Document Based Question South Africa and Sahara

Brianna Fort
Period 2
Economic and Cultural Development of sub-Saharan Africa
Between 600 C.E. and 1600 C.E. sub-Saharan Africa experienced many changes in the
economy as well as the culture. The economic and cultural development of sub-Saharan Africa
between 600 C.E. and 1600 C.E. was due to the natural resources found there, the location of
cities along the coast, and an increase in trading among other countries.
The natural resources found in sub-Saharan Africa such as gold, clay, metal, and ivory
impacted the economic development as well as cultural development of the people at the time. A
report was written by an Egyptian official recording the royal visit of Mansa Musa to Mecca,
which is a reliable source for information on the gold in Mali because the official would have no
reason to maintain a bias against Mansa Musa and his sole purpose was to record the events. In
this report it was noted that the king of Mali on his pilgrimage to Mecca was generous with the
gold he gave out, which shows that Mali had lots of gold available (D1). Not only was gold
abundant in kingdoms like Mali, it was also a major resource in Malindi and Mobasa which is
shown through documentation that these kingdoms paid handsome amounts of gold for goods
brought to them (D7). Cultural development of art and traditions were also a result from the
natural resources found in sub-Saharan Africa. Clay, wax, red metal, solder, and lead were used
to make bronze sculptures called Benin figures (D4). One Benin bronze head from this time
period depicts an African women with an intricate headdress and rings around her neck (D5).
This is a representation of the rings that are coiled around African womens necks, which are
made from the metal resources such as copper found in sub-Saharan Africa.
The location of kingdoms along the coast of sub-Saharan Africa is another factor for the
economic and cultural development taking place during the 16th century. As shown in a map of
cities and trade routes along the Indian Ocean trade extended along the coast of Africa at cities
bordering the sea such as Mogadishu, Malindi, Mobasa, and Zeila (D10). There is also mention
of the kingdom of Sofala which is, the kingdom if not the whole land along the sea, (D8). The
location of these cities in sub-Saharan Africa are convenient and allow for lots of trade to take
place. This is evident in the amount of coins discovered in various locations in East Africa. The
island of Zanzibar was easy for traders to access on ships because it was in the Indian Ocean and
did not required land travel, and on this island 185 coins were found that originated from Song
China (D9). The location of these coastal kingdoms meant that more people from foreign lands
were coming to trade. There was frequent Arab contact due to trade and as a result the religion of
Islam spread. In the city of Ghana during the 11th century there was one town that possessed
twelve mosques (D6). However, this information was recorded by Ubaydallah al-Bakri who did
not travel to Ghana but instead interviewed multiple travelers to the region, which means all of
this information is secondary and might not be completely reliable.
The final factor for the development of economics and culture in sub-Saharan Africa was
the increase in trade among other kingdoms. The increase in trade among other kingdoms led to
incentive to create a safe environment to promote travelers to visit Mali and trade with them
(D3). Moors merchants would travel in small vessels to the kingdoms of Kilwa, Mombasa, and
Mindi and trade many fine goods for gold (D7). The increase in trading also lead to the spread of
ideas. Because so many different people were trading with kingdoms such as Timbuktu in Mali,
it led to the spread of ideas and culture through books (D2).
Factors such as the abundance of natural resources, the location of kingdoms, and the
increase in trading among kingdoms led to both economic as well as cultural developments,
which is shown in these documents. However, a primary document from a foreigner who visited
a coastal town and then wrote down what their observations of the impact of location on their
customs, clothing, and/or traditions would have been ideal because it would have provided
further support for the statement that the location of cities impacted the development of culture.

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Brianna Fort

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