General History of Africa, Volume 3: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century

891 Pages·1988·1.87 MB·English

by  M. Elfasi

GENERALHISTORYOF AFRICA HI
Africa from the Seventh
to the Eleventh Century
UNESCO General History of Africa
Volume I Methodology and African Prehistory
(Editor J. Ki-Zerbo)
Volume II Ancient Civilizations of Africa
(Editor G. Mokhtar)
Volume III Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century
(Editor M. El Fasi)
(Assistant Editor I. Hrbek)
Volume IV Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century
(Editor D. T. Niane)
Volume V Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century
(Editor B. A. Ogot)
Volume VI Africa in the Nineteenth Century until the 1880s
(Editor J. F. A. Ajayi)
Volume VII Africa under Colonial Domination, 1880-1935
(Editor A. A. Boahen)
Volume VIII Africa since 1935
(Editor A. A. Mazrui)
(Assistant Editor C. Wondji)
UNESCO International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa
G E N E R AL H I S T O RY
OF A F R I C A - HI
Africa from the Seventh
to the Eleventh Century
EDITOR M.ELFASl
ASSISTANT EDITOR l.HRBEK
HEINEMANN -CALIFORNIA • UNESCO
First published 1988 by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization,
7 Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris
and
Reprinted in 1995 by
Heinemann Educational Publishers
A Division of Heinemann Publishers (Oxford) Ltd
Halley Court, Jordan Hill, Oxford 0x2 8EJ
Reprinted in 2000 by UNESCO Publishing
1 rue Miollis, 75732 PARIS Cedex 15, France
Heinemann: A Division of Reed Publishing (USA) Inc.
361 Hanover Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801-3912, USA
Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) Ltd
PMB 5205, Ibadan
Heinemann Educational Boleswa
PO Box 10103, Village Post Office, Gaborone, Botswana
FLORENCE PRAGUE PARIS MADRID
ATHENS MELBOURNE JOHANNESBURG
AUCKLAND SINGAPORE TOKYO
CHICAGO SAO PAULO
First published 1988
in the United States of America by the
University of California Press
2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley
California 94720, United States of America
© UNESCO 1988
Heinemann Publishers ISBN o 435 94809 1
UNESCO ISBN 92-3-101 709-8
University of California Press ISBN 0-520-03914-9
Filmset in upt Monophoto Ehrhardt by
Eta Services (Typesetters) Ltd., Beccles, Suffolk
Contents
Note on chronology vii
List of figures ix
List of plates xi
Acknowledgements for plates xv
Preface xvii
A M A D O U - M A H T AR M'BOW, Former Director-General of Unesco
Description of the Project xxiii
B. A. OGOT, Former President of the International Scientific Committee
for the Drafting of a General History of Africa
i Africa in the context of world history i
I. HRBEK
2 The coming of Islam and the expansion of the Muslim empire 31
M. EL FASI and I. HRBEK
3 Stages in the development of Islam and its
dissemination in Africa 56
M. EL FASI and I. HRBEK
4 Islam as a social system in Africa since the seventh century 92
Z. DRAMANI-ISSIFOU
5 The peoples of the Sudan: population movements 119
F. DE MEDEIROS
6 The Bantu-speaking peoples and their expansion 140
S. LWANGA-LUNYIIGO and J. VANSINA
7 Egypt from the Arab conquest until the end of the
Fätimid state (1171) 163
T.BIANQUIS
8 Christian Nubia at the height of its civilization 194
S. JAKOBIELSKI
9 The conquest of North Africa and Berber resistance 224
H. MONÈS
10 The independence of the Maghrib 246
M. TALBI
v
Contents
11 The role of the Sahara and Saharians in relationships between north
and south 276
T. LEWICKI
12 The emergence of the Fätimids 314
I. HRBEK
13 The Almoravids 336
I. HRBEK and J. DEVISSE
14 Trade and trade routes in West Africa 367
J. DEVISSE
15 The Chad region as a crossroads 436
D. LANGE
16 The Guinea zone: general situation 461
Thurstan SHAW
17 The Guiñean belt: the peoples between Mount Cameroon
and the Ivory Coast* 488
B. W. A N D AH in collaboration with J. A N Q U A N D AH
18 The peoples of Upper Guinea (between the Ivory Coast
and the Casamance) 530
B. W. ANDAH
19 The Horn of Africa 559
T. T. MEKOURIA
20 Ethiopia's relations with the Muslim world 575
E. CERULLI
21 The East African coast and the Comoro Islands 586
F. T. MASAO and H. W. MUTORO
22 The East African interior 616
C. EHRET
23 Central Africa to the north of the Zambezi 643
D. W. PHILLIPSON
24 Southern Africa to the south of the Zambezi 664
T. N. HUFFMAN
25 Madagascar 681
B. DOMENICHINI-RAMIARAMANANA
26 The African diaspora in Asia 704
Y. TALIB based on a contribution by F. Samir
27 Relations between the different regions of Africa 734
A. BATHILY with the collaboration o/C. MEILLASSOUX
Contents
28 Africa from the seventh to the eleventh century:
five formative centuries 750
J. DEVISSE and J. VANSINA
Members of the International Scientific Committee for the drafting of a
General History of Africa 794
Biographies of Authors 796
Bibliography 799
Index 848
* Note: The official designation of Côte d'Ivoire is Côte d'Ivoire in all languages but with
