Chapters 20,21,22: Africa and the Slave Trade, the Gunpowder Empires, and Asian Changes, 1450-1750

1. Chapters 20,21,22: Africa and the Slave Trade, the Gunpowder Empires, and Asian Changes, 1450-1750

2. Africa: 1450-1750 • No longer aligned with the Islamic world trading system • Forceably brought into the Atlantic trading system • Heterogeneous societies and cultures

3. The Empire of Mali • Located in the Sahel region south of the Sahara, became powerful after 750 CE • Wealthy center of trade • Part of Dar al’Islam • Rich in gold, agriculturally fertile • Capital: Timbuktu

4. Timbuktu: A Major Cultural Center

5. Timbuktu: A Major Cultural Center

6. The Mosque of Jenne

7. Mansa Musa 1312-1337: Greatest King of Mali

8. Songhay • After the decline of Mali the Kingdom of Songhay gained power in the Sahel • Powerful cavalry and navy • Muslim dominated • Standardized weights, measures, and currency • Greatest King: Sonni Ali 1464-1492

9. The Swahili Coast Eastern coast of Africa Long term involvement in Indian Ocean trade Portuguese and other European influence Cosmopolitan city-states Predominantly Muslim Swahili language: a lingua franca Traded with the interior of Africa

10. English and Swahili

11. Great Zimbabwe • Southern African kingdom • Traded with the Swahili Coast and the African interior • Too far inland to be affected by Islam • The only fully African civilization, with no outside cultural influences

12. Ruins of Great Zimbabwe

13. The Forest Kingdoms of West Africa • First area to be exploited by Europeans • Dominant region: Benin • Benin art: highly detailed and realistic • Source of most slaves taken to the Americas

14. Benin Art

15. The Atlantic Slave Trade: Beginnings • Contact between Europeans and Africans began in late 1400s with Portuguese expeditions along the coast • At first Europeans saw Africans as being equal to themselves • Europeans and Africans studied at universities, exchanged ambassadors, and communicated between rulers • Christian missionaries traveled to Africa

16. Africans and Slavery • Slavery was an indigenous part of African culture • Slavery among Africans was usually temporary

17. The Atlantic Slave Trade Begins • European “discovery” of the Americas led to exploitation of Africans • Native Americans quickly died off from overwork and disease • Europeans needed a new source of coerced labor • By 1600, slaves were the largest trade item from Africa

18. The Atlantic Slave Trade • 1450-1850: about 12 million Africans were shipped to the Americas • As many as 4 million more Africans were killed in internal slaving wars • African rulers participated in the slave trade by gathering slaves and bringing them to coastal forts • Portuguese, Dutch, French, and British all established posts and fortresses along the west coast of Africa for buying slaves

23. African Captives in Yokes

24. The Middle Passage

25. The Triangle Trade

26. A typical slave ship’s layout

27. “Coffin” Position: Onboard a Slave Ship

28. Slave Ship Interior

29. African Slavery in the Americas • Primary destination of most slaves: Brazil and the Caribbean Islands • Typical life expectancy of a healthy male slave on arrival: 6 months • No natural increase among the slave population in most areas

30. North American Slavery • Labor on tobacco and rice plantations was less “onerous” • There was a natural increase among North American slaves

31. Consequences of Atlantic Slave Trade • Long term population decline in West Africa • Transfer of African foods and customs to the Americas • American food crops introduced in Africa • Africans in the Americas were converted to Christianity, but sometimes maintained elements of African religions

32. Europeans in South Africa • The Cape of Good Hope was reached by the Portuguese in the late 1400s • The Dutch established a colony there in 1652. Their settlers were called Boers • Expansion brought the Boers into contact and conflict with the indigenous Bantu, Zulu, and other African peoples • In 1815 the British took control of South Africa • Conflict continued between the Boers, British, and the indigenous Africans

33. The Gunpowder Empires • Ottomans (Middle East, primarily Turkey, and Eastern Europe) • Safavids (Iran) • Mughals (India)

34. The Gunpowder Empires • Military power based on gunpowder weapons • Islamic (Ottomans and Mughals: Sunni; Safavids: Shi’a) • Political absolutism • Cultural renaissances • Less powerful than Western Europe

35. The Ottoman Turks • One of several Turkic tribes which entered the Middle East and converted to Islam • Powerful military led by Janissaries • In 1326, captured the town of Bursa near Constantinople • Built navies and seized control of the eastern Mediterranean • Conquered much of Balkan Peninsula

36. Janissaries

37. Constantinople captured, 1453 • Captured by Sultan Mehmed II • End of the Byzantine Empire • Constantinople (Istanbul) was rebuilt and gained population and wealth • Tolerance for dhimmis • More emphasis on military than economic power “conquest over commerce” • Ottoman Empire continued to expand for the next century • Ottoman Sultans were also the Caliphs of (Sunni) Islam

38. Suleiman the Magnificent 1520-1566 • Greatest Ottoman ruler • Called “The Lawgiver” or ‘The Just” by Muslims • Codified the Shari’a • Rebuilt and beautified Istanbul • Patron of the arts, poet, made Istanbul a center of Ottoman cultural flowering

39. Suleiman’s Poetry Some of Suleiman's verses, have become Turkish proverbs, including the well-known "Everyone aims at the same meaning, but many are the versions of the story," and "In this world a spell of good health is the best state” He wrote in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. "The people think of wealth and power as the greatest fate, But in this world a spell of health is the best state. What men call sovereignty is a worldly strife and constant war; Worship of God is the highest throne, the happiest of all estate's”

40. Tughra or Monogram of Suleiman

41. The Topkapi Palace

42. The Blue Mosque of Constantinople

43. Suleimanye Mosque

44. Miniature Painting: An Ottoman Art Form

45. The Piri Re’is Map, a mystery from Suleiman’s time • It appears to show the west coast of Africa, the east coast of South America, and the northern (land) coast of Antarctica • A map belonging to the Turkish Admiral Piri Re’is ca 1514 • Appears to be based on older maps • Shows accurate use of longitude

46. Suleiman and the Europeans • Suleiman recognized that Europe was a major potential threat to the Ottoman Empire and to Islam • He attempted to destabilize Europe with several invasions • He also provided financial support to Protestants

47. The death of Suleiman and the decline of the Ottomans • As Suleiman grew older he lost interest in government and allowed the bureaucracy to rule alone • He allowed his sons to be raised uneducated in the harem, dominated by their mothers • This set a precedent for future Sultans and their sons

48. Selim II, The Drunkard 1566-1574 • The first “disinterested” Ottoman sultan • Defeated by the Spanish at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, lost control of the Mediterranean

49. Ottoman Decline • Over the next several centuries, the Ottoman Empire gradually declined • Europeans gained control of the seas and ended Muslim trade monopolies • Succession problems and uneducated Sultans • European economic competition • Technological and cultural conservatism • Janissaries held power and blocked reforms

50. The Safavids • Turkic tribe which entered Iran • Converted to Shiite Islam