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Islam and Indigenous Cultures in West and East Africa
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Islam and Indigenous Cultures in West and East Africa
APWH C2S2
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1
Question
What languages formed Swahili, the common language of the coastal towns?
Answer
Arabic + Bantu (the most widespread sub-Saharan African language)
2
Question
What influenced the layout and imposing architecture of the coastal towns?
Answer
Islamic precedents from Abbasid cities and ceremonies
3
Question
Who benefited from Islamic imperial ceremonies and legal codes in coastal towns?
Answer
Rulers and city officials (to enhance legitimacy)
4
Question
Did the majority population in most coastal towns convert to Islam immediately?
Answer
No; the majority population was not Muslim
5
Question
What is the literal meaning of Swahili?
Answer
Coastal
6
Question
What familial arrangements coexisted in coastal towns, and which groups favored each?
Answer
Patriarchal and matriarchal; patriarchal favored Muslim elites, matriarchal spread among Bantu majority
7
Question
What region is described as The Maghrib?
Answer
Western North Africa (Arabic name for that region)
8
Question
What dominates the western Savanna zone by 1200 C.E. instead of coastal trading towns?
Answer
A succession of land empires and major market centers in savanna cities
9
Question
What were the main trade items crossing the Sahara between rainforest gold and inland markets?
Answer
Gold, salt, dates
10
Question
What is the general trajectory of influence in West Africa as described?
Answer
Islamic and indigenous African influences blend in rulers, rituals, and architecture
11
Question
Who was Sundiata and when did he rule?
Answer
The Mali Empire’s Lion Prince; middle decades of the 13th century
12
Question
How did Ibn Battuta describe Mali’s realm?
Answer
Security and well-being of polyglot peoples, skilled craftsmen, especially blacksmiths
13
Question
What architectural trend accompanied Islamic influence in Western Africa's urban centers?
Answer
Soaring architecture with mosques as focal structures
14
Question
What environmental challenge affected coastal rainforest societies?
Answer
Malaria and yellow fever limiting agriculture and animal husbandry
15
Question
Where did large villages and regional kingdoms extend in the early centuries C.E.?
Answer
Along the coastal rainforest belt and into forested regions toward grasslands and lake country
16
Question
What caused limited horse and cattle raising in the forested regions?
Answer
Virulent disease environment (malaria and yellow fever)
17
Question
What role did women primarily play in cultivation in forested regions?
Answer
Most stages of cultivation entrusted to women
18
Question
What agricultural development began in the last centuries B.C.E. and influenced male roles?
Answer
Introduction of iron plows
19
Question
What animal and plant trade items connected West and sub-Saharan Africa historically?
Answer
Gold from rainforest zones; salt and dates from trans-Saharan routes
20
Question
Which travel writer provided high praise for Mali’s cities and people?
Answer
Ibn Battuta
21
Question
What is the role of griots in the Mali Empire?
Answer
Professional oral historians and advisers to kings
22
Question
What city is described by Figure 2.5 as an Islamic trading town in Sudanic West Africa?
Answer
Djenné
23
Question
What does the term ‘Slaves’ refer to in the context of early trade across East Africa?
Answer
Acquired through trading with Bantu peoples in interior regions (East Africa)
24
Question
What was the primary basis for legitimacy among rulers in the coastal towns?
Answer
Islamic ceremonial and legal norms
25
Question
What common cultural bond did coastal towns share despite religious differences?
Answer
The Swahili language (Arabic + Bantu)
26
Question
Which two major cultural worlds converge in the Maghrib region?
Answer
Islamic and indigenous African influences
27
Question
What effect did Islam have on Mali’s court and religion?
Answer
Muslim court rituals and elite religion, indigenous notion of rule as divine
28
Question
How did urban mosques function in Sudanic West Africa’s savanna towns?
Answer
Focal structures in urban centers and large towns
29
Question
What was a key challenge for mobility and trade in the coastal rainforest?
Answer
Disease environment limiting movement and agriculture
30
Question
What role did craftsmanship play in Sundiata’s Mali according to Ibn Battuta?
Answer
Skilled blacksmiths highly valued