Africa: 400-1450 AD

Most African history of this period was “oral history.” There are few written records of events or people.

Is oral history reliable to modern historians?

Africa was (and is) divided by the Sahara desert. The Southern people in the Sahel saw Northern people as “bidan” (white). There were cultural divisions, too.

This period is characterized by the rise and fall of regional empires such as Nubia, Kush, Axum, Ghana, and Mali.

The Roman Empire had extended into Africa and some Roman culture remained. Many African empires became Christian. Unfortunately, this made Africa more complex.

Imagine the Kingdom of Nubia, near Egypt. They had divisions of race (bidan or black), religion (Christian or tribal), language (Xhosa, Kordofan, Bantu, etc…), and place of origin (Egypt, Sahel, or Nubia). Confused?

People divided themselves into: Nubian Christian Xhosa Bidan, Nubian tribal Xhosa Bidan, Nubian Christian Kordofanian Bidan, Nubian tribal Kordofanian Bidan, Nubian Christian Xhosa black, Nubian tribal Xhosa black, Nubian Christian Kordofanian black… See where this is going?

There were 256 different groups in Nubia alone! No wonder empires would rise and fall. People were also loyal to their tribes, dividing into different groups that hated each other for no good reason (like a gang mentality.)

Nations were not characterized by borders, but by who represented which empire. Boundaries could move on a daily basis. They were geographic expressions more than they were countries.

One of the reasons for constant fighting in Africa in this period was the introduction of Islam to Africa.

“I swear by that who holds in His Hands the Soul of Muhammad! I indeed wish to go to war for the sake of Allah! I will assault and kill, assault and kill, assault and kill.”-The Charter of the Hamas In Muslim law, it is OK to have slaves if those slaves are not Muslim. So slavery begins to increase among Islamic Africans by taking Christian captives in war.

Arab slave traders in Africa.

Slavery in Africa was practiced by Africans on Africans. Europeans found the system useful 1000 years later.

Like Europe, Africa experiences little progress in science, society, or art during the medieval period (400-1450). The big difference is that when Europe comes out of the middle ages, they use their progress to take over most of Africa.