respect to the English practice, Ivory Coast will be found in this book.
Note on chronology
It has been agreed to adopt the following method for writing dates. With
regard to prehistory, dates may be written in two different ways.
One way is by reference to the present era, that is, dates BP (before pre-
sent),the reference year being +1950; all dates are negative in relation to
+ 1950.
The other way is by reference to the beginning of the Christian era.
Dates are represented in relation to the Christian era by a simple + or —
sign before the date. When referring to centuries, the terms BC and AD are
replaced by 'before the Christian era' and 'of the Christian era'.
Some examples are as follows:
(i) 2300 BP = -350
(ii) 2900 BC = — 2900
AD 180O = +180O
(iii) 5th century BC = 5th century before the Christian era
3rd century AD = 3rd century of the Christian era
vu
List of figures
i.i The Old World, c. 230/845 15
2.1 The expansion of the Islamic state 50
3.1 The Islamized areas of Africa by c. 1100 58
3.2 The Islamized areas of Africa by c. 1500 77
5.1 West Africa in the eleventh century 124
6.1 Bantu expansion 144
6.2 Early Iron Age pottery (Urewe) from Rurembo, Rwanda 153
6.3 Early Iron Age pottery (Urewe) from Kabuye, Rwanda 153
6.4(a)-(c) Profiles of reconstituted Early Iron Age furnaces in the Butare area,
Rwanda 158
7.1 Arab Egypt 167
8.1 Christian Nubia ig7
8.2 The mosque building in Old Dongola 201
8.3 Plan of the Christian site of Debeyra West 205
8.4 Plan of Kasr al-Wizz, a Nubian monastic complex 205
8.5 The Second Period in the development of Nubian church architec
ture 218
8.6 The Third Period in the development of Nubian church architec
ture 220
9.1 The Arab conquest of the Maghrib 230
1 I.I The Sahara 27c
12.1 The Maghrib in the first half of the fifth/eleventh century 316
13.1 The Almoravid empire: towns and monuments 338
13.2 Localities on the Senegal in the Almoravid period 358
14.1 The desert area to be crossed: map showing present-day isohyets 370
14.2 Trade routes described by Ibn Hawkal 375
14.3 Gold mints on the eve of the Fätimid conquest 3Q3
14.4 Minting of dirhams in the Western Maghrib during the Idrisid
period 3Q4
14.5 Minting of gold in the Western Muslim world after 910 3Q5
14.6 Almoravid gold coinage: mints 401
14.7 Al-Bakrfs itineraries: western part 407
14.8 Al-Idrisrs itineraries: western part 411
14.9 Sites of trans-Saharan trade, ninth to eleventh centuries 415
14.10 Gold production areas in West Africa 424
16.1 The Guinea zone: places mentioned in the text 463
16.2 Plan of the Wassu site 472
16.3 Two stone circles at Wassu 473
16.4 The lyre stone at Kerbatch 474
17.1 Towns and sites mentioned in the text 48c
17.2 Language groups, peoples and kingdoms mentioned in the text 4Q0
17.3 Tenth- to eleventh-century painted pottery from Begho, Republic of
Ghana 4Ç7
IX
List of figures
17.4 Seventh- to ninth-century pottery from New Buipe, Republic of
Ghana 4ç8
17.5 Seventh- to ninth-century pottery from New Buipe, Republic of
Ghana 4ç8
17.6 Pottery from period II at NkukoaBuoho, Republic of Ghana 500
17.7 Kintampo Culture artefacts from period I at Nkukoa Buoho, Republic of
Ghana 500
17.8 Middle Iron Age Shai Dangme pottery from Cherekecherete, Republic of
Ghana 503
18.1 West Africa: major physical regions S32
18.2 Language families of West Africa 535
18.3 Manding peoples and languages 537
18.4 Population movements in the Upper Guinea region $42
19.1 The Horn of Africa 561
21.1 Pottery excavated at Mro Deoua, Comoro Islands $Q6
21.2 Old Shîrâzî mosque of Domoni Anjouan, Comoro Islands (eleventh cen
tury) 597
22.1 Major eastern African societies from about the seventh to the ninth cen
tury 618
23.1 Archaeological cultures in eastern and southern Africa 64s
23.2 Archaeological sites in central Africa 647
23.3 Pottery and an ivory bangle from Sanga, Zaire 652
23.4 Luangwa tradition pottery from Makwe rock-shelter, eastern
Zambia 660
23.5 Modern Lungwebungu tradition pottery 662
24.1 Some of the ethnic groups denned by ceramic style in southern Africa
between 700 and 900 666
24.2 Ethnic groups and movements in southern Africa between 950 and
1000 668
24.3 Spatial organization of the Bantu Cattle Culture 670
24.4 Stylized reconstruction of the K2 site, c. 1050 675
24.5 Stylized reconstruction of Mapungubwe at 1075 and 1150 677
25.1 Madagascar and the Comoros 683,
27.1 Relations between the different parts of Africa from the seventh to the
eleventh century 735
The publishers would like to thank the following for supplying maps and/or draw
ings for this volume: Professor B. W. Andah, Professor J. Anquandah, Professor
A. Bathily, Professor T. Bianquis, Professor J. Dévisse, Mme B. Domenichini-
Ramiaramanana, Professor C. Ehret, Professor I. Hrbek, Professor T. N. Huff
man, Professor S. Jakobielski, Professor,S. Lwanga-Lunyiigo, Professor F. de
Medeiros, Professor D. W. Phillipson, Professor Thurstan Shaw, Professor P.
Vérin.
x