North Africa : The Arabs.

After the birth of Islam early in the 7th century the armies of the Semitic Arabs
quickly conquered the whole of the Middle East, including Egypt in 642. Later in the
century they went on from Egypt to the rest of North Africa, converting the Berbers
as they went. By the end of the century the Arab empire had reached Morocco. The
conversion was generally peaceful, the Berbers readily accepting Islam. About the
only section of the population not converted were Jewish communities (which had
been in North Africa for several centuries) and which were tolerated and treated well
by the Arabs.
The Arab invasions, however, were not unopposed. Byzantine resistance resulted in
the complete and final destruction of Carthage; and further west, in Algeria, there
was considerable Berber opposition. Though the Berbers accepted Islam, there was a
long period of anarchy and warfare.
From Morocco the Arab armies, reinforced with Berbers and led by the Berber Tariq,
moved on to Spain and conquered most of the county between 710 and 720. Apart
from some areas in the north the Moors, as they were called, remained masters of
the Iberian peninsula until late in the 11th century, and were not finally driven out
until the 15th century.* As time went on, and more came to Spain from Africa, the
Moors in Spain became more Berber than Arab.
Meanwhile in Morocco the Berber tribes united in a series of Moorish dynasties, under
the first of which Fez was founded as the capital towards the end of the 8th century.
Fez became - and still is - the great intellectual and religious centre of Morocco.
When the Moors were finally expelled from Spain intellectual refugees gathered in
Fez.
In the Arab world divisions soon appeared. Rival families fought for the Caliphate
(leadership of Islam), and there was a serious split between the Shiites and the
Sunnites. The Shiites held that the head of Islam must be a descendant of Ali and his
wife Fatima (Mohammed's nephew and daughter)**. There was also a third sect, the
Kharijites, who held that the Caliph could be any believer fit for the office. They were
at first numerous in North Africa, but few still remain.
These family and religious rivalries are exemplified by events in Tunisia. At the end
of the 8th century a dynasty was founded by the Aghlabids, who broke away from
the ruling Abbasid Caliphate and extended their control over some of Algeria and
Tripolitania. (The Aghlabids also conquered Sicily, which became another main outlet
for Arab learning into Europe.) At the beginning of the 10th century the Aghlabids
were overthrown by the Shiite Fatimids, who claimed descent from Fatima. (later in
the century the Fatimids conquered Egypt and founded Cairo, from which they ruled
for the next 200 years.)
In the 11th century there was a renewal of Islamic energy in North Africa,
accompanied by a further wave of Arab immigration. And at this time there arose in
the Sahara a sect of fanatical Berber Moslems, the Almoravids. In about 1060 they
founded Marrakesh and conquered Morocco, and then went on to Spain where they
temporarily arrested the Christian re-conquest.
In the middle of the 12th century some even fiercer and more intolerant Berber
Moslems issued from the region of the Atlas mountains in western and central
Morocco - the Almohades. They extinguished the power of the Almoravids, and
extended their empire in North Africa from Morocco as far as Tripolitania. (Cyrenaica
in these times was generally tied to the fortunes of Egypt.) The Almohades also
followed in the footsteps of the Almoravids in Spain, from which they were not
expelled until the middle of the 13th century (leaving the whole Iberian peninsula in
Christian hands except for Granada in the south).
The empire of the Almohades in Africa then declined and gradually broke up.
Separate dynasties were established in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripolitania.
*In the middle of the 8th century the state of Cordoba, in Andalusia in southern
Spain, was founded by Abd al Rahman, son of an Arabian prince and a Berber
princess. In the following centuries Cordoba became the centre of a renaissance in
art, science and literature in which, while Europe was in a state of virtual intellectual
stagnation the,Arabs led the.western world. Cordoba became the leading intellectual
centre of Europe where students came from far and wide to study medicine,
mathematics, science, philosophy and music under Moslem Christian and Jewish
professors.
** The split still exists; but the great majority are Sunnites. The Shiites are strong
only in Persia and southern Iraq.
Chapter 5. The Early Kingdoms of the Western and
Central Sudan.
In early times the peoples of the western and central Sudan were subject to many
outside influences - from the Egyptians, the Kushites, the Carthaginians - but mainly
from the Berbers of the North African coastlands. The links were the trade routes
across the Sahara.
The Berber trade was largely for gold from the district south of the western Sudan, in
exchange for salt and manufactured goods. The greatly increased trade after the
introduction of the camel about A.D. 700 led to the formation of Berber states south
west of the Sahara. This helped to cause a greater degree of co-ordination between
the Negro tribes and the creation of the first large West African kingdom, probably
some time in the 4th century A.D. This was ancient Ghana, formed by the Soninke
people who lived in the grasslands of the western Sudan north of the headwaters of
the Senegal and Niger rivers. (Ancient Ghana was - rather confusingly in present-day
Mali, and a quite different land from modern Ghana.)
The empire of Ghana dominated West Africa for seven centuries, reaching its peak in
the 11th century. Based on the gold trade, the Kings of Ghana were immensely rich,
and powerful. King Tunka Manin, who ruled in the middle of the 11th century, had a
magnificent court in his stone-built capital of Kumbi Saleh, and is said to have been
able to field an army of 200,000 men.
Ghana, however, was unable to withstand Moslem invasions in the second half of the
11th century. The Moslem Arabs had been infiltrating the settlements in the Sahara
oases since the 7th century. Then, in the 1070s, Ghana was attacked by the armies
of the Almoravids of Morocco. Though the Almoravids retired or were driven out,
after destroying Kumbi Saleh, Ghana was permanently weakened. In the course of
the next 150 years it was absorbed and its place as the leading West African power
taken by the Kingdom of Mali.
Mali, of the Mandinka people, was the great empire in West Africa for about two
centuries, from the middle of the 13th to the middle of the 15th. Its territories
extended well beyond those of ancient Ghana. It rose to prominence under Mari-
Djata (the Lion Prince) and was at the height of its power under the Emperor
Kankan Musa early in the 14th century. On the way to a pilgrimage to Mecca,
Kankan Musa exchanged greetings and presents on equal terms with the Mameluke
Sultan of Egypt. (The kings of Mali had embraced Islam - and so became members of
a world civilisation.) Mali was famous for the wealth of its rulers, the peace and order
in its territories, and for its learned men - influenced by Islamic studies in law,
government and business affairs.
These advances made society more complex - and more divided. At the bottom were
those who had lost the right to be treated as free men, either through some serious
offence or by capture in war. They were "rightless persons" or "permanent servants'
and subject to sale, in effect slaves, but it was usually a form of slavery which was
tolerant and allowed them to work in much the same way as other people.
The pre-eminence of Mali was followed by that of the Songhay people of the central
Sudan, with their capital at Gao. The Songhay had her trading connections with the
Berbers for many centuries, and their Kings of Gao had accepted Islam early in the
11th century. At various times they had been subject to Ghana, and then to Mali; but
towards the end of the 14th century they threw off the over-lordship of Mali, and
then their power increased as that of Mali declined. Their prosperity grew as gold
began to come from the forest country south of Gao (modern Ghana).
The main founder of the Songhay Empire of Gao was Sunni (King) Ali, a warrior king
who reigned from about 1464 to 1492. He transformed a small trading kingdom into
a large empire, including in his domains the rich trading centre Timbuktu, which had
been one of the main cities of Mali. In the Songhay times Timbuktu became a
renowned centre of learning, known throughout the Moslem world.
Under Askia Mohammed (c 1493-1528) the empire expanded further, becoming as
extensive as Mali had been at its peak. A source of weakness in the empire, though,
was a conflict of beliefs and interests between the Moslem traders of the towns and
the country people who remained true to their old Songhay religion.**
Late in the 16th century Songhay came into conflict with the Sultan of Morocco, who
in 1590 sent an army across the Sahara to seize the sources of gold. The Moroccans
captured and looted Gao and Timbuktu, sending back much gold - and slaves - but
they failed to win control of the trade routes to the south. Twenty years later the
Moroccan leader in Timbuktu threw off allegiance to the Sultan, and the "Niger
Moors" remained as rulers there for nearly 200 years quarrelling among themselves
and oppressing the Negro tribes. The Songhay Empire was destroyed, and so was
the culture of Timbuktu.
As well as the three great empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhay there were many
other kingdoms in the grasslands of the Sudan. One was Kanem-Bornu, around Lake
Chad; and between Kanem-Bornu and the Songhay - in the central and western part
of present-day northern Nigeria - were the many city states of the Hausa people.
Kanem-Bornu and the Hausa kingdoms were created in about the 10th century, and
like the other empires in the Sudan were dependent for their prosperity on the
Berber trade. Kanem-Bornu reached its zenith at about the same time as Songhay.
The Hausa cities were noted for their leather goods and textiles. The most famous of
them was the walled city of Kano. The Hausa political and social organisation was
much influenced by the penetration of Islam in the 13th-14th centuries.
Another people who succeeded in remaining independent of the great Sudanese
empires were the Mossi, who occupied the basin of the upper Volta, south of the
bend in the Niger river. They are said to have a line of kings who have ruled for a
thousand years.
**Each African people had its own religion. Most of them believed in a single God in
Heaven who made the world, and also in lesser gods and spirits. They also believed
in the power of evil, as the work of witchcraft. The 'witch doctors' were fighters
against evil anti-witchcraft specialists.