Ancient and medieval states of Africa. Introduction African countries in the Middle Ages
Traditions of deep antiquity have been firmly preserved for many centuries
Meroe Civilization
“It was captured as if by a water hurricane, many people were killed there, and the prisoners were brought to the place where His Majesty was... There is no longer a nome closed to His Majesty among the nomes of the South and North, West and East.” This is the story of the accession of the Kushites in Egypt in 729 BC. e. unknown author of the Piankhi stela.
For almost a century, newcomers from Napata called themselves pharaohs of Egypt, appearing, as if from oblivion, on the historical stage after a century and a half of silence from epigraphic and archaeological sources south of the first Nile cataract. However, the previous long period of Egyptian domination outwardly seemed to level out many aspects of local cultural traditions. The search for the origin of the newly-minted “lords of the Two Lands” takes us back to ancient times.
The fate of two peoples, the Egyptians and the Cushites, was closely intertwined for centuries. According to Academician B.B. Piotrovsky, archaeological materials of the 4th millennium BC. e. clearly show that the same culture covered Upper Egypt and Northern Nubia at that time. Later, due to the peculiarities of the geographical factor, the development of cultures followed two different paths.
Kush controlled the territories mainly between the third and fifth cataracts of the Nile, but sometimes the Kushite kings managed to extend their power as far north as Aswan and as far south as Khartoum, the capital of modern Sudan. The name of the country, as well as its individual parts, was different. Kush was inhabited by agricultural and pastoral associations.
Early settlements south of Egypt
Already in the 3rd millennium BC. e. the territories south of the first cataract of the Nile become the object of military raids, and then direct conquest by the Egyptian pharaohs. The development of the early archaeological culture known as "Group A" was interrupted at its peak by raids from the north. The population of the “group C” culture that replaced and partially absorbed its remains already had a significant admixture of Negroid elements. Recent archaeological excavations have shown that the carriers of the Kerma “group C” cultures are closely related in origin to the regions of Southern and Eastern Sudan, as well as the Sahara, and that they appear in the Nile Valley in the middle of the last quarter of the 3rd millennium BC. e. Judging by archaeological materials, the carriers of the “Group C” culture mainly occupied the territory of Northern Nubia proper, while the carriers of the “Kerma culture” occupied the territory of Kush.
Culture "Kerma"
Excavations of the ancient settlement and necropolis of Kerma paint a picture of a developed society: a powerful urban complex, multifaceted architectural structures of the religious center, residential areas built from baked bricks, which had large granaries, and a fence that ran around the city center. The site of Kerma can rightfully be considered unique for all of Nubia.
Kerma society already had significant class differentiation. The rulers owned large herds of bulls and goats. Among the various types of ceramics, along with Egyptian ones, items trimmed with mother-of-pearl from the Red Sea and objects made of ivory brought from Central Sudan stand out, which indicates broad connections and a significant level of development of society. The decor of the ceramics shows the strong influence of Black Africa. The population of Kerma maintained close contacts with Egypt, the population of Eastern Sahara, the areas of Khartoum and the border areas of Ethiopia. Some tombs of the metropolis and the territory over which Kerma's rule extended reached 100 m in diameter, which provides further evidence of the power of its rulers.
In its heyday, coinciding with the period of the Middle Kingdom and the II Transition Period, Kerma controlled the territory from the second to the fourth cataract of the Nile. Even during the period of Egyptian colonization, as shown by the most recent excavations of the French archaeologist III. Bonn and Kerma apparently retained their status as a regional metropolis. The local burial ritual remained the most stable. In a later period, the designs of the new centers of the Cushitic civilization of Kawa, Napata and Meroe show similarities with the structures of Kerma, which proves the local (Kermian) roots of this civilization.
Egyptianization of the region
A large number of natural resources, among which the most important place was occupied by gold deposits, located, in particular, in Wadi Allaki (a Soviet archaeological expedition led by Academician B.B. Piotrovsky conducted excavations here in 1961 -1962), as well as the possibility of raising livestock , valuable species of trees, theft of prisoners determined Egypt's policy towards this country. The era of Egyptian domination in Kush significantly affected its development and determined its fate for a long time. Already by the end of the Second Transitional Period, the Egyptianization of Cushitic society reached such an extent that it was practically difficult to separate local features from Egyptian ones. And with the departure of the Egyptians, the shadow of a great power remains here forever, even in those areas where they never reigned.
The process of cultural interaction in the broadest sense of the word, with the dominant role of Egypt at the first stage (from the initial period of conquest to the XXV dynasty), took place not only through the forcible introduction of individual cultural elements (types of temples, Egyptian cults, paraphernalia, image style, language, social terminology and partly the institutions of state power, the priesthood), but also selectively - only those features were preserved and adopted that corresponded to local traditions and views.
Rulers of Kush on the Egyptian throne
However, the Egyptian foundation, transforming on local soil, acquired a different flavor, and sometimes even features that were not at all characteristic of it in Egypt. During the XXV dynasty, the result of the long-term influence of the Egyptians on the development of Kushite society boomeranged back to Egypt, conquered by the rulers of Kush, who had the same titles of pharaoh (son of Ra, “lord of the Two Lands,” under the patronage of Horus and the goddesses of the kite and snake), who preached the same formulas of religious struggle at the command of Amon, which at one time justified the Egyptian campaigns of conquest.
Being on the Egyptian throne, it would seem, strengthened the influence of Egypt, but this was only an external moment - the desire to imitate and copy the greatness of the former ruler. Thus, a pyramid was built over the grave of Piankha, although they had not been built in Egypt itself for about a thousand years before. It is possible that Piankha’s body was mummified, since canopic jars were discovered in the tomb. However, the body did not rest in a sarcophagus, but on a bed, as is typical for Kerma burial grounds.
Piankha's successor Shabaka left a good memory of his rule in Egypt. By his order, the oldest theological treatise of Memphis was rewritten. The efforts were not in vain. Long after Shabaka's death, right up to Ptolemaic times, one of the streets of Memphis bore his name. The dynasty reached the apogee of its greatness under Taharqa. His coronation stele was installed not only in the magnificent temple of Gempaton (at the third threshold), completed and decorated by him, but also in the northern part of the Delta, in Tanis. The last representative of the XXV dynasty, Tanutamon, despite the prediction that he would reign in Egypt, received in a dream, did not have long to enjoy glory. The power and onslaught of the Assyrian troops dispelled the ambitions of the pharaohs from Kush.
Apparently, due to the threat of invasion by foreigners from the north or for some other reasons, the main centers of the Cushitic civilization moved much further south, to Napata and Meroe, to the fourth and fifth cataracts of the Nile. Residence of the royal family from the 6th-5th centuries. BC e. was in Meroe, but Napata remained the main religious center. The main rite of coronation of the ruler took place here, after which he made trips to other major sanctuaries of Kush.
Temples of Kush
The most outstanding monument of local architecture and art is the religious complex at Musawwarat es-Sufra, where the local lion-headed god Apedemak was revered. The reliefs of this temple, in terms of execution style, are still very similar in appearance to Egyptian ones, although upon careful study there is already a departure from the principles of the Egyptian canon. The hymn to Apedemak, inscribed, however, in Egyptian hieroglyphs, is purely Meroitic in its content. Numerous images of a lion on the reliefs of the Musawwarat es-Sufra religious complex reflect the typically African symbolism of the lion king, associated with ideas about the power and physical strength of the ruler, the bearer of fertility, ensuring the well-being of his subjects.
At the turn of our era, another temple was built in honor of the god Apedemak, in Naga. Its architecture was designed in the local style. On the reliefs, Apedemak is represented as a three-headed and four-armed lion-headed god, as well as in the guise of a lion-headed snake with the body of a man and the head of a lion. These images were entirely the product of the creativity of local craftsmen and reflected the functions of the lion-headed god of war and at the same time the god of fertility.
Greek tradition has preserved the memory of the Meroitic king Ergamenes (Arkamani), who lived during the time of Ptolemy II, who received a Greek upbringing and philosophical education. He dared to destroy the old customs, according to which the aging ruler, by order of the priests, had to die. “Having adopted a way of thinking worthy of a king,” wrote Diodorus, “he... killed all the priests and, having destroyed this custom, remade everything at his own discretion.” In modern science, the origin of Meroitic writing is sometimes associated with the name of this ruler.
The first inscriptions written in the Meroitic script reached us from the 2nd century. BC e., although the language, of course, existed much earlier. This oldest alphabetic letter on the African continent arose under the direct influence of the Egyptian, both its hieroglyphic and demotic variants.
The entire history of the development of Meroitic culture took place in interaction with the major powers of antiquity. Many of their traditions and achievements were adopted in Kush. Syncretism in the Kush culture is thus historically conditioned. Among external factors, the leading role in the formation of a cultural tradition, of course, belongs to Egypt, a number of features of which took root in Kush without changes. This applies to individual images of Egyptian gods, to the style of depiction of relief and statue compositions, to the attributes of kings and gods - the shape of a crown, scepters, an attached bull's tail, to sacrificial formulas and a number of other elements of the funeral cult, to some temple rituals, to the title of kings.
A certain role in maintaining the tradition was played by the permanent layer of the Egyptian population in Kush - the direct bearer of culture. A feature of the process was the adaptation of the features of Egyptian culture to such an extent that they were already mechanically perceived by the population and were no longer perceived as an alien, but as a local element.
Greco-Roman period
During the Greco-Roman period, the process of cultural influence took place indirectly - through Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, and also directly - through the Greek and Roman population located in Meroe. The most striking manifestations of this influence are considered to be the so-called Roman kiosk in Naga, the remains of Roman baths in Meroe, and full-face figures of gods, similar in style to Greek images. This should also include poetic works in honor of the local god Mandulis, compiled according to various forms of the Greek literary canon.
Already from the time of Alexander the Great, Kush occupied a very definite place in Hellenistic, and later in Roman literature. Kush was associated with travel, imaginary or real geographical discoveries, and was considered a place of refuge for rulers who were pressed and driven out of Egypt. The reader is presented with a fabulously gold-rich country, the seat of the gods revered in the Greco-Roman world. Thus, in the synthesis of various elements, but with the stable preservation of the local basis, a qualitatively new culture took shape and developed over the centuries - the Kush civilization, which influenced those countries with which it was in direct contact.
Traditions of deep antiquity have been preserved for centuries in people's memory. Even in the modern folklore of Sudan there is a legend about King Napa from Naphtha, etymologically clearly going back to the Meroitic toponym, about the ancient customs of killing kings and their abolition by King Akaf, about the snake guardians of the temple and many others. The legends contain memories of the treasures of Kerma, and the local population still surrounds them with legends and reveres the ruins - the remains of the ancient settlement of Kerma. The distinctive and original culture of Kush contributed to the common cultural heritage of the countries of the ancient East and was the source of the modern culture of the peoples of Sudan.
Ancient cultures of tropical Africa
The current level of our knowledge allows us to state with complete certainty that nowhere in Africa south of the Sahara before the turn of the 7th-8th centuries. n. e. societies with antagonistic classes did not develop and that only after the appearance of Arabs in North and East Africa did the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa become acquainted with writing.
It is indisputable, however, that in different regions there were certain communities that were distinguished by certain specific features of material and spiritual culture, which would be more correctly defined as pre-civilizations or proto-civilizations.
These, relatively speaking, ancient civilizations, the formation of which generally coincided in time with the transition to the Iron Age throughout the entire territory of sub-Saharan Africa, were formed in several main regions that were separated by vast distances, where, apparently, the population that lived in the early stages of the primitive communal system. These centers of civilizations were:
- Western Sudan and the adjacent parts of the Sahel zone in the north, as well as the adjacent regions of the Sahara;
- central and southwestern parts of modern Nigeria;
- basin of the upper reaches of the river. Lualaba (present-day Shaba province in Zaire);
- the central and eastern regions of today's Republic of Zimbabwe, which owes its name precisely to the brilliant civilization that developed here in the first centuries of the 2nd millennium AD. e.;
- African coast of the Indian Ocean.
Archaeological research of the last two decades convincingly shows direct continuity between these ancient civilizations and the civilizations of the African Middle Ages - the great powers of Western Sudan (Ghana, Mali, Songhai), Ife, Benin, Congo, Zimbabwe, and the Swahili civilization.
The most ancient civilizations that developed in Western Sudan and Nigeria achieved the greatest development. Central African centers lagged behind the emergence of iron and copper metallurgy and large urban-type settlements. The East African focus was distinguished by a certain specificity associated with the role of maritime trade in its formation.
Contacts between centers of civilizations
The separation of the centers of civilizations of Tropical Africa by considerable distances did not mean at all that there were no connections between them. They can be traced between the Western Sudanese and Nigerian centers, between the latter and the Congo basin. Archaeological evidence reveals contacts that existed between the territory of present-day Zambia and Zimbabwe and the Upper Lualaba region, as well as the East African coast, although most of this data dates back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. e.
The situation was different with contacts outside Africa. If Western Sudan by the 8th century. n. e. already had many centuries of contact with North Africa, and East Africa had long-standing connections with the Red Sea basin, and then the Persian Gulf region and South Asia, the Nigerian and Central African centers did not directly interact with non-African societies. But this did not exclude indirect contacts, for example, between the predecessors of the Zimbabwean civilization and the Middle East and South Asia. They were carried out through the harbors of the East African coast. For example, there are known finds of Roman artifacts in the interior regions of the African continent quite remote from the caravan and sea routes.
The high level of civilization of the Western Sudanese hearth was the result of the development of local societies, although long-standing and stable ties with the class societies of the Mediterranean to a certain extent accelerated such development. The connections are attested by numerous rock carvings along the two main ancient routes across the Sahara: from southern Morocco to the inland delta region. Niger and from Fezzan to the eastern end of the great bend of the Niger in the area of the present city of Gao. We are talking about the so-called roads: rock carvings of horse-drawn chariots speak of fairly lively contacts, however, with certain restrictions in time and nature. On the one hand, the appearance of horses in the Sahara dates back only to the 1st millennium BC. e., and on the other hand, the chariots of the Saharan images themselves, according to experts, could hardly be used for any other purposes other than prestigious ones, due to the fragility of the design, which does not allow them to be used either as cargo or, possibly, like a war wagon.
A genuine “technical revolution” occurred with the appearance of the camel in the Sahara around the turn of the 2nd-1st centuries. BC e. and had serious social consequences, defining the forms of relations between the desert inhabitants and their sedentary neighbors to the south and allowing cross-desert trade to become a stable and regulated institution. True, the latter, apparently, happened completely later and was already associated with the appearance of the Arabs.
Bronze hearth of metallurgy
Trans-Saharan contacts probably played a certain role in the formation of the West African center of Bronze Age industry, which preceded iron metallurgy, a center unique in all of Tropical Africa. Excavations by French researcher Nicole Lambert in Mauritania in the 60s. proved the existence of a large center of copper and bronze industry here. Copper mines and copper smelting sites (Lemden) were discovered in the Akzhuzht area. Not only were large accumulations of slag found, but also the remains of a smelting furnace with blow tubes. The finds date back to the 6th-5th centuries. BC e. The Moorish center of the bronze industry lay just at the southern end of the western "chariot road", which directly connected it with a similar but earlier metallurgical center in southern Morocco.
The scientific literature has suggested a connection between the Moorish center of metallurgy and numerous burials and megalithic structures along the middle reaches of the Niger in the Gundam-Niafunke region. The fundamental possibility of such a connection cannot be denied. However, in areas much closer to Akjoujt along the Dar Tishit scarp in Mauritania, lying in a direct line between Akjoujt and the Niger Valley, the influence of the bronze industry was not manifested in any way. Archaeological discoveries of the late 70s - early 80s. force us to associate the monuments of the Gundam-Niafunke region with another center of civilization, unique for the entire territory of Tropical Africa, since it is distinguished by a fairly developed tradition of urban life, which developed even before the beginning of our era.
Ancient Ghana
We are talking about the excavations of American archaeologists Susan and Rodrick McIntosh in Djenne (Mali), begun in 1977. On the Dioboro hill, 3 km from the city, the remains of an urban-type settlement were discovered: the ruins of a city wall and quarterly buildings with numerous traces were discovered residential buildings. Djenné-Djeno (Old Djenné) preserved evidence of the existence of a developed iron metallurgy and ceramic production in the area. The city served as a center for active trade between the upper Niger region and the Sahel zone, as well as in the middle Niger Delta. Radiocarbon dating allows its foundation to be dated back to the 3rd century. BC e., while according to tradition it was believed that the city arose no earlier than the 8th century. It is especially important that the results of McIntosh’s work make it possible to reconsider the usual views on the nature of exchanges in the area of the internal delta, as well as on the reasons for the formation in this region of the first of the early state formations of Tropical Africa known to us - ancient Ghana. And in this respect, the Western Sudanese center of civilizations turns out to be unique.
The fact is that the formation of ancient Ghana was usually associated with the needs of trans-Saharan trade. Now it becomes obvious that long before the advent of Ghana and the establishment of large-scale trade across the desert, a rather complex and organized economic complex with a developed system of exchanges grew up in the middle reaches of the Niger, which involved agricultural products, iron, copper and products made from them, and livestock products ; Moreover, iron preceded copper in such exchanges. These data allow us to understand the true relationship between internal and external factors in the historical development of the region.
The results of archaeological research indicate a continuous deterioration of the “political” situation in the Dar Tishit area throughout the 1st millennium BC. e. The reduction in the size of the settlements, their enclosure with defensive walls and their gradual transfer to the tops of the hills indicate increased pressure from the nomads, who were obviously pushed south by the growing Sahara. It has been suggested that the beginnings of the rudimentary exploitation of Negroid farmers by these nomads. But the same pressure to a greater extent stimulated the formation among farmers of large organizational early political structures capable of resisting aggression. This tendency appeared at least in the second quarter of the 1st millennium BC. e., and perhaps earlier, by the beginning of this millennium. Ancient Ghana at the turn of the 3rd-4th centuries. n. e. became the logical conclusion of this trend. This is understandable, given that the appearance of the camel in the Sahara sharply increased the military-technical potential of nomadic societies.
Nigerian "civilizations" (Nok, Ife, Igbo-Ukwu, Sao)
The Nigerian center of ancient civilizations is directly related to the emergence of the iron industry in West Africa. Most of the early civilizations of the mentioned hearth are distinguished by one or another degree of continuity in relation to the so-called Nok culture - the earliest Iron Age culture in the region, dating back to the 5th century. BC e. It includes the oldest surviving monuments of artistic creativity of the peoples of Tropical Africa - a rich collection of realistic sculptures found during excavations along with metal and stone tools, metal and pearl jewelry. In addition to its purely artistic merits, it is interesting because it presents features of the style that have been preserved in traditional African sculpture (including wooden sculpture) right up to our time. In addition, the completeness of the artistic form presupposes a stage of rather long development of this artistic tradition.
A continuity with the works of Nok is found in the Ife civilization, created by the ancestors of the modern Yoruba people. The realistic sculptural tradition found further development and continuation in the art of Ife. The influence of the artistic style of Nok ceramics was also reflected in the famous bronzes of Ife.
The ability to judge from archaeological materials the level of social organization of the creators of the ancient cultures of this region is provided by the results of excavations carried out in Igbo-Ukwu, in the lower Niger. The British scientist Thursten Shaw discovered here a developed early civilization with a high artistic culture, with a very advanced technology for processing iron and bronze for its time. Foundry workers from Igbo-Ukwu mastered the lost-wax casting technique, which several centuries later became the glory of Benin bronze. Shaw's excavations showed that the society that created this civilization was distinguished by a developed and already quite stratified social organization.
Of particular interest is the question of cultural ties between Igbo-Ukwu and Ife. Based on the stylistic similarities in the sculpture of both centers, it has been suggested that Ife is a more ancient civilization than generally believed; analogies between certain types of jewelry known from modern ethnographic research and finds in Ife and Igbo-Ukwu suggested that Ife as a cultural center is at least synchronous with Igbo-Ukwu, i.e., it can be dated no later than the 9th century. n. e.
Apparently, the Sao culture in the territory of modern Chad (within a radius of approximately 100 km around modern N'Djamena) was not connected with the Nok culture. Excavations discovered here many terracotta sculptures, representing a completely independent artistic tradition, bronze weapons, and utensils. The French researcher Jean-Paul Leboeuf, who studied the initial stage of Sao culture, dates its earliest stage to the 8th-10th centuries.
The center of early cultures in the upper reaches of the river. Lualaba
A completely original center of early civilizations developed in the upper reaches of the river. Lualaba, as can be judged from the materials of excavations of two large burial grounds - in Sanga and Katoto. Moreover, Katoto dates back to the 12th century, but its inventory reveals clear continuity in relation to the earlier Sanga. The latter dates, at least for part of the burials, to the period between the 7th and 9th centuries. The richest grave goods testify to the high level of development of local crafts. In particular, the metallurgists of Sanga not only mastered foundry and forging skills, but also knew how to draw wire, iron and copper.
The abundance of products made from both metals seems quite natural if we remember that the province of Shaba, where Sanga is located, remains today perhaps the main mining region of Tropical Africa. It is characteristic that in Sanga, as in Tropical Africa in general, iron metallurgy preceded copper metallurgy. Ivory jewelry also testifies to the brilliant art of local artisans. The ceramics of Sangi are very distinctive, although they show an undoubted relationship with the ceramics of a larger region in South-Eastern Zaire, usually designated as Kisale ceramics.
The craft and artistic tradition represented by Sanga and the later Katoto showed remarkable vitality. Thus, the iron hoes from Katoto’s burial goods fully reproduce the shape of modern hoes handicrafted in this area. Based on the material from excavations in Sanga, we can talk about a large concentration of population, and also that this area was inhabited for a long time. The nature of the inventory allows us to confidently assume that social stratification has already gone quite far. Therefore, it is fair to assume that the upper Lualaba region, along with the Sudanese zone, belonged to the key areas of state formation on the subcontinent. Moreover, Sanga chronologically preceded the formation of a system of exchanges between the upper reaches of the Lualaba and the Zambezi basin, which means that some form of supreme power arose here spontaneously.
The mentioned system of long-distance exchanges in the Lualaba basin, as in the Sudanese zone, existed in parallel with the network of local exchanges that arose before it. But it was foreign trade that apparently played a particularly important role in spreading the influence of the local civilization to the southeast, to the Zambezi basin. And if, in the words of the famous Belgian scientist Francis Van Noten, Sanga can be considered as a “brilliant but isolated” phenomenon in the Congo Basin, then between Shaba and the territory of present-day Zambia and Zimbabwe its influence was quite noticeable, which does not mean, however, the lack of independence of the Zimbabwean civilization that arose here.
The heyday of this civilization dates back mainly to the 12th-13th centuries. Meanwhile, it is necessary to mention it, since the prerequisites for its formation arose much earlier. Copper items found by Roger Summers on the Inyanga plateau, where many of its most important monuments are located, date back to the same time as Sanga - VIII-IX centuries.. - and turn out to be much earlier than the complex of buildings in Zimbabwe proper. But even in Zimbabwe, the earliest traces of settlement (the so-called Acropolis on Great Zimbabwe) date back to the 4th century. n. e. (though based on a single sample), and the early settlements of the Gokomere hill date back to the 5th-7th centuries.
Swahili civilization
A brilliant example of African civilizations of the Middle Ages was the Swahili civilization, which developed on the East African coast of the Indian Ocean. As in the case of Zimbabwe, its heyday dates back to the 12th-13th centuries. But just like there, the creation of the prerequisites for its emergence covered a much longer period - approximately from the 1st to the 8th centuries. By the turn of our era, East Africa was already connected with the countries of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, as well as with South and Southeast Asia by fairly long-standing and lively trade and cultural contacts.
The acquaintance and contacts of representatives of the Mediterranean civilization with East Africa are attested in such written ancient monuments as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and the Geography of Claudius Ptolemy. In the I-II centuries. Coastal areas up to approximately 8° south latitude (the mouth of the Rufiji River) were regularly visited by South Arabian sailors. East Africa supplied ivory, rhinoceros tusks, turtle shells and coconut oil to the then world market, exporting iron and glass products.
Archaeological work at different points on the coast of East Africa gives results dating back to the heyday of the Swahili civilization itself, that is, to the Muslim period in the history of the region, the beginning of which, according to the oral and literary Swahili tradition, dates back to the turn of the 7th-8th centuries. However, studies of the last two decades, especially the works of the Soviet Africanist V. M. Misyugin, indicate that on the coast, long before that time, a kind of pre-civilization was taking shape, based mainly on ocean shipping and ocean fishing.
It is with this pre-civilization that one should apparently associate the emergence of relatively large settlements - trading and fishing - which then turned into such famous city-states typical of the Swahili civilization as Kilwa, Mombasa, etc. In all likelihood, the cities arose precisely during 1st-8th centuries: It is hardly accidental that the anonymous author of the Periplus, apparently written in the last quarter of the 1st century, avoids using the words “city” or “harbour”, preferring to talk about the “markets” of the East African coast. It was on the basis of such trading posts that those cities were formed, the foundation of which tradition, and after it early European explorers, associated with the appearance of newcomers here from Arabia or Iran. But there can be no doubt that these migrants of the 7th-8th centuries. settled in points familiar to Middle Eastern sailors and merchants for centuries through their contacts with coastal inhabitants.
Thus, by the 8th century. n. e. Several centers of early civilizations had already formed on the territory of Tropical Africa, which became the basis for the subsequent development of African cultures.
Civilizations of ancient South Arabia
Settlement of southern Arabia
The fate of the Arabian Peninsula is truly dramatic. Findings of Early Paleolithic tools of the Olduvai type on the territory of South Arabia from the coastal strip near the strait to the western regions of Hadhramaut, as well as the discovery of numerous Early Paleolithic sites along the northern border of the Rub al-Khali indicate that South Arabia was part of one of the zones from which humanity began its “march around the planet”, starting from East Africa. One of the routes of settlement went through Arabia, which at that distant time was abundantly irrigated by the waters of river flows, flourishing, rich in countless herds of herbivores.
Apparently, no later than the 20th millennium BC. e. The first ominous signs of a sharp change in the natural conditions of human habitation in Arabia were discovered, which in the 18th-17th millennium led to absolute aridity of the climate throughout almost the entire territory of the peninsula. People left Arabia, although it is possible that in its extreme south and east separate, little connected “ecological refuges” remained, where the embers of life continued to smolder.
Secondary settlement
From the 8th millennium, under the conditions of a new climate change, this time favorable for people, the secondary and final settlement began - first of the eastern coastal part (Qatar), and then, from the 7th-6th millennium, of Central and Southern Arabia (south -western part of Rub al-Khali, North Yemen, Hadhramaut, etc.). Apparently, no later than the 5th millennium, the carriers, and then the Jemdet-Nasr culture, settled along the eastern coast of Arabia. In the 3rd millennium, Eastern Arabia, and especially Oman (ancient Magan), were included in the maritime trade of the Southern Mesopotamia and the “country of Dilmun” (Bahrain) with North-West India.
It is possible that at the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Semitic tribes penetrate into the territory of South Arabia for the first time. We do not know the specific reasons that prompted them to make a journey full of hardships to the south of the peninsula, but it is clear that already in their ancestral home they reached a fairly high level of development: they were familiar with agriculture, they acquired skills in irrigation and construction. Communication with more cultured settled peoples introduced them to writing, and they already possessed a coherent system of religious ideas.
The peculiarities of the natural conditions of Southern Arabia - the highly rugged terrain, contrasting climatic zones, relatively narrow wadi valleys suitable for agriculture - contributed to the fact that the newcomers, settling in separate tribal or clan groups, created isolated centers of culture. One of the consequences of this isolation was the coexistence of no less than four distinct languages in a small area over a long period of time.
Those that arose here from the end of the 2nd millennium to the 6th century also had clear features of originality. BC e. civilizations:
- Sabeyskaya,
- Katabanskaya,
- Hadhramautskaya,
- Mainsskaya,
They coexisted throughout the 1st millennium BC. e. It is likely that throughout this time the South Arabian civilizations, in their cultural contacts with the Middle East, remained oriented toward the areas from which their founders had once come. In the culture of ancient Hadhramaut, there are also certain features of borrowing from the regions of the extreme east of the Arabian Peninsula, which for a long time were under the influence of the Southern Mesopotamia.
Political events of the 1st millennium BC e.
In the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e. these were already highly developed societies based on irrigated agriculture, with numerous cities, developed architecture and art. Industrial crops began to play a major role, and above all trees and shrubs that produced incense, myrrh and other fragrant resins that were in high demand in the countries of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The cultivation of incense trees became the source of prosperity for the states of Ancient Yemen - “Happy Arabia”. The export of incense contributed to an increase in exchange and trade, and the expansion of cultural contacts. In the 10th century BC e. Saba establishes trade and diplomatic relations with the Eastern Mediterranean. By the 8th century. BC e. The Sabaean state first came into contact with the Assyrian power and, apparently, no later than the 7th century. BC e. colonizes the territory of modern Northeastern Ethiopia.
The production of frankincense, myrrh, etc. was concentrated mainly in the regions of Hadhramaut (and partly Qataban) adjacent to the Indian Ocean, and external caravan trade from the 6th century. BC e. ended up in Mine's hands. The main part of the caravan “Path of Incense” began from here. Subsequently, the Mainians created caravan stations and trading colonies in Northwestern Arabia and began to make regular trade trips to Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia, and then to the island of Delos.
The place occupied by South Arabia on the sea route from India to Africa and Egypt and further into the Mediterranean, already in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e., also determined its role as the most important intermediary in the exchange of goods between the ancient civilizations of South Asia and the Middle East, the Indian Ocean basin and the Mediterranean Sea. The harbors of Hadhramaut and Kataban served as transshipment points for these goods, which from here went north along caravan routes - to Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia. The matter was facilitated by the special regime of winds blowing in the northern part of the Indian Ocean, which made it possible in winter from the harbors of the western coast of India to sail directly to South-West Arabia and East Africa, while in the summer months the winds ensured navigation from South Arabia and Africa to India.
From the 7th century BC e. Saba's political hegemony extended to the entire territory of Southwestern Arabia, but already from the 6th-4th centuries. BC e. as a result of long wars, Main, Qataban and Hadhramaut are freed from Sabaean dependence, and this is reflected in numerous facts of “national” cultural revival. Wars continue throughout the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. As a result, their Myne is absorbed by Saba, but she herself, weakened by these wars, for a long time becomes the arena of internecine battles and changes in various peripheral dynasties. Relative stability was established here only from the 3rd century. n. e. By this time, Qataban disappeared from the historical arena, and in Saba itself a dynasty from Himiyar, a region located in the extreme southwest of South Arabia, reigned.
Decline of trade
By the beginning of our era, there was a sharp change in the situation on the routes for the export of incense, which influenced the subsequent development of local civilizations. Already in the middle of the 2nd century. BC e. The Red Sea and the western part of the Gulf of Aden were developed by Greek-Egyptian sailors and merchants. They use their ships to reach the northern coast of Somalia and Aden, where goods brought from India by Yemeni and Indian sailors are loaded onto their ships. At the end of the 2nd century. BC e. South Arabia's monopoly in transit trade between India and Egypt was dealt a severe blow. The discovery of the monsoon regime by Greco-Egyptian navigators allowed them to sail directly to India and back. Within just a hundred years, over 100 ships were leaving Egypt annually for India. With the capture of Syria and Egypt by Rome in the 1st century. BC e. the situation became even more complicated. Intra-Arabian trade is withering away, the struggle in South Arabia since the 1st century. n. e. is no longer fought for dominance on trade routes, but directly for the lands where trees that produce incense grow, and for the coastal areas where harbors were located for the export of these incense.
Culture of Ancient Arabia
Reybun settlement. General view. VIII century BC - I century AD
The founders of ancient Yemen civilizations brought with them to South Arabia solid knowledge, ideas and skills in many areas of economic and cultural life - this is evidenced by magnificent stone buildings, huge cities built on artificial hills in wadi valleys, and the unsurpassed skill of the builders of giant irrigation systems. This is also evidenced by the richness of spiritual life, reflected in complex ideas about the world of the gods, in the creation of their own “intelligentsia of the spirit” - the priesthood, in the extremely wide dissemination of writing.
The ancient South Arabians, who spoke the languages of a separate subgroup of the “south-peripheral” Semitic languages, used a special script that they inherited from the alphabetic writing of the Eastern Mediterranean - many signs were changed in accordance with the main idea - giving the entire system of signs clear geometric shapes. They wrote on a variety of materials: they cut stone, on wooden tablets, on clay, then cast inscriptions in bronze, scratched them on rocks (graffiti), and also applied soft writing materials. Everyone wrote: kings and nobles, slaves and merchants, builders and priests, camel drivers and artisans, men and women. The discovered inscriptions contain descriptions of historical events and articles of laws. Also found were dedicatory and building texts, inscriptions on tombs, business correspondence, copies of mortgage documents, etc., etc. It is the inscriptions, coupled with individual mentions in the Bible, among ancient and early Byzantine authors, that are the most important source of knowledge on the history and culture of Ancient South Arabia.
True, little is known about spiritual culture - large works of mythological, ritual and other content have been lost. The most important sources to this day remain inscriptions containing, among other things, the names and epithets of gods, their symbols, as well as sculptural and relief images of deities, their sacred animals, and mythological subjects. They are the basis for ideas about the nature of pantheons (there was no single host of gods in South Arabia) and some of the functions of the gods. It is known that in the early stages, astral deities who stood at the head of pantheons played a huge role here, primarily the ancient Semitic god Astar (cf. Ishtar, Astarte, etc.). His image was Venus. After Astara came various hypostases of the solar deity and, finally, “national” gods - deities of tribal unions, personified by the Moon (Almakah in Saba, Wadd in Maina, Amm in Karaban and Sin in Hadhramaut). Of course, there were other gods - patrons of individual clans, tribes, cities, “functional” deities (irrigation, etc.).
In general, the pantheons united the most ancient pan-Semitic (Astar, possibly Ilu) gods or tribal deities, borrowed from Mesopotamia (Sin) and from neighbors, from Central and Northern Arabia, etc. If we talk about the dynamics of ideas in the “pagan” era, then one can clearly see, at least from the time shortly before the beginning of our era, the promotion of “national” gods to the fore and the gradual displacement of the main astral deity Astara. Subsequently, by the 4th century. n. e., Almakah in Saba almost completely displaces other gods, which significantly facilitated the transition to monotheistic religions - Judaism and Christianity.
Decline and decline of Arabian civilizations
A consequence of the special natural conditions of the existence of ancient South Arabian civilizations and a feature of their development was the close proximity and interaction with the nomadic tribes of inner Arabia. Some of these tribes constantly sought to leave the desert country for agricultural areas and settle there. The pastoral tribes were at a significantly lower level of economic and cultural development. Settled for centuries (especially starting from the 2nd century AD) in the lands of Yemen, they came into direct contact with local civilizations. This, to a large extent, led to a general decline in economic life and culture, to the fact that the local population was increasingly dissolved in the mass of alien tribes and clans, lost its identity and language, and became “Arabized.” The irresistible and ever-increasing impact of negative factors predetermined the gradual decline of South Arabian civilizations from the first centuries of our era and their death in the 6th century.
However, the decline of the ancient civilizations of South Arabia was accompanied by an extraordinary rise in spiritual life, which reflected in a bizarre form the entire set of conditions and features of their development. In dying societies it has taken on eschatological tones to the greatest extent.
The fact that South Arabia, especially its internal, most developed centers of civilizations, was less and less able to take advantage of its special position at the intersection of trade routes did not mean at all that this position itself had lost all significance in the eyes of the great empires of antiquity. It can even be argued that from the end of the 1st century. BC e. it invariably increased, and Arabia in general and South Arabia in particular acquired the character of the most important element of international relations.
Clashes and struggle of ideas
At the turn of our era, the natural centers for the spread of late Hellenistic influences (and subsequently Christianity) in Southern Arabia were precisely the trading settlements of Greek-Egyptian merchants in coastal trading cities (Aden, Cana, on the island of Socotra). Attested in iconography, attempts to create allegorical images of South Arabian gods and their “Hellenization” date back to this time. In the first centuries AD, Christianity began to spread in the Greco-Roman environment of Aden and Socotra.
From the 4th century n. e. The Eastern Roman Empire is making efforts to plant the mentioned religion in South Arabia, using for this both the missionary activities of the Alexandrian Church and the Christianized elite of Aksum - a state that arose at the beginning of our era on the territory of Ethiopia and captured already at the beginning of the 2nd century. some coastal areas in Southwestern Arabia. Soon, Arabia will be filled with more Arians, Monophysites, Nestorians, etc. To this picture we must add the local ancient pagan religion and primitive cults of the Bedouins, who are increasingly influencing political events in the south of the Arabian Peninsula.
Wide circles of South Arabian society were involved in the fierce struggle of ideas, accompanied by clashes and invasions of the Aksumites... The main political conclusion of this struggle became clear: both Christianity of any kind and Judaism lead to the loss of independence, to the enslavement of the country by foreigners. However, it was impossible to prevent an ideological explosion. The struggle of ideas spread beyond the borders of the south of Arabia, drawing trading posts along the caravan routes into its orbit. Gradually, in this struggle, another main political idea made its way - the idea of unity and confrontation. Something unique, Arabian, was born. Islam was born.
The ruins of giant stone structures in the area of the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers still remain a mystery to scientists. Information about them came back in the 16th century from Portuguese traders who visited the coastal regions of Africa in search of gold, slaves and ivory. Many believed then that we were talking about the biblical land of Ophir, where at one time the golden mines of King Solomon were located.
Portuguese traders heard about the huge stone "houses" from Africans coming to the coast to exchange goods from the continent's interior. But only in the 19th century did Europeans finally see the mysterious buildings. According to some sources, traveler and elephant hunter Adam Rendere was the first to discover the mysterious ruins, but more often their discovery is attributed to the German geologist Karl Mauch.
This scientist repeatedly heard from Africans about giant stone structures in unexplored areas north of the Limpopo River. No one knew when or by whom they were built, and the German scientist decided to go on a risky journey to the mysterious ruins.
In 1867, Mauch found the ancient country and saw a complex of buildings that later became known as Great Zimbabwe (in the language of the local Shona tribe, the word “Zimbabwe” meant “stone house”). The scientist was shocked by what he saw. The structure that appeared before his eyes amazed the researcher with its size and unusual layout.
An impressive stone wall, at least 250 meters long, about 10 meters high and up to 5 meters wide at the base, surrounded the settlement, where, apparently, the residence of the ruler of this ancient country was once located.
Now this structure is called the Temple, or the Elliptical Building. It was possible to enter the walled area through three narrow passages. All buildings were erected using the dry masonry method, when stones were stacked on top of each other without fastening mortar. 800 meters north of the walled settlement, on the top of a granite hill, were the ruins of another structure, called the Stone Fortress, or Acropolis.
Although Mauch found among the ruins some household items characteristic of the local culture, it did not even occur to him that the architectural complex of Zimbabwe could have been built by Africans. Traditionally, local tribes built their houses and other structures using clay, wood and dried grass, so the use of stone as a building material looked clearly anomalous.
So, Mauch decided that Great Zimbabwe was built not by Africans, but by whites who visited these parts in ancient times. According to his assumption, the legendary King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba could have been involved in the construction of the complex of stone buildings, and this place itself was the biblical Ophir, the land of gold mines.
The scientist finally believed in his assumption when he discovered that the beam of one of the doorways was made of cedar. It could only have been brought from Lebanon, but it was King Solomon who widely used cedar in the construction of his palaces.
Ultimately, Karl Mauch came to the conclusion that it was the Queen of Sheba who was the mistress of Zimbabwe. Such a sensational conclusion by the scientist led to rather disastrous consequences. Numerous adventurers began to flock to the ancient ruins, who dreamed of finding the treasury of the Queen of Sheba, because an ancient gold mine once existed next to the complex. It is not known whether anyone managed to discover the treasures, but the damage to the ancient structures was colossal, and this subsequently greatly hampered archaeological research.
Mauch's conclusions were challenged in 1905 by the British archaeologist David Randall-MacIver. He conducted independent excavations in Great Zimbabwe and stated that the buildings are not that ancient and were erected between the 11th and 15th centuries.
It turned out that Great Zimbabwe could well have been built by indigenous Africans. It was quite difficult to get to the ancient ruins, so the next expedition appeared in these parts only in 1929. It was led by British feminist archaeologist Gertrude Caton-Thompson, and her team included only women.
By that time, treasure hunters had already caused such damage to the complex that Caton-Thompson was forced to begin work by searching for intact buildings. The brave researcher decided to use an airplane for her search. She managed to agree on a winged car, she personally took off with the pilot and discovered another stone structure at a distance from the settlement.
After the excavations, Caton-Thompson fully confirmed Randall-MacIver's conclusions about the time of construction of Great Zimbabwe. In addition, she firmly stated that the complex of structures was, without a doubt, built by black Africans.
Scientists have been studying Great Zimbabwe for almost a century and a half, however, despite such a long period, Great Zimbabwe has managed to preserve many more secrets. It is still unknown from whom its builders defended themselves with the help of such powerful defensive structures. Not everything is clear about the start time of their construction.
For example, under the wall of the Elliptical Building, fragments of drainage wood were discovered that date back to the period between 591 (give or take 120 years) and 702 AD. e. (plus or minus 92 years). Perhaps the wall was built on a much older foundation.
During excavations, scientists discovered several figurines of birds made of steatite (soap stone), suggesting that the ancient inhabitants of Greater Zimbabwe worshiped bird-like gods. It is possible that the most mysterious structure of Greater Zimbabwe - the conical tower near the wall of the Elliptical Building - is somehow connected with this cult. Its height reaches 10 meters, and its base circumference is 17 meters.
It was built using the dry masonry method and is similar in shape to the granaries of local peasants, but the tower has no entrance, no windows, no stairs. Until now, the purpose of this structure remains an insoluble mystery for archaeologists.
However, there is a very interesting hypothesis by Richard Wade from the Nkwe Ridge Observatory, according to which the Temple (Elliptical building) was once used in a similar way to the famous Stonehenge. Stone walls, a mysterious tower, various monoliths - all this was used to observe the Sun, Moon, planets and stars. Is this true? Only further research can provide the answer.
At the moment, few scientists doubt that Great Zimbabwe was built by Africans. According to archaeologists, in the 14th century this African kingdom experienced its heyday and could be compared in area to London.
Its population was about 18 thousand people. Greater Zimbabwe was the capital of a vast empire that stretched over thousands of kilometers and united dozens, perhaps hundreds of tribes.
Although mines operated on the territory of the kingdom and gold was mined, the main wealth of the inhabitants was cattle. The mined gold and ivory were delivered from Zimbabwe to the east coast of Africa, where ports existed at that time, with their help trade with Arabia, India and the Far East was supported. The fact that Zimbabwe had connections with the outside world is evidenced by archaeological finds of Arab and Persian origin.
It is believed that Great Zimbabwe was a center of mining: numerous mine workings have been discovered at different distances from the complex of stone buildings. According to some scholars, the African empire existed until 1750, and then fell into decline.
It is worth noting that for Africans Great Zimbabwe is a real shrine. In honor of this archaeological site, Southern Rhodesia, on whose territory it is located, was renamed Zimbabwe in 1980.
INTRODUCTION
“Africa itself will write its own history, glorious and honorable for the entire continent, from north to south,” said the unforgettable Patrice Lumumba shortly before he was assassinated in 1961. Indeed, now Africa, with its characteristic revolutionary enthusiasm, is reviving the most important historical traditions and restores cultural values. At the same time, she must constantly overcome the barriers that the colonialists erected and carefully guarded to isolate Africans from the truth. The legacy of imperialism penetrates deeply into various areas of life. Its ideological impact on the consciousness of the peoples of Tropical Africa was and remains no less important a factor than the economic and social backwardness, poverty, humiliation and dependence on foreign monopolies inherited from colonialism.
Now, however, the peoples of Africa are decisively breaking off the chains with which the colonialists bound them. In the 50s and early 60s, most of the peoples of Africa, who were under the yoke of imperialism, achieved political independence. This was an important milestone on the difficult path of their struggle against imperialism, for national sovereignty and social progress. Gradually they come to understand that their struggle is part of a world revolutionary process in which the main role belongs to the socialist community of states led by the Soviet Union. The African peoples are making enormous efforts to strengthen their won political independence and repel the numerous machinations of the neo-imperialists. They face such difficult tasks as deep social and economic transformations, democratic agrarian reforms, the elimination of the predominance of foreign monopolies, and the creation of an independent national economy. However, at the current stage, the task of reviving the national culture, partially destroyed or humiliated by the colonial powers, and restoring the historical traditions and glorious deeds of the past in people's memory is no less urgent.
The study of the history of African peoples has received a new direction. To successfully fight against imperialism, one must not only know about the glorious exploits of the fighters against colonialism, but also imagine the remarkable history of state formations of the pre-colonial period. Researchers have managed to almost everywhere strip away the flair of romance and mysticism that shrouded it, and now they are striving to identify the most important progressive and revolutionary traditions that are so important for the modern national liberation revolution. Progressive African historiography can only accomplish this difficult task with the support of Marxists and other forces around the world fighting against imperialism. They are united by a common desire to overthrow the yoke of imperialists and neo-colonialists, eliminate the discrimination they impose and, of course, refute the reactionary bourgeois theories of African history, which are an apology for colonialism.
What fabrications did the capitalists resort to to justify the robbery of the colonies! A common thread running through many printed works is the idea that before the arrival of the colonial masters, Africans were completely or almost completely deprived of the ability for social progress. This idea was developed in every possible way and was vigorously disseminated. Just 30 years ago, one colonial official called Africans “savages passed over by history.” There are countless statements that classify the peoples of Africa as “unhistorical” and even reduce them to “the level of wild animals.” The history of Africa was portrayed as a constant ebb and flow of “waves of higher civilization” from outside, which to a certain extent contributed to the development of the African population, doomed to stagnation. European colonialists attributed to “dynamic, creative, cultural impulses coming from outside” a lasting rational influence, for “ancient African culture lacks the Faustian desire for eternal life, exploration and discovery inherent in Western civilization.”
In fact, the history of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa was reduced to a system of alien cultural strata. To make things even more convincing, the imperialists were portrayed as “supreme cultural leaders.” Continuing the falsification of African history, apologists of colonialism assessed the ruthless colonial plunder of Africans as a blessing, especially beneficial for their culture and supposedly opened the way for them from stagnation to modern progress. It is quite obvious what political and social functions such theories are intended to perform: they are intended to disguise the true nature and extent of colonial oppression and thereby deprive the anti-colonial and national liberation movement of its anti-imperialist orientation.
Nowadays these lies about the historical development of Africa are not spread very often. Imperialist propaganda is forced - and not only in historiography and politics - to resort to more sophisticated and flexible forms. The growing power of actually existing socialism and the successes of the national liberation movement force it to put forward theories that correspond to the new tasks of neocolonialism to a greater extent than the colonial-apologetic and racist versions of the old model. However, the imperialists still set the tone. True, bourgeois historiography is subject to diverse processes of differentiation.
In some major works, for example, the monographs of R. Corneven, R. Oliver, J. Matthew, P. Duignen, L. A. Gunn, Fr. Ansprenger, and in many special works the history of Africa is considered from a more realistic point of view. Their authors, in some cases, achieved very important results in empirical research and in the consideration of particular issues, but the assessment of historical sources, the formulation of the problem and - last but not least - the unscientific nature of the conclusions and classification of materials force us to classify these scientists as the ideologists of late capitalism. The theoretical positions they put forward are no less dangerous than the ideas of the apologists of imperialism. Suffice it to say that some of the latest works in history and sociology attempt to separate the struggle of the progressive forces of the national liberation movement for social progress from the world socialist system and the labor movement in highly developed capitalist countries.
Many historical works on narrow topics, for example, about the reasons for the backwardness of a particular country, about the formation of “elites,” serve to disguise neocolonialist expansion.
Marxists and other progressive elements fighting against imperialism, including in African nation-states, have declared war on these views. The sketch of the history of Tropical Africa from ancient times, which forms the content of this book, should objectively trace the historical and cultural development of the peoples of the continent south of the Sahara and reveal the inhumane exploitation of them by colonialism. This essentially refutes the basic tenets of pro-imperialist “science.”
In the Soviet Union after the October Socialist Revolution, and in the countries of the world socialist system after 1945, a new period of African studies began. Scientists in these states, as well as Marxists and other progressive researchers around the world, and increasingly in African countries themselves, have in recent years published serious works on the ancient and modern history of Africa. This sparked a revolution in African studies, which had previously been almost entirely influenced by colonialism (especially the historiography of tropical Africa from ancient times to the division of its territory by imperialist colonial powers). The monograph “The Peoples of Africa,” compiled by a team of authors under the leadership of D. A. Olderogge I. I. Potekhin (published in the GDR in 1961), laid the foundation for numerous serious studies of individual problems in Soviet African studies. Thanks to this work, the work of Soviet scientists on linguistics and African history gained international fame. E. Schick (Hungary), I. Hrbek (Czechoslovakia), M. Malovist (Poland) sought to fill with their works the well-known gaps in the presentation of the general history of the pre-colonial period of the peoples of Africa. It is also worth mentioning the works of the French historian and Marxist economist J. Suret-Canal on the history of West and Central Africa and the English publicist B. Davidson published in the GDR.
Despite the undeniable successes of African studies in the last 20 years, there is still no comprehensive general work on the history of the peoples of Africa, especially in certain periods before the colonial division of the continent by the imperialists. Many years of research prompted me to make available to a wide range of readers the most important moments in the historical development of the peoples south of the Sahara.
The problem of periodizing the general history of the peoples of Africa, including in our era, poses particular difficulties to this day. There is no consensus on this issue even among Marxist scholars. The correct approach to it requires that Africans not be viewed as a passive object of foreign influences, but that, first of all, the internal laws of their social development be taken into account, correlated, of course, with the most important periods of world history and qualitative changes in individual socio-economic social formations. At the same time, it is necessary to keep in mind the dialectical unity of the stages of development of world history and the regional characteristics of African countries. It is on the basis of these general criteria that the book identifies periods of historical development of the peoples of Tropical Africa from ancient times to the imperialist division of Africa in the last third of the 19th century. For example, the 16th century, when Western European capitalism made economic and political preparations for aggressive campaigns and thereby marked the beginning of a new era, was not only an important milestone in world history, but also was a turning point in the life of some peoples of Tropical Africa.
Analysis of the social and historical development of the population of so many regions and the identification of general patterns and trends in it are associated with well-known difficulties. They are compounded by the fact that sub-Saharan countries have achieved very different degrees of progress. In addition, the social development of many African peoples undoubtedly has specific characteristics. And yet, it can be said with confidence that this development did not occur outside the natural world-historical process of changing socio-economic formations. Irrefutable historical facts prove that the peoples of Africa, both those lagging behind and those ahead, have strived and are striving to follow the path of progress. This path is long and difficult, but, as the entire experience of history shows, it will ultimately lead to socialism also the peoples of Tropical Africa.
In conclusion, some preliminary remarks should be made regarding the sources and supporting materials available to the Africanist.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that in this area, only in the last ten years has virgin soil been lifted and the curtain that covered the “Black” continent has been somewhat pulled back. Colonialists considered archaeological finds to be merely an addition to the highly profitable mining of iron ores and minerals. The ruins of the legendary state of Monomotapa and the most valuable monuments of art in Benin were discovered either by accident or by expeditions operating without any coordination. After African states achieved independence, spending on scientific research became more systematic and targeted. The results of these studies are extremely important. Thus, thanks to the extremely interesting excavations of Kilwa (Tanzania), the city-states of East Africa appeared in a completely different light. The ruins of the capital of ancient Ghana, Kumbi-Sale (in the south of Mauritania) turned out to be silent witnesses of a long-vanished African civilization. Tens of thousands of beautiful rock paintings and frescoes have been found in the now waterless highlands of Central Sahara; These highly artistic works of realistic art convey valuable information about the advanced culture of Africa. Recent finds make it possible to clarify ideas about the ancient and ancient history of African peoples. Since now scientific institutions of young national states themselves organize archaeological expeditions to excavate the centers of ancient civilizations, we can expect that their work will enrich history with new data.
Many tribes and peoples of Tropical Africa to this day do not have a written language. Nevertheless, we know in general terms the individual stages of their history. At the courts of rulers and leaders there was an institute of storytellers, reminiscent of the medieval minnesingers. Lists of names of rulers, chronicles, heroic tales, epic poems that glorified the exploits and deeds of rulers have come down to us from mouth to mouth. Recently, most of them have been carefully collected and recorded by African scientists and their assistants. They now began to study the contents of these sources, and the limits of their use immediately became apparent. Fiction and truth are closely intertwined in them. The history of a particular tribe or people comes down to the activities of individual rulers. The chronology also leaves much to be desired. However, the Africanist can and should work on these oral traditions in order to transform them, through scientific analysis, into reliable sources of African historiography.
In general, it should be noted that there is a certain paucity of writing and sources for individual periods and regions. The history of some peoples can sometimes be fairly accurately recreated on the basis of both the reports of Arab travelers and the written evidence left by these peoples themselves, but when studying the past of other peoples one has to be content with a few pieces of information, sometimes even indirect. In addition, they usually deal unreasonably much with events in political life, while economic and social relations are reflected very poorly in them.
The first written evidence of Tropical Africa is contained in the reports of Egyptian military leaders. The following is information obtained by the Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans during their travels, military campaigns and trade expeditions. However, these data, which have come down from the period of antiquity, are very modest and random in nature.
Only Arab historians of the period corresponding to the European Middle Ages finally paid due attention to the regions south of the Sahara, which then became widely known thanks to numerous expeditions and travels, as well as. vibrant trade relations. The stories of Arab travelers, chroniclers, geographers and historians, and above all the descriptions of the travels of al-Masudi, al-Bakri, al-Idrisi, Ibn Batuta, Leo the African, contain valuable information. They were supplemented starting from the 16th century. the first in situ records were in the states of the western and central zones of Sudan (meaning the entire Sahel strip, which runs from west to east south of the Sahara and does not coincide with the territory of modern Sudan). Serious gaps in our knowledge were later eliminated by Muslim scholars from the major trading centers of the Songhai state - Timbuktu, Gao and Djenne - who still wrote chronicles in Arabic. Information about the history of the peoples of West Africa is contained both in records that were made in the Hausa city-states in Northern Nigeria, and in written documents from the initial period of the Fulani and Toucouleur states in the 18th and early 19th centuries, found and published only recently. Of these, only a small part is written in Arabic.
Several local chroniclers report on the life of the East African city-states. They wrote first in Arabic, later in Swahili, and used their own writing system, which dates back to Arabic writing.
We also draw the most ancient written data from the monuments of the kingdoms of Meroe and Aksum (see Chapter II). In the Middle Ages, their traditions were successfully continued in the chronicles and church historiography of Ethiopia.
At the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, when Portuguese sailors discovered the route around Africa and founded numerous strongholds of colonization, the first detailed reports of Europeans appeared, stories about their travels and historical writings. From this initial period of colonial enterprise came colorful descriptions of life in Benin and other coastal areas of West Africa, in the ancient state of the Congo, and most of all in East and Central Africa. According to Barros, Barbosa, Barreto, Castañoso, Alcasova and Dapper, to their great surprise, they saw here highly developed states with large shopping centers, where life was in full swing. At first, the Portuguese still recorded their impressions quite objectively and busily. But when the dreams of the conquerors about fabulous riches encountered opposition from the population of Africa, their stories - and more and more - began to be equipped with slanderous fabrications.
In the 19th century The African continent has become a cherished goal of explorers, travelers and missionaries. From the pens of members of various expeditions, merchants and church envoys who directly or indirectly prepared capitalist conquests, many notes came out on the geology, geography, economy and climate of African countries (cf. Chapter V, 7). They also left us detailed historical and ethnographic sketches of the social development of some peoples of Africa. Although the authors of these works, such as the famous Heinrich Barth in the mid-19th century, could not hide the fact that they were acting on behalf or on the initiative of the colonialists, they often strived for truly scientific research and recognized the historical and cultural achievements of non-European peoples. However, their works were very soon forgotten in Europe, in the last third of the 19th century. The sub-Saharan region was labeled the "Dark" Continent and denied the capacity for historical progress. In accordance with this point of view, much cultural evidence and oral traditions of African peoples were denied or attributed to the influence of foreign cultural traders. In the end, the racist theories of the apologists of colonialism triumphed and began to slow down any scientific research, including the study of the history and social development of the peoples of Africa.
This further obliges all Marxist scientists, together with progressive African historians, to reconstruct and correctly evaluate, on the basis of fundamental research, the history of the peoples of Africa, falsified by apologists of imperialism and colonialism.
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author Men Alexander From the book History of Religion in 2 volumes [In Search of the Path, Truth and Life + The Path of Christianity] author Men Alexander From the book History of Religion in 2 volumes [In Search of the Path, Truth and Life + The Path of Christianity] author Men Alexander From the book New Chronology of Fomenko-Nosovsky in 15 minutes author Molot Stepan1.1. Introduction This part outlines the concept of the New Chronology of Fomenko-Nosovsky for those who have never heard of it, or have heard something very briefly, or perhaps heard a lot, but did not catch the essence. On several pages in this part we will outline the most important things. For many of
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From the book Northern Palmyra. The first days of St. Petersburg author Marsden Christopher From the book USA author Burova Irina IgorevnaIntroduction The United States of America (USA) occupies almost half of the North American continent, but the exceptional role of this great country, which first stood out among all other territories of the New World, and then gradually turned into one of the world's leading
From the book In Search of the Lost World (Atlantis) author Andreeva Ekaterina VladimirovnaIntroduction In this book you will read the tale of the ancient Greek scientist Plato about Atlantis - the mighty kingdom of the Atlanteans, which flourished on a large island in the Atlantic Ocean and sank to the bottom nine and a half thousand years BC. In the history of mankind
In the East, in ancient times, under the influence of Egypt and trade relations between the Mediterranean, Arabia and India, the states of Nubia and Aksum (present-day Ethiopia) arose. Starting from the 7th century, Arab and Berber merchants brought salt, highly valued in Africa, and some other goods from the Mediterranean to the Western Sudanese lands. At the intersection of trade routes, trading centers began to grow: Aukar, Ghana, Timbuktu, Gao, Mali, etc. They were inhabited mainly by Muslim traders and local trading nobility. They gradually seized power in the resulting medieval states. In the Middle Ages, the first states were formed in the basins of the Niger and Senegal rivers: Ghana, Mali, Songhai. The earliest of these in Western Sudan was Ghana. It arose in the 8th century, and in the 10th century. reached the pinnacle of her power.
Remember!
Ghana, Mali, Songhai and Aksum are the first medieval states of Africa.
One of the main sources of income for Ganga was the trade duty paid by visiting merchants, Arabs, Berbers, and Jews. However, her main wealth was gold.
Trade in gold and salt brought great income to the ruler of Ghana and its nobility.
The ruler had a large army consisting of 200 thousand warriors, 40 thousand of them were archers and a large cavalry army. There were legends about the wealth of Arab merchants and the countless treasures of the ruler of Ghana. This attracted the attention of warlike neighboring tribes to her. In 1076
Sultan of Morocco Abu Bekr, at the head of a Muslim army, conquered Ghana and plundered it. The ruler of Ghana pledged to pay tribute and, together with his nobles, converted to Islam. Although popular uprisings in 1087 ended Moroccan rule, Ghana fell apart. Its successor was the new state of Mali.
State of Mali.
Although Mali was formed as a state in the 8th-9th centuries, its further development was hampered by the power of Ghana.
In the 11th century The population of Mali converted to Islam, which contributed to the influx of Muslim merchants into the country.
As a result of the development of crafts and trade by the 13th century. Mali is reaching the peak of its power.
The ruler of Mali, Sundiata Keith (1230-1255), created a large army. He conquered neighboring territories where caravan routes passed and gold was mined, incl. and the ancient lands of Ghana. The Malian rulers appointed their relatives and associates as governors of the conquered territories. The governors allocated land to distinguished military leaders. Their duties also included collecting taxes from the population. Soon Mali became famous throughout the Arab world. Its ruler, Musa I, performed the hajj to Mecca in 1324. According to legend, he carried a lot of gold with him and generously distributed it during his journey. He was accompanied by 8 thousand warriors and 500 slaves, who carried 10-12 tons of gold. For many years after this, the price of gold remained low in the Arab world.
The capital Niara and other cities of Mali were built up with rich buildings and mosques. Crafts and trade flourished. The clan nobility played a major role. To protect themselves from claims to power by close relatives, rulers elevated warriors and officials from among foreigners, primarily foreigners - slaves. The ruler's guard also consisted of slaves.
The bulk of the population lived in large communities consisting of patriarchal families. Foreign slaves lived on the farm as family members. Already in the second generation they became free.
From the end of the 14th century. Due to infighting between dynasties, political fragmentation increased, and the state fell into decay.
Songhai State.
The Songhai tribe lived northeast of Ganges and Mali, near the trading center of Gao.
In the XI-XII centuries. The Songhai state union was under the rule of Mali. With its weakening at the end of the 14th century. The Songhairs, who by that time had converted to Islam, led by their ruler Ali, defeated the Malians and created a large state with its capital in Gao. At its peak, Songhai occupied the entire territory of the Niger River basin.
The country was divided into provinces, which were ruled by the ruler's associates. The main income to the treasury came from transit trade and gold mining. Higher officials were generously given lands on which the labor of foreign slaves was used. After a certain time, they turned into dependent peasants, and their descendants became owners of small plots of land, which they paid taxes to the state. A special mercenary army was created in Songhai.
Remember!
Since the end of the 16th century, the Songhai state pursued an independent policy; its capital was the city of Gao. At the end of the 16th century. Songhai is conquered by the Sultan of Morocco.
State of Aksum.
In ancient times, in the north of what is now Ethiopia, there was the state of Aksum, which flourished in the 4th-5th centuries.
The coast of South Arabia, along with the caravan routes, and part of Eastern Sudan came under the authority of its rulers. Aksum maintained close ties with the Roman Empire and later with Byzantium. The ruler and his entourage accepted the Christian faith.
In the 7th century The Arabs conquered the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, which was controlled by Aksum, and began to advance to the continental part of the country. Aksum suffered defeat after defeat in the 10th century. it was destroyed, and power passed to a dynasty that did not profess Christianity. According to legend, the first ruler of Aksum is the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba - the ruler of Arabian Saba, with whom the Aksumites were closely connected in ancient times - Manelik. This indicates that Aksum's relations with Arabia have been good since ancient times, and the name of the dynasty has a historical basis.
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In the 6th-5th millennium BC. e. In the Nile Valley, agricultural cultures developed (Tassian culture, Fayyum, Merimde), on the basis of which in the 4th millennium BC. e. The oldest African civilization arises - Ancient Egypt. To the south of it, also on the Nile, under its influence the Kerma-Cushite civilization was formed, which was replaced in the 2nd millennium BC. e. Nubian (Napata). On its ruins, the states of Aloa, Mukurra, the Nabataean kingdom and others were formed, which were under the cultural and political influence of Ethiopia, Coptic Egypt and Byzantium. In the north of the Ethiopian Highlands, under the influence of the South Arabian Sabaean kingdom, the Ethiopian civilization arose: in the 5th century BC. e. The Ethiopian kingdom was formed by immigrants from South Arabia; in the 2nd-11th centuries AD. e. There was an Aksumite kingdom, on the basis of which the medieval civilization of Christian Ethiopia was formed (XII-XVI centuries). These centers of civilization were surrounded by pastoral tribes of Libyans, as well as the ancestors of modern Cushitic and Nilotic-speaking peoples.
On the basis of horse breeding (from the first centuries AD - also camel breeding) and oasis agriculture in the Sahara, urban civilizations took shape (the cities of Telgi, Debris, Garama), and Libyan writing arose. On the Mediterranean coast of Africa in the 12th-2nd centuries BC. e. The Phoenician-Carthaginian civilization flourished.
In sub-Saharan Africa in the 1st millennium BC. e. Iron metallurgy is spreading everywhere. This contributed to the development of new territories, primarily tropical forests, and became one of the reasons for the settlement of peoples speaking Bantu languages throughout most of Tropical and Southern Africa, pushing representatives of the Ethiopian and Capoid races to the north and south.
The centers of civilizations in Tropical Africa spread from north to south (in the eastern part of the continent) and partly from east to west (especially in the western part) - as they moved away from the high civilizations of North Africa and the Middle East. Most of the large socio-cultural communities of Tropical Africa had an incomplete set of signs of civilization, so they can more accurately be called proto-civilizations. Such, for example, were the formations in Sudan that arose on the basis of trans-Saharan trade with the Mediterranean countries.
After the Arab conquests of North Africa (7th century), the Arabs for a long time became the only intermediaries between Tropical Africa and the rest of the world, including through the Indian Ocean, where the Arab fleet dominated. The cultures of Western and Central Sudan merged into a single West African, or Sudanese, zone of civilizations, stretching from Senegal to the modern Republic of Sudan. In the 2nd millennium, this zone was united politically and economically in Muslim empires, such as Mali (XIII-XV centuries), which subordinated small political entities of neighboring peoples.
South of the Sudanese civilizations in the 1st millennium AD. e. the proto-civilization of Ife is emerging, which became the cradle of the Yoruba and Bini civilizations (Benin, Oyo); neighboring peoples also experienced its influence. To the west of it, in the 2nd millennium, the Akano-Ashanti proto-civilization was formed, the heyday of which occurred in the 17th - early 19th centuries. In the region of Central Africa during the XV-XIX centuries. various state entities gradually emerged - Buganda, Rwanda, Burundi, etc.
In East Africa, since the 10th century, the Swahili Muslim civilization flourished (the city-states of Kilwa, Pate, Mombasa, Lamu, Malindi, Sofala, etc., the Sultanate of Zanzibar), in South-East Africa - the Zimbabwean (Zimbabwe, Monomotapa) proto-civilization (X-XIX century), in Madagascar the process of state formation ended at the beginning of the 19th century with the unification of all the early political formations of the island around Imerina, which arose around the 15th century.
Most African civilizations and proto-civilizations experienced a rise at the end of the 15th and 16th centuries. From the end of the 16th century, with the penetration of Europeans and the development of the transatlantic slave trade, which lasted until the mid-19th century, their decline occurred. By the beginning of the 17th century, all of North Africa (except Morocco) became part of the Ottoman Empire. With the final division of Africa between European powers (1880s), the colonial period began, forcing Africans into industrial civilization.
