Different Places
in
Africa!
Algeria
Asante
Benin Kingdom
The Yoruba and the States of Ife and Oyo
Algeria
Algeria is the second-largest country in Africa (Sudan being the largest) and is situated in northwestern Africa, with the northern coastline running along the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the east by Tunisia and Libya, on the southeast and south by Niger, on the south and south west by Mali, on the west by Mauritania and on the west northwest by Morocco.The northern parallel mountain ranges of the Saharan Tell or Maritime Atlas, comprising coastal massifs and inland ranges, and the Saharan Atlas divide Algeria into three longitudinal zones running generally eastwest: the Mediterranean zone; the high plateaus; and the Sahara which covers some 85% of the entire area. About half of Algeria is 914 m (3,000 ft) or more above sea level, and about 70% of the area is from 762 m (2,500ft) to 1675m (5,500 ft) in elevation. The lowest point is Chott Melrhir -40m and the highest Tahat at 3,003m.
Asante
Much of the modern West African nation of Ghana was dominated from the late 17th through the late 19th century by a state known as Asante. Asante was the largest and most powerful of a series of states formed in the forest region of southern Ghana by people known as the Akan. Among the factors leading the Akan to form states, perhaps the most important was that they were rich in gold. In the 15th and 16th centuries, gold-seeking traders came to Akan country not only from the great Songhay empire (in the modern Republic of Mali) and the Hausa cities of northern Nigeria, but also from Europe. After the Portuguese built the first European fort in tropical Africa at El Mina in 1482, the stretch of the Atlantic coast now in Ghana became known in Europe as the Gold Coast. Akan entrepreneurs used gold to purchase slaves from both African and European traders. Indeed, while Europeans would eventually ship at least twelve million slaves to the Americas, they initially became involved in slave trading by selling African slaves to African purchasers. The Portuguese supplied perhaps 12,000 slaves to Akan country between 1500 and 1535, and continued selling slaves from Sao Tome and Nigeria to the Gold Coast throughout the 16th century. Before Benin imposed a ban on slave exports (see above), a Portuguese slave trader reported that at Benin they purchased, "a great number of slaves who were bartered very profitably at [El] Mina. The labor of these slaves enabled the Akan to expand gold production by developing deep-level mining in addition to panning alluvial soils. Even more importantly, slave labor enabled the Akan to undertake the immensely laborious task of clearing the dense forests of southern Ghana for farming. The most prominent historian of Asante, Ivor Wilks, suggests that while some farming on a very limited scale had probably been practiced in the Ghanaian forests for millennia, only when the Akan began importing slaves in the 15th and 16th centuries were they able to shift from an economy which relied primarily on hunting and gathering to one which became primarily agricultural. As this transition to agriculture took place, Akan communities not only planted more of their traditional crops - plantains, yams, and rice - but also adopted a wide variety of new crops from the Americas, including maize (corn) and cassava, which were brought to Africa by Europeans. Farming led to rapid increase of population in the forest region. As the population grew, small groups migrated across the Ghanaian forest, searching for good farm land. Often these groups were led, believes Wilks, by entrepreneurs who used slave labor to do the initial work of clearing forest. Later, these entrepreneurs would invite free settlers to join them, and in this way new communities were created throughout the forest.
Benin Kingdom
The Benin Empire was located in southern Nigeria, east of Yorubaland and west of the Niger River. It was populated by speakers of a group of closely related languages called Edo. Benin is one of the states of southern Nigeria which claim to have obtained kingship from the Yoruba city of Ife. Archaeological research at Benin has shown, however, that important developments preceded the foundation of the empire. In the countryside around Benin City lies an extraordinary complex of walls, thirty feet high in places and stretching perhaps 10,000 miles in length. Because they are older than the walls of the city which became the capital of the Benin Empire, historians believe that the region was the home of a large population before the emergence of a centralized state. Historians of Benin believe that its first kingdom developed in the 12th or 13th century. They think, however, that the densely forested region around Benin City was still divided into perhaps several dozen tiny and quarrelsome chiefdoms when, about 1300, it found unity. According to Benin tradition, when the chiefs decided to unify they invited Oranyan (or Oranmiyan) from Ife to become their leader. Oranyan stayed in Benin only long enough to father a child with a daughter of a local chief. Their son, Eweka, is considered the first king, or oba, of Benin. Some historians have suggested that the tale of a marriage between Oranyan and a chiefly family of Benin may conceal the unpleasant truth that Benin was at this time conquered by outsiders who became its rulers. During the 15th century, the famous Oba Ewuare increased his power by making important reforms. He tried to reduce the influence of the uzama, a body of hereditary chiefs who participated in the selection of the oba, by instituting primogeniture, the rule that a father should be succeeded by his son. He also tried to find a political counterweight to the uzama by creating new categories of chiefs, the "palace chiefs" and "town chiefs" whom he appointed himself. Ewuare is also credited in Benin tradition with having built a monumental system of walls and moats around Benin City. In addition, Ewuare vastly increased the territory under the control of Benin. He and his son, Ozolua, extended the sway of Benin from the Niger River in the east to the eastern portions of Yoruba country in the west. Ewuare�s reforms created a government based on checks and balances. It allowed the oba to play off different factions of chiefs against each other as "palace" and "town" chiefs competed with the uzama to gain influence. Yet, while they were appointed by the oba, the "palace" and "town" chiefs kept independent sources of power. Because they collected tribute (paid twice annually in palm oil, yams and other foodstuffs) provided by all the villages and districts to the court, the oba relied on the chiefs for his revenue. Moreover, Benin�s political institutions created endless opportunities for individuals to compete for advancement through grades of seniority and authority. Even free male commoners enjoyed opportunities for advancement by competing for the chiefly titles awarded by the oba. Slaves, however, were denied these opportunities.
The Yoruba and the States of Ife and Oyo
The Yoruba-speaking people of southwestern Nigeria are heirs both to an ancient and cultured civilization, and a tragic history. Yoruba culture is known for its artistic triumphs, extraordinary oral literature, complex pantheon of gods, and urban lifestyle. Yet, it is also a civilization which sent millions of its men, women and children to the Americas as slaves. Their numbers and cultural impact were so great that their religion and culture have remained important in modern Brazil and Cuba, and are found today in the cities of the eastern United States. This combination of cultural triumph and human tragedy makes the Yoruba experience one of the most fascinating subjects of historical study in Africa. The world, say traditions of the Yoruba people, began at Ife, a city of great historical and religious significance in the heart of Yoruba country. The earth was completely covered with water, these traditions tell us, when the Creator, Olodumare, equipped a party of messengers with five pieces of iron, a lump of soil, and a chicken. The party found a site where they could set down the iron, place the soil on it, and allow the chicken to begin spreading the soil with its feet. From this beginning, farm land spread across the world.
While the precise date of initial human settlement in Yoruba country remains unknown, many historians find in these traditions important aspects of early Yoruba history. First, Yoruba tradition can be forgiven for having seen the beginning of Yoruba culture as the creation of the world, for Yoruba culture is indeed old. The language of the Yoruba separated from that of some of their nearest neighbors at least 5000 years ago; from their linguistically most closely-related neighbors, the Igala, they separated 2000 years ago. (The relatively close linguistic relationship between Yoruba and Igala has led some scholars to suggest that Yoruba country may have been settled by migrants who came from the region where the Igala now live, near the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers.Yoruba traditions remind us that farmland was not merely discovered, but was created by agriculturists, and that iron-working must have played a crucial role in its creation. Surely the great achievement of early Yoruba-speaking communities was carving open spaces for farming out of the forests which dominate most of Yoruba country. Probably as long as 2000 years ago, Yoruba agriculturists were already using iron tools. Early farmers would have relied upon the varieties of yams and cocoyams indigenous to West Africa. By about 2000 years ago, farmers would have begun to adopt plantains (bananas) which, having been brought to East Africa from Malaysia, were spreading across the continent.
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