What are the social classes in West Africa?

Social classes included leaders, merchants, religious leaders, labourers, free citizens and the slaves. The leaders were people who founded a community or settlement, their lineage naturally became the new leaders of the communities as the years went by.

How were West African families and villages organized?

By the early sixteenth century, most West Africans were farmers. They usu- ally lived in hamlets or villages composed of extended families and clans called lineages. Depending on the ethnic group involved, extended fami- lies and lineages were either patrilineal or matrilineal.

What ethnic groups make up West Africa?

Major ethnic groups
Major ethnic groups Region Countries
Akan West Africa Ghana, Ivory Coast
Amhara Horn of Africa Ethiopia
Chewa Central Africa Malawi, Zambia
Fulani West Africa Mauritania, Gambia. Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Chad, Sudan, CAR, Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone

What were West African villages made of?

villages are made up of several clans. ethnic groups that share a distince culture, language, and identity. There were many ethnic groups in W. Africa.

How were caste and clan different in West African societies?

How were caste and clan different in West African societies? A caste is a person’s social class and a clan is a what a village is made up of. A person’s caste was determined by the family he or she was born into. A person’s clan was determined by their lineage.

What is West African society?

West African society was one of the centers of civilization in the centuries leading up to the Atlantic slave trade. The vibrant economy and culture in West African society were greatly affected by the slave trade. The Atlantic slave trade was not abolished by the United States until 1809.

What were three kingdoms in West Africa?

A succession of three great kingdoms came to power as their people, gained control of valuable trade routes in West Africa. Ghana​ was the first of these empires, followed by the kingdoms of ​Mali​ and ​Songhai​. Historians think the first people in Ghana were farmers along the ​Niger River​.

What is West Africa called?

western Africa, region of the western African continent comprising the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

How were lineages determined in West African cultures?

How were lineages determined in West African cultures? They usu- ally lived in hamlets or villages composed of extended families and clans called lineages. Depending on the ethnic group involved, extended fami- lies and lineages were either patrilineal or matrilineal.

What were the 3 African empires?

They are the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay.

What were the 3 major African empires?

In this collection, we examine the big three of the Ghana Empire, Mali Empire, and Songhai Empire as well as the lucrative trade connections they made with West and North Africa.

What was the kingdom of Songhai known for?

Songhai empire, also spelled Songhay, great trading state of West Africa (flourished 15th–16th century), centred on the middle reaches of the Niger River in what is now central Mali and eventually extending west to the Atlantic coast and east into Niger and Nigeria.

What were the kingdoms of West Africa?

The development of such major Sudanic kingdoms and empires as Ghana, Mali, Songhai, the Hausa states, and Kanem-Bornu along the southern fringes of the Sahara had a number of important consequences for the history of western Africa as a whole.

Who founded West Africa?

The Mali Empire began in the 13th century CE, eventually creating a centralised state including most of West Africa. It originated when a Mande (Mandingo) leader, Sundiata (Lord Lion) of the Keita clan, defeated Soumaoro Kanté, king of the Sosso or southern Soninke, at the Battle of Kirina in c. 1235.

What was West Africa known for?

West Africans developed an extensive self-contained trading system, based on skilled manufacture. From the 8th century Muslim traders, from North Africa and Arab countries, began to reach the region. Gradually, communities began to convert to Islam.

Which ancient African kingdom was located in western Africa?

The Mali Empire was an empire in West Africa that lasted from 1230 to 1600 and profoundly influenced the culture of the region through the spread of its language, laws, and customs along lands adjacent to the Niger River, as well as other areas consisting of numerous vassal kingdoms and provinces.

What is an African griot?

griot, Mande jeli or jali, Wolof gewel, West African troubadour-historian. The griot profession is hereditary and has long been a part of West African culture. … In addition to serving as the primary storytellers of their people, griots have also served as advisers and diplomats.

What was the first West African empire?

Ghana
Ghana, first of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa (fl. 7th–13th century). It was situated between the Sahara and the headwaters of the Sénégal and Niger rivers, in an area that now comprises southeastern Mauritania and part of Mali.

In what order did the West African empires appear?

Three celebrated empires flourished in the Western Sudan between the 8th and 17th centuries: Ghana (c. 8th-11th century), Mali (c. 13th-16th century), and Songhai (c. 15th-17th century).

How did kingdoms develop in West Africa?

How did the Kingdoms of West Africa develop and prosper? The were created by men who became wealthy because of the gold-salt trade. … Their wealth gave them power turning them and their descendants into powerful lords of land and people.

Which ancient African kingdom was located in Southern Africa?

The Mutapa Empire or Empire of Great Zimbabwe (1450–1629) was a medieval kingdom located between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers of Southern Africa in the modern states of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Remnants of the historical capital are found in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.

Which empire in West Africa lasted the longest?

The Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire was the largest and last of the three major pre-colonial empires to emerge in West Africa. From its capital at Gao on the Niger River, Songhai expanded in all directions until it stretched from the Atlantic Ocean (modern Senegal and Gambia) to what is now Northwest Nigeria and central Niger.

What are 3 major West African empires increased their wealth by?

Using trade to gain wealth, Ghana, Mali, and Songhai were West Africa’s most powerful kingdoms. 1. West Africa developed three great kingdoms that grew wealthy through their control of trade.

How many empires does West Africa have?

empires in North Africa, three powerful empires flourished in West Africa. These ancient African empires arose in the Sahel, the savanna region just south of the Sahara. They grew strong by controlling trade. In this section you will learn about the West African empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai.

What was Songhai religion?

Songhai culture was a blend of traditional West African beliefs with the religion of Islam. Daily life was ruled by traditions and customs, but laws were based on Islam. The slave trade was important to the Songhai Empire.