade relations on the Red Sea. The process of centralization of the Ethiopian state began only in the 19th century.
On the east coast of Africa, the trading city-states of Kilwa, Mombasa, and Mogadishu grew in the Middle Ages. They had extensive connections with the states of the Arabian Peninsula, Western Asia and India. The Swahili civilization arose here, absorbing African and Arabic culture. Since the 10th century. Arabs played an increasingly important role in the connections of the east coast of Africa with a large number of Muslim states in the Middle East and South Asia. The appearance of the Portuguese at the end of the 15th century. disrupted the traditional ties of the east coast of Africa: a period of long struggle of African peoples against European conquerors began. The history of the interior of this region of Africa is not well known due to the lack of historical sources. Arab sources of the 10th century. reported that between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers there was a large state that had a large number of gold mines. The civilization of Zimbabwe (its heyday dates back to the beginning of the 15th century) is best known during the period of the Monomotapa state; Numerous public and religious buildings have survived to this day, indicating a high level of construction culture. The collapse of the Monomotapa empire occurred at the end of the 17th century. due to the expansion of the Portuguese slave trade.
In the Middle Ages (XII-XVII centuries) in the south of West Africa there was a developed culture of the Yoruba city-states - Ife, Oyo, Benin, etc. They reached high level development of crafts, agriculture, trade. In the XVI-XVIII centuries. these states took part in the European slave trade, which led to their decline at the end of the 18th century.
The major state of the Gold Coast was the confederation of Amanti states. This is the most developed feudal formation in West Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries.
In the Congo River basin in the XIII-XVI centuries. there were early class states of Congo, Lunda, Luba, Bushongo, etc. However, with the advent of the 16th century. Their development was also interrupted by the Portuguese. Historical documents about early period There is practically no development in these states.
Madagascar in the I-X centuries. developed in isolation from the mainland. The Malagasy people who inhabited it were formed as a result of the mixing of newcomers from Southeast Asia and Negroid peoples; the island's population consisted of several ethnic groups - Merina, Sokalava, Betsimisaraka. In the Middle Ages, the kingdom of Imerina arose in the mountains of Madagascar.
The development of medieval Tropical Africa, due to natural and demographic conditions, as well as due to its relative isolation, lagged behind North Africa.
Penetration of Europeans at the end of the 15th century. became the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade, which, like the Arab slave trade on the east coast, delayed the development of the peoples of Tropical Africa and caused them irreparable moral and material damage. On the threshold of modern times, Tropical Africa found itself defenseless against the colonial conquests of Europeans